Daily carbohydrate intake correlates with HbA1c in low carbohydrate diet (LCD)

Background: There is an ongoing discussion about Low Carbohydrate Diet (LCD) and Calorie Restriction (CR). Authors and colleagues have initiated LCD in Japan, and reported clinical research studies on LCD and related biomarkers. Subjects and Methods: Subjects were 51 patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with a mean age of 62.4 ± 6.9 years old. Patients were admitted for 14 days for treatment of super LCD formula, including 12% carbohydrates, 64% lipids, 24% protein with 1400 kcal/day. Six months later, the detail of meals for 7 days, HbA1c and lifestyle items were investigated. Results: Subjects were classified into 2 groups according to the level of HbA1c at 7%. HbA1c was 6.1% vs 7.4%, and carbohydrate intake a day was 55.2g vs 123.6 g in group 1 and 2, respectively. Group 1 tended to have more usage of food and spice for LCD. There was significant correlation between HbA1c and carbohydrate intake (p<0.01). Discussion and Conclusion: We adopted super LCD formula meal in this current study, including 12% of carbohydrate ratio. As to American Diabetes Association (ADA), carbohydrate intake per day in LCD would be less than 130g or less than 26% total energy per day. From our data, mild LCD might not be enough to maintain HbA1c less than 7%. Current results would be the fundamental data for LCD treatment for T2DM in the future.