This article is a guest post from Ann Fernholm, PhD, founder of The Dietary Science Foundation. At Diet Doctor we believe strongly in the need for better nutritional science and we are happy to share her message with our readers. Please note that Diet Doctor does not have a financial relationship with The Dietary Science Foundation. We simply believe in their message and their purpose.
We founded the Dietary Science Foundation five years ago. Now one of our dreams has come true: contributing to the world's biggest study of how an LCHF diet can affect type 2 diabetes.
Skandia, a Swedish insurance company, is putting EUR 450,000 into the study, while the Dietary Science Foundation will invest EUR 400,000 - but we need your help!
All over the world, many thousands of people report that their health improves on an LCHF diet - many find that the weight drops away, their stomach pains disappear and people with type 2 diabetes often have normal blood sugar levels and can come off their medication.
But doctors and researchers still claim that an LCHF diet is dangerous. There are many fears, but the main worry is that it affects blood cholesterol.
This controversy about LCHF leads to many people, who would otherwise benefit not getting that help. They are advised against a treatment that could make them healthy or symptom-free. Instead, they are prescribed pharmaceuticals: two pills for blood sugar, three for blood pressure, one for cholesterol and then one for mental health.
Who is right? We'll let science decide
Frustration over the general neglect of dietary science (many studies are too small and short-term to lead the way to a new paradigm), led to us founding the Dietary Science Foundation five years ago. We are a non-profit organization that collects money for high-quality research.
Thanks to all our fantastic monthly donors, corporate partners and supporters, we have been able to contribute to the world's biggest study of dietary influence on IBS and type 1 diabetes. We have also supported excellent research on obesity and fatty liver.
All these studies are happening now. While we await their conclusions, we are aiming even higher: contributing to the world's largest-ever study of LCHF and type 2 diabetes. And this is where we need you!
Help us support a real game changer
The Swedish insurance company Skandia (three cheers!) has decided to support the project with a total of EUR 450,000 and our scientific advisory board has decided to invest EUR 400,000. One-third of this will come from what we collected last year. The remaining two-thirds (approximately EUR 266,000) is still needed. So, now we're asking for your support for this vital study!
Previously, most of the money we have collected has come from our Swedish supporters. But this study will become a global game changer, so we hope that low-carb nerds from all over the world will want to contribute. Here's how you can help:
Low carb vs. severe calorie restriction
The study, called CARBCOUNT, led by Simon Dankel of the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Bergen, Norway, has been designed by researchers from five different European countries. They have decided to aim high: they want to reverse type 2 diabetes, so that participants obtain normal blood sugar levels without the use of medication.
Two different dietary treatments will be compared. One group will be treated with a LCHF diet for fifteen months. Participants will be permitted to eat as much as they want, but the daily carbohydrates will be limited to a maximum of 30 grams for the first three months. After that, slightly more carbohydrates will be allowed, to a maximum of 30-80 grams per day.
A second group will use meal replacements as part of extremely calorie restricted diet, 825-853 kcal per day, for three months, followed by either a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet for twelve months.
One of the researchers in the project is Mike Lean, professor of human nutrition at Glasgow University, has previously shown that a meal replacement diet can result in a weight reduction of more than 15 kg, with 36 percent of participants still having normal blood sugar levels after two years, compared to 3 percent in the control group.
The researchers now want to study whether a low-carbohydrate diet, with a more normal intake of food, can have the same good effect, and whether type 2 diabetes can be reversed without the participants having to lose as much weight.
Supporting this study can help improve the quality of care for people with type 2 diabetes all over the world. If this disease can be reversed, it will prevent things like cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia, mental illness and fertility problems. There is so much to gain!
Please give this study your support and share this post - you will help more people live healthy lives. Thank you!
/ Ann Fernholm, PhD
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