The best diet for reversing prediabetes and 2st weight loss revealed in head-to-head trial – and Kim K is a fan

THE Mediterranean diet has long been hailed by doctors for its menu of fruit, grains and seafood that can protect from a host of diseases and boost weight loss. But now, scientists say that another food plan is even more effective at shedding the pounds and staving off pre-diabetes. Following the trendy keto diet could result in “significant weight loss” and “added benefits” including for liver and metabolic health Credit: Getty The low-carb diet has long been promoted by celebrities including Kim Kardashian Credit: FilmMagic According to US researchers, people who followed the trendy keto diet for four to five months saw “significant weight loss” and “added benefits” including their liver and metabolic health. The low-carb diet has long been promoted by celebrities including Kim Kardashian and includes foods high in saturated fat, including animal products. Sign up for the Health newsletter Thank you! It aims, by almost eliminating energy dense carbohydrates, for people to achieve a state called ketosis. This means no bread, pasta, rice, and no starchy veg such as corn, beans and squash and almost no fruit. Without carbohydrates, the body starts to burn stored fat for energy instead, helping people lose weight. In the study, researchers separated 42 people with obesity, prediabetes and fatty liver disease into three groups. They then randomly assigned them to one of three diet groups – keto, Mediterranean, or a low-fat, plant based diet. The participants received all of their food from the research team and met weekly with a dietitian to help them adhere to their assigned diets. Most read in Health The keto diet provided only 4 per cent of calories from carbohydrates and 73 per cent from fat. The Mediterranean diet, meanwhile, had 50 per cent of its calories from carbohydrates and 35 per cent from fat. The plant-forward diet sourced 70 per cent of calories from carbohydrates and 15 per cent from fat. The team tailored each participant’s calorie intake so that everyone lost around 10 per cent of their body weight, which took about four to five months. By the end of the trial, all three diets led to a significant reduction in the participants’ body fat. Their bodies also became more sensitive to insulin, improving their ability to regulate blood sugar. But, the scientists found that among those on the keto diet, their liver fat decreased by an average of 67 per cent, compared with 45 per cent in both the Mediterranean and the plant based groups. When the team monitored the participants’ metabolic activities over 24 hours by testing their blood throughout, they found that the keto diet group had the largest increase in glucagon, which is a hormone that promotes fat loss in the liver. That group also experienced the greatest reduction in blood insulin levels, which also reduces fat content in the liver, compared to the other two groups. Writing in the journal Cell Metabolism, the scientists from Washington University in St. Louis, said: “These results indicate that weight loss induced by a very-low-carbohydrate keto diet has beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease risk factors in people with metabolically unhealthy obesity.” Assistant professor of medicine at Washington University Max Petersen, added: “The most surprising finding was that participants in the ketogenic diet group didn’t experience an increase in blood fat or cholesterol levels despite consuming the most fat.” Professor Samuel Klein, director for the centre of human nutrition at the university, also said: “Our data suggest that if you have high liver fat content and prediabetes, reducing carbohydrate intake can have important therapeutic effects on metabolism beyond just weight loss alone.” Responding to the findings today, scientists labelled them “important” but cautioned that the study involved a small number of volunteers and further research was necessary before putting it into practice. Dr Adam Collins, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey, said: “This is an important study because it compared three very different diets after participants had all achieved the same amount of weight loss, around 10 per cent of body weight. “That means the researchers were able to separate the effects of weight loss itself from the effects of the diet composition.” Professor Naveed Sattar, an expert in cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, added: “This is a well-conducted randomised trial from an excellent group of investigators that provides some intriguing findings. “However, the study included relatively small numbers of participants in each treatment arm and was conducted over a short period of time. “Larger and longer-term trials, ideally with at least one year of follow-up, are needed to establish the comparative benefits and risks of these dietary approaches. “An important practical consideration is whether people can sustain a very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet over the long term.” Comment now