Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common metabolic conditions with over 400 million people around the world living with the disease. Diabetic patients have to take regular medications and alter their diet and eating patterns.
Doctors usually suggest that the best dietary approach is for those living with diabetes to eat smaller meals spaced out throughout the day at regular intervals, typically eating six small meals during the day. However, in some individuals, this approach can lead to a vicious cycle where they need to inject themselves with high doses of insulin to counterbalance insulin resistance. But, this high insulin dosage can introduce glucose (blood sugar) level imbalance and can cause weight gain and a higher risk of cardiovascular problems.
Recently, a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel has hypothesized that eating according to a person’s natural ‘body clock’ — which typically calls for three larger meals a day — might help physiological processes to synchronize better and reduce the amount of insulin a person requires.
The studies suggest that shifting the starch-rich calories to the early hours of the day could lead people with type 2 diabetes to have better glucose balance and improved glycemic control. The team behind the study claimed that using this approach it is quite possible for diabetic patients to significantly reduce or even stop insulin injections and other anti-diabetic medications, as well as achieve good control of glucose levels.
The researchers studied 28 participants with type 2 diabetes, who were split into two groups and randomly assigned them to follow the typical six meals a day diabetic diet or the newly devised three meals a day diet.
In the three meals a day approach, participants had to follow a diet plan that is supposedly more in line with humans’ natural inclination to eat more in the morning, and cutting down on the meal size in the afternoon and evening. The diet comprised a breakfast of bread, fruit, and sweets early in the morning, a sizeable lunch in the afternoon, and a small meal at dinnertime, which must not feature any starchy foods, sweets or fruit.
The researchers assessed the participants’ body weight, blood sugar control, appetite, and circadian clock (body clock) gene expression both at baseline, and then again at 2 weeks after the start of the trial, and at 12 weeks after. The team found that participants with diabetes who followed the typical six meal diet did not lose any weight and did not see better blood sugar control. However, those who ate three meals a day saw the opposite effect: they lost weight and had much more improved blood sugar levels.
The need for diabetic medication, especially for insulin doses, among the three day meal diabetics dipped substantially. Some were even able to stop using insulin altogether. In addition, the participants in this diet improved the expression of their biological clock genes. This suggests that the diet is not only more effective in controlling diabetes, it may also prevent many other complications, such as cardiovascular disease, aging, and cancer, which are all regulated by the biological clock genes.