Substantial and Sustained Improvements in Blood Pressure, Weight and Lipid Profiles from a Carbohydrate Restricted Diet: An Observational Study of Insulin Resistant Patients in Primary Care.
Hypertension is the second biggest known global risk factor for disease after poor diet; perhaps lifestyle interventions are underutilized? In a previous small pilot study, it was found that a low carbohydrate diet was associated with significant improvements in blood pressure, weight, 'deprescribing' of medications and lipid profiles. We were interested to investigate if these results would be replicated in a larger study based in 'real world' GP practice. 154 patients with type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance were recruited into an observational cohort study in primary care. The effects of a low carbohydrate diet sustained for an average of two years (interquartile range 10-32 months) on cardiovascular risk factors were examined. Results demonstrate significant and substantial reductions in blood pressure (mean reduction of systolic BP 10.9 mmHg (interquartile range 0-22 mmHg) (p < 0.0001), mean reduction in diastolic BP 6.3 mmHg (interquartile range 0-12.8 mmHg) (p < 0.0001) and mean weight reduction of 9.5 Kg (interquartile range 5-13 Kg) (p < 0.0001) together with marked improvement in lipid profiles. This occurred despite a 20% reduction in anti-hypertensive medications. This novel and potentially highly effective dietary modification, done very cheaply alongside routine care, offers hope that should be tested in a large prospective trial.
['Unwin|David J|DJ|', 'Tobin|Simon D|SD|', 'Murray|Scott W|SW|', 'Delon|Christine|C|', 'Brady|Adrian J|AJ|']
D015415:Biomarkers D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 D050528:Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted D005260:Female D058006:General Practice D006801:Humans D006973:Hypertension D007333:Insulin Resistance D008055:Lipids D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D011320:Primary Health Care D012189:Retrospective Studies D016896:Treatment Outcome D015431:Weight Loss
hypertension low carbohydrate diet deprescribing essential hypertension lifestyle medicine obesity salt sodium