WEDNESDAY, Oct. 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Type 2 diabetes is caused in part by the failure of pancreatic beta cells to respond as they should to blood sugar.

Now, new research suggests that switching to a low-carbohydrate diet might correct that beta cell dysfunction, boosting patients' health.

"People with type 2 diabetes on a low-carbohydrate diet can recover their beta cells, an outcome that cannot be achieved with medication,” noted lead study author Barbara Gower, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The findings suggest that “people with mild type 2 diabetes who reduce their carbohydrate intake may be able to discontinue medication and enjoy eating meals and snacks that are higher in protein and meet their energy needs," Gower added in a news release from the Endocrine Society.

As the research team explained, type 2 diabetes -- by far the most common form of the disease -- is caused in part by an impairment in beta-cell function and loss of beta cells.

Beta cells are made in the pancreas and produce insulin, the hormone humans need to control blood sugar levels.

Her team theorized that damage to beta cells may be due, at least in part, to excessive intake of carbohydrate-rich foods such as bread and pasta.

In the new study, the Birmingham team placed 57 white and Black adults with type 2 diabetes on one of two dietary regimens. Some patients ate a low-carb diet (9% carbohydrates and 65% fat) while others ate a high-carb diet (55% carbohydrates and 20% fat).

All people on the low-carb diets saw significant improvements in their beta cell responses to blood sugar, the team reported Oct. 22 in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

For reasons that remain unclear, Black participants reaped an even greater health benefit than their white peers.

Just how big an improvement could a switch to low-carb eating mean for folks with type 2 diabetes? That remains to be seen, Gower said.

“Further research is needed to determine if a low-carbohydrate diet can restore beta-cell function and lead to remission in people with type 2 diabetes,” she said.

More information

Find out more about the causes of type 2 diabetes at the Cleveland Clinic.

SOURCE: Endocrine Society, news release, Oct. 22, 2024