Washington

Suffering from diabetes? Fret not, just adopt a proper and healthy diet, for a new study has revealed that using lifestyle interventions on top of existing drug treatments can help controlling high blood sugar levels.

A team at University of Otago has provided intensive dietary advice to improve blood sugar control in diabetics - even though they're on what is regarded as the best available medication.

The study divided 87 high-risk diabetes patients into two groups. Both received optimised medical care, but patients in one of the groups also received regular one-on-one dietary advice from a dietitian.

Lead investigator Dr Kirsten Coppell said that at the end of the study, measures of glycaemic control were found to have significantly improved in the group receiving the advice. The group also recorded an average weight loss of 2 kg and a 3cm reduction in waistlines.

"Achieving good glycaemic control is a crucial goal in managing diabetes, as it can prevent long-term complications such as kidney failure, heart disease and blindness. Before the widespread introduction of anti-diabetic drugs, the key focus in diabetes care was on diet and lifestyle.

Rather than focusing on a strict diet, nutritional advice in the study was tailored to match each individual's socio-economic and cultural circumstances. It involved things like encouraging smaller meals, reducing unhealthy components in their diets while eating more fruit and vegetables.

"The next step in the research will be to explore what barriers existed to patients adopting aspects of the dietary advice. Our ultimate aim is to develop a programme that could be put into place to improve the health of the hundreds of thousands with diabetes,"she said.