RESEARCH

Another update on insulin resistance, the precursor to diabetes mellitus, type II.

From Journal of the American College of Nutrition, October 2007, Volume 26, Number 5; A MUFA-Rich Diet Improves Postprandial Glucose, Lipid and GLP-1 Responses in Insulin-Resistant Subjects, pp. 434-444. Authored by Juan A. Paniagua, MD, et. al., in Cordoba, Spain.

Eleven subjects with insulin resistance, who were first-degree relatives of Type II Diabetics, were chosen for this study. They were each subjected to three separate diets of 28 days duration each. Each diet had the same number of calories—between 2,000 and 2,100 calories. One was a high carbohydrate diet, with 334 grams of carbohydrate each day. The other two diets had about 240 grams of carbohydrate, with 40% of their total intake as fat—one with predominantly saturated fats and one with predominantly mono-unsaturated fats (MUFA) which was a Mediterranean diet with virgin olive oil. The high carbohydrate diet showed the highest post-meal blood sugar and insulin levels, and the lowest total cholesterol and HDL levels. The high MUFA diet showed the lowest blood glucose and insulin levels. It also showed the lowest fasting glucose and highest HDL levels of all three diets.

Dr. Gardner’s comments: This research lends further support to the fact the carbohydrates are the culprit in insulin resistance. The high fat diets still had carbohydrate intake well above levels needed to reduce insulin resistance. This study also demonstrates that a 40% intake of fat is not something to be feared, which goes against the prevailing low-fat dogma. This study also demonstrates that virgin olive oil is better than saturated fats in insulin-resistant people. Perhaps a better butter choice would be a 50 : 50 mix of olive oil and butter and use that as a butter.