That’s right: A very low-carbohydrate diet.
A new randomized control study of overweight individuals has found that, compared to a low-fat diet of the same number of calories, the low-carb diet is more effective at reducing fat-cell size and improving insulin resistance, even if the weight loss is exactly the same.
That’s what Dr. Tracey McLaughlin, of the Stanford Diabetes Research Center, told more than 500 participants at a recent World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease held Dec 4-7, 2019 in Los Angeles.
“Fat-cell size appears to be an even stronger predictor of insulin resistance than obesity. [In the study] the more weight you lost, the more insulin action improved, but the more your fat-cell size shrank, the more your insulin action improved…. [in other words] You can lose weight, but if you’re having a lot of carbs and your insulin is sky high, maybe your fat cells aren’t shrinking as much,” said Dr. McLaughlin, a professor of medicine, endocrinology, gerontology and metabolism at Stanford University.