Objective We are aimed at evaluating the effects of a calorie‐restricted low‐carbohydrate diet (CR‐LCD) on diabetes remission, weight control, and metabolic parameters in overweight patients with early‐stage Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Research Design and Methods This 6‐month randomized intervention trial with a 12‐month follow‐up randomly assigned 68 adults with early‐stage T2DM to receive either a CR‐LCD or a control diet. Of the original cohort, data from 66 participants (two dropouts in the CR‐LCD group) were analyzed. The primary outcome was diabetes remission, defined as achieving a glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level < 6.5 % without glucose‐lowering medications; secondary outcomes included anthropometric, glycemic, and lipid parameters. Results The CR‐LCD group had a significantly higher 6‐month diabetes remission rate than the control group (62.50% vs. 35.29%, χ 2 = 4.885, p = 0.027). After multivariate adjustment, the intervention was associated with higher remission rates (odds ratio OR = 4.592, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.276–16.524; p = 0.020). At 12 months, between‐group comparisons following false discovery rate (FDR) correction revealed significant differences in body mass index (FDR − adjusted p = 0.006, η 2 p = 0.150), waist circumference (FDR − adjusted p = 0.040, η 2 p = 0.085), fasting blood glucose (FDR − adjusted p < 0.001, r = 0.613), 2‐h postprandial blood glucose (FDR − adjusted p = 0.040, η 2 p = 0.088), and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (FDR − adjusted p = 0.040, η 2 p = 0.095). No severe adverse events were reported. Conclusions A CR‐LCD was effective in inducing diabetes remission in early‐stage T2DM, suggesting that it may offer a viable nonpharmacological management strategy for this condition. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2600118189.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.