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Prediabetes and diabetes are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States and are growing in prevalence up to 45% of the population over the past 50 years. Current guidelines from the ADA recommend focusing on energy balance, portion sizes, and weight loss while cautioning that no ideal macronutrient composition has been determined. The guidelines also do not recommend intermittent fasting. In contrast, we report three cases of a substantial reduction in A1C without clinically significant weight loss using a unique, patient-centered program that utilizes low carbohydrate diets with intermittent fasting. These results call into question the role of weight reduction in the management of diabetes while highlighting the unique importance of carbohydrate restriction and intermittent fasting. In this study, we demonstrate a case series of three patients with a substantial reduction in A1C and significantly reducing the need for pharmacotherapy without clinically significant weight loss. Although anecdotal, these results call into question the emphasis of ADA on weight reduction and energy intake reduction for the management of diabetes.
Gavidia et al. (Mon,) studied this question.