Diets Higher In Fat and Lower in Carbohydrates Linked To Worse Blood Sugar Control

Fresh study from this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN):

Association Of Diet With Glycated Hemoglobin During Intensive Treatment Of Type 1 Diabetes In The Diabetes Control And Complications Trial, AJCN, February, 2008

Five years worth of diet records of people with type 1 diabetes (532 participants of the DCCT¹) were collected and analyzed for their association with HbA1c².

Findings:

"Substitution of fat for carbohydrate was associated with higher HbA1c. "

"Among intensively treated patients with type 1 diabetes, diets higher in fat and saturated fat and lower in carbohydrate are associated with worse glycemic control, independent of exercise and BMI."

And because I like maps (click for larger):
________¹ Diabetes Control and Complications Trial
² HbA1c is the abbreviation for Hemoglobin A1c, or glycosylated hemoglobin, a blood test that reflects average blood glucose over the past 2-3 months, the lifespan of a red blood cell.