Table 5.

A summary of selected studies showing the beneficial effects of LCKD in type 2 diabetes

Reference	Design and methods	Results
Samaha et al. [39]	Comparison of LCD with LFD for 6 months in obese subjects with 39% prevalence of diabetes	LCD almost 3 times more effective in reducing body weight. Fasting blood glucose reduced by 26 and 5% in LCD group and LFD group, respectively. LCD showed a favorable effect on the lipid profile
Yancy et al. [40]	Effect of increased level of ketones in very low-calorie ketogenic diet on hepatic glucose output in diabetic patients	Strong inverse correlation between circulating ketones and hepatic glucose output suggesting that higher levels of ketones have favorable effects on glycemic control in diabetics
Westman et al. [41]	Comparison of LCKD without calorie restriction with LGID, reduced-calorie diet for 24 h in obese and type 2 diabetic patients	The LCKD group showed greater improvements in hemoglobin A1c, body weight, and HDL cholesterol as compared to the LGID group. Diabetes medications were reduced or eliminated in 95.2% of the participants in the LCKD group versus 62% in the LGID group
Nielsen and Joensson [42]	Comparison of a 20% carbohydrate diet with a 55–60% carbohydrate diet on body weight, glycemic control and cardiovascular outcome in obese diabetes patients	There was improvement in HbA1c and body weight in patients who have used low-carbohydrate diet. These patients have suffered very few cardiovascular events while the controls have suffered several cardiovascular events
Saslow et al. [43]	Aimed at understanding the effect of MCCRD and LCKD in obese and type 2 diabetic participants	Participants in the LCKD group had greater reductions in HbA1c levels and body weight as compared to MCCRD group. However, reduction in body weight was not significantly different between the two groups
Walton et al. [44]	Efficacy of LCKD containing <30 g of carbohydrates daily in obese diabetic females for 90 days	Significant reduction in body weight, HbA1c level, and blood pressure while eliciting favorable changes in blood lipids. LCKD functionally reversed the diabetes

LCD, low-carbohydrate diet; LFD, low-fat diet; LCKD, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet; LGID, low-glycemic index; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; MCCRD, moderate-carbohydrate calorie-restricted diet; HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin.