Chinese researchers found that 89% of patients with type 2 diabetes who consumed high-fiber diets lost more weight, had better blood lipid profiles and showed signs that their bodies were more effectively regulating their blood glucose levels by week 12, compared with 50% of those in the standard low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. The findings in the journal Science, based on 43 diabetes patients, showed a reduction in the number of 47 bacteria strains that produce short-chain fatty acids in the gut during the diet, while there was an increase in the number of 15 other strains which make butyric acid that boosts insulin production in the people who responded best to the diet.
