Effect of carbohydrate intake on glycemic control among adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending Diabetes and Endocrine Diseases Center in Babel, 2022

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a well-known chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (BG) due to obsolete or relative insulin deficiency among other pathophysiological defects. Carbohydrates have the greatest effect on BG and restriction of carbohydrate, resulting in greater reductions in BG. Poor glycemic control was related to excessive eating of refined grains. Objective: The aim of this article is to assess sociodemographic characteristics and some anthropometric measures among the study group and to estimate the effect of carbohydrates intake on glycemic control. Materials and Methods: One hundred patients with type 2 diabetes mellites (T2DM) were included in a cross-sectional study. The level of HbA1c was taken as an index to study the glycemic control of patients. Glycemic control was examined, among patients, on the basis of their glycemic index (GI) of foods eaten. A 24-h dietary recall technique was used to analyze the diet of the patients. Results: The study revealed 87% poorly controlled vs. 13% with good control. It was found that starch and refined grains intake was highly associated with glycemic control (P = 0.000). Glycemic control was highly significant in association with the intake of high GI (P = 0.000) foods. In contrast, there was no association with vegetables, fruits, and milk. Added sugar and other sweetened beverages were statistically associated with HbA1c (P = 0.002). Conclusion: There was a statistically significant association between foods of high GI and poor glycemic control. Starch, refined grains, and added sugar showed a significant association with poor glycemic control.

Keywords

• carbohydrate
• control
• food
• glycemic
• t2dm