People with type 2 diabetes should be wary of social media hype about the benefits of a paleo diet, according to a researcher from the University of Melbourne.
In , Associate Professor Sof Andrikopoulos said there was still a lack of research conducted on the paleo diet’s effect on those with diabetes. Andrikopoulos wrote in the article that there have been no trials lasting beyond 12 weeks on type 2 diabetes sufferers.
Paleo and primal diets are based on the eating habits of early humans and are usually higher in fat and lower in carbohydrate.
Associate Professor Andrikopoulos, a researcher at the University of Melbourne Department of Medicine and also the head of the , tells SBS that the claimed benefits of the diet are not based in research.
“If you listen to the celebrities, and follow social media and listen to the staunch advocates of the paleo diet, they claim that there's thousands of studies that confirm the benefits of a paleo diet,” he said.
“But when I looked at the literature, there were only 23 clinical studies and only two of those were clinical trials.” Both studies, he said, had fewer than 20 participants and one had no control diet. “And at 12 weeks or less, neither study lasted long enough for us to draw solid conclusions about the impact on weight or glycemic control.”
He says that there is no clear single definition of the paleo diet.
“Ancestral diets are different depending on where people lived. For example, for Indigenous Australians, a paleo diet was not high fat at all - it was actually quite high protein, high carb.”
Associate Professor Andrikopoulos says that medical professionals can’t safely recommend the paleo diet to patients with type 2 diabetes because studies surrounding the risks have not been conducted.
“Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong disease, so we need studies that are very long term - many years - to show that a particular intervention, whether it's diet or lifestyle, is effective, durable, and whether people can stick to it.”
Diabetes Australia declined to comment specifically on the issue, outlining their position that discussion around care for diabetes should not be limited to one diet. The organisation referred SBS to a on diets in relation to diabetes, which states that “When it comes to people who are diagnosed with diabetes, or people who may be at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes because they already have impaired glucose tolerance, there is no diet that works for everyone and we should aim to have individualised, tailored advice provided by multidisciplinary, healthcare teams.”
