Active Low-Carber Forums - View Single Post - Half of US adults have diabetes or pre-diabetes

HbA1c is a marker for average carb intake over the past few months (3 months, half-life of red blood cells). The article says it's a marker for diagnosis of diabetes type 2. Therefore, a diagnosis of diabetes type 2 implies an average carb intake that produces HbA1c level high enough to make the diagnosis.

The NMS did an experiment on the effect of semi-LC on HbA1c: http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/6/1/21

Quote:

The mean HbA1c level decreased sharply from baseline (10.9 ± 1.6%) to 7.8 ± 1.5% at 3 months, and then more gradually to 7.4 ± 1.4% at 6 months (P < 0.001) (Table 4 and Figure 1). BMI slightly decreased over 6 months, but the decrease did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.057) (Table 4 and Figure 2). HbA1c levels of the two drop-out patients were 13.0% and 9.5% at baseline, which decreased to 8.6% and 8.1% after 3 months but returned to 12.6% and 8.6% after 6 months, respectively. When the two patients were excluded, the mean HbA1c level after 6 months was 7.2 ± 1.0%. No adverse effect was observed except for mild constipation. One female patient had an increased physical activity level during the study period in spite of our instructions. However, her increase in physical activity was no more than one hour of walking per day, four days a week. She had implemented an 11%-carbohydrate diet without any antidiabetic drug, and her HbA1c level decreased from 14.4% at baseline to 6.1% after 3 months and had been maintained at 5.5% after 6 months.

This quote suggests a strong dose-dependent effect where the fewer carbs they ate, the lower and more quickly HbA1c dropped.

The Wiki page for HbA1c actually says:

Quote:

Glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c, A1C, or Hb1c; sometimes also HbA1c or HGBA1C) is a form of hemoglobin that is measured primarily to identify the average plasma glucose concentration over prolonged periods of time.

It doesn't suggest a cause for it, i.e. average carb intake. The NMS experiment does suggest a cause, and in a dose-dependent manner. Note that the Wiki page does not include this specific NMS experiment as citation, or any other low-carb/HbA1c experiment for that matter. To confirm the NMS suggested cause, we'd have to do an experiment where we put people on varied carb intake over several months and measure the effect on HbA1c, but that's just what I think.

Anyway, if the estimate says half of US people are diabetic, then it basically says half of US people eat too much carbs. That's a good thing, cuz that's what the official nutritional guidelines says to eat:
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines...delines2010.pdf

Quote:

Table 4-2 Recommended Macronutrient Proportions by age
45%-65% of total calories as carbohydrates.