Impact of calorie restriction on glycemic control in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction Calorie restriction is emerging as a tool to achieve remission in type 2 diabetes mellitus. We conducted a clinical trial to assess its effectiveness and durability in our setting. Methods This was a single-arm clinical trial (CTRI/2017/05/008711) conducted at JIPMER hospital, Pondicherry. Nine adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and with a BMI of more than 23 kg/m(2) were included into the study from December 2016. They were admitted to the hospital and given a 700 kcal per day balanced diet for 1 week following which either weight maintaining or weight reducing diet was advised. Patients were followed up monthly for the initial 3 months and were reassessed later after 12 months. Results One patient was lost to follow-up and hence results have been provided for eight patients. The mean age was 50.5 years. All patients were males. The duration of diabetes was a median of 2.5 years. All patients tolerated the low calorie diet. The mean weight loss was 4.2 kg after a median of 12 months. The average HbA1c declined from a baseline value of 7.98% to 7.13% after a median of 12 months (p = 0.27). Four patients were off any antidiabetic medication at 12 months of follow-up. Conclusion The intervention of a short duration of calorie restriction may be effective in reducing HbA1C in overweight patients with diabetes and the effect can last for a year.