People suffering from diabetes have to carefully choose their foods in order to prevent gaining more weight and minimize the effects of the disease. They need to choose a diet, which could keep their blood glucose levels down and the only diet which fits this require is a diet of “low-glycemic foods” such as beans, nuts, peas, lentils and pasta, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Toronto. The study was published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study assessed the effects of a low-glycemic diet vs. a high-cereal fiber diet on glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors for 210 patients with type 2 diabetes. The participants followed one of the diets for a period of 6 months.

The low-glycemic diet was mainly based on beans, peas, lentils, nuts, pasta, rice boiled briefly and low-glycemic index breads (including pumpernickel, rye pita, and quinoa and flaxseed) and breakfast cereals (including large flake oatmeal and oat bran).

The other diet contained whole grain breads, whole grain breakfast cereals, brown rice, potatoes with skins, crackers, and breakfast cereals.

Besides following one of the diets, the participants were encouraged to have three servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables per day, except tropically grown fruits like mangos, bananas, and pineapple, which tend to have higher glycemic index scores. They were also treated with medications to control blood sugar.

After six months, the main outcome measured was the change in hemoglobin A1C in the blood for participants following the low-glycemic diet, which reflects glucose levels over the long term. A1C fell 0.50 percent on the low-GI diet compared with only 0.18 percent on the high-fiber diet, Dr. David J.A. Jenkins, from the University of Toronto, and co-researchers reported.

But the good news doesn’t end here. Levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol rose with the low-GI diet but they fell with the high-fiber diet.

Therefore, the researchers concluded that “low-glycemic index diets may be useful as part of the strategy to improve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes taking (glucose-lowering) medications.”

The findings come at a time when the number of people suffering from type 2 diabetes is on the rise. Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in the US. There are some 25 million Americans living with the disease, with 6.2 million not even knowing that they have it. To make things even worse, an additional 54 million Americans have pre-diabetes, placing them at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association estimates there will be nearly 50 million people with diabetes by 2025, especially that obesity epidemic continues to spread. Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to change sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life.

People can live with type 2 diabetes for years before they know they have it. The condition doesn’t have visible symptoms from the beginning. Type 2 diabetes is often diagnosed when people develop one of the disease’s serious complications, such as heart attack, kidney failure, blindness or nerve damage that can lead to amputations.

Diabetes risk factors include being overweight, sedentary, persons with a family history of diabetes and women who have babies with a birth weight of greater than nine pounds.