BODY-FAT DISTRIBUTION AND NON-INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES - COMPARISONOF A FIBER-RICH, HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE, LOW-FAT (23-PERCENT) DIET AND A 35-PERCENT FAT DIET HIGH IN MONOUNSATURATED FAT

The effects of a fiber-rich, high-carbohydrate, low-fat (HCLF) diet an d a modified-fat (MF) diet high in monounsaturated fat on body fat dis tribution were examined by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 1 6 subjects with noninsulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM) during a randomi zed crossover study. Subjects lost similar amounts of body fat consumi ng the HCLF and MF diets (-0.83 +/- 0.37 and -0.87 +/- 0.40 kg, respec tively) despite a marked difference in total fat consumption. With the MF diet, the ratio of upper- to lower-body fat (UF:LF) remained uncha nged because fat was lost proportionately from the upper and lower bod y. in contrast, with the HCLF diet, a disproportionate loss of lower-b ody fat caused the UF:LF to increase. The effects of diet on regional body fat loss were significant (P < 0.05, two-factor repeated-measures ANOVA).