Dr. Jeffrey Gonzalez Publishes Article on Depression and Diabetes

Dr. Jeffrey Gonzalez, professor of psychology at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology and the Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology and Population Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, co-authored an article with Dr. Rebecca N. Adams, Dr. Shaminie J. Athinarayanan, Dr. Amy L. McKenzie, Dr. Sarah J. Hallberg, Dr. James P. McCarter, Stephen D. Phinney titled “Depressive symptoms improve over 2 years of type 2 diabetes treatment via a digital continuous remote care intervention focused on carbohydrate restriction” for the Journal of Behavioral Medicine (Jan. 7, 2022).

Here is the abstract:

Depressive symptoms are prevalent among people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and, even at low severity levels, are associated with worse diabetes outcomes. Carbohydrate restriction is an effective treatment for T2D but its long-term impacts on depressive symptoms are unclear. In the current study we explored changes in depressive symptoms over 2 years among 262 primarily non-depressed T2D patients participating in a continuous remote care intervention emphasizing carbohydrate restriction. Subclinical depressive symptoms decreased over the first 10 weeks and reductions were maintained out to 2 years. Increased frequency of blood ketone levels indicative of adherence to low carbohydrate eating predicted decreases in depressive symptoms. Concerns have been raised with recommending restrictive diets due to potential negative impacts on quality-of-life factors such as mood; however, results of the current study support positive rather than negative long-term impacts of closely monitored carbohydrate restriction on depressive symptoms.

Their study found that “depressive symptoms are common and associated with worse outcomes in people with T2D, making mood an important consideration for T2D treatment.”

They also found that “carbohydrate restriction offers a promising approach for improved diabetes outcomes” and that “unlike other lifestyle intervention studies, significant improvements were sustained long-term up to 2 years.”