When overweight adults with type 2 diabetes tried a low-carb diet for 12 weeks, it didn't seem to help their pancreas work better or reduce stress on their insulin-producing cells.

After eating mostly fat for three days, the pancreas of healthy young men released less insulin right after they drank sugar water, even though their blood sugar went higher.

If you swap out a small amount of fatty foods for sugary or starchy ones for six weeks, your body releases less insulin after eating—even though your blood sugar goes up the same—which might mean your pancreas isn’t working as well.