The Study
The carnivore connection: dietary carbohydrate in the evolution of NIDDM
This study is like someone writing an opinion column in a newspaper about why people get diabetes. It uses facts from other studies to tell a story, but it doesn’t run any experiments or collect new data. So, it can suggest ideas, but it can’t prove anything.
Analysis score
Maximum 0 for a editorial/opinion.
Where the score came from
A long time ago, people ate mostly meat and not much sugar. Their bodies changed to save sugar for the brain and babies. This made them insulin resistant, which was helpful then. Now, when these people eat lots of sugar, their bodies can't handle it well and they get diabetes more easily.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 50 / 100
Quality score
Based on clinical experience or non-systematic literature reviews. The lowest level of evidence as they are most susceptible to bias and personal perspective.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes, it helps explain why some groups get type 2 diabetes more than others when eating Western diets.
- 2No numbers or experiments.
- 3The idea is that groups like Pima Indians and Nauruans became insulin resistant in the past to survive on meat, and now get diabetes more when eating modern diets.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Diabetologia
Year
1994
Authors
Dr. J. C. Brand Miller, S. Colagiuri
Related Content
Claims (6)
People are actually meant to eat meat, not both meat and plants, because of how our bodies and evolution show we're built for a meat-only diet.
Eating very few carbs and lots of protein might make your body less sensitive to insulin — not because it's broken, but because it's adapting to save glucose when carbs are scarce, like in ancient times.
Back when humans were hunters during the Ice Age, their bodies might have adapted to use less insulin so their brains and babies could keep getting enough sugar — and that same trait might still be common in people whose ancestors lived that way.
Some groups, like Europeans, might be less likely to get type 2 diabetes because their ancestors started eating farm-based, high-carb diets thousands of years ago—giving their bodies more time to adapt—while other groups, like the Pima or Nauruans, started later and may not have had as much time to adjust.
Some groups, like the Pima Indians and Nauruans, might have genes that store energy more efficiently because of past famines and being cut off from others — which helped them survive back then, but now makes them more likely to get type 2 diabetes when eating modern diets full of carbs.
Some groups, like the Pima Indians and Australian Aborigines, are seeing more type 2 diabetes because their bodies may be genetically used to handling sugar differently, and today’s processed, high-sugar diets could be overwhelming their systems over time.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.