Treatment of Tuberculosis with a Low Carbohydrate High Protein Diet

Based on the concept that carbohydrate-rich foods exert a depressant effect on total bodily oxygen consumption with resultant lowering of the organism's ability to overcome infection, 38 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis of varying severity were given a low carbohydrate high protein diet. Thirty-five made apparent favorable response to the diet of whom 17 showed roentgenologic improvement. The remaining 18 patients, most of whom had pneumothorax, showed no change by roentgenogram, the lesions having apparently become stabilized.

The beneficial effects of the diet are attributed to increased glucose-oxygen consumption brought about by elevation of the blood sugar to normal level in patients with hypoglycemia, and by restricting carbohydrate-rich foods in patients with hyperglycemia. The high percentage of tuberculous patients with disturbed carbohydrate metabolism as revealed by the glucose tolerance test demands correction by diet regimen.

We believe that the fundamental factor responsible for susceptibility to, and persistence of the tuberculous infection, namely, a reduced glucose-oxygen consumption, is overcome by the low carbohydrate diet. A normal carbohydrate metabolism, with concomitant normal liver glycogen stores, is an essential and fundamental mechanism upon which other defense mechanisms depend. This is true not only for the diabetic, but also for the nondiabetic. The normal combustion of glucose supplies the energy for chemical reactions needed for the production of tissue and humoral immunological substances. In addition, the high protein intake makes available chemical substances more suitable for tissue repair.

The favorable response to the diet by patients who show normal glucose tolerance curves may be attributed to an increase in liver glycogen stores with resultant improved carbohydrate metabolism. Experimental evidence is cited to show that ingestion of so-called "balanced" diets containing ample amounts of carbohydrate-rich foods do not necessarily produce normal glycogen storage and may even bring about fatty and fibrotic livers. Recent clinical reports describing good results in the treatment of cirrhosis of the liver with high protein diets further attest to the superiority of protein over carbohydrate in maintaining normal liver glycogen storage.