Effectiveness of Low-Calorie MIND-HK Diet and Very Low-Calorie Diet on Glycemic Control and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A 12-Week Randomized Controlled Trial

NCT07635121 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: HE-OT2025/25
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 180
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The objective of this project is to assess the effectiveness of a low-calorie and very low-calorie Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND-HK) diet in improving glycemic control and cardiovascular outcomes in adults with T2DM. A total of 180 participants aged 40 to 70, diagnosed with T2DM, will be recruited and randomized into three groups: intervention 1 following the low-calorie MIND-HK diet, intervention 2 following the very low-calorie diet, and an attention control group. The two intervention groups will attend four in-person nutrition counseling sessions (one per week, 60 minutes per session, followed by a 30-minute Q\&A) at a community centre and will use KetoMetrics Breath Ketone System and dietary mobile app, to track diet and monitor daily ketone levels for early signs of ketosis that may lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). The attention control group will receive an equal amount of attention through four in-person infectious disease counseling sessions. The primary outcome will be HbA1c levels. Secondary outcomes include fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, breath ketone, scores from the Summary Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) Questionnaire, and MIND diet scores. This study will contribute to the growing body of evidence on dietary interventions for managing T2DM in adults.

Conditions

Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

Keywords

Very low-calorie MIND-HK diet; Low-calorie MIND-HK diet; KetoMetrics Breath Ketone System

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The point of care test (POCT) of HbA1C level

  Change in HbA1C level The HbA1C will be measured by A1CNow system

  12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Change in lipid and glucose panel

  12 weeks

• Change in basic anthropometric measurement

  12 weeks

• Change in blood pressure

  12 weeks

• Change in Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) Chinese Version

  12 weeks

• Change in breath ketone

  12 weeks

Study Arms (3)

Low-calorie MIND-HK diet

EXPERIMENTAL

Low-calorie MIND-HK diet is based on the MIND diet originally developed by Morris and colleagues in 2015 (1, 2) and adapted from the Arjmand group's 3-month MIND diet intervention (5). The Low-calorie MIND-HK diet intervention will be a 12-week nutrition program consisting of four in-person nutrition counselling sessions (one session per week, 60 minutes per session and 30 minutes question and answer session) in an activity room at each participating community centre. All sessions will be conducted by a registered nutritionist. In the nutrition sessions, the participants will learn to modify their diet to meet the low-calorie MIND-HK diet guidelines.

Behavioral: Low-calorie MIND-HK diet

Very Low-calorie MIND-HK diet

EXPERIMENTAL

Very Low-calorie MIND-HK diet is based on the MIND diet originally developed by Morris and colleagues in 2015 (1, 2) and adapted from the Arjmand group's 3-month MIND diet intervention (5). The very Low-calorie MIND-HK diet intervention will be a 12-week nutrition programme consisting of four in-person nutrition counselling sessions (one session per week, 60 minutes per session and 30 minutes question and answer session) in an activity room at each participating community centre. All intervention sessions will be conducted by a registered nutritionist. In the nutrition sessions, the participants will learn to modify their diet to meet the low-calorie diet guidelines. As a reference, a 7-day sample menu that meets the required number of servings per day will be provided. To maintain consistency, one nutritionist and one research assistant, will administer the intervention.

Behavioral: Very Low-calorie MIND-HK diet

Control group

OTHER

An attention control group will receive the same amount of attention in four in-person infectious disease counselling sessions (one session per week, 60 minutes per session, and a 30- minute question and answer session) (6).

Other: Control group

Interventions

Very Low-calorie MIND-HK diet BEHAVIORAL

This 12-week community-based lifestyle intervention is designed to help participants modify their daily intake to meet very low-calorie MIND-HK dietary guidelines. Administered by a consistent team of one nutritionist and one research assistant to ensure program fidelity, the intervention includes four weekly sessions (60-minute lesson and 30-minute Q\&A) covering calorie-reduction strategies, alongside the distribution of structured sample menus and continuous tracking to support dietary compliance.

Very Low-calorie MIND-HK diet

Control group OTHER

An attention control group will receive the same amount of attention in four in-person infectious disease counselling sessions (one session per week, 60 minutes per session, and a 30- minute question and answer session).

Control group

Low-calorie MIND-HK diet BEHAVIORAL

This 12-week community-based lifestyle intervention is designed to help participants modify their daily intake to meet low-calorie MIND-HK dietary guidelines. The program includes four weekly education sessions (60-minute lesson and 30-minute Q\&A) covering portion control and food groups, alongside continuous monitoring of dietary logs to track compliance and support self-management throughout the study period.

Low-calorie MIND-HK diet

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 40 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• aged 40 to 70 years old;
• diagnosed with Type II DM; and
• Chinese ethnicity and able to speak and understand Cantonese.

You may not qualify if:

• patients on dialysis;
• Type I and Type II DM patients with insulin use;
• allergic to more than one type of food in the Low-calorie MIND-HK diet and very Low-calorie MIND- HK diet (e.g. nuts, berries, olive oil, or fish);
• Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women;
• Individuals with severe mental health conditions including severe depression, anxiety or other mental issues may struggle with the psychological demands of a very low calorie diet;
• People with low BMI less than 18.5;
• participation ni any dietary program within the past 3 months.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hong Kong Metropolitan University: lead

Related Publications (12)

• Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, Sacks FM, Barnes LL, Bennett DA, Aggarwal NT. MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging. Alzheimers Dement. 2015 Sep;11(9):1015-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.04.011. Epub 2015 Jun 15.

  PMID: 26086182 BACKGROUND

• Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, Sacks FM, Bennett DA, Aggarwal NT. MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2015 Sep;11(9):1007-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2014.11.009. Epub 2015 Feb 11.

  PMID: 25681666 BACKGROUND

• Kashyap A, Mackay A, Carter B, Fyfe CL, Johnstone AM, Myint PK. Investigating the Effectiveness of Very Low-Calorie Diets and Low-Fat Vegan Diets on Weight and Glycemic Markers in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2022 Nov 17;14(22):4870. doi: 10.3390/nu14224870.

  PMID: 36432557 BACKGROUND

• 4. International Diabetes Federation. (2025). IDF global clinical practice recommendations for managing type 2 diabetes - 2025. Retrieved from https://idf.org/t2d-cpr-2025

  BACKGROUND

• Arjmand G, Abbas-Zadeh M, Eftekhari MH. Effect of MIND diet intervention on cognitive performance and brain structure in healthy obese women: a randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep. 2022 Feb 21;12(1):2871. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04258-9.

  PMID: 35190536 BACKGROUND

• 6. Hohenschurz-Schmidt, D., Vase, L., Scott, W., Annoni, M., Ajayi, O. K., Barth, J., Bennell, K., Berna, C., Bialosky, J., Braithwaite, F., Finnerup, N. B., de C Williams, A. C., Carlino, E., Cerritelli, F., Chaibi, A., Cherkin, D., Colloca, L., Côté, P., Darnall, B. D., Evans, R., Fabre, L., Faria, V., French, S., Gerger, H., Häuser, W., Hinman, R. S., Ho, D., Janssens, T., Jensen, K., Johnston, C., Juhl Lunde, S., Keefe, F., Kerns, R. D., Koechlin, H., Kongsted, A., Michener, L. A., Moerman, D. E., Musial, F., Newell, D., Nicholas, M., Palermo, T. M., Palermo, S., Peerdeman, K. J., Pogatzki-Zahn, E. M., Puhl, A. A., Roberts, L., Rossettini, G., Tomczak Matthiesen, S., Underwood, M., Vaucher, P., Vollert, J., Wartolowska, K., Weimer, K., Werner, C. P., Rice, A. S. C., & Draper-Rodi, J. (2023). Recommendations for the development, implementation, and reporting of control interventions in efficacy and mechanistic trials of physical, psychological, and self-management therapies: The CoPPS Statement. British Medical Journal, 381, e072108. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-072108

  BACKGROUND

• Lean MEJ, Leslie WS, Barnes AC, Brosnahan N, Thom G, McCombie L, Peters C, Zhyzhneuskaya S, Al-Mrabeh A, Hollingsworth KG, Rodrigues AM, Rehackova L, Adamson AJ, Sniehotta FF, Mathers JC, Ross HM, McIlvenna Y, Welsh P, Kean S, Ford I, McConnachie A, Messow CM, Sattar N, Taylor R. Durability of a primary care-led weight-management intervention for remission of type 2 diabetes: 2-year results of the DiRECT open-label, cluster-randomised trial. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2019 May;7(5):344-355. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(19)30068-3. Epub 2019 Mar 6.

  PMID: 30852132 BACKGROUND

• Lean ME, Leslie WS, Barnes AC, Brosnahan N, Thom G, McCombie L, Peters C, Zhyzhneuskaya S, Al-Mrabeh A, Hollingsworth KG, Rodrigues AM, Rehackova L, Adamson AJ, Sniehotta FF, Mathers JC, Ross HM, McIlvenna Y, Stefanetti R, Trenell M, Welsh P, Kean S, Ford I, McConnachie A, Sattar N, Taylor R. Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomised trial. Lancet. 2018 Feb 10;391(10120):541-551. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)33102-1. Epub 2017 Dec 5.

  PMID: 29221645 BACKGROUND

• Taheri S, Zaghloul H, Chagoury O, Elhadad S, Ahmed SH, El Khatib N, Amona RA, El Nahas K, Suleiman N, Alnaama A, Al-Hamaq A, Charlson M, Wells MT, Al-Abdulla S, Abou-Samra AB. Effect of intensive lifestyle intervention on bodyweight and glycaemia in early type 2 diabetes (DIADEM-I): an open-label, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2020 Jun;8(6):477-489. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30117-0.

  PMID: 32445735 BACKGROUND

• Gummesson A, Nyman E, Knutsson M, Karpefors M. Effect of weight reduction on glycated haemoglobin in weight loss trials in patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2017 Sep;19(9):1295-1305. doi: 10.1111/dom.12971. Epub 2017 May 22.

  PMID: 28417575 BACKGROUND

• Sattar N, Welsh P, Leslie WS, Thom G, McCombie L, Brosnahan N, Richardson J, Gill JMR, Crawford L, Lean MEJ. Dietary weight-management for type 2 diabetes remissions in South Asians: the South Asian diabetes remission randomised trial for proof-of-concept and feasibility (STANDby). Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia. 2023 Feb;9:100111. doi: 10.1016/j.lansea.2022.100111.

  PMID: 36777452 BACKGROUND

• Hocking SL, Markovic TP, Lee CMY, Picone TJ, Gudorf KE, Colagiuri S. Intensive Lifestyle Intervention for Remission of Early Type 2 Diabetes in Primary Care in Australia: DiRECT-Aus. Diabetes Care. 2024 Jan 1;47(1):66-70. doi: 10.2337/dc23-0781.

  PMID: 37840461 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2

Interventions

Control Groups

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Diabetes Mellitus; Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Endocrine System Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Epidemiologic Research Design; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Research Design; Methods

Central Study Contacts

Queenie Law, PhD

CONTACT

3970 2974; qlaw@hkmu.edu.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 3, 2026
• First Posted: June 9, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2029
• Last Updated: June 9, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL