Almonds and fewer carbs kept night-time blood sugar steady in type 2 diabetes

Swapping some of the rice at dinner for vegetables and a few almonds is a smart move for your blood sugar. In a randomized trial, people with type 2 diabetes who ate a low-carb diet with almonds had steadier blood sugar overnight than people on a low-fat diet.

The almond group spent nearly the whole night in the target zone. That means a calmer night for your body, and a simple change at dinner that you can start tonight.

How the study worked

Researchers at a hospital in China randomly split 33 hospitalized adults with type 2 diabetes into two groups. One group ate a low-fat diet. The other ate a low-carbohydrate diet that included almonds. Everyone wore a continuous glucose monitor, a small sensor that tracks blood sugar around the clock. The trial was published in July 2026 in Nutrition and Diabetes. It was a small trial with meals controlled in a hospital, so the next step is testing it in everyday life.

What they found

The sensors measured “time in range,” which is the share of time your blood sugar stays in the healthy target zone. Overnight, the almond low-carb group stayed in range about 99% of the time, or 98.51% exactly. The low-fat group was in range 91.67% of the time.

The researchers also looked at a tighter target zone. Here the gap was bigger. The almond group stayed in the tight zone about 94% of the night (94.14%). The low-fat group managed about 78% (77.58%).

Blood sugar also bounced around less in the almond group. A lower number here means a steadier line on the sensor. The almond group scored 15.57 mg/dL, against 23.62 mg/dL for the low-fat group. In the almond group, the median time spent above the target range overnight was zero.

These results held up after the researchers accounted for age, sex and how long each person had lived with diabetes. After that adjustment, the almond low-carb diet was still tied to about 7 more points of nighttime time in range (6.65 percentage points) and about 15 more points in the tight range (14.60 percentage points).

What is “time in range” and why does it matter?

A glucose sensor takes a reading every few minutes, so you can see the whole day, not just a finger-stick or two. Time in range adds up how much of that time you spent in the target zone. More time in range means fewer high spikes. Many people with diabetes find it an easier number to work with than a single reading, because it shows the whole picture, including the night, when you are asleep and not checking anything.

What you can do today

At dinner tonight, cut your rice, pasta or bread portion by about a third to a half. Fill that space with non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, green beans or a big salad. Add a small handful of unsalted almonds on the side or over the veggies. If you wear a glucose sensor, look at your overnight line tomorrow morning and see how it compares with your usual dinner. If you take diabetes medicine, especially insulin, check with your care team before cutting carbs a lot, since eating fewer carbs can sometimes push blood sugar too low.