Poorly controlled type 2 diabetic men and women, aged between 20 and 80 years, with HbA1c≧ 7.5% (58mmol/mol) in the previous 3 months participated in this randomized controlled 18-month trial at a medical center. Patients were randomly assigned to the interventional group and given a 90g/day low carbohydrate diet (LCD) or the controlled group, which maintained a standard calorie-restricted diet (CRD). All patients received periodic educational intervention and were monitored for weight, body composition, waist girth, hip girth, thigh girth, pre- and post-prandial serum glucose, HbA1c, lipid profile, renal function, medication effect score and major cardiovascular events.