A new type of diet by commercial weight-loss firm Jenny Craig, formulated to aid people in managing Type 2 diabetes has been effective in a clinical trial, researchers say.

Participants in the Jenny Craig trial lost three times the weight as those in a control group, and more than 70 percent of the participants taking insulin for diabetes management found they were able cease taking it or to reduce their dosage.

The newly formulated diet program allowed trial participants to lower blood sugar figures even more successfully than people on an existing Jenny Craig diet program, the researchers found in the study funded by the commercial weight-loss company.

"'What's nice about a clinical trial like this is that all my colleagues who have patients struggling with diabetes can know there are community-based programs that are healthy' to recommend," says lead study researcher Cheryl Rock at the medical school of the University of California, San Diego.

In the United States 35 percent of adults are classified as obese, while eight percent -- around 26 million Americans -- suffer from diabetes.

Untreated diabetes can put people at risk of blindness, amputation of lower limbs, hearing loss, kidney failure and an increased risk of heart disease.

"Weight loss is a primary strategy for successful management of type 2 diabetes due to its impact on glycemic control and improvements in cardiovascular disease risk factors," says Rock. "These study results suggest that patients not only lose weight on structured commercial weight loss programs that include behavioral modification and individual support, but that this weight loss translates to significant improvements in diabetes control and cardio-metabolic parameters."

Participants taking part in the study were divided between two different Jenny Craig programs, a lower fat, higher carbohydrate diet or a plan featuring higher fat and lower carbohydrates. Both of the groups experienced enhanced weight loss, a higher level of physical activity, reduced depression scores as well as a decrease in required medications when measured against the study's control group.

Dr. Frank Hu of the School of Public Health at Harvard University, who was not involved in the trial, says the findings support previous research suggesting a low-carb diet like one of Jenny Craig's programs is easier to stay with for people trying to control their diabetes

"[The Jenny Craig plan] was a moderately low carb diet," says Hu. "It's probably more acceptable to more patients and it may also improve their long-term adherence."

"I think the important message from this study is that there is a need for structured program for weight loss," he says. "Simply telling the patient to lose weight and eat better is not going to work. It doesn't have to be Jenny Craig -- it could be other commercial programs."