Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables–these are all foods we should be eating, yet few of us do. But new emerging research presented by scientists at the American Diabetes Association’s 74th Scientific Sessions Conference says that making these changes could cut your risk of type 2 diabetes by 20 percent, even if you don’t lose weight.
The study, which was headed by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, is one of the first to show that improving the quality of your diet, even if you don’t lose weight or exercise, can still have profound impacts on your diabetes risk.
“We found that diet was indeed associated with diabetes independent of weight loss and increased physical activity,” says Sylvia Ley, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and researcher of the study. “”If you improve other lifestyle factors you reduce your risk for type 2 diabetes even more, but improving diet quality alone has significant benefits. This is important because it is often difficult for people to maintain a calorie-restricted diet for a long time.”
Looking at the dietary habits of adults at risk of type 2 diabetes, researchers initially evaluated the “quality” of their diets using the 110-point Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010, guidelines for healthy eating issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2010.
Following these guidelines, the ideal diet–one that would be scored highly–included plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole wheat products, and healthy fats, such as monounsaturated fat, whereas refined grains and “empty calorie” products were considered bad. Researchers first graded the participants’ eating habits using this scale, and then graded their eating habits four years after the study first began to see if they had made any improvements to their diet.
As they soon found out, those who improved the quality of their diet by just 10 percent reduced their risk of type 2 diabetes by 20 percent. It also didn’t matter if they lost weight or exercised–something thought in the past to influence a person’s diabetes risk.
These results are potentially groundbreaking.
“We want them to know if they can improve the overall quality of what they eat–consume less red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages, and more fruits, vegetables and whole grains–they are going to improve their health and reduce their risk for diabetes,” says Ley. “Regardless of where participants started, improving diet quality was beneficial for all.”
What You Should Do
Want to lower your diabetes risk? There’s good news: You don’t need to lose weight or exercise. Instead, you need to focus on improving the quality of your day-to-day diet–such as replacing refined grains with whole wheat products, eating more fruits and vegetables, and cutting out processed food. Adding more healthy fats to your diet, such as monounsaturated fat, can also keep diabetes at bay.
Readers: What are some healthful changes you’ve made to your diet?
Sources:
Study: Diet Quality Trumps Weight Loss and Exercise At Reducing Type 2 Diabetes Risk – EurekAlert.org
Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 Index – USDA.gov
Diet Quality Lowers Diabetes Risk Regardless of Weight Lost – ScienceDaily.com
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