Foods To Reduce Your Risk for Developing Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes now affects 26 million Americans. Diet can be a major risk factor for developing this disease.   A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition evaluated more than 85,000 women who were followed over a 20-year period. In this group, 4,670 cases of diabetes appeared. The researchers did an analysis of the diets of each of the participants and determined the amounts of carbohydrate, fat, and protein that these subjects consumed. In addition, they applied an analysis called glycemic load to the diets, with the understanding that diets higher in glycemic-load foods tend to increase blood sugar.  

Researchers found that a “higher dietary glycemic load was strongly associated with an increased risk of diabetes.” It was found that risk for type 2 diabetes was 250% higher in those consuming the highest glycemic-load diets compared to those whose diets were lowest in glycemic-load foods.  

This research would suggest that a diet that is higher in fat, while lower in carbohydrates, is a diet that is associated with reduced risk for developing diabetes. Science is telling us that we need to eat fewer carbohydrates—foods lower on the glycemic-load scale—and welcome healthful fat back to the table if we want to reduce our risk for diabetes.