BLOGS - Small diet changes lower diabetes risk

Small diet changes lower diabetes risk

Jun9

Written by:
09/06/2011 10:33

Making small differences to your diet can significantly affect your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even without significant weight loss, the results of a new study indicate.

It is already well established that being overweight or obese can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, therefore losing weight may reduce this risk.US researchers looked at 69 people who were all overweight and at risk of developing diabetes. They were put on diets which involved modest reductions in either fat or carbohydrates for eight weeks.

"At eight weeks, the group on the lower fat diet had significantly higher insulin secretion and better glucose tolerance and tended to have higher insulin sensitivity. These improvements indicate a decreased risk for diabetes," explained lead researcher, Prof Barbara Gower, of the University of Alabama.She emphasized that the unique aspect of this study was that the results were independent of weight loss. The participants were fed exactly the amount of food required to maintain their body weight and the researchers took into account any minor fluctuations in body weight during the analysis.

Results from this study therefore suggest that those trying to minimize risk for diabetes over the long term might consider limiting their daily consumption of fat to around 27% of their diet. "People find it hard to lose weight. What is important about our study is that the results suggest that attention to diet quality, not quantity, can make a difference in risk for type 2 diabetes," Prof Gower said.

Other risks associated with developing diabetes include:

· High blood pressure