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Effects of diet on diabetes risk vary by ethnicity
Reported December 31, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Diets heavy in meat and fat seem to raise
the risk of diabetes, though the effects of this and other diet patterns may
vary by ethnicity and sex, a new study finds.
The study, reported in the journal Diabetes Care, focused on white
Americans, as well as Japanese Americans and Native Hawaiians -- two groups
that have relatively high risks of diabetes.
Native Hawaiians have high rates of obesity, which is closely connected to
type 2 diabetes, but research shows that weight does not fully explain their
elevated risk of the disease. For their part, Japanese Americans have higher
rates of type 2 diabetes than their white counterparts, despite the fact
that, on average, they weigh less.
The reasons for these ethnic disparities are not completely clear, but one
possibility is that there are differing effects of diet on diabetes risk,
independent of body weight.
In the new study, researchers found that among nearly 8,600 Hawaii
residents, those with largely "fat and meat" diets -- high in foods like
meat, cheese, eggs and refined grains -- generally had a higher risk of
developing diabetes over 14 years.
Among men, the one-fifth with the highest intake of these foods were 40
percent more likely to develop diabetes than the one-fifth with the lowest
intake -- even with factors like age, weight and exercise habits taken into
account.
That same dietary pattern was linked to a 22 percent greater diabetes risk
among women.
However, analyzing the data further, the researchers found that the effect
of the fat-and-meat diet was strongest among overweight men and overweight
Japanese-American women. In contrast, there was no strong relationship
between a heavy meat-and-fat diet and diabetes risk among Native Hawaiian
women.
Similarly, other dietary patterns showed varying effects based on ethnicity
and sex, according to Dr. Gertraud Maskarinec and colleagues at the
University of Hawaii in Honolulu.
Diets high in vegetables, for instance, seemed protective among Japanese and
white men, but not Native Hawaiian men or women of any ethnicity. Meanwhile,
diets rich in fruit, milk and yogurt seemed to benefit women more than men.
Despite the varying effects, the findings shed light on the types of eating
habits that may raise, or lower, diabetes risk among Japanese Americans and
Native Hawaiians, according to Maskarinec.
In particular, she told Reuters Health in an email, the findings "point to
the detrimental effects of consuming a lot of meat, high-fat foods and white
flour."
She added that both ethnic groups tend to have high intakes of red and
processed meats, so cutting down on those foods may be important.
And while the findings suggested that fruits and vegetables did not benefit
all groups equally, everyone should try to eat more of those foods for the
sake of their overall health, according to Maskarinec.
"In our study, the findings for the fat and meat patterns are much clearer
than for the other two (diet patterns)," Maskarinec noted. So, she added,
some of the findings on fruits and vegetables may have been due to chance --
as opposed to reflecting a true effect, or lack of effect.
The researchers call for further studies on the effects of vegetables, fruit
and dairy products on diabetes risk. "A better understanding of dietary
factors related to diabetes risk in Japanese Americans and Native Hawaiians
will be useful in developing preventive strategies in these high risk
groups."
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, online December 10, 2009. |
