|
Researchers report that the type of fat found in
- cookies
- cakes
- and other processed foods
can raise a woman's risk of diabetes, while polyunsaturated fat in certain types of fish and vegetable oils appears to lower the risk.
Substituting foods rich in trans fat with those that contain polyunsaturated fat could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by about 40%.
Total fat and saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid intakes are not importantly associated with risk of type 2 diabetes in women but dietary trans fatty acids increase and dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids reduce the risk.
According to the report, Americans consume about 3% of total calories from trans fat, which is produced when liquid fat such as oil is processed in order to make it solid at room temperature.
Margarine, for example, is a major source of trans fatty acids.
Investigators reviewed medical and dietary data from more than 84,000 women who did not have diabetes, heart disease or cancer when the study began in 1980. Results show that intake of total fat, saturated fat and monounsaturated fat found in nuts, seeds and avocados did not influence diabetes risk.
But a 2% increase in calories from trans fatty acids raised the risk by 39% and a 5% increase in calories from polyunsaturated fat lowered the risk by 37%.
Patients with type 2 diabetes do not respond to insulin, the hormone that clears the blood of sugar after a meal and deposits it into cells throughout the body to use as energy. Insulin resistance, a condition in which the body begins to ignore the hormone's commands, is often a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition June 2001;73:1001-1002, 1019-1026
| 