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Evidence strongly supports that individuals who adopt a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables and fiber and cut back on unhealthy fats and red meat can reduce their risk of developing diabetes.
These findings are based on a study conducted from 1984 to 2002 in which the eating habits of some 80,000 women were tracked and evaluated. The study measured diet quality according to nine components which were combined to make up an “Alternate Healthy Eating Index”. The nine components of the index consisted of: fruits, vegetables, cereal fiber, nuts and soy, moderate alcohol drinking, the ratio of white meat to red meat, trans fat, the ratio of polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat, and the long-term use of multivitamins. During the follow up period, those women who scored the highest on the index, in other words those who most closely followed the Healthy Eating components, were found to be 36 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those with the lowest scores.
The study also found that those women whose scores improved, even as late as the last four years of the study, had a lower risk of developing diabetes as compared to those with a consistently low score. This seems to indicate that it is never too late to try and improve one’s diet to reduce the risk of diabetes.
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, July 2007.
Whether you go to our book review of Diabetes for Dummies or that of The Diabetes Survival Guide, you’ll hear the benefits of Cinnamon and healthy, non-processed foods in the fight against diabetes. Both authors Rubin and Mirsky will also tell you that diabetes is a preventable disease in the majority of cases. So why not just prevent it. But if we end up with the diagnosis, let’s do all we can to take back our own destiny by eating those foods that most likely will help heal the body from the damage incurred. Reviewing the book Healing Foods for Dummies might also help.
This is one that must be attacked, and attacked with the confidence that you can make a difference and it is worth the battle.
God Bless,
Dr. Benzinger
