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Eating too many refined wheat and rice products and too few whole grains is contributing to the rise in new cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide, according to a new study that models the consumption of too many refined wheat and rice products and too few whole grains. data for 2018.
“Our study shows that low-quality carbohydrates are the leading cause of diet-related type 2 diabetes worldwide,” senior author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, professor of nutrition at Tufts University and professor of medicine at Tufts Medical School in Boston, said in a statement.
Another key factor: People eat too much red and processed meat, such as bacon, sausage, salami and the like, the study says. These three factors—eating too few whole grains and too many processed grains and meats—were the leading causes of more than 14 million new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2018, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.
In fact, the study estimates that 7 out of 10 cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide in 2018 were due to poor food choices.
“These new findings highlight important areas where national and global efforts need to be focused to improve nutrition and reduce the devastating burden of diabetes,” said Mozaffarian, who is also the journal's editor-in-chief. Tufts Letter on Health and Nutrition.
Mozaffarian and his team developed a dietary research model between 1990 and 2018 and applied it to 184 countries. The study found that compared to 1990, there were 8.6 million more cases of type 2 diabetes in 2018 due to poor diet.
Researchers have found that eating too much junk food is more likely to cause type 2 diabetes globally than not eating enough. healthy foods, especially for men versus women, young people versus older people, and urban versus rural residents.
More than 60% of the world's total diet-related disease cases were due to excess consumption of just six bad dietary habits: eating too much refined rice, wheat and potatoes; too much processed and unprocessed red meat; and drinking too many sweetened drinks and fruit juices.
Inadequate intake of five protective dietary factors—fruits, non-starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and yogurt—was responsible for just over 39% of new cases.
The highest percentages of new cases of type 2 diabetes associated with diet were observed in Poland and Russia, where diets tend to focus on potatoes, red and processed meats, and in other countries in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia.
Colombia, Mexico and other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are also reporting high numbers of new cases, which researchers say may be linked to dependence on sugary drinks and processed meats, as well as low consumption of whole grains.
“Our modeling approach does not prove causation, and our results should be considered an estimate of risk,” the authors write.
