Lowering Fat Intake Might Stave Off Diabetes Even Without Weight Loss

Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 21 May 2011 - 0:00 PDT


Small differences in diet even without weight loss can significantly affect risk for diabetes, according to research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham published online May 18, 2011, by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

In this study, 69 healthy, overweight people who did not have diabetes but were at risk for it were placed on diets with modest reductions in either fat or carbohydrate 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," said Barbara Gower, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at UAB and lead author of the study. "These improvements indicate a decreased risk for diabetes."

Gower says the unique aspect of this study is that the results were independent of weight loss. The study 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 analyses. Thus, results from this study suggest that those trying to minimize risk for diabetes over the long term might consider limiting their daily consumption of fat at around 27 percent of their diet.

"People find it hard to lose weight," said Gower. "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."

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Additional
• References
• Citations