Fruits, Vegetables, Legumes, Whole Grains Linked with Less Pre-Diabetes

Pre-diabetes can increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease, so understanding lifestyle factors is important. To see how diet relates to pre-diabetes, scientists analyzed the eating habits of 150 pre-diabetic adults in Iran, and 150 healthy, matched controls. Two distinct eating patterns emerged: the “vegetable, fruit, legume” pattern, with lots of plant foods including produce, whole grains, nuts, low fat dairy, and fish, and the “sweet, solid fat, meat, and mayonnaise” pattern, with lots desserts, red meat, fried potatoes, and solid fats. Those whose diets more aligned with the “vegetable, fruit, legume” pattern were significantly less likely to be pre-diabetic than those whose diets more closely resembled the “sweet, solid fat, meat, and mayonnaise” pattern.
British Journal of Nutrition. 2016 Sep;116(5):874-81. (Bagheri F et al.)