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CNN
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Excessive consumption of refined wheat and rice products, along with insufficient consumption of whole grains, are fueling the growth of new cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide, according to a new study that models data up to 2018.
“Our study suggests that poor carbohydrate quality is a major dietary contributor to type 2 diabetes globally,” said lead author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, professor of nutrition at Tufts University and professor of medicine at Tufts School of Medicine in Boston, in a statement.
Another key factor: People are eating way too much red and processed meats, like bacon, sausage, salami and others, the study found. Those three factors — too few whole grains and too many grains and processed meats — were the main contributors to more than 14 million new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2018, according to the study, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.
In fact, the study estimates that 7 in 10 cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide in 2018 were linked to poor dietary choices.
“These new findings reveal critical areas to focus on nationally and globally to improve nutrition and reduce the devastating consequences of diabetes,” said Mozaffarian, who is also editor-in-chief of the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter.
Mozaffarian and his team developed a model to look at dietary intake between 1990 and 2018 and applied it to 184 countries. Compared with 1990, there were 8.6 million additional cases of type 2 diabetes due to poor diet in 2018, the study found.
Researchers have found that excessive consumption of unhealthy foods is more of a cause of type 2 diabetes worldwide than lack of diet. healthy foods, particularly for men versus women, young versus older adults, and urban versus rural residents.
More than 60% of the global total of diet-related cases of the disease were due to excessive consumption of six unhealthy eating habits: eating too much refined rice, wheat and potatoes; too much processed and unprocessed red meat; and drinking too many sugary 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.
People in Poland and Russia, where diets tend to focus on potatoes and red and processed meat, as well as other countries in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia, had the highest percentage of new cases of type 2 diabetes linked to diet.
Colombia, Mexico and other Latin American and Caribbean countries have also recorded high numbers of new cases, which researchers say may be due to an addiction to sugary drinks and processed meat, as well as low consumption of whole grains.
“Our modeling approach does not prove causality, and our results should be considered as risk estimates,” the authors write.
