Diet for Diabetes Effects Different Ethnicities Differently

Maybe we’re not all the same after all–at least when it comes to diet and health.

Because new research claims meat and fat heavy diets for controlling diabetes actually raises the risk of diabetes, but the effect varies among ethnic groups and gender.

Writing in the journal Diabetes Care, experts found that Japanese and American women in the study had a higher risk of developing diabetes on a high fat diet than their Hawaiian counterparts.

Hawaiian women showed no strong association between a high fat diet and diabetes.

For the study, a high fat diet included things like meat, cheese, eggs, and refined grains.

Men did not fair so well. Men with the highest consumption of high fat foods were 40% more likely to get diabetes, even after considering other factors like age, weight and exercise habits.

And to make the whole issue even more confusing, diets rich in vegetables help protect Japanese and white men from diabetes, but not native Hawaiian men.

But despite the schizophrenic results, scientists still recommend consuming more fruits and vegetables than foods in the high fat group.

Via Reuters.

Image credit: Reading Country Club