Western’ Diet Linked to Type 2 Diabetes in Women

The “Western” diet–one especially high in red and processed meats and refined grain–linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke, colon cancer, and heart disease in women. The report’s lead author, noted that the "Western" eating pattern high in red and processed meats, also has been linked in recent past studies to an increased risk of stroke, colon cancer, and heart disease.

Nutrition Professor Teresa Fung of the Simmons College School for Health Studies, noted that with this new analysis. " we can add diabetes to the list. I think this is another reason to shift away from that type of diet."

The new study found that the "Western diet" high in red and processed meats and refined grains, as opposed to a diet low in those foodstuffs, is associated with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes in women.

"Therefore," the study concluded, "it may be prudent to reduce consumption of these foods items to decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes."

Fung says that for a long time, it was uncertain whether diet directly affects the risk of type 2 diabetes. While it is well known that obesity increases the risk, and diet is related to obesity, little data was available to see if diet has any influence beyond its effect on weight. Fung’s study broke away from the traditional way of looking at foods one at a time to see if they were related to diabetes risk, and instead looked at an individual’s entire dietary pattern.

Archives of Internal Medicine, Nov 2004