Lowering risk

(Reuters Health) - Pregnant women at high risk for developing gestational diabetes may be less likely to experience this complication when they switch to a Mediterranean diet instead of sticking with their usual eating habits, a recent experiment suggests.Researchers studied 1,252 women who had obesity, high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol before they conceived - all so-called metabolic risk factors that increase the risk of gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Midway through pregnancy, researchers randomly assigned roughly half of these women to switch to a Mediterranean diet rich in nuts, extra virgin olive oil, fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes and low on sugary foods as well as red and processed meat. The remaining mothers continued their usual diets, according to the report in PLoS Medicine.Compared to women who didn't change their eating habits, mothers who switched to the Mediterranean diet were 35per cent less likely to develop gestational diabetes, a version … [Read more...] about Mediterranean diet tied to lower risk of gestational diabetes

(Reuters Health) - People who tend to eat mostly plants may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, a research review suggests.Researchers examined data from nine previously published studies with a total of 307,099 participants, including 23,544 people who developed type 2 diabetes. The length of the studies ranged from 2 to 28 years. All of the studies used food frequency questionnaires to assess participants' diets.Overall, people who most closely adhered to a vegan, vegetarian or other type of plant-based diet were 23per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who consumed the least amount of plant-based meals, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine."Plant-based diets can promote metabolic health and reduce diabetes risk through many pathways, including preventing excess weight gain, improving insulin sensitivity, reducing inflammation, and other mechanisms," said Dr. Qi Sun, senior author of the study and a researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of … [Read more...] about Plant-based diets tied to lower risk of type 2 diabetes

Men who eat at least two servings a week of yogurt may be lowering their risk for colorectal cancer, a recent study suggests.Researchers examined data on 32,606 male and 55,743 female health professionals who had a colonoscopy between 1986 and 2012. Study participants provided detailed information about their health, lifestyle, eating and exercise habits every four years.Over that time, there were 5,811 cases of colorectal adenomas, or abnormal tissue that can sometimes become cancerous, in men and 8,116 adenomas in women.Compared to men who didn't eat any yogurt, those who had at least two servings weekly were 19 percent less likely to develop so-called conventional adenomas, the most common kind of polyps found in the colon and rectum during colonoscopies. The yogurt eaters were also 26 percent less likely to develop adenomas with the highest potential to turn into cancer."Our data provide novel evidence for the role of yogurt in the early stage of colorectal cancer development," … [Read more...] about Men who eat yogurt may have lower colon cancer risk