Our world is quickly becoming smaller and smaller. With advances in technology it is now easy to connect to someone across the globe, whether it's by jumping on a plane or using the internet. With rapid globalization also comes the spread of the Western lifestyle, including the Western diet. Studies have shown that the spread of the Western diet is linked to the global increase in diabetes prevalence. The Western diet is characterized as having a higher intake of red and processed meats, sweets and desserts, french fries, and refined sugars.
Two large studies demonstrated the link between the Western diet and diabetes in men and women. One study involved 69,554 women from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS). The women did not previous history of diabetes, heart disease or cancer.
Two major dietary patterns were identified, "Western" and "prudent". The prudent diet is characterized by higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, poultry and whole grains. The study found that the Western diet raised the risk of developing diabetes by 50%.
A separate study examined 42,504 male health professionals, also without previous history of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The two dietary patterns, Western and prudent, were identified. The findings showed that men who followed the Western dietary pattern had an almost 60% greater risk of developing diabetes when compared to men whose dietary pattern was more "prudent".
It's scary to think that underdeveloped countries are seeing large increases in diabetes prevalence. The U.S. has many more resources yet we also are struggling to contain this epidemic. I can't imagine what this means for countries who don't have the resources we do.
References
Fung, T. T., Schulze, M., Manson, J. E., Willett, W. C., & Hu, F. B. (2004). Dietary patterns, meat intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Archives of Internal Medicine, 164(20):2235-2240. doi:10.1001/archinte.164.20.2235
Van Dam, R. M., Rimm, E. B., Willett, W. C., Stampfer, M. J., & Hu, F. B. (2002). Dietary patterns and risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in U.S. men. Annals of Internal Medicine, 136(3), pp 201-209
Wow! Very interesting statistics! I had no idea that the spread of the Western diet had had such an impact on the prevalence of diabetes! Increasing the risk of developing diabetes by 50% is very significant, particularly when you then consider the increased risk of developing other related conditions such as kidney disease and circulatory problems. Increasing awareness and use of the prudent diet is so important in order to decrease the prevalence of diabetes. There is such a domino effect of health related problems with the presence of diabetes that affect not only the individual, but entire families. Thank you for posting great information!
ReplyDeleteKim
Alex,
ReplyDeleteI found your posting and the information about the significant differences between the Western and prudent diet very interesting. This kind of information was also studied in the 80’s by the Cornell/Oxford/China Project. Their report also connected several diseases to diet. It was reported that the traditional Chinese diet resulted in less cancer, specifically colon and breast cancer (China-Cornell-Oxford Project, n.d.). This study began more than 30 years ago. Thirty years! Even though a clear diet-disease link has been established, Western diet has not changed and just continues to increase the risk of diabetes and cancer.
Reference
China-Cornell-Oxford Project (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://webarchive.human.cornell.edu/chinaproject/index.html#1983.
Alex,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting finds with the two different studies. I know that 50% and 60% are large percentages, I was wondering if the difference would be greater that this? With much of refined sugar and processed meats and foods, it definitely seems to add up.
In response to the increase third world countries, do you think the increase of diabetes in these countries is due to the food that is provided to the countries, especially from Western diet donors? I think that would be interesting to find out. I know many people sent the hungry rice since it is a cheap grain but not whole grain and does add a lot of the negatives to their diet. Either way, the Western diet is a dinagerous one if we want to take care of ourselves.
Thanks for sharing.
BJ