Consuming a high fiber diet reduces diabetes risk in Latin Americans.

I fully recognize that this is a report that’s not exactly breaking news.  And if you’ve read even a little of my book, you know what an advocate I am of maintaining a high fiber diet, while reducing any diet that’s high in sugar. You also know that my book’s backed with a host of studies that defend my positions.  But like any good defense, it’s best countered with a good offense, which is why I felt compelled to bring to your attention the latest study that shows how a diet high in fiber improves the risk factors associated with diabetes.

The latest fiber find comes from the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine and it involved a targeted group of children, Latin-American children.  Latin-American children are similar to African-Americans in that they are more susceptible to diabetes than Caucasians, simply because of their ethnicity.  In fact, the American Diabetes Association says that African Americans are almost two times more likely to develop diabetes than non-Latino Caucasians (notice I said “non-Latino).  Whether that’s due to environment or some biological aspect that differentiates blacks from whites, no one knows for sure.  But I digress, because this study focused on children of Latino descent.

The study was surprisingly straightforward.  All the researchers did was have the children consume less sugar per day – the equivalent of about 47 grams, or what amounts to about one can of Coca-Cola – and increase their fiber intake by about five grams per day (or one cup of a high fiber cereal, like Kashi Go Lean).

These small changes elicited some huge results.  Because by the study’s conclusion, the children who upped their fiber intake while decreasing their sugar intake (56 percent of them did this) decreased their adipose fat tissue volume by 10 percent and decreased their insulin secretion by about 33 percent.  This is a good thing, of course, because the less insulin that’s released into the blood stream, the more normal the blood sugar levels are.

It’s important to get our kids on the fiber bandwagon early in life by really emphasizing vegetables at the dinner table and at lunch hour.  It’s of particular importance among Latin Americans.  For whatever reason, Latin-Americans are at great risk for diabetes development, a condition that leads to approximately 300,000 deaths annually in Latin America and the Carribbean, according to the Pan American Health Organization.  And that’s just the toll it takes on life.  Diabetes puts a significant strain on the Latin American economy, as disabilities that stem from diabetes leave business eating $763 million in productivity losses.

To stem this flow of productivity and, much more importantly, life itself, a high fiber diet needs to be the hallmark of any eating plan.  It’s not just great for the regulation of the digestive system, but for the regulation of diabetes, and virtually every other health issue you can imagine, from the head (the B vitamins in high fiber diets improve brain function) to the heart (high fiber diets decrease the chances of developing heart disease).

Sources:
steadyhealth.com
nutraingredients-usa.com
defeatdiabetes.org
nutraingredients-usa.com