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Study Finds Gluten Tied to Diabetes Risk

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Study Finds Gluten Tied to Diabetes Risk

Gluten consumption could be a factor in your risk of developing diabetes.

A recent study by the American Heart Association found that people who have diets heavier in gluten are at less risk of developing type 2 diabetes. People who aren’t on restricted diets related to their consumption of gluten are more likely to eat cereal fibers, which are known to protect against the development of type 2 diabetes.

Gluten is a protein that can be found in many types of bread and baked goods. Some individuals experience a sensitivity or an allergy to gluten.

The Study

The observational study, conducted by researchers associated with the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions, 2017, explored the role gluten plays in peoples’ lives and their subsequent risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study followed participants for many years and, using a series of questionnaires, polled people about their health status and consumption of gluten.

Most participants in the study reported consuming less than 12 grams of gluten per day. The top 20% of the participants who ate the most gluten had a 13% less risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with the participants that reported not eating a lot of gluten.

Nearly 200,000 participants were used in the study. Participants were gathered from the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. These three studies ran from 1984-1990 and from 2010-2013.

Future research

Due to the time period when the study participants were first gathered into the study, a control group of gluten-free participants weren’t part of the research question as a control group. In today’s society, it would be much easier to recreate this study and include individuals who are gluten-free, which would increase the amount of data that could be gathered and analyzed about the risk factors for type 2 diabetes when exposed to less gluten.

Although consuming gluten does seem to have an effect on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, there are still many other health factors that influence an individual’s potential of developing type 2 diabetes.

Research

American Heart Association. “Low gluten diets linked to higher risk of type 2 diabetes.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 March 2017. Accessed March 22, 2017.