Your Breakfast Cereal Can Cut Diabetes Risk by 18 Percent

A new study from Europe claims to provide the strongest evidence yet of dietary fibre lowering risk of diabetes type 2.

The study is based on data obtained from the EPIC-InterAct Study comprising 12,403 adults with diabetes type 2 across eight countries. The new study found that higher fiber intake was associated with an 18 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Cereal fiber was found to have the greatest lowering effect on diabetes onset compared to vegetable and fruit fiber.

"This work adds to the growing evidence of the health benefits of diets rich in fiber, in particular cereal fiber. Public health measures globally to increase fiber consumption are therefore likely to play an important part in halting the epidemics of obesity and of type 2 diabetes," said the study's senior author Nick Wareham a professor at University of Cambridge.

While researchers did not explain the association they found that adjusting for BMI of the participants caused risk lowering effect of fiber to disappear. This led them to conclude that fiber lowers risk by preventing weight gain and maintaining a healthy BMI.

"We are not certain why this might be, but potential mechanisms could include feeling physically full for longer, prolonged release of hormonal signals, slowed down nutrient absorption, or altered fermentation in the large intestine. All these mechanisms could lead to a lower BMI and reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes. As well as helping keep weight down, dietary fiber may also affect diabetes risk by other mechanisms - for instance improving control of blood sugar and decreasing insulin peaks after meals, and increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin," said Dagfinn Aune a PhD student who analyzed the data.