Does Intermittent Fasting Prevent Diabetes?
Diet is a leading cause of type 2 diabetes. Is intermittent fasting the solution? And what can the food and beverage industry do to engage with it? Diabetes affects around 422 million people worldwide, and leads to approximately 1.5 million deaths per year. While type 1 diabetes is caused by genetic factors, type 2 diabetes is caused by external factors and believed to be preventable. Now, results of a new study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, indicate intermittent fasting could play a major role in that prevention. So, how can intermittent fasting help to prevent type 2 diabetes? And how can the food and beverage industry engage with this?
How can intermittent fasting prevent type 2 diabetes? Researchers have discovered that restricting food intake to a 10-hour daily window improves important markers in a number of health issues, including metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions associated with heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
The study, carried out by researchers from University of California San Diego School of Medicine in collaboration with the Salk Institute, found that a form of intermittent fasting called time-restricted eating, could improve health of individuals with metabolic syndrome and prediabetes. Results demonstrated significant improvements in key markers of cardiometabolic health, including blood sugar and cholesterol.
Excerpted from Food Navigator