Wouldn’t it be great if you could eat anything you want and not have to worry about developing (or worsening) diabetes? Imagine having a serving of fries or a bowl of ice cream and not have to worry. Unfortunately that is not possible and a magical solution does not exist. However, there’s a trick. According to a study published in PLOS Medicine, eating the right kind of fat can benefit your health.
The study was led by Dr. Dariush Mozaffrarian from Tufts University in Massachusetts and Fumiaki Imamura from the University of Cambridge in the UK. They analyzed the carbohydrate and fat content in the meals of 4,660 adults, monitoring their influence in type 2 diabetes.
The findings suggest that exchanging dietary carbohydrate with saturated fat does not affect the levels of blood sugar. However, it was shown that changing a diet from carbohydrate and saturated fat to one rich in unsaturated fat improves the regulation of blood glucose.
But you might be wondering, “what does this mean for me?”
What Is an Unsaturated Fat?
This is going to get a little technical, but I’ll try to keep it simple. Fats or fatty acids are long chains of of carbon with hydrogen linked to each carbon atom and a carboxyl group attached at the end. Below is a a diagram of the chemical composition of myristic acid, a fatty acid.
Fatty acids are divided in two: saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fatty acids are full of hydrogen atoms, or saturated of hydrogen atoms. Myristic acid is a good example. Each peak in the triangle represents a carbon atom and each one (not shown) has two hydrogen atoms (except the tip on the left end that has three).
Unsaturated fatty acids have have less hydrogen atoms, or are unsaturated of hydrogen atoms. They can be mono-unsaturated or polyunsaturated. A good example for monounsaturated fatty acid is oleic acid. It’s shown below.
The difference between the two, apart from the shape and length, is the double bond in the middle. Saturated fats will not have double bonds, but unsaturated fats will have one (monounsaturated) or more (polyunsaturated).
Unsaturated fats are considered healthier than saturated. Although, the Food and Drug Administration recommends that the amount of unsaturated fats should not exceed 30% of the daily caloric intake.
The Bottom Line
Consuming more unsaturated fats, particularly polyunsaturated, instead of either carbohydrates or saturated fats will help you have a better blood glucose control. These findings support benefits of consuming more vegetable oils, fish , nuts, and vegetables rich in unsaturated fats like avocados or olives.
Next time you go to the grocery store, look at the label of what you are buying. It will make a difference in your diet.
[expand title=”References“]
Imamura, Fumiaki, et al. “Effects of saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and carbohydrate on glucose-insulin homeostasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled feeding trials.” PLoS Med 13.7 (2016): e1002087.
[/expand]
