Don’t we all love the smell of barbecue chicken? A grilled hamburger looks so juicy and succulent that you can’t wait to sink your teeth into it. French fries leave you licking your fingers and digging for more.
Ok, you know where this is heading. Foods prepared at high temperatures (e.g. grilled, baked, or fried foods) are high in advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that makes these foods so irresistible. The AGEs are the reason for the excess consumption of high heat-processed foods.
Excess consumption of high heat-processed foods leads to obesity, which is a risk factor for diabetes. And yet, there are “healthy obese” individuals who do not get affected by diabetes.
Elevated levels of AGE in the blood serum have been associated with increased resistance to insulin. So, would the reverse be true if AGE levels are reduced? Will there be increased insulin sensitivity in the presence of low serum AGE levels? Would this actually explain why some obese individuals fail to develop diabetes?
That’s the question that researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai attempted to answer. Their research analyzed individuals based on a diet high in AGE (Reg-AGE) or a diet low in AGEs.
Seventy-seven obese individuals with metabolic syndrome were fed a diet low in AGEs (L-AGE) while 66 obese individuals with metabolic syndrome were fed a diet high in AGEs (Reg-AGE). This dietary pattern was followed for a year by the study participants.
The study by the team of Dr. Jaime Uribarri observed an increase in insulin sensitivity when individuals ate a diet low in AGEs. Basically a diet that avoided fried, grilled, or baked foods improved factors that increased insulin sensitivity.
Consuming a diet in low AGEs resulted in a slight decrease in body weight and an increase in proteins that reduce inflammation. The risk of type 2 diabetes appears to be lower with a diet low in AGEs.
The study results provide an interesting angle to detect the obese individuals who are at risk of developing diabetes. The term “healthy obese” makes sense since not all obese individuals necessarily will develop type 2 diabetes. By detecting the levels of AGEs in the serum, it will be possible to identify those who are at risk of type 2 diabetes.
Obese individuals, hold on before rejoicing in the fact that you just may be able to keep eating those yummy fried foods. While some obese individuals may be immune to developing diabetes, an unhealthy dietary pattern can lead to other complications in health.
So, keep a watch on your diet and lead a healthy life!
