It’s a scary fact, but it’s also very real – the amount of diabetes cases is rapidly increasing – everyone knows someone with diabetes.
There are a number of things that contribute to developing type-2 diabetes, but the journal JAMA Internal Medicine claims there’s one type of food to blame…and you’re probably eating it, every day!
Stop eating this food and watch what happens to your diabetes in a few days.
Ultra-processed foods are foods that contain plenty of additives to enhance their taste, appearance, or shelf life – these are the types you do not find growing in any garden.
Scientists have found ultra-processed foods to be involved in the development of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cancer, which prompted them to examine whether it plays a role in diabetes too.
The team led by the University of Paris identified 104,707 participants from the French NutriNet-Santé study that ran between 2009 and 2019. They examined dietary habits and intakes of more than 3,500 foods.
The foods were grouped according to the NOVA classification system into four types: unprocessed/minimally processed foods, culinary ingredients, processed foods, and ultra-processed foods.
After excluding lifestyle and other health factors that can cause diabetes from their analysis, they discovered that, for every 10 percent of additional ultra-processed foods included in their diets, the risk of developing diabetes increased by 15 percent.
Researchers do agree more research is needed and that there are other factors that have been linked to endocrine dysfunction and insulin resistance, such as some common components found in plastic – phthalates and bisphenol A.
Still, while future research is necessary, this result is valuable and confirms that natural minimally processed foods like fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds are the healthiest foods to eat.