Kinds Of Foods Eaten, Order In Which They Are Eaten May Affect Odds Of Developing Type 2 Diabetes

SATURDAY, June 8, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- The kind of foods you eat, and even the order in which you eat them can affect your odds of developing type 2 diabetes, three new studies suggest.

The studies -- being presented to the American Society for Nutrition -- found:

Switching to a mostly plant-based diet (but one that could still include meat and dairy) could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by as much as 60%.

Eating greater amounts of vitamins B2 and B6 was linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, while getting more B12 in the diet seemed to be associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

The order that you eat your foods appears to matter. People who ate vegetables before having meat or rice had lower blood sugar levels, along with positive changes in their hunger hormones.

Dr. Rekha Kumar, an endocrinologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, reviewed the findings.

"Emphasizing fruits and vegetables and whole foods is a very practical and easy way to manage type 2 diabetes," she said. "Half your plate should be green, even at breakfast, when you could have an egg white omelet with spinach for example."

As for the sequence of eating, Kumar said vegetables, high-fiber foods and even protein take longer to leave the stomach, which slows down the rise in blood sugar levels.

"Theoretically, changing the order you eat foods could have implications on weight and appetite control," she said.

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