(NaturalPath) No one wants to get diabetes, but apart from the genetic aspect, you have to live right and eat right to avoid that fate. According to a study out of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in the journal Diabetologia, simple changes in how we cook could go a long way towards preventing diabetes. They found that obese individuals with signs of insulin resistance showed improvement simply be avoiding the intake of advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, a byproduct of cooking found most commonly in dry heat-cooked or heat-processed foods.
In a previous study the same researchers confirmed that high levels of AGEs in the body can cause pre-diabetes characterized by increasing insulin resistance, as well as brain changes similar to Alzheimer’s disease.
“While food AGEs are prevalent, particularly in Western diets, our study showed that avoiding foods high in AGEs could actually reverse the damage that had been done,” said one researcher. “This can provide us with new clinical approaches to pre-diabetes, potentially helping protect certain at-risk individuals from developing full diabetes and its devastating consequences.”
During the study the group assigned to the diet low in AGEs were instructed to avoid grilling, frying, or baking their food in favor of poaching, stewing or steaming it. Blood and urine samples were analyzed prior to and following the study.
The results of the study included the low AGE group showing significantly improved insulin resistance, as well as slightly decreased body weight and lowered levels of AGEs in the body.
Another researcher added, “Elevated serum AGEs in individuals can be used as a marker to diagnose and treat ‘at risk’ obesity in patients. Even without losing a significant amount of weight, a reduced AGE diet can help prevent diabetes in these patients.”
So, to help protect your body against diabetes, avoid grilling, frying or baking your food and try poaching, stewing or, steaming it.
Razi Berry, Founder and Publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News & Review (ndnr.com) and NaturalPath (thenatpath.com), has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized and supported the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. A self-proclaimed health-food junkie and mother of two; she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees (not easy in Phoenix), laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy and yes, that is her real name.