Complain about a product or service

U.S. Diet Dishes Up Diabetes

Burgers, fries, soft drinks lead to metabolic syndrome

January 24, 2008

Diabetes • FDA Warns of Bogus Insulin • Public Citizen Seeks Avandia Ban • Blood Sugar Monitor Can Detect Early Diabetes • Studies Find Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer's • Avandia Maker Failed To Report Required Data • Prediabetes: What You Should Know • Study: Large-Breasted Women More Diabetes-Prone • U.S. Diet Dishes Up Diabetes • Weight-Loss Surgery Seen Beneficial to Diabetics • Lack of Deep Sleep May Increase Diabetes Risk • Study: Avandia May Do More Harm than Good • FDA Orders New Warning For Avandia • U.S. Kidney Disease on the Rise • Fish Oil May Fight Diabetes • Avandia vs. Actos: A Doctor's Advice • Avandia Linked to 42% Greater Risk of Heart Attack • Soft Drink Sweetener Linked to Diabetes in Kids • Diabetes Drugs to Get 'Black Box' Warnings • FDA Rejects Advice to Pull Avandia From Market • FDA Advised to Pull Avandia From Market • Avandia, Other Diabetes Drugs Increase Risk of Heart Failure • Dairy Products May Protect Against Metabolic Syndrome • Portion-Control Dishes May Help Obese Diabetics • FDA Issues Safety Alert on Diabetes Drug Avandia • Stem Cell Treatment May "Cure" Diabetes • Diabetes Risk May Be In The Genes • Holiday Gluttony Can Spell Disaster for Undiagnosed Diabetics • Malaria Drug May Fight Common Cause of Diabetes, Heart Disease • Feds Attack Fake Diabetes Cures • FDA Approves New Treatment for Diabetes • Feds Warn Of Counterfeit Diabetes Tests • Study: Weightlifting Helps Overweight Teens Avoid Diabetes • Researchers Say They Can Reverse Type 1 Diabetes • Study: Obesity Major Factor in Diabetes Epidemic • Too Much, Too Little Sleep Linked To Diabetes In Men • Procedure Cures Some Diabetic Mice • Ethnicity Skews Diabetes' Effect on Heart • Pig Cells May Be Useful in Diabetes Treatment • Protein Triggers Fat-Saturated Cell Death • FDA Approves Diabetes Inhaler Exubera • FDA Panel Greenlights Diabetes Inhaler • Breastfeeding May Decrease Diabetes Risk • Low-Fat Dairy Products May Lower Diabetes Risk in Men • Scientists Find Diabetes "Switch" • New Diabetes Treatment Approved • Knowledge of Diabetes Doesn't Always Affect Outcomes • Moderate Exercise Helpful to Diabetes-Prone Women • Life Expectancy Increases; Diabetes Epidemic Worsens

Otherwise-healthy adults who eat two or more servings of meat a day -- the equivalent of two burger patties -- increase their risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 25 percent compared with those who eat meat twice a week, according to research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including elevated waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good”) cholesterol and high fasting glucose levels.

The presence of three or more of the factors increases a person’s risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

But it’s not just meat that adds inches to the waist, increases blood pressure and lowers HDL -- “it’s fried foods as well,” said Lyn M. Steffen, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., co-author of the study and an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota.

Dairy products, by contrast, appeared to offer some protection against metabolic syndrome.

“Fried foods are typically synonymous with commonly eaten fast foods, so I think it is safe to say that these findings support a link between fast-food consumption and an increase in metabolic risk factors,” said Steffen.

The findings come from an analysis of dietary intake by 9,514 people in the Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Real food, real people

Unlike other researchers who have investigated relationships between nutrients and cardiovascular risk, “we specifically studied food intake. When making recommendations about dietary intake it is easier to do so using the framework of real foods eaten by real people,” Steffen said.

Researchers assessed food intake using a 66-item food frequency questionnaire. From those responses, they categorized people by their dietary preferences into a Western-pattern diet or a prudent-pattern diet.

In general, the Western-pattern diet was heavy on refined grains, processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and light on fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grain products.

Prudent diet eating patterns, by contrast, favored cruciferous vegetables , things like cabbage, radish and broccoli, carotenoid vegetables -- carrots, pumpkins, red pepper, cabbage, broccoli and spinach -- fruit, fish and seafood, poultry and whole grains, along with low-fat dairy.

Researchers also assessed associations with individual food items: fried foods, sweetened beverages, diet soft drinks, nuts and coffee.

Nine years

After nine years of follow-up, nearly 40 percent of the participants had three or more of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

At baseline, participants were 45 to 64 years old -- ages at which many people gain weight.

Steffen said weight gain over the years of follow-up might explain some of the cases of metabolic syndrome. But “after adjusting for demographic factors, smoking, physical activity and energy intake, consumption of a ‘Western’ dietary pattern was adversely associated with metabolic syndrome,” she said.

“One surprising finding was while it didn’t increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, there was no evidence of a beneficial effect of consuming a prudent diet either. I had expected to find a beneficial effect because we have seen that in other studies,” Steffen added.

Dairy products beneficial

When researchers analyzed the results by specific foods, they found that meat, fried foods and diet soda pop all were significantly associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome, but consumption of dairy products was beneficial.

The study did not address the mechanisms involved in the increased risk of metabolic syndrome seen with certain foods, but Steffen speculated that “it may be a fatty acid mechanism since saturated fats are a common link and certainly overweight and obesity are contributing to the development of metabolic syndrome.”

She also said more research on the relationship between diet soda and its association to metabolic syndrome is needed.

The fact that 60.5 percent of the ARIC population had metabolic syndrome at the start of the study or developed it during nine years of follow-up is troubling, researchers said.

Steffen said the study’s results are clear: Too much meat, fried foods and diet soda, do not add up to a healthy life.

Guidelines

American Heart Association dietary guidelines for healthy Americans age 2 and older include:

• Limit saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium in the diet.

• Minimize the intake of food and beverages with added sugars.

• Eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole-grain foods.

• Select fat-free and low-fat dairy.

• Eat fish at least twice per week.

• Emphasize physical activity and weight control.

• Avoid use of and exposure to tobacco products.

• Achieve and maintain healthy cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.