3 diets may help lower diabetes risk: What do they have in common?

Evan Walker
Evan Walker TheMediTary.Com |
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What type of diet is linked to the lowest risk of type 2 diabetes? Image credit: Laura Olivas/Getty Images
  • The Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, and the AHEI diet can all lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new meta-analysis.
  • The researchers who conducted it analyzed the medical histories of over 800,000 people across 33 studies to arrive at its conclusions.
  • All three diets share one common principle: reducing the consumption of unhealthy fats, sugars, and processed foods.

According to a new meta-analysis, or study of studies, following any of three healthy diets can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

People whose food consumption closely adhered to the eating patterns established in the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, and the AHEI diet had lower chances of developing diabetes.

The greatest reduction of diabetes risk, 23%, came for those closely following the DASH diet, followed by the AHEI diet, 21%, and the Mediterranean diet, 17%.

The researchers analyzed the findings of 33 reports describing associations between diet and diabetes, encompassing the medical histories of over 800,000 people.

An important finding of the meta-analysis is that its conclusions applied across a broad range of populations, including African, Asian, European, and Hispanic ethnic groups. This is noteworthy because these groups have different food cultures and different levels of diabetes risk.

One limitation of the analysis is that the decrease in risk, though apparent, did not reach a level of statistical significance for Hispanic people or mixed ethnic groups.

The researchers suggest that this may be due to having less data for these populations in the original studies. They say further investigation, particularly for these populations, is warranted.

The results of the meta-analysis will be presented in September 2025 at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria. They are yet to appear in a peer-reviewed journal.

The foods people consume are a major driver of diabetes, said Ng. “Type 2 diabetes is caused by increasing insulin resistance.”

Routhenstein noted that some popular foods are particularly likely to cause this to occur, citing sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains such as white bread and pastries, processed and red meats, and fried and fast foods.

In addition, she said, “diets high in added sugars and sodium but low in fiber-rich whole foods significantly increase diabetes risk by promoting inflammation, impairing insulin sensitivity, contributing to weight gain, and disrupting gut health, all of which play a role in poor glucose regulation.”

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