Adding whole grain and bran to ones diet may help women with type 2 diabetes lower their risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, according to a report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
A team of physicians collected information from more than 7,800 women who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which is an illness that prevents the body from properly breaking down blood sugar. Participants who had developed diabetes after the age of 30 were then placed in the Nurses Health Study (NHS), which monitored health patterns of female diabetic patients since 1976.
Every two years, the participants were surveyed about their medical history, lifestyle and diseases diagnoses, and every four years, they completed a dietary questionnaire.
After 26 years of follow-ups, the team found that more than 850 women had died, including 295 deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases. The study also showed that women who consumed the highest amount of bran reduced the risk of death by 55 percent, and had a 64 percent lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular disease.
Lu Qi, lead author of the study, stated that “diabetes is thought to be a chronic state of inflammation characterized by moderately increased levels of chemical markers for inflammation and endothelial dysfunction.” Qi added that “in our previous studies, we have reported that intakes of whole grains and subcomponents such as cereal fiber may lower these markers in diabetic patients.”
In 2006, approximately 81 million United States citizens were diagnosed with at least one form of cardiovascular diseases, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).