Type 2 diabetes, small changes to the diet reduced the risk by 20%

At the International Congress met Ada 14 000 experts from around the world. The attention focused on the pre-diabetic and diet. The ideal model is the Mediterranean diet: the problem is that in Italy you do not follow more

The increase of fruit in the diet is one of the recommendations of the experts

The fight against type 2 diabetes can not ignore the diet and physical activity. At the seventy-fourth international congress of the ADA, the American Diabetes Association, held in San Francisco, the largest worldwide conference with 14,000 delegates from around the world and hundreds of scientific sessions, the focus is not only on diabetes - about 26 million Americans and 3 of Italian, 194 million people throughout the world - but especially on prediabetic, all those people with a blood glucose level above 100 mg / dl and less than 126 that is already diabetes - therefore at risk of developing the disease.

Only in the United States and 79 million according to the ADA should be screened all over 45 even in the absence of symptoms, while the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends to examine only those who have high blood pressure screening to prevent millions of people.

In Italy there is no estimate on the number of pre-diabetic. For them, and for those who already have the disease, they are just out of dozens of cookbooks, and even the official journal of the ADA has an attractive cover (small) portion of chicken surrounded by tomatoes, asparagus, capers and onions. American has very little of that.

Improve the quality of your diet - in fact - can substantially reduce the risk of developing the disease. Sylvia Ley, a young researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, led his team with an observational study collecting data from three different U.S. studies lasted more than 20 years. Noticing how, just by changing your diet by 10 percent without increasing physical activity or reducing their body weight, was obtained by a decrease of more than 20 percent risk of developing the disease in just four years. "Obviously adding sport and physical activity - he adds - the benefits can certainly be more."

Yeah, but how to change your diet? The reference point of the scholars was the Healthy Eating Index 2010, used to monitor the diet of Americans and the effectiveness of government programs and not (like the one sponsored by first lady Michelle Obama) on public health. So the Ley and his team analyzed the consumption of sugary drinks, fruits and vegetables, whole grains and non-alcoholic beverages, salt and fat, animal protein and dairy products, designing the ideal diet: more fruits and vegetables, cereals, grains better, less red meat, saturated fats, salt and sugary drinks.

One might say that the model is the Mediterranean diet and eating patterns is not by chance the United States, from the pyramid to the government Plate, we are very close. But then why in Italy there are so many diabetics? "Why do not we follow the Mediterranean diet more, that's why - says Andrea Ghiselli, director of research of the Cra-Nut, the food and nutrition research center -. Suffice it to say that today 37 percent of the Italian energy comes from fat and in particular, the 11 percent from saturated fat, an indicator of excessive consumption of animal products and vegetables, while decreasing the consumption of carbohydrates. therefore less pasta and bread and more meat and fat. Others that the Mediterranean diet, which is a complete model, can not be considered a set of foods and choosing only a few and, moreover, in excessive portions. was a model for our grandparents, who barely reached their daily calorie needs. Nowadays we exaggerate and certainly not because we do not know what is best for our health.'s a matter of awareness and education - adds Ghiselli -. Children's obesity is inversely related to education of mother: obese children have a higher percentage of the mother with the middle school. Who has the mom with a degree has less chance of becoming obese because it feeds better, eating more fruits and vegetables. "

Another important issue addressed is that of Ada new guidelines ACC and AHA (American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association) on the treatment of high cholesterol levels for people with type 2 diabetes. Guidelines In older people with high LDL (the so-called bad cholesterol) were invited to change your diet, and if it were not enough, it was recommended statin therapy. Now, however, the new guidelines divide patients into four groups and for all the use of statins is recommended: patients with cardiovascular disease, with levels of LDL cholesterol greater than 190 mg / dl, diabetes between 40 and 75 years with levels of LDL cholesterol between 70 and 189 mg / dl and LDL diabetics or heart patients with 70-189 mg / dl with an estimated risk of cardiovascular events more than 7.5 percent.

Using these guidelines, almost all diabetics should be treated with statins, but it is the right thing? You are wondering what the scientists in San Francisco, where Ada is recommended for diabetics to keep the level of LDL cholesterol or even below 100 mg / dl but by lowering the bar to 70 in the case of additional cardiovascular disease. Using, if necessary, high-dose statins to achieve the goal.