I’ve read 3 separate reports today of new research into the effects of a high fibre diet on the likelihood of developing Type 2 Diabetes. Without exception the three reports all claim that the research has shown that high fibre can prevent Type 2 Diabetes.
Yet dig a small way beneath the headlines and it’s clear that’s not quite what the research actually found.
Two of the 3 reports state that when weight was taken out of the equation, high fibre actually had NO direct impact at all on Type 2 diabetes or its prevention, thus revealing the illusion within their own headlines:
“When BMI was accounted for, total fibre intake did not have this beneficial association with reduced diabetes risk.” – www.diabetes.co.uk
“The researchers said that when a person’s body-mass index (BMI) — an estimate of body fat based on height and weight — was accounted for, the benefits of a high-fiber diet in warding off diabetes disappeared.” – www.webmd.com
So it’s slightly curious that the other report makes no mention of this fact, and dramatically expands on the claims in favour of high fibre diets stating:
“High fibre intake found to lower chance of Type 2 by nearly a fifth” – Daily Mail
The reality of these findings is that some types of fibre – but not all – MAY help people to lose weight, and weight loss in turn MAY help prevent a person developing Type 2 Diabetes. It’s a tentative link and no certain cause and effect has been established. It certainly has not been established that high fibre has any direct impact on your likelihood of developing Type 2 Diabetes, though I can imagine many breakfast cereal manufacturers would very much like you to think this!
I have absolutely nothing against appropriate amounts of fibre in anyone’s diet, but I am left wondering why the findings of this particular study are being apparently overblown. Is this really about vested interests in selling us more high fibre cereal, as a backlash against the recent vilification of the role of carbohydrates in the burgeoning so-called diabetes epidemic? I’m sure time will tell!