Diabetes & Cereal Intake

Type 2 diabetes is on the rise among all Americans, but African American women are at particularly high risk for developing the condition. Scientific research to date has linked part of this increase to poor dietary habits, especially refined-carbohydrate intake. Now a new study suggests that African American women may be able to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by simply increasing their daily intake of fiber-rich cereal.

Using data from the Black Women’s Health Study, a progressive cohort of 59,000 African American women, researchers examined the association between cereal fiber and the risk of type 2 diabetes. After 8 years of follow-up, they determined that higher cereal intake was associated with a decreased risk of the condition.

Writing in the November 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, the scientists concluded that “increasing cereal fiber in the diet may be an effective means of reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, a disease that has reached epidemic proportions in black women.”