Flavonoid-Rich Diet Reduces Type 2 Diabetes Risk by Nearly 28%, Reveals New Study

A study published in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes revealed that increasing the intake of flavonoid-rich foods can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes poses a growing public health challenge due to its rising prevalence worldwide. Presently, over 415 million individuals are affected by diabetes, with more than 4 million deaths attributed to the condition globally.

Eating more plant-based foods can lower the chances of getting type 2 diabetes. Plants have many natural compounds called flavonoids, which are good for health. These flavonoids come in different types, like flavanones, flavones, and others.

Studies have shown that eating more foods with flavonoids can make the body more sensitive to insulin, lower resistance to insulin, and improve the levels of fats in the blood.

In this study, scientists have investigated the association between a flavonoid-rich diet and incident type 2 diabetes. They studied 113,097 people who were part of the UK Biobank. The researchers checked the participants' diets by asking them what they ate for two or more days and used a database to see how much flavonoid they were consuming. They focused on ten foods that are high in flavonoids and calculated a score based on how often people ate these foods.

The results showed that on average, people in the study consumed about 805.7 milligrams of flavonoids each day. Over the course of 12 years, researchers found 2,628 new cases of type 2 diabetes.

Women, older adults, those who were physically active tended to eat more foods rich in flavonoids. After considering factors like age and lifestyle, researchers discovered that those who ate six servings of flavonoid-rich foods daily had a 28% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who ate just one serving per day.

For every additional serving of flavonoid-rich foods consumed per day, the risk of developing diabetes decreased by 6%. Specifically, higher intakes of black or green tea, berries, and apples were linked to a 21%, 15%, and 12% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, respectively.

The findings revealed that flavonoid-rich foods can significantly reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by regulating obesity, glucose metabolism, inflammation, kidney function, and liver function.

Reference: Thompson AS. 2024. Higher habitual intakes of flavonoids and flavonoid-rich foods are associated with a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes in the UK Biobank cohort. Nutrition & Diabetes. DOI: 10.1038/s41387-024-00288-