WHAT you choose to put on your plate each day can significantly increase your Type 2 diabetes risk, a new study has revealed.
White rice, bread and proceeded meats are the foods most likely to trigger the silent killer, US researchers said.
Research has found type two diabetes could knock nine years off your life expectancyGetty Images
They looked at the dietary habits of people in 184 different countries to see how food affected their health.
Those nationalities who typically ate more refined carbohydrates – like white bread, pizza dough, pasta – which contains sugar and is stripped of fibre, and nutrients, were more likely to develop type 2.
Study author, Professor Dariush Mozaffarian of nutrition at Tufts University said: “Our study suggests poor carbohydrate quality is a leading driver of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes globally.
People are also eating far too much red and processed meats, such as bacon, sausage, salami and the like, the study said.
Those three foods are the primary drivers of over 14million new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2018, according to the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.
The experts estimated seven in every ten cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide in 2018 were linked to poor food choices.
They also revealed that eating too many unhealthy foods was more of a driver of type 2 diabetes on a global level than a lack of eating wholesome foods – especially for men compared to women.
Over 60 per cent of the total global diet-attributable cases of the disease were due to excess intake of just five harmful dietary habits: eating too much refined rice, wheat and potatoes; too many processed and unprocessed red meats.
Drinking too many sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice was another contributing factor, but to a slightly lesser extent that bad carbs and red meats.
People in Poland and Russia, where diets involve lots of potatoes and red and processed meat, had the highest percentage of new type 2 diabetes cases linked to diet.
Latin America and the Caribbean – especially in Colombia and Mexico -also had a high number of cases, which researchers said could be down to the reliance on sugary drinks, processed meat, and low intake of whole grains.
What is diabetes?
Around five million Brits have type 2, which raises the risk of stroke and heart attacks.
Diabetes is a serious condition which occurs when the level of glucose in your body is too high.
There are two types, the main difference being type 1 in inherited and type 2 is linked to lifestyle choices in most cases.
Being overweight or inactive can be a risk factor in type 1. Previous research suggests getting married can increase the chances of becoming obese.
What are the signs to look out for with diabetes?
According to the NHS common signs you may have diabetes include:
going to the toilet a lot, especially at nightbeing really thirstyfeeling more tired than usuallosing weight without trying togenital itching or thrushcuts and wounds that take longer to healblurred vision
The symptoms are caused by high levels of glucose remaining in the blood, where it cannot be used as energy.
These signs are common in children and adults alike.
But adults suffering with type 1 diabetes can find it harder to recognise their symptoms.
Diabetes UK’s four Ts campaign – Toilet, Thirsty, Tired and Thinner – aims to raise awareness of the key signs.