High-Fish Diet Fights Type-2 Diabetes

Media release – 5 June 2008

HIGH-FISH MEDITERRANEAN DIET FIGHTS TYPE-2 DIABETES
International research provides great news for millions of at-risk Australians.

THERE’S great news for the millions of Australians at risk of Type-2 diabetes -- a high-fish Mediterranean diet can help prevent the disease.

An expert in the health benefits of seafood, Mr Roy Palmer, said today a major research project suggested adherence to a Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of Type-2 diabetes by more than 80%.

“With 700,000 Australians diagnosed with T2 diabetes already, and 100,000 more people joining them every year, greatly increasing their risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputations, it is already one of our most serious health problems,” Mr Palmer said. “However, Diabetes Australia says that, on present trends, 3.3 million Australians are likely to suffer from T2 diabetes by 2031. That is horrific.”

Mr Palmer, the Australian link in a worldwide network researching and communicating the health benefits of seafood, said details of the research project had just been published in the British Medical Journal.

“The traditional Mediterranean diet is high in fish, olive oil, vegetables, fruits, nuts, cereals and legumes (vegetables such as peas and beans) but relatively low in meat and dairy products. The study found the closer people stick to that type of diet, the less likely they are to develop T2 diabetes.

“Researchers from the University of Navarra in Spain followed the diets and health of more than 13,000 people for an average of almost four-and-a-half years. The best adherents reduced their T2 diabetes risk by 83%, despite sometimes higher than average risk factors for the disease.

“These people were often older, fatter, more sedentary, ex-smokers, and with high blood pressure and a family history of T2, and would have been expected to show higher than average incidence of diabetes. The fact this did not happen indicates the diet has what the researchers called a ‘substantial potential for prevention’

“Overall, they concluded that a traditional Mediterranean food pattern is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of developing Type-2 diabetes.

“This is a very important study,” Mr Palmer said. “We already know the Mediterranean diet protects against heart disease, as does eating oily fish in general, but the fact it also protects against Type-2 diabetes means following this type of diet could potentially extend the lives of millions more Australians. This news should be very widely publicised.”

FURTHER INFORMATION: Mr Roy Palmer 0419 528 733

Download the British Medical Journal paper

Recent information on the incidence and impact of T2 diabetes can be found at the Diabetes Australia website and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website

For more information on the health benefits of seafood, see the Seafood Services Australia website.

Issued: Thu Jun 5 4:56:04 EST

Reference-id: SSANEWS0223

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