I can give anecdotal support to this report from my own experiences.

Last Updated: 2004-02-13 11:46:49 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who consume plenty of whole-grain foods, particularly fiber-rich cereals, may be less likely to develop health conditions that put them at increased risk of diabetes, new research suggests.

"Individuals who incorporate whole-grain foods into their diets may prevent or reduce their risk of developing the metabolic syndrome, a clustering of risk factors that often precedes type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease," Dr. Nicola M. McKeown of the Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston told Reuters Health.

"In our study, the health benefits of whole grain foods were observed among people who consumed three or more servings of whole grains per day," McKeown said. People who ate this much whole grain had better insulin sensitivity and were less likely to have the metabolic syndrome, she said.

But the Boston researcher noted that the average American consumes less than one serving of whole-grain foods per day.

Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, occurs when the action of insulin in regulating blood sugar levels becomes blunted.

Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in the U.S., and an estimated 24 percent of adults have the so-called metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk for diabetes and heart disease. Signs of metabolic syndrome include abdominal obesity, high levels of blood fats called triglycerides, low levels of "good" HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood sugar.

Low-carbohydrate diets are all the rage these days, and there is some evidence that a low-carb diet may improve insulin sensitivity in obese people. Overweight and obese people often develop insulin resistance, a precursor to full-fledged type 2 diabetes.