Heart-Healthy Diets Show Benefits for Type 1 Diabetes Patients


Highlights:

  • Mediterranean and DASH diets are linked to lower cardiovascular disease risk in type 1 diabetes

  • These diets emphasize plant-based foods, healthy fats, and lean proteins

  • Following these diets regularly can lower harmful blood markers like Hcy and PAI-1

Mediterranean diet or the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet could reduce cardiovascular disease risk in adults with type 1 diabetes, a six-year-old study explains. Both the DASH and Mediterranean diets are regarded as heart-healthy, emphasizing plant-based foods, healthy fats, and lean protein, and minimizing processed foods and sugars (1✔ ✔Trusted Source
Association between diet quality indices and arterial stiffness in youth with type 1 diabetes: SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Nutrition Ancillary Study

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Mediterranean and DASH Diets Reduce Cardiovascular Risk in Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes heightens the risk of cardiovascular disease, leading to increased chances of heart attacks, strokes, and other severe health issues.

DASH and Mediterranean diets showed protective effects, suggesting that regularly followed dietary patterns can positively impact health. The findings are more applicable than those from controlled clinical studies, which often involve dietary changes that may not be sustainable daily.

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Protective Effects of Diets

This study extends previous research indicating that DASH and Mediterranean diets are linked to less fat accumulation around the heart and lower chances of coronary artery calcification, a severe form of cardiovascular disease, in adults with and without type 1 diabetes.

The six-year study involved 1,255 adults—563 with type 1 diabetes and 692 without. Researchers used a food frequency questionnaire to assess diet, calculating nutrient intake over the study period and evaluating adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the alternative healthy eating index (AHEI), and DASH.

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Analyzing Blood Markers

Blood markers commonly used to assess cardiovascular disease risk and inflammation, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and homocysteine (Hcy) were analyzed.

Participants who closely followed DASH and Mediterranean diets had lower levels of Hcy and PAI-1, even after accounting for factors like body mass index, age, caloric intake, blood lipids, blood pressure, smoking, and physical activity. No significant associations were found between AHEI scores and any biomarkers.

Hcy Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor

The study noted that although Hcy is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease, its relationship with dietary patterns in type 1 diabetes had not been previously studied. Additionally, the analysis revealed that adults with type 1 diabetes tend to consume high-fat diets, often due to reducing carbohydrates and increasing intake of high-saturated fat and cholesterol animal proteins.

There is an urgent need to improve dietary quality in adults with type 1 diabetes. Incorporating specific foods from these diets, such as olives and nuts, could benefit patients even if they cannot fully adopt the entire dietary pattern.

Adopting heart-healthy diets like DASH and Mediterranean can make a significant difference in managing type 1 diabetes.

Reference:

  1. Association between diet quality indices and arterial stiffness in youth with type 1 diabetes: SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Nutrition Ancillary Study – (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7673264/)

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