If you have or are at risk for diabetes have you been informed of the #1 food swap you should make?
The key focus of a Harvard initiative shows promising outcome on the diabetes front.
Providing vital information to diabetics or potential patients of the disease, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Vasanti Malik, a research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Let’s start off with the basics of healthy eating.
When I asked Malik’s best advice for individuals, in order to reduce their risk of obesity and chronic diseases, she said “portion control.”
There are endless routes we can go when it comes to structuring how we eat.
Malik’s viewpoint is solid and inspiring. “I’m not a big fan of calorie counting per se, I think really just being mindful of portions on the plate.”
When I asked what type of healthy meal construction aids in better health, Malik shared her top tip:
#1: Focus on the quality of the diet
A “quality diet” includes:
• “In terms of carbohydrates, choose whole grains
• Minimize the amount of added sugar in the diet
• Limit sugar-sweetened beverages
• Limit sodium
• Have fruit and vegetables on the plate
• Include a high quality source of protein (whether it be a plant-based protein, which is being encouraged more recently for health benefits [and] also for environmental sustainability, lean cut meats and poultry)”
Research she finds sound suggests that individuals should limit calories coming from all added sugars not contribute to more than 10% of daily intake.
By zeroing in on the “quality” of your diet, you automatically check other health boxes.
It circles back to just making the initial smart, healthy choice.
“If you stick to limiting processed food intake and trying to go for the whole foods – you [are] kind of, by design, limiting the amount of sugar and sodium by those choices (and saturated fat to some degree),” Malik said.
Harvard is gearing up to re-establish its Global Nutrition and Epidemiologic Transition Initiative which has shown promising achievements.
Malik shared the basics of the Initiative. “It was a large collaboration of colleagues at Harvard as well as ones in low-middle income countries with the goal of improving, really focusing, on the carbohydrate component of the diet for diabetes prevention.”
It was prompted due to the significant consumption of white rice in low- and middle-income countries.
“White rice (a refined carbohydrate) is a staple food in many countries,” Malik explained. “Many individuals in those countries are consuming 60-70% of their calories per day from white rice.”
Let’s reinforce the underlying message here.
“What’s most important is the type of carbohydrate you choose to eat because some sources are healthier than others. The amount of carbohydrate in the diet – high or low – is less important than the type of carbohydrate in the diet.”*
Harvard focused on this simple swap. “Based on the evidence and research we have done, brown rice is actually indicated to lower diabetes,” Malik said.
“When we modeled replacing white rice with brown rice we saw a reduction in diabetes,” she continued.
Prior to implementing the dietary change, including awareness of its benefits within the communities, Malik said “we did taste tests to see if acceptable” to them.
While response varied in each country, “we found some parallels across all the countries. While participants didn’t find the whole grain alternatives palatable, they were willing to consume them if the health benefits were known.”
Now that you are aware of the likely benefits of consuming brown rice instead of white rice – will you implement it into your dietary plan?
As of 2021, diabetes was the 8th leading cause of death.**
The great news about the Initiative is that people within the countries “were aware of diabetes as a problem and interested in ways to reduce it,” Malik said.
Who exactly benefits from this rice swap the most? Per Harvard’s research in China and India, “People who had diabetes or pre-established risk factors / elevated risk of diabetes,” she affirmed.
This research “highlights the importance to people who have the risk factors of diabetes to make the switch” from white rice to brown rice, she stated.
This is relevant in the U.S. population, she said, “A good majority of people in the US do have risk factors for diabetes, whether it be obesity, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.”
It is a great suggestion by an expert who sees the good and bad of chronic health conditions.
I think it important to focus on the quality of carbohydrate and make that change.
Looking for another easy swap to make to improve your health?
Malik says the same rule of thumb goes for the bread you consume. “Go for the whole wheat, instead of the white bread.”
Beyond research and implementation of healthy dietary changes, Malik is passionate about healthy choices being accessible to all members of our population.
“In the US, there also needs to be policy changes that help support those behaviors,” she stated. This applies to:
• “Prices of whole grains.
• Availability of whole grains.
• Not just the awareness, but the policy to make it an actually do-able thing for people.”
Thankfully Harvard has our health at the forefront with research, implementation and pertinent results that impact us on a global scale.
Please check out Harvard’s nutrition source, which is a valuable tool: https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/
Vasanti Malik’s research includes evaluating risk factors for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease with an emphasis on diet quality. She holds the position of Associate Editor for BMC Obesity and Review Editor for Frontiers in Public Health. Malik’s goal through her work is to “reduce the risk of obesity and related chronic diseases nationally and globally.” Malik is Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at University of Toronto.
*Harvard Nutrition Source
**American Diabetes Association
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