Eating to prevent diabetes

The Mediterranean diet -- high in vegetables, fibre-rich grains, legumes, fish and plant-based sources of unsaturated fat -- particularly olive oil and nuts -- while being low in red meat and high-fat dairy -- may help prevent diabetes.

Spanish researchers studying more than 400 adults found that those following the traditional diet were less likely to develop diabetes over four years -- even without counting calories or shedding weight.

The participants were randomly assigned to one of three diets: a Mediterranean diet with emphasis on more consumption of olive oil, the same diet with a focus on getting unsaturated fats from nuts, and a diet cutting all types of fat. After four years, 10 to 11 percent of those in the two Mediterranean groups had developed diabetes, compared to 18 percent of those in the low-fat diet group.

But don't rule out exercise and calories: when the researchers accounted for a number of other factors, such as the participants' weight, smoking history and reported exercise levels, the Mediterranean diet itself was linked to 52 percent reduction in diabetes risk compared to the low-fat diet.