Health - Reuters

Mon Nov 11, 6:25 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with diabetes may be able to lower their
risk of heart disease by consuming cool foods, or dishes cooked at
relatively low temperatures, such as salads and tuna fish, preliminary
research suggests.

According to the study, foods cooked at high temperatures spurred the
production of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), compounds in the blood
that stimulate cells to produce inflammation-causing proteins, in a group of
adults with diabetes.
While AGEs are normally produced in the body at a slow rate, they can be
toxic and form more quickly when food is heated to high temperatures, the
researchers explain in the online early edition of the journal Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites).
Inflammation is associated with heart disease among all people, but people
with diabetes are thought to be particularly vulnerable. The study points to
a simple way for people with diabetes and possibly healthy individuals to
reduce levels of inflammation in the body.
While most of the previous research has focused on foods people with
diabetes should avoid, the current study points to the importance of food
preparation methods, Dr. Helen Vlassara, the study's lead author, told
Reuters Health.
"Unlike the emphasis that has been put so far on the nutrients themselves,
our work really points to the mode with which we have been accustomed to
preparing our food. It seems that the byproducts that we form inadvertently
simply by processing our food puts us at risk," said Vlassara, from Mount
Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
She noted that a number of animal studies support these findings in humans.
"In genetically predisposed animals where we know they will develop
diabetes, this (reduced AGE) diet has proven highly protective," said
Vlassara. "The findings are pretty astounding."
Vlassara and colleagues fed 24 patients with diabetes one of two healthy
diets that were equal in every way except the level of AGEs due to the
temperature at which the foods were cooked. After 2 to 6 weeks, study
volunteers switched diets.
People who consumed foods cooked at lower temperatures had lower levels of
both AGEs and inflammatory proteins than people who consumed the same foods
cooked at higher temperatures. After just 2 weeks, blood levels of AGEs rose
by nearly 65% among individuals consuming the high-AGE diet and decreased by
30% in individuals consuming the low-AGE diet.
After 6 weeks, levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and
concentrations of the inflammatory protein C-reactive protein (CRP) had also
risen among those consuming the diet high in AGEs and declined among those
in the reduced AGE group, the researchers report. TNF-alpha and CRP are both
markers showing increased inflammation.
"Further clinical studies are needed to establish this modality as a
nonpharmacological intervention for diabetic macrovascular disease,"
Vlassara and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition
2002;10,1073/pnas.242437999.