My Crummy Diet Vindicated!

I don't eat the best diet in the world. Too much fat, too much sugar, and not enough vegetables. But this week I got some unexpected good news.

I read Nutrition Action Healthletter, which is the monthly publication from Center for Science in the Public Interest. They've got publicity in the past for "exposing" restaurant foods that have way more calories than anyone would have guessed.

The September issue's cover story is about diabetes. It talks about obesity and inactivity, which are the most important factors that predict who will get type 2 diabetes, but it also talks about a lot of other dietary factors that seem to relate. For instance, refined sugar seems to increase the risk, and vitamin D seems to decrease the risk.

Now we get to the good part. Coffee reduces risk of diabetes. Even decaf.

In one study of 88,000 nurses, the risk of diabetes was 13 percent lower for those who drank one cup a day, 42 percent lower for those who drank two to three cups a day, and 47 percent lower for those who drank at least four cups a day than for those who drank none. Tea didn't raise or lower risk.

They think that it might be because the ridiculous amount of antioxidants in coffee protects the pancreas from damage. According to the article, coffee has more antioxidants than anything. Even broccoli.

What else is good for you? Alcohol. Drinking "in moderation" (two to four drinks per week for men) was linked to a 25% lower risk of diabetes. The risk kept going down with more drinks, up to seven (43% lower!). Though I can't imagine drinking that much would be good for your liver. And they said you're not supposed to start drinking to fix your health, because "alcohol has other risks."

But here's the best bit of all. Peanut butter. See, trans fats (vegetable oil with some of the bonds filled with hydrogen to make them more like saturated fats) raise the risk of diabetes, possibly because they increase inflammation or because they tend to lead to belly fat. Polyunsaturated fats reduce inflammation, and they might alter cell membranes and reduce insulin resistance.

Polyunsaturated fats may help explain why women who reported eating nuts or peanut butter at least five times a week had a 20 to 30 percent lower risk of diabetes than those who almost never ate those foods.

Yay! I eat peanut butter at least three times a week.... I win!