Does How You Cook Increase Your Diabetes Risk?

According to a team at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine it's not only what you eat that impacts your risk of developing diabetes, but how you cook. Certain cooking methods produce a compound that contributes to insulin resistance and weight gain, risk factors for diabetes.
Food can be cooked in three different ways: dry heat, moist (wet) heat, and microwave. When you do dry heat cooking, you are surrounding the food with hot dry air, typically at a temperature of 300 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. This includes sauteing, grilling, baking, roasting, deep frying, and broiling. Moist heat cooking involves adding water, like boiling, steaming, simmering, poaching, braising, and stewing. Of the three methods, dry heat cooking is associated with the risk of diabetes.
The connection between diabetes and dry heat cooking comes from the advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) compounds that are produced in this style of cooking. This includes not only the method itself, but processed food because they are typically cooked using high dry heat.
Glycation means a glucose molecule that attaches itself to a protein molecule or fatty acid molecule in an uncontrolled environment. When eating foods high in AGEs these molecules accumulate with free radicals and lead to inflammation, a perfect concoction for diabetes and other diseases.
The new study was led by Helen Vlassara, MD, professor and director of the Division of Experimental Diabetes and Aging. They conducted the experiment on different generations of mice, some whom were exposed to a type of AGE called methyl-glyoxal (MG). The control group of mice had the exact same diet, with the exception of the MG.
Scientists discovered the following for mice fed the MG-supplemented diet:

• They had signs of diabetes, including early insulin resistance and increased body fat in the abdominal area.
• There was a deficiency in SIRT1, a factor that controls inflammation. 
• An increase in the metabolism of glucose and insulin.
• Decreased activity in AGER1, an anti-AGE receptor that protects SIRT1 and fights insulin resistance.

However, mice who were fed the same diet, but without MG had high levels of SIRT1, AGER1, and no diabetes.
Vlassara reports that their findings "should inform how we understand and prevent the human epidemic of obesity and diabetes." Continued consumption of "seemingly innocuous substances common in human food, such as MG" can make a person susceptible to diabetes. The researchers suggest that doctors should recommend changes in cooking habits, "a reduction in the amount of dry heat and processed foods in the diet."
Cooking more healthfully is possible. Instead of dry heat cooking your food, try stewing or poaching meat and vegetables. When out at restaurants, eat mashed potatoes instead of French fries. Eat fruits and vegetables raw when possible. Avoid processed foods and look for whole and natural foods that are prepared using wet cooking techniques.
Reference: EMaxHealth
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