Women who regularly consume large servings of refined grains are much more prone to develop type 2 diabetes than those who are habitual consumers of whole grains.

This study was carried out to determine the effect of dietary ingestion of whole and refined grains on type 2 diabetes mellitus risk. Using validated food frequency questionnaires, researchers collated and examined data on the diets of non-diabetic and cardiovascular disease-free 75,521 US women within the age bracket of 38-63 years. The type 2 diabetes hazard ratio of each subject was also determined.

Researchers observed that subjects who ate the most amounts of whole grains had the slimest chances of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. On the other hand, high dietary ingestion of refined grains was found to increase type 2 diabetes development risk. The findings of this study indicate that increased consumption of diets rich in refined grains may increase the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.