Why Are Hispanics More Likely To Be Diabetic?

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Permalink Reply by Daena on September 2, 2007 at 9:45pm

I think it might be genetics. I'm Asian and Asians are also at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes than Caucasians. There could be something about how the genes in different ethnic groups are wired that makes us more or less susceptible to T2 diabetes.

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Permalink Reply by Alison on September 3, 2007 at 5:15am

Is that for type 1 or 2? Tony's mixed so it makes me wonder if that on top of family history on my side (my side being caucasian) just made the chances for this even worse!

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Permalink Reply by Daena on September 3, 2007 at 5:57am

yep, i was referring to type 2 diabetes. research has shown that it is more common people of hispanic and asian/pacific island descent rather than caucasian descent. and nicole's right - research has also shown that caucasians are more likely to have type 1 diabetes.

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Permalink Reply by Nicole on September 3, 2007 at 5:51am

That's definitely type 2, Alison. Non-hispanic caucausians are much more likely to be diagnosed with type 1 - and, in fact, according to almost everything I've read - type 1 appears to be most common in people of northern European descent and in specific Mediterranean groups (like Sardinians).

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Permalink Reply by MeadowLark on September 3, 2007 at 8:09am

I've always wondered if our "way" of eating pushed our bodies over the limit of ability to keep healthy. I wonder if the psych. of not wanting to insult someone for fixing something special for us has anything to do with it? Being overweight does not mean automatic diagnoses of diabetes. sigh... this is really a "heart/emotional" question.
Why are we hit with this? What went wrong?Did the blend of cultural foods/added or different ingredients place too high of a carb load on our bodies/or not enough?
MeadowLark.... with as many questions/thoughts as you.

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Permalink Reply by YayIslets on September 10, 2007 at 10:15am

I think you are on to the right idea meadowlark, many ethnic groups that have higher incidences of type 2 diabetes come from traditionally nomadic cultures. In the past food wasn't as readily available, huntering/gathering ;) societies tend to eat lower fat. higher in veg/fibers/fruits and when western culture moved in the diets and lifestyles changed. More fat and fried food and more processed simple carbs were added to the diets. In addition, the lifestyles became more sedentary, which also contributes to type 2 diabetes risk. Another factor is that after generations and generations of living in an area where food supply wasn't consistent, bodies adapted and *learned* to store excess when it was available to sustain themselves when food was scarce. Now generations later bodies are still storing excess when there isn't as much of a need, leading to weight gain and obesity. Obviously, there are other factors involved, but from what I've read the change in lifestyle as a cultural whole plays a large part in it. If I can find the article I read on it I"ll post the link.

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Permalink Reply by Mr. Peachy (Craig) on December 23, 2007 at 9:42am

Based on my reading, it has to do with what your ancestors ate and their activity level. If they lived on a primarily vegetable, fruit, and grain diet, with nothing but low fat range animal meat as a supplement, there was no need for them to evolve and develop a resistance to lowered insulin sensitivity due to inordinate amounts of fat clogging the cell walls. Caucasians, and eskimos in particular, evolved with diets high in animal fats and those that (fortunately) lived and passed on the resistant genes, gave their ancestors a free pass to enjoy a crappy diet with a lowered risk of T2DM. So, you see, for type twos from high risk backgrounds, the answer lies in adopting the same type of lifestyle your ancestors evolved through and thrived in. Read my blog in the raw foods section here: http://tudiabetes.com/group/rawfooddiabetics where I expound on the importance of fruits in a type two's diet.

Welcome back to CA, Manny.

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