Macro partitioning
Improving adherence to DASH or Healthy Eating Index (HEI) dietary patterns in young adults (ages 17-22) significantly reduces the risk of developing prediabetes or type 2 diabetes over a 4-year period.
If you are in your late teens or early twenties, focusing on improving your overall diet quality—specifically by following DASH or HEI guidelines—can significantly lower your risk of developing prediabetes. You don't need a perfect diet; even small, consistent improvements in your score (like eating more vegetables, whole grains, and less sodium/sugar) over a few years can reduce your risk of prediabetes by up to 64% if you improve your DASH score. This is a critical window to establish healthy habits before metabolic issues become entrenched.
Each one-point increase in DASH or HEI scores between visits reduced the risk for prediabetes at follow-up by 64% (OR, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.17–0.68) and 9% (OR, 95% CI: 0.91, 0.85–0.96), respectively.
Why this rating
Longitudinal cohort study with adjusted regression analyses, though sample size for longitudinal analysis was modest (n=85).
Source
Diet Quality Is Associated with Glucose Regulation in a Cohort of Young Adults
E. Jane Costello et al. · Nutrients · 2022
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