According to a new study, food prices are linked to blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) merged information from two giant studies to reach this conclusion.
Blood sugar measures of about 2,400 adults who met a definition of type 2 diabetes were gathered by the first study, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
They then compared those levels to average grocery prices over the previous three months in 35 markets around the United States. Those prices came from the Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database.
The result was that with the increase in price of healthy food item climbed, the blood sugar levels increased. But for the unhealthy food the reverse was true. A higher blood sugar level in people with diabetes was observed with the falling prices for sugar, saturated fat and total calories. Those relationships were strongest for low-income consumers.
According to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health, healthy eating costs the average person about $1.50 per day more than unhealthy eating.
That may not be a problem for a middle-class family but it pose a great threat on the eating habits of poor and forces them to buy more junk foods, which tend to be higher in fat, added sugar and calories.
While the study found an association between food prices and blood sugar levels in those with type 2 diabetes, it did not establish a cause-and-effect link.
According to Adam Drewnowski, director of the nutritional sciences program at the University of Washington, in Seattle who was not involved in the research, “Healthy foods are more expensive, and being forced to purchase unhealthy foods, maybe for economic reasons, does have health consequences and Instead of merely advising people to consume expensive foods for better health, we ought to pay more attention to prices,”.
