Women with type 2 diabetes who incorporate more whole grains, bran, and cereal fiber into their diets may reduce their risk of heart disease, according to a new study.

What’s more, low-glycemic index foods, that is, readily digested carbohydrates that cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels, may also help to curb early signs of heart trouble.

“To adapt a diet high in whole grains and low in glycemic load will help diabetic patients to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” study author Dr. Lu Qi, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, told Reuters Health.

The findings are based on an analysis of data from 902 women with diabetes who were involved in the Nurses’ Health Study.

Qi and colleagues found that women who reported eating more whole grains, bran, and cereal fiber tended to have lower levels of two markers of blood vessel inflammation that have been linked to heart disease - CRP and TNF-R2.

In fact, cereal fiber, which is largely composed of whole grains like bran, “may confer stronger effects than fibers from other food sources such as fruit and vegetable,” they note in the journal Diabetes Care.

Based on the current findings, Qi recommends that women with diabetes “consume more whole grain bread and cereals and less refined grains. In addition, a meal with more low-glycemic components, such as beans, cruciferous vegetables, low-fat unsweetened plain yogurt, grapefruit, apples and tomatoes will also help.”

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, February 2006.