TUESDAY, July 9, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Household food insecurity (HFI) is associated with insulin resistance among Latinos with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Nutrition.
Angela Bermudez-Millan, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the University of Connecticut in Farmington, and colleagues measured HFI using the six-item U.S. Household Food Security Survey module, while fasting plasma blood glucose and serum insulin were used to measure insulin resistance among 121 patients with type 2 diabetes (85.8 percent Puerto Rican; mean age, 60.7 years; 74 percent female).
The researchers found that just over two-thirds of participants (68 percent) were classified as food-insecure. Food-insecure individuals had a significantly higher insulin resistance, insulin, glucose, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), cortisol, and total cholesterol compared with food-secure individuals. For lipids, metanephrine, normetanephrine, or hemoglobin A1c, there were no differences between the groups. There was a significant direct effect of HFI on hsCRP and on cortisol in a mediation model. Additionally, there was a direct effect of cortisol, hsCRP, and HFI on insulin resistance. However, the total combined indirect effect of HFI through cortisol and hsCRP partially mediated the association.
"Interventions to ameliorate HFI and mitigate its effects on inflammation, stress, and insulin resistance are warranted," the authors write.
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