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A recent study found that improving one's diet can reduce one's risk of developing type 2 diabetes regardless of other factors. In a new study, researchers examined the effects of adding canola oil into the diets of people with type 2 diabetes. The team conducted at St. Michael's Hospital found that canola oil can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease when it is a part of a low glycemic diet.

For this study, the team led by Dr. David Jenkins, head of the hospital's Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center, recruited 141 participants. The researchers examined the effects of eating bread made with canola oil or whole wheat bread. The researchers discovered that oil consumption was linked to reduced cholesterol levels. The lower levels were tied to a seven percent smaller risk of cardiovascular events, which was equivalent to the effects of an extra 20mg dose of the commonly prescribed cholesterol-reducing drugs called statins.

The researchers found that the canola bread diet had a significant effect for people who had the highest blood glucose levels. Dr. Jenkins added that participants on the whole wheat bread diet, however, had better blood flow after 12 weeks when compared to the blood flow of the people who ate the canola bread diet. Blood flow was measured by using the EndoPat test.

"A canola oil-enriched low-GL diet improved glycemic control in type 2 diabetes, particularly in participants with raised SBP [systolic blood pressure], whereas whole grains improved vascular reactivity," the authors wrote.

The findings once again stress the importance of healthy eating in maintaining a chronic health condition. The study, "Effect of Lowering the Glycemic Load With Canola Oil on Glycemic Control and Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Randomized Controlled Trial]," was published in the journal, Diabetes Care.