A new study conducted on a small scale claimed that less intake of food sources that contain healthy fat could reduce risk of developing diabetes. Study researchers suggest that food items like meat and cheese should be replaced by vegetable oils and nuts. Some people could get benefit from such type of diet as regard to diabetes and they should consult a dietician to get their current diet checked.

According to the research, if pre-diabetics eat more of polyunsaturated fat which is found in vegetable oils and nuts in place of less saturated fat, there is less possibility for them to develop type 2 diabetes. Pre-diabetes is a condition in which muscles do not take up glucose properly. People with pre-diabetes have higher levels of blood sugar or glucose than normal. The levels are not high enough to put them in a category of people with type 2 diabetes.

The study involved 14 endurance-trained athletes, 23 obese people, and 10 people with pre-diabetes and 11 people with type 2 diabetes. The subjects were tested for blood sugar levels and the levels of fatty acids in their blood. They were also asked to answer questionnaire targeting their diet. The researchers were able to comprehend level of saturated fat and polyunsaturated fat that they had consumed in the past three months.

People with pre-diabetes and who preferred more polyunsaturated fat over saturated fat had had higher levels of insulin sensitivity, which is an indicator for lower risk of higher level diabetes. "The findings suggest that increasing dietary intake of polyunsaturated fats may have a beneficial effect for patients with a certain type of pre-diabetes," said study co-author Nicola Guess, a diabetes researcher at King's College London.

According to the American Diabetes Association, in 2012, there were 86 million Americans aged 20 and older to have pre-diabetes, while 29.1 million had diabetes. The largest number of people was suffering from type 2 diabetes.