Dietary Fat and Type 2 Diabetes

Dietary Fat and Type 2 Diabetes 1
Dietary Fat and Prevention of Diabetes
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Dietary Fat and Type 2 Diabetes 2
Introduction
Type 2 diabetes, also known as Diabetes mellitus type 2, is a prolonged condition
affecting the way in which sugar is metabolized in a human body. It is characterized by insulin
resistance, high blood sugar and relative absence of sugar. It is normally revealed through certain
symptoms including frequent urination, increased thirst, unexpected weight loss and increased
vulnerability to infections especially fungal or yeast infections. Type 2 diabetes together with its
complexities constitutes a major universal public health issue that affects nearly all populations
in developing and developed countries. It is approximated that over 400 million people across
the world survives or lives with type 2 diabetes (Rice 2018). According to a research by Schmidt
et al. 2016, it is one of the four major diseases recognized by the World Health Organization as
the cause of mortality and morbidity and that needs to be focused on in order to prevent and
control it. In the past, type 2 diabetes was known as adult – onset diabetes, however, recently
more children have continued to be diagnosed with the disorder. It has become a serious and a
chronic disease that results from a complicated inheritance environment interaction alongside
other risks factors including sedentary lifestyle factors, gene and obesity (Wu et al, 2014).
Although the actual causes of Type 2 diabetes are still not totally understood, its main
cause is mainly linked with obesity or being overweight (Jorge, et al 2001). In addition, surplus
and excess body fat are as result of an imbalance energy intake and physical activity is the
primary risk factor for type 2 diabetes (National Institutes of Health (US)., 2007). A large body
investigational statistics produced in laboratory animals are strongly in support of the notion that
high – fat diets that results to obesity are linked with damaged insulin action. According to these
researches, it appears from these animals that saturated fats in precise contain the most
detrimental effects. Based on the research by Pan, et al. (2013) together with the already known

Dietary Fat and Type 2 Diabetes 3
risks of intake of high saturated fat on cardiovascular disease risk, specialized organizations
including the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association and Agricultural
Department in U.S have given recommendations that Americans aim for a total intake of fat of
not more than 30% of calories choosing foods low in saturated fat (Office of the Surgeon
General (US); Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US); Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (US); National Institutes of Health (US), 2001. However, some
researchers have criticized the basis of the evidence of these recommendations.
The objective of this paper is to investigate whether dietary fat intake helps in prevention
of type 2 diabetes. Since limited number of reviews has been carried out to investigate this
relationship, the current study will contribute to literature by compiling evidence on how dietary
fats affect type 2 diabetes.
Methods
A systematic review was conducted as the method of data collection. A systematic search
that began on March 2019 was carried out on electronic databases such as Pubmed, Cumulative
Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and MEDLINE. The Population,
Intervention, Comparison, Outcome model was utilized to guide the search. Key words were
used together with Boolean operators ‘OR’ and AND’ to ensure more particular and productive
results were retrieved. The asterisk (*) was utilized together with truncated word ‘diet’. Other
key words used included ‘diabetes risk,’ ‘type 2 diabetes,’ ‘dietary fat,’ ‘diet* and type 2
diabetes,’ ‘dietary fat and type 2 diabetes,’ and diet* and ‘type 2 diabetes or diabetes mellitus.’
Also, the types of food known to contain the different types of fats were included such as ‘meat,’
‘dairy products,’ ‘olive oil,’ and ‘fish.’

Dietary Fat and Type 2 Diabetes 4
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
The current study included peer reviewed journals published between 2010 and 2019 to
ensure the retrieved evidence is current and of high quality. Empirical primary studies conducted
quantitatively or qualitatively were included while excluding expert opinions, news articles,
websites, audits, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis to ensure free from bias, high quality
evidence is obtained. Additionally, included studies were required to investigate the association
between intake of different foods containing dietary fat and development or prevention of type 2
diabetes in human population, specifically adults of either or both gender. Studies that
investigated the variables in other animals were excluded. The study was limited to resources
published in English or already translated into English with consideration to the review’s scope,
with no translation funding. Similarly, literature whose full text was available was used to allow
complete screening and information retrieval.
The eligibility criteria were applied to the literature in a screening process comprised of
two phases. The first phase involved reading of titles and abstracts of the retrieved literature
while comparing them against the set eligibility criteria. The literature that failed to meet the
predefined standards was excluded. Subsequently, the second stage entailed full text reading of
the remaining literature while eliminating studies that failed to meet the inclusion criteria. The
results of the search process are presented in the below modified PRISM diagram.