The numbers are startling: More than 100 million American adults have diabetes, meaning they have poor blood sugar control, which, if untreated, often leads to type 2 diabetes within a few short years. It’s not surprising that a great deal of research is trying to work out how eating habits effect diabetes.

Rise & Shine:

A recently published review in The Journal of Nutrition, found that for every day of the week someone skips breakfast, the risk of type 2 diabetes increases. Peak risk was 55% higher when subjects went without a morning meal 5 days a week. When you don’t “break the fast” in the morning, it may affect how cells respond to insulin.

Fast-Food Folly:

People living in an area with a very high density of ready-to-eat food outlets, such as fast-food restaurants, are 11% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who live more than 0.6 mile from the nearest place serving fries. According to a report in The Lancet, the study looked at over 347,500 participants aged 37-73 years who resided in one of 21 cities in the U.K. While it showed only an association between food outlet proximity and type 2 diabetes risk, the findings argue for making it harder to purchase unhealthy meals in urban areas.

Choose Protein Wisely:

Selecting fish and poultry over bacon and processed beef is the kind of dietary swapping associated with lower risk for type 2 diabetes. Egg consumption is not an independent risk factor for diabetes, according to The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Both high meat intake and obesity were strong risk factors for the disease.

Shelve the Skim:

People with the highest circulation levels of compounds associated with dairy fat consumption were almost 30% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes over a 9-year average than those with the lowest concentrations of these biomarkers. It may be time to rethink current guidelines that encourage people to gravitate toward low-fat or fat-free dairy options.

Shop for Plants:

Overweight people who followed a vegan diet for 4 months experience greater drops in body fat levels and insulin resistance. Both of which can reduce diabetes risk than those who continued to follow their usual diets. Interestingly, while the vegan diet was fairly high in carbohydrates (about 70% of daily calories), it was still effective at promoting weight loss, which flies in the face of the common belief that eating carbs is bad news for your waistline. Researchers speculated that the plant-based diet’s higher fiber content played a huge role in the ending results.

Mindful Eating helps people with type 2 diabetes.