In a U-M study, researchers observed a reversal of chronic nerve damage in prediabetic mice that were fed unsaturated dietary fats.
People who are diabetic, prediabetic or obese are at high risk of developing diabetic neuropathy, which is chronic nerve damage that often affects the feet and hands.
Researchers at Michigan Medicine may have identified a new way to reverse this common, painful and debilitating condition through simple changes in diet. Their study was published recently in The Journal of Neuroscience.
The findings suggest that changing the types of fat a person eats could reverse the neuropathic damage.
“We were not anticipating such a dramatic effect of diet on nerve function, but our new studies certainly support the old adage that you are what you eat,” says Eva L. Feldman M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology and the director of Michigan Medicine’s Program for Neurology Research and Discovery.
Read the full story on the Michigan Medicine Health Lab Website