Associations between cooking method of food and type 2 diabetes risk: A prospective analysis focusing on cooking method transitioning

Cooking process for food significantly impacts household air and increase exposure to endocrine disruptors such as acrylamide and, consequently, affecting human health. In the past 30 years, the transformation of cooking methods to high-temperature thermal processing has occurred widely in China. Yet the transition of cooking methods on the onset of type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains unclear, which may hinder health-based Sustainable Development Goals. We aimed to estimate the associations between dietary intake with different cooking methods and T2D risk. We included 14,745 participants (>20 y) from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991-2015). Food consumption was calculated using three consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with both individual participant level and household food inventory. Cooking methods, including boiled, steamed, baked, griddled, stir-fried, deep-fried, and raw, were also recorded. The consumption of baked/griddle foods and deep-fried foods are positively associated with 39% and 35% higher of T2D risk by comparing the highest with the lowest categories of food consumption, respectively. The overall unhealthy cooking method for processing foods including baked/griddled and deep-fried foods was attributable for 15 million T2D cases of the total T2D burden in 2011, resulting in a medical cost of $2.7 billion and was expected to be attributable for 39 million T2D cases in 2030, producing a medical cost of $223.8 billion. Replacing one serving of deep-fried foods and baked/griddle foods with boiled/steamed foods was related to 50% and 20% lower risk of T2D, respectively. Our findings support healthy driven cooking methods for daily diet are recommended to nourish sustainable T2D prevention in China.