Fighting diabetes means not just keeping down body fat, but even building more muscle mass, according to a new study.

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers reported that their studies indicated more muscle mass would do more to prevent diabetes than previously thought. They say that while its still important to reduce fat, the maintenance of muscle is an important part of therapy.



They found that sarcopenia (a low level of total body muscle mass) was associated with increased insulin resistance in both non-obese and obese individuals, and also with higher levels of blood glucose in obese individuals.




The study was cross-sectional rather than interventional, so its not certain that the increase in muscle would help, but the strong association demonstrates the importance of relative muscle mass.



