Researchers have found that African Americans more efficiently convert omega-6 polyunsaturated acids (PUFA) into long-chain PUFAs

This is important because long-chain PUFAs are often subsequently converted into inflammatory messengers. Higher levels of these substances have been observed to be associated with more inflammation, which often leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Prior research has found that an alteration in a region of chromosome 11 known as the FADS cluster plays an important role in the ability of an individual to metabolize omega-6 PUFAS. The researchers suspect that genetic testing of African Americans will reveal that a high percentage of these individuals have this variation and that this is the reason why they are more efficient at converting the fat into inflammatory messengers. Still, the findings do not mean that all African Americans are doomed to develop type 2 diabetes. If a black person excludes omega-6 PUFAs from their diet, the inflammatory process will never get started. These fats now make up about 8% of the average person’s daily caloric intake. However, several decades ago, they only accounted for about 2%. As red meat and processed foods have become more available, intake of these unhealthy fats has increased at alarming rates. However, regardless of genetic risk factors, if African Americans avoid overindulging on these foods, they may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. This is an important example of why it is critical to advance the field of personalized nutrition. Understanding which nutrients may be healthy for one population, but not for another will be essential to optimizing public health. Observations such as this may begin to address the critical question of why Western diets seem to differentially impact African Americans with cardiovascular disease and diabetes at a higher rate than their white counterparts. Answering this question could have important public health implications. African Americans develop type 2 diabetes at about 1.5 times the rate of whites, according to the American Diabetes Association. The disease is more common among blacks than any other racial group in the United States.