Recent studies at Cambridge University in the UK have suggested that an increased blood level of vitamin C may reduce the risk of developing diabetes by more than 60 percent.
The new study followed 21,831 men and women for 12 years with an average age of 58.4 at the start of the study, and women made up two-thirds of the study population. Over 12 years of follow-up, 735 incident cases of diabetes were diagnosed. Additional findings also noted an association between fruit and vegetable intake and a reduced diabetes risk, supporting the importance of eating at least five a day that’s recommended by health professionals. The findings are published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Men and women with the highest fruit and vegetable intake, 459 and 550 grams per day respectively, had a 22 per cent reduction in their risk of developing type-2 diabetes, compared to men and women with a lower fruit and vegetable intake.
Proportions of diabetes patients in the general population range from four percent in Europe to seven percent in North America. Care costs billions annually, and the incidence is expected to increase exponentially in the next ten years as the baby boomers age.
The findings highlight a potentially important public health message in the benefits of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables for the prevention of diabetes. The assumption suggests that an increased consumption of fruit and vegetables not only increases the intake of vitamin C but also helps to prevent obesity, one of the leading causes of diabetes. The increased intake of fibre allowed through eating large amounts of the foods was obviously healthy, but did not figure in the findings of the study in relation to decreasing the risk of developing diabetes.
In a separate study at the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, high levels of vitamin A were found to curb the onset of type 1 diabetes by protecting against the attack of insulin-producing beta cells, according to an animal study by American scientists. Type 1 juvenile diabetes occurs when an abnormality in the pancreas causes the immune system to destroy insulin-producing beta cells. It has previously been realized that vitamin A and antioxidants can positively impact the immune system. The study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, investigated the effect in mice and found that vitamin A consumption resulted in lower levels of a protein that has been linked in other studies to type 1 diabetes.
Forty-five female non-obese mice were used to investigate the effect of vitamin A, found to modulate the immune function, on blood sugar levels. Three modified diets were prepared. The study concluded that increasing vitamin A levels in the diet may have profound effects on reducing the damage that contributes to loss of cells and may also be useful for treatment of other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
The study is part of ongoing research at the nutrition centre to discover more about the potential nutrients, such as vitamin A, to help prevent diabetes, cancer, asthma and other diseases affecting the immune system.
