Antioxidants reduce the risk of diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder, which consists in the fact that the tissues of the body stop responding to the hormone insulin and, as a result, assimilate sugar glucose, the level of which in the blood increases (hyperglycemia). Type 2 diabetes is associated with a genetic predisposition, but is mainly a "lifestyle disease": the main risk factors for diabetes are an increased body mass index, a high-calorie diet, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, etc.
Recently, there is more and more evidence that free radicals, damaging various elements of the cell and increasing the level of oxidation of lipids contained in it, contribute to the development of insulin resistance. Previous studies have shown that antioxidants such as vitamins C and E increase insulin sensitivity, reduce blood glucose levels, as well as such an important indicator as glycohemoglobin. However, since antioxidants can enhance the effect of each other, it is important to study not only the effect of individual antioxidants, but also the effect of their overall level in food.
A team from the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) studied the effect of this indicator on the risk of diabetes. For this purpose, the standard cohort study methodology was used. That is, a large sample of people was recorded, which was then studied for years and decades. This study used the E3N-EPIC cohort, formed in 1990 to study cancer risk factors and consisting of almost 100,000 French women born between 1925 and 1950.
The participants in this sample were considered who provided data on their diet (the questionnaire included data on more than 200 foods) and did not have diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at the time of the start of the study - a total of 64,223 women. From June 1993 to December 2008, 1,751 of them were diagnosed with diabetes.
The correlation between the total level of antioxidants in food and the risk of diabetes was studied, from which the influence of other risk factors – BMI, cholesterol, smoking, etc. was excluded using statistical methods.
As a result, it turned out that with a diet with a high content of antioxidants, the probability of diabetes is 27% lower than with a low one. At the same time, the reduction in the risk of disease is proportional to the consumption of antioxidants up to the level of 15 mmol per day, a further increase in consumption has no effect.
You can increase the level of antioxidants by consuming foods with a high content of them: vegetables, fruits, tea and dark chocolate, hazelnuts and walnuts, blueberries, red wine in moderation, etc.
The exact molecular mechanisms by which antioxidants influence the development of insulin resistance are still unknown. However, the results indicate the need to study them, which in the future may help to combat the spread of the disease.
The study is published in the journal of the European Association for Diabetes Research (EASD) Diabetologia.
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