Vitamin Information Center

Last week, we reported that high consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks seems to increase the risk for type 2 diabetes among African-American women. In the most recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, investigators from England reported that high levels of vitamin C in the blood are associated with a substantially decreased risk of diabetes.

The researchers studied a population of people, ranging from age 40 to age 75, who completed food questionnaires. The study population was followed for 12 years - in that time, 735 cases of diabetes were identified among 21,831 health individuals. After analyzing the information from the food questionnaires, the researchers found that individuals with high vitamin C levels in the blood were substantially less likely to develop diabetes. They found that higher fruit and vegetable intake was also associated with a significantly decreased risk of diabetes.

These findings highlight a potentially important public health message - promoting a diet rich in fruits and vegetables could help in the prevention of diabetes.

Vitamins D is a fat-soluble seco-sterol hormone precursor that is responsible for sustaining optimal levels of calcium and phosphorus in our blood stream. To some extent, Vitamin D is manufactured by our skin though exposure to sunlight. The best time for sunlight exposure is during the spring and fall seasons.. Winter sunlight is too weak for the production of Vitamin D. Many of us do not get enough exposure to sunlight during the year. We have been convinced that the sun is not good for our skin, so when we are exposed to sun we have come to use clothing and sun screen to “protect” ourselves from the sun. Most of us spend most of our time indoors. These factors have resulted in making Vitamin D deficiency a common if not major health problem. It has also been found that older people and many younger women, especially African-American women, and those who live in Northern climates with less time exposure to sunlight are at risk for Vitamin D deficiency.
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