Adding Vitamin C supplements
May Be an Effective Strategy in
Helping to Control Hyperglycemia.
Research suggests that Vitamin C supplementation is associated with
improved levels of glucose in type 2 diabetes patients. A small Australian
study, published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, reports
that people with type 2 diabetes who took a vitamin C tablet two times a day
reduced their blood glucose spikes after meals by 36%.
The Deakin University research
revealed that people who took the
vitamin C supplements spent almost
three hours less per day with high
blood glucose levels. 31 participants
took part in the study—26 men and
5 women—and all participants had
type 2 diabetes. They were split into
two groups. One group was not given
vitamin C, while the second group
was given two 500mg doses daily,
equivalent to approximately 10 times
the intake considered to be normal.
Both groups ate standardized meals
and were monitored with continuous
glucose monitors over a four-month
period.
“We found that participants had a
significant 36% drop in blood sugar
spike after meals. This also meant
that they spent almost three hours
less per day living in a state of hyperglycemia.
This is extremely positive
news as hyperglycemia is a risk factor
for cardiovascular disease in people
living with type 2 diabetes,” said associate
professor Glenn Wadley, who
led the study. The participants who
took vitamin C also had lower blood
pressure, the results revealed.
“For people living with type 2 diabetes,
vitamin C could be a potentially
cheap, convenient and effective additional
therapy, used in addition to
their usual anti-diabetic treatments.
Study participants with hypertension
also had their blood pressure levels
drop while taking the vitamin C
tablets.”
The findings indicate that vitamin
C provides significant health benefit,
but as the researchers say, the significance
is that vitamin C is used as an
“effective additional therapy,” such as
a healthy diet.
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