A diet high in green leafy vegetables like spinach and cabbage clearly reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study by British scientists. A paper on this subject is published online in the British Medical Journal.
Type 2 diabetes has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a non-infectious epidemic of the XNUMXst century. The number of new cases of it has increased at an alarming rate in the last two decades.
Genetic factors contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes to some extent, but the most important factors are an unhealthy lifestyle – overeating, overweight and obesity, and lack of exercise.
Research shows that lifestyle changes such as regular physical activity, weight loss, reduced fat intake and a lower calorie diet may prevent the development of this form of diabetes in people who already have certain disorders in glucose metabolism.
A diet rich in vegetables and fruits is known for its beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system – the results of numerous studies show that it significantly reduces the risk of heart disease and death from them. However, its role in preventing type 2 diabetes has not been well documented.
To test the link between increased consumption of fruit and vegetables and a decrease in the risk of type 2 diabetes, researchers at the University of Leicester looked at data collected in six different studies that included more than 220 people in total. people.
They found that those who ate more vegetables and fruits were not less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Only green leafy vegetables such as spinach, cabbage, and related broccoli and cauliflower lowered the risk of the condition. People who ate about 122 grams of green vegetables a day were down 14 percent. less likely to develop diabetes.
These studies show that green, leafy vegetables play a particularly important role in the prevention of type 2 diabetes, comments the co-author of the work, Prof. Melanie Davies.
For now, scientists cannot explain their observations. They speculate that this may be due to the fact that green vegetables are rich in antioxidants, such as vitamin C, to protect against the harmful effects of free radicals on tissues. They also contain large amounts of magnesium, which has recently been shown to protect against diabetes, and are a good source of alpha-linolenic acid, one of the omega-3 fatty acids positively influencing cell sensitivity to insulin.
The team of prof. Davies plans to conduct research among people at high risk of type 2 diabetes in the future to see if increasing consumption of green, leafy vegetables can actually protect against the disease.
In the editorial comment, prof. Jim Mann of the University of Otago in New Zealand believes that the latest research results should be treated with great caution. In his opinion, the recommendation to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, including leafy green vegetables, remains valid.
Given that the latest analysis looked at a small number of studies, it may be too early to conclude that vegetables and fruit in the diet have little effect on diabetes risk and that only green vegetables play a significant role, the researcher believes.
The director of diabetes research at the Diabetes UK foundation – Iain Frame, of the same opinion, warns that the evidence for the role of green vegetables in preventing this disease is very limited so far and it is too early to consider consuming them in larger quantities as a way to prevent this disease. lowering its risk.
We would be concerned if focusing on certain foods distracted from the recommendation to eat five servings of vegetables and fruit a day, with the benefits of lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, certain cancers and obesity, as well as type 2 diabetes, Frame said in interview with the BBC.
Statistics show that people in the world today are not consuming enough vegetables and fruits. For example, a UK study found that between 2008 and 2009, only a third of British adults consumed the recommended five servings of vegetables and fruit a day. In contrast, the 2005 World Health Organization (WHO) bulletin showed evidence that insufficient consumption of fruit and vegetables could have contributed to 2,6 million deaths worldwide in 2000. (PAP)