Vitamin C Nutriture in Newly Diagnosed Diabetes

Abstract

SummaryThis study was performed to investigate the relationship between serum Lascorbic acid, vitamin C intake, and diabetes in a nested case-control study. A cross-sectional survey of diet and health was conducted in 2,048 adults with an age of 30 y or older in Yonchon County, Korea. An oral glucose tolerance test was administered to all participants. One hundred cases of newly diagnosed diabetes were identified. Two healthy controls for each case matched with age, gender, drinking status, and smoking status were selected among the survey participants. L -Ascorbic acid levels were analyzed in fasting serum samples and one 24-h dietary recall was performed. Dietary vitamin C intake of persons with diabetes was 50.1 Ϯ 47.6 mg/d and that of controls was 55.1 Ϯ 41.1 mg/d. People with diabetes (22.3 Ϯ 16.8 mol/L) have lower serum ascorbic acid levels than their controls (26.3 Ϯ 17.0 mol/L) and the difference was significant by paired t -test ( p Ͻ 0.01). The association between diabetes and serum ascorbic acid level was still significant in non-smokers (24.2 Ϯ 17.8 mol/L for the diabetes group and 29.5 Ϯ 16.7 mol/L for the control group, p Ͻ 0.01) but not in smokers (19.4 Ϯ 15.7 mol/L for the diabetes group and 21.2 Ϯ 16.0 mol/L for the control group). Our results suggest that diabetes and smoking interactively affect serum ascorbic acid levels. Since this population had poor nutritional status of vitamin C, further investigation of association between serum ascorbic acid level and diabetes and smoking by the level of vitamin C consumption is warranted.

Vitamin C deficiency and diabetes mellitus – easily missed?

“…A lower intake of fruit and vegetables may itself increase the risk of diabetes. Consistent with that, one study found that people with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes had lower vitamin C levels than matched healthy controls [9].…”

Influence of Ascorbic Acid Supplementation on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Observational and Randomized Controlled Trials; A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

“…Although, observed benefits in some of our observational studies were related to coadministration of AA and antioxidants (34,41,42,47,52), in majority of studies, single AA was taken (32,36,37,39,40,45,49,53,54). It is thought that the benefits reported in the epidemiological studies in which AA and/or antioxidants are coadministrated, might be related to intake of higher amounts of fruits and vegetables, as a complex mixture of micronutrients or synergistic interaction between natural antioxidants (56).…”

“…Association between FBS and AA intake Within 11,471 participants in 14 observational studies (32,33,34,37,40,41,44,45,48,50,53,54,56,57) conducted to assess correlation between FBS and AA intake, 1,148 subjects were diabetics and 610 case were IGT (Impaired glucose tolerance) or IFG (impaired fasting glucose). According to these studies, DM or susceptibility to it presented in 15.32% of participants.…”

The Malnutrition of Obesity: Micronutrient Deficiencies That Promote Diabetes

“…Plasma vitamin C levels correlate inversely with body mass index and deficiency of vitamin C is reported in 35–45% of obese individuals planning to undergo bariatric surgery [58, 95]. Diabetic patients have lower dietary intake and lower plasma levels of vitamin C than healthy controls [96]. …”