Vegetables Fight Diabetes

Filed in archive Diet on July 31, 2006

The positive effects of a vegan diet on diabetes have made the news big time lately, but here is an interesting article that goes further, and specifically researches the effects of vegetables.

The results are promising, and enough to convince anyone, especially diabetics, to eat more than just the recommended '5 servings a day.' Even better news: vegetables are also powerful warriors against cancer, but it's important not to smoke, or these benefits may be erased.

Chomping on a few vegetables may help ward off diabetes. That is according to a new study at the Minnesota School of Public Health. Inside these and other orange, red, and green foods like carrots, tomatoes, kale, and spinach are caroteniods. Those carotenoids have previously been shown to protect against cancer. These have been shown to lower your odds of a lifetime of getting diabetes, but there is a catch. This is only true if you don't smoke. When researchers looked at the combined effect of smoking and eating these foods, they were trying to find out if a smoker with high carotenoid levels might still be protected against diabetes. They concluded that smoking somehow blocks the protective benefit of these nutrients.

Now go eat your vegetables!