Vitamin A, Beneficial Against Type 1 Diabetes

Filed in archive Developments , Research on March 31, 2008

First it was Vitamin D against type 1 diabetes. Now, it is Vitamin A against type 1 diabetes.

Yeah, Vitamin A - the eye vitamin.

High levels of vitamin A may curb the onset of type 1 diabetes by protecting against the attack of insulin-producing beta cells, according to an animal study by American scientists.

It has previously been found that vitamin A and antioxidants can regulate the immune system. However, Charles Stephensen, a physiologist for the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), said that no one has shown the suppressive effect of vitamin A on type 1 diabetes.

His study, published in the journal of nutrition, investigated this effect in mice and found that vitamin A consumption resulted in lower levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a protein that has been linked in other studies to type 1 diabetes.

Even though this is great, let us remember that everything is still under research investigation. At least, Vitamin A is not just for the eyes, it will also be a weapon against type 1 diabetes.

[In Photo: Beta Carotene (Vitamin A) 10,000 Iu 100 Sgels from Amazon]