Legumes linked to lower diabetes risk

[Guest guest]

Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own

opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic. If you do not wish to

receive these posts, set your email filter to filter out any messages

coming from @nutritionucanlivewith.com and the program will remove

anything coming from me.

---------------------------------------------------------

Legumes linked to lower diabetes risk

By ls

http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=82382 & m=2nie110 & c=xeiqgoegavfxtla

08/01/2008 - An increased intake of legumes like peanuts and soybeans

could reduce the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by over 40 per cent,

suggests a new study.

The dietary habits of over 64,000 women were assessed and correlated

with the development of type-2 diabetes over about five years, and a

high intake of all legumes was associated with a 38 per cent reduction

in risk of developing the disease, report researchers in this month's

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

An estimated 19 million people are affected by diabetes in the EU 25,

equal to four per cent of the total population. This figure is projected

to increase to 26 million by 2030.

In the US, there are over 20 million people with diabetes, equal to

seven per cent of the population. The total costs are thought to be as

much as $132 bn, with $92 bn being direct costs from medication,

according to 2002 American Diabetes Association figures.

According to background information in the study, it has been suggested

previously that a high intake of these foods can have benefits against

the development of type-2 diabetes, although data is limited for this link.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Shanghai

Cancer Institute set about filling in these gaps, and recruited 64,227

middle-aged Chinese women with no previous history of diabetes,

cardiovascular disease or cancer, and followed then for an average of

4.6 years.

The authors, led by Raquel Villegas, used food-frequency questionnaires

to assess the dietary intakes of the subjects, and reported an inverse

association between the intake of legumes and the incidence of type-2

diabetes.

Indeed, for a high intake of all legumes, the researchers reported a 38

per cent reduction in risk, while a high intake of soybeans was

associated with a 47 per cent reduction in risk.

Interestingly, no relationship was observed for the consumption of soy

products and soy protein with diabetes risk.

The study does have several limitations, including the use of food

frequency questionnaires to measure dietary intakes, which are subject

to recall errors, and being focused on Chinese women, which prevents

generalization of the results to other populations.

Late last year, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst

reported that soy yoghurts could play an important role in the

management of type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

The Massachusetts researchers reported that phenol-rich soy yogurts

could inhibit about 92 per cent of the activity of the angiotensin-I

converting enzyme (ACE-I), which plays a role in the constriction of

blood vessels.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

January 2008, Volume 87, Number 1, Pages 162-167

" Legume and soy food intake and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in the

Shanghai Women's Health Study "

Authors: R. Villegas, Y.-T. Gao, G. Yang, H.-L. Li, T.A. Elasy, W. Zheng

and X.O. Shu

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/