Diabetes study ‘exciting’

DIABETES Tasmania says new research that shows storebought vitamin C tablets could lower blood sugar levels was exciting.

Diabetes Tasmania chief executive Caroline Wells said the Deakin University research was funded by Diabetes Australia and its finding that a cheap, easily available supplement could improve patient outcomes was encouraging.

“This particular research from Deakin is quite encouraging both from the diabetes perspective but also from the perspective of reduced cardiovascular risk,” Ms Wells said.

“The findings offer evidence for the proposed use of vitamin C as an adjunct therapy.

“That something as cheap and easy as vitamin C could be twice a day could help the more than one million Australians with type 2 diabetes reduce their blood sugar levels.

The Deakin University study, published in the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism journal, found taking two 500mg doses daily can lower elevated blood sugar levels and reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes in type 2 diabetics.

“We found that participants had a significant 36 per cent drop in the blood sugar spike after meals. This also meant that they spent almost three hours less per day living in a state of hyperglycaemia,” lead researcher associate professor Glenn Wadley said on Monday.

“This is extremely positive news as hyperglycaemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in people living with type 2 diabetes.”