Last week, we reported that high consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks seems to increase the risk for type 2 diabetes among African-American women. In the most recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, investigators from England reported that high levels of vitamin C in the blood are associated with a substantially decreased risk of diabetes.

The researchers studied a population of people, ranging from age 40 to age 75, who completed food questionnaires. The study population was followed for 12 years - in that time, 735 cases of diabetes were identified among 21,831 health individuals. After analyzing the information from the food questionnaires, the researchers found that individuals with high vitamin C levels in the blood were substantially less likely to develop diabetes. They found that higher fruit and vegetable intake was also associated with a significantly decreased risk of diabetes.

These findings highlight a potentially important public health message - promoting a diet rich in fruits and vegetables could help in the prevention of diabetes.