A soon to be published study conducted in China has indicated that high levels of dietary Vitamin C (above 200mg per day) is independently associated with lower odds of developing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM).
It has been suspected for some time that oxidative stress is linked to the development of diabetes & with Vitamin C being a powerful natural antioxidant it may help to increase the body’s resistance. Back in 2011 a Harvard Medical School research paper into multivitamins and their role in Diabetes supports this in its findings that multivitamin supplements had no discernible positive or negative effect they did note that a significantly lower risk of diabetes was associated with the use of vitamin C or calcium supplements.
Further corroboration on the benefits of Vitamin C can be found in a 1999 paper published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which questioned the current Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) indication that 12mg may be needed to optimally protect against chronic diseases(which diabetes would qualify as).
Anyway, the results of the study on GDM indicated that the benefit only really arose by taking in excess of 200mg per day, and there was no real discernible benefit at lower levels.
The obvious conclusion from this is that pregnant women should up their intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, or supplement with Vitamin C. It also throws up questions regarding the current NHS advice on vitamins, given their RDA for Vitamin C is 40mg per day. Perhaps the population as a whole should look to up their intake given that the number of people with diabetes has doubled in the UK in the last 20 years.
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