Extension Report

Baldwin County Extension Office

302A Byrne Street

Bay Minette, AL  36507

Susan Wingard

County Extension Coordinator

September 23, 2008

A Growing Diabetes Prevention List

If you face an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, there are two things you can do right away to decrease your risk — eat your broccoli and drink your orange juice.

Yes, once again, Mom was right.  As researchers are discovering, vitamin C-rich products, such as broccoli and orange juice, are part of a growing list of things people can do to reduce their diabetes risk, in addition to losing weight and staying physically fit.

And the sooner we start following this list, the better off we — and our nation — will be.

Type 2 diabetes  presents a looming, potentially huge, threat not only to our personal health but also to our healthcare system.   Some 7 percent of the U.S. population now suffers from diabetes, mostly type 2 diabetes — a percentage that is expected to increase to 12 percent in the next 20 years.

The American Diabetes Association estimates that medical expenditures associated with diabetes totaled $116 billion in 2007.  This includes $27 billion for diabetes care, $58 billion for chronic diabetes-related complications and $31 billion for excess medical costs. 

The best thing we can do is not to become obese, especially heavy around the abdomen, which correlates more directly than any other factor with type 2 diabetes.

But that is only the beginning. In fact, one of the most encouraging developments in recent years is the growing list of things we can do to reduce our diabetes risk.

For starters, we should avoid drinking sugar-sweetened beverages — colas and even fruit-flavored drinks, typically the products sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup.

Investigators are finding that people who drink lots of colas or sweetened fruit drinks have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes over a period of years.  Why do these beverages contribute to an increased risk?  Researchers are not sure.  It could be their role in promoting weight gain and ultimately metabolic syndrome  — the excess fat around the abdomen — or it could be some undetermined cause.

Whatever the case, the link between sugared drinks and obesity is well established.  One of the first things overweight people striving to reduce their caloric intake should consider is how many sweetened beverages they consume daily.  These drinks may also include energy beverages, which tend to be loaded in calories.

Even so, in the case of sweetened beverages, there are two notable exceptions: orange juice and grape fruit juice.  In fact, researchers have discovered that one of these beverages in particular — orange juice — may have entirely the opposite effect, by reducing one’s diabetes risks rather than adding to them. 

Other vitamin C-rich products also should be considered, namely fruits, vegetables, and especially where vegetables are concerned, broccoli.

Cambridge University researchers discovered that people with the highest blood levels of vitamin C faced a 62 percent reduction in their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The important thing to remember is that the people least prone to developing type 2 diabetes are eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking more orange juice and grape fruit juice.  At the same time, though, they’re avoiding high-calorie, sugared beverages.

So exercise, count your calories, and, in addition to drinking your orange and grape fruit juice, eat more fruits and vegetables, especially your broccoli.

(Source: Dr. Robert Keith, Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutrition and health specialist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science.)

Southwest Alabama Regional Forestry Day

The 17 County Southwest Region of the Alabama Treasure Forest Association will conduct a meeting and forestry day tour at Saloom Properties near Evergreen in Conecuh County. The meeting will be on Wednesday, October 1 from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

This year’s forestry tour provides timberland owners and forestry professionals a wide variety of educational activities. They range from pond management to cutting edge technology in the alternative fuels race and the new markets they may create.

For more information or to pre-register by September 26, call the Conecuh County Extension Office at 251-578-2762.

Email address:swingard@aces.edu

Phone: 937-7176 or 943-5611, 928-0860, ext. 2222

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.

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