How orange or red fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes

When nutritionists tell people to make sure they get their extra doses of the gamma form of vitamin E, which is included in vitamin E supplements containing all eight parts of vitamin E, they may not realize that some people have a genetic predisposition where the gamma portion of vitamin E raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have found that for people harboring a genetic predisposition that is prevalent among Americans, beta carotene, which the body converts to a close cousin of vitamin A, may lower the risk for the most common form of diabetes, while gamma tocopherol, the major form of vitamin E in the American diet, may increase risk for the disease.

If you've inherited two copies of a certain gene mutation, you're slightly predisposed to developing type 2 diabetes anytime in your life. But when you read in various books written by doctors, magazine articles, or nutritionists' publications that you need to take all eight parts of vitamin E, possibly to protect yourself against heart disease, especially extra soft gels of gamma tocopherol, it may be raising your risk of getting type 2 diabetes even more, but only if you've inherited two copies of a specific gene variant.

Check out the site, "Beta carotene may protect people with common genetic risk factor for type-2 diabetes." You need to find out whether you have two copies of that gene or one. It makes a difference on how your body reacts to certain vitamins. A DNA test can help and so can looking at family history of type 2 diabetes. Did your sibling, grandmother's sister, or parent develop type two diabetes? You inherit one copy from your father and one from your mother, if each parent had that specific gene variant, which is common in the U.S. population.

Research at Stanford shows that in people carrying a double dose of the gene version in question, low blood levels of the micronutrient beta-carotene (a vitamin A precursor found copiously in carrots and many other red, orange and yellow vegetables as well as in many vitamin supplements) are associated with not just a slight risk but a significantly increased risk for type 2 diabetes. Now the question remains should you be taking beta carotene, and how much? Those who get tested and find they have naturally high blood levels of beta carotene, may have a lower that risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

You may check out a study at Stanford that shows another micronutrient – gamma-tocopherol, one of the eight forms of vitamin E – has the opposite interaction with the exact same gene and may increase your risk of getting diabetes. But how significantly or slightly is based on your genes, whether you've inherited two copies of a gene predisposing you even slightly to type 2 diabetes. You don't want your risk raised significantly by wolfing down vitamins, especially fat-soluble vitamins unless you know what effect the vitamins will have on your metabolic system.

If you keep taking extra doses of gamma-tocopherol in addition to the vitamin E in your multivitamin, and you have two copies of the diabetes-related gene version, then substantially boost your risk of coming down with type 2 diabetes sometime in your life. But low levels of of gamma-tocopherol reduce the risk. Check out this press release from Stanford University on the study. Also see the January 23, article from Stanford news, "Nature/nurture study of type 2 diabetes risk unearths carrots as potential risk reducers," by Bruce Goldman.

Disease happens when the environment and the genes play off of one another

You can check out the new study published in Nature Genetics. The vitamin-related news is that a Stanford University, California medical-systems scientist, Atul Butte, MD, PhD researches genetic and environmental data. For many, affording produce is an issue. For example, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in July 2012 a new program to make fresh produce more affordable for low-income New Yorkers.

In Sacramento, organic produce is still high-priced in many food markets. And people may gulp down vitamins instead of eating vegetables and a few fruits. The problem is that certain vitamins may raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, if a person has inherited two copies of a specific gene variant.

Health and nutrition surveys were researched to look for relationships between genes and environment

Researchers at Stanford University looked for patterns in the data. And what Dr. Butte did was to research health and nutrition surveys run by the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The patterns to look for include the relationship between genes and environment.

The solution may be in finding out whether you need to increase the beta carotene in your diet. Environment to scientists also refers to what you eat, including vitamins you take that you learned about from articles or books available in your environment and how what you eat interacts with your genes and your gene mutations or variants.

The gene variant that predisposes you to type 2 diabetes and how it's affected by one of the eight parts of vitamin E

The gene that predisposes you to type 2 diabetes at any age needs for you to have inherited two copies of a specific gene. That gene mutation or variation predisposes you to developing type 2 diabetes. If you had a close relative develop type 2 diabetes, check out your genes to see whether you have those two copies. But if you do show up with two copies of the gene variant, you may also have low blood levels of the micronutrient beta-carotene.

You can check out your levels with a blood test for beta-carotene. What beta carotene is consists of a vitamin A precursor. You get this nutrient from eating carrots and other red, orange, and yellow vegetables such as squash, oranges, pomegranates, beets, and other red or orange produce. It's also in various vitamin supplements (beta-carotene). Check out the article, "Beta carotene may protect people with common genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes, researchers find." Also see the January 23, 2013 article, Beta Carotene May Protect Against Genetic Risk for Type 2 Diabetes.

Don't take gamma-tocopherol in extra doses unless you know your genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes. You can think of each of the eight parts of vitamin E as a micronutrient. And gamma-tocopherol, is one of the eight forms of vitamin E. The bad thing is that high levels of gamma-tocopherol just in people with two copies of the diabetes-related gene version, substantially boost the risk, of developing type 2 diabetes sometime in their life span. But low levels of gamma-tocopherol reduce it. Check out Stanford's press release.

The study isn't going to tell you not to take vitamin E. And the study won't say the vitamin is bad for you If you look at the type of vitamin E in most multi-vitamins, it's only one part, alpha tocopherol. And alpha tocopherol did not show any bad interaction with the gene variant that predisposes people to type 2 diabetes.

The problem happens when you're told in books by doctors and nutritionists to make sure you get all eight parts of vitamin E, and some books even suggest people take extra gamma-tocopherol on top of the usual vitamin E softgels they may be taking, which in turn could be on top of their daily multi-vitamin that already has vitamin E in it in smaller amounts. Be aware of the issue if you do have that gene mutation.

What you can do is to eat those orange vegetables and fruits such as carrots. On the other hand, researchers may surmise that it could be that gamma-tocopherol, rather than being bad in itself, may instead just be a marker of a diet rich in the things where vitamin E is found. According to the Stanford article, "Nature/nurture study of type 2 diabetes risk unearths carrots as potential risk reducers," by Bruce Goldman, vitamin E is found in soybeans, corn, or canola oils.

Is your diet rich in vitamin E, and you don't take extra vitamins?

The Stanford article also reminds readers that soybeans, corn, and canola oils are in many processed and fried foods and in those trans-fats found in various types of margarine, foods rich in the same foods where vitamin E is found. The moral of this is to make sure how your genes react to any vitamins, including the fat soluble vitamins. Think about tailoring your foods or vitamins to your metabolic and genetic signature before you take advice meant for the general public. After all, most people won't know whether they've inherited one or two copies of the specific, but common genetic mutation.

You may want to ask your health professional where you can get a blood test or a DNA test to find out whether you've inherited two copies of that gene before you take extra vitamins such as parts of vitamin E in extra doses. On the other hand, you don't want to take only one part of vitamin E, either which has other effects on your body. The golden mean is first to find out whether you're raising or lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes, based on your type 2 diabetes risk gene variant, one or two copies.

Resources

Beta-carotene may reduce the risk of 'type 2 diabetes' | M24 Digital

Beta Carotene May Protect Against Genetic Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

Beta carotene and tocopherol may influence type-2 diabetes onset

Beta Carotene May Protect People with Common Genetic Risk

Beta carotene may protect people with common genetic - Regator

Beta carotene may protect people with common - Thunder Feeds