foodconsumer.org: Soy products beat drugs for type 2 diabetes prevention?

Soy products beat drugs for type 2 diabetes prevention?
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admin on 03/15/2010 01:25:00
 
A new trial led by Dr. Robert M. Califf at Duke University and colleagues has
proved that two drugs marketed by Novartis did not help prevent incidence of
diabetes, cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack, stroke and heart
failure in overweight people.
Starlix or nateglinide indicated to control type 2 diabetes was tested in more
than 8,300 overweight men and women for a 5-year period and found useless in
reducing the incidence of newly diagnosed diabetes, cardiovascular death or
events.
Diovan or valsartan, a blood pressure drug, was found to exert a modest effect
on the prevention of new diabetes, but it could not reduce the risk
cardiovascular events or death.
The results were released on March 13 in two papers published in the New England
Journal of Medicine and scheduled to be presented Sunday at the American College
of Cardiology's annual meeting in Atlanta.
Being overweight or obese is considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and
weight loss is recommended for patients to control diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is an disease of affluence and lifestyle including diet plays an
essential role in the development of diabetes.
One study published in the March 2010 issue of Journal of Nutrition suggests
eating soy products and isoflavones may reduce the risk of  type 2 diabetes in
overweight women.
Nanro A and colleagues from International Medical Center of Japan in Tokyo Japan
performed the study to confirm or disprove early epidemiological studies
suggesting isoflavone intake may improve glucose metabolism.
In this prospective study, Nanri and colleagues looked at data on dietary intake
of soy products and isoflavones from 25,872 men and 33,919 women aged 45 to 75
without type 2 diabetes diagnosed at baseline.  During a 5-year period, 1114 new
cases of type 2 diabetes were self-reported.
There was no association found between intake of soy products/isoflavones and
incidence of diabetes in men and women, the researchers reported.
However, among overweight women, higher intake of soy products was linked with a
lower risk of diabetes.  The reduction in the type 2 diabetes can be as much as
38 percent.
By David Liu