eating organic and losing a few pounds reduces the risk

The consumption of organic products continues to demonstrate its virtues for health. Data from the NutriNet-Santé cohort, one of the largest in the world with 170,000 volunteers, suggests that the largest consumers of organic products, labeled “AB”, are at risk of contracting diabetes. type 2 decreased by 35% compared to those who consume less. The results of this work carried out by a Franco-American team were published on November 9 onInternational Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

A stronger effect in women

The researchers ran their study for four years and followed 33,256 people who answered a very detailed questionnaire about their diet. “This allowed us to have a very precise estimate of the quantity of each type of product consumed: vegetable, animal, organic and non-organic products, etc.“Said epidemiologist Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot, lead author of the study. Participants were divided into five groups based on the proportion of organic foods consumed.

The results showed that heavier organic consumers had a 35% reduced risk of contracting type 2 diabetes compared to non-consumers. In total, just under 300 cases of diabetes occurred in the four years of the study. Within the cohort, an increase of 5 percentage points of organic products in the proportion of total food consumed reduces the risk of diabetes by 3%. “However, this figure masks strong disparities., accurate Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot. We see a particularly marked effect in women, with a 65% risk reduction among major organic consumers, but no statistically significant effect in men, who account for 24% of the cohort.Researchers explain this difference to the effect of the endocrine disrupting properties of some pesticides, which persist in larger quantities in conventional plant products.

Synthetic pesticide residues involved

The absence, or at least the presence in much smaller proportions, of synthetic pesticide residues in organic food is, according to the authors, the main explanation for the link between organic food and reduced risk of diabetes. “We ‘stratified’ our analysis, observing the importance of the effect of the consumption of organic products on large consumers of plant products, compared to those who consume less., suggests the epidemiologist. We find a much more marked association between diabetes and consumption of organic products among large consumers of plant products, which weighs in favor of an explanation linked to residues of plant protection products.“To better understand this phenomenon, the researchers announced they want to test the effects of pesticide residues to which the population is exposed through food. “It is possible to establish exposure profiles, which allow us to have the composition of cocktails of plant protection products most representative of human exposure., continues toxicologist Laurence Payrastre, researcher (Inrae) at the Toxalim unit and co-author of the study. We will use this information to test, in animal models, the effect of these residue cocktails on metabolism.“

Small life changes with big effects

To help reduce the risk of diabetes, another recently published study indicates weight loss by a few pounds. Losing 2 to 3 kilograms would reduce the risk of diabetes by almost half for people with pre-diabetes. This finding is the result of a large-scale study conducted by the Norfolk Diabetes Prevention Study (NDPS) in England. The results were presented on November 2 in the international journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

This research highlights the interest in making changes, even modest ones, to one’s lifestyle to improve one’s health. It lasted more than eight years and involved more than 1,000 people with pre-diabetes at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and is the largest diabetes prevention study in the world for the past 30 years. Loss of 2 to 3 kilograms coupled with increased physical activity over two years reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by 40 to 47% in people most at risk of developing it, i.e. pre-diabetics.

“We are delighted with the results of this study, because until now no one really knew whether a true lifestyle program prevented type 2 diabetes in the pre-diabetes population., said Professor Mike Sampson, Principal Investigator at NDPS. We have shown a significant effect in the prevention of type 2 diabetes and we can be very optimistic that even modest weight loss and increased physical activity have a strong effect on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This is important to know , because the clinical methods of diagnosing diabetes and pre-diabetes have changed a lot in recent years.. “