Personal advisors 8am to 8pm Mon-Sun
Freephone 0808 124 0006

Vitamin K may delay onset of diabetes in men

Vitamin K may delay onset of diabetes in men

Scientists at Tufts University have found that vitamin K may be beneficial for elderly men by slowing the development of insulin resistance, a pre-cursor to diabetes.

Insulin resistance occurs when the body is unable to use insulin properly, causing a build up of glucose in the blood.

The researchers carried out a trial involving 355 men and women between the ages of 60 and 80, some of whom took multivitamins containing vitamin K while the others did not receive vitamin K.

Publishing their findings in the journal Diabetes Care, they reveal that men who took supplements had improved insulin resistance and lower blood insulin levels than those who did not take the vitamin.

Sarah Booth, senior author and director of the Vitamin K Laboratory at Tuft University's Human Nutrition Research Centre on Ageing, revealed: "Men who received vitamin K supplementation had less progression in their insulin resistance by the end of the clinical trial.

"Conversely, we saw progression in insulin resistance in women who received vitamin K supplementation, and in the men or women who were not given vitamin K supplements."

The experts believe that the gender difference may be explained by the fact that there were more overweight women than men taking part, and excess fat may make vitamin K less available to cells.

Vitamin K occurs naturally in green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and spinach.ADNFCR-1167-ID-18900814-ADNFCR