A higher intake of vitamin C is crucial for metabolic syndrome patients trying to halt a potentially deadly cycle of antioxidant disruption and health-related problems, an Oregon State University researcher says.
That’s important news for the estimated 35 percent of the U.S. adult population that suffers from the syndrome.
Maret Traber, professor in the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences and Ava Helen Pauling, professor at Oregon State’s Linus Pauling Institute: “What these findings are really saying to people as we move out of the rich-food holiday season and into January is eat your fruits and vegetables. Eat five to ten servings a day and then you’ll get the fiber, you’ll get the vitamin C, and you’ll really protect your gut with all of those good things.”
A diet high in saturated fat results in chronic low-grade inflammation in the body that in turn leads to the development of metabolic syndrome, a serious condition associated with cognitive dysfunction and dementia as well as being a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes.
A patient is considered to have metabolic syndrome if he or she has at least three of the following conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low levels of “good” cholesterol, and high levels of triglycerides.
Ktvz.com findings published in Redox Biology suggest the type of eating that leads to metabolic syndrome can prompt imbalances in the gut microbiome, with impaired gut function contributing to toxins in the bloodstream, resulting in vitamin C depletion, which subsequently impairs the trafficking of vitamin E.
