Nitrites and nitrates present in food would promote type 2 diabetes: the origins of the disease would be multiple, says a health professional

According to an Inserm study, nitrites and nitrates, very present in our food, would promote type 2 diabetes. In Reunion, 10% of the population is diabetic. According to Dr. Uvarajen Paratian, general practitioner, endocrine disruptors are not the only factors of the disease.

HR / Nadia Lataste-Tayama
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Published on January 22, 2023 at 10:43 am,

updated on January 22, 2023 at 10:50 a.m.

Ingesting foods containing nitrites and nitrates would promote type 2 diabetes, indicates a study by Inserm, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research. This chronic disease affects 10% of Reunionese. For Dr. Uvarajen Paratian, several factors are at the origin of diabetes.

Réunion is the French department most affected by type 2 diabetes. According to Uvarajen Paratian, general practitioner and doctoral student in anthropology, the origin of the disease can be explained by the traumas of local history. “The history of settlers, slaves can be a factor”, he explains. Diabetes is not only genetic according to Dr. Paratian, but also “generational”.

Dr. Uvarajen Paratian is currently conducting a survey of 5,000 diabetic Reunionese,“80% of them are very stressed and think that it favors the disease”he explains.

At the Cauldron fairground market, Suzette, diabetic for 5 years, believes that stress triggered her disease. Victim of violence, the Dionysian “got it overnight”. Since then, she has been careful with everything she eats: “No more sugar, if I eat two or three bananas it’s over, the lychees I only eat five, no more, it’s very dangerous”, says Suzette. But everyday life is sometimes difficult to manage, “especially when we are invited, we say to ourselves that it looks good so if I want to eat a good meal I take a herbal tea, it’s really effective”she assures.

Dr. Uvarajen Paratian is of the same opinion, for him pharmaceutical companies should use a little more plants. “I believe that we should have reimbursed the plants, taking herbal teas could reduce the cases of obesity and diabetes. But do the laboratories want to have fewer diabetics?”he asks himself.

The herbal tea maker Alexis Thiburce offers a herbal tea against diabetes. “There’s brown coffee, ambaville leaves, horsetail, pretty heart,”declares the showman.

In Reunion, more than 83,000 people are diabetic, twice as many patients are cared for in our territory, compared to other French regions.