# Dietary Copper/Zinc Ratio and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Women: The E3N Cohort Study
Canonical: https://nutritionizm.com/research/10-3390-nu13082502/
Last verified: 2026-10-26
Source: Nutrients (2021), DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082502
License: USDA FoodData Central values are public domain (CC0 1.0); Nutritionizm compilation and plain-language text are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (attribution: link to Canonical URL).

## TL;DR

A lower ratio of dietary copper to zinc was linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in women followed for 20 years.

## What they did

Researchers followed 70,991 women for 20 years. They estimated copper and zinc intake from food questionnaires at the start. They confirmed 3,292 new cases of type 2 diabetes.

## What they found

A copper-to-zinc ratio below 0.55 was linked to lower type 2 diabetes risk. This link appeared in obese women and in women with zinc intake of 8 mg per day or more. For women with zinc intake below 8 mg per day, a higher ratio was linked to higher risk.

## Why it matters

Studies suggest that the balance of copper and zinc in foods may relate to type 2 diabetes risk. This could matter when thinking about mineral-rich foods as part of daily eating. More research is needed to see how this fits everyday food choices.

## Limits

The authors state that further studies are needed to confirm the results. This is general education, not medical advice.

## Jargon explained

- **Type 2 diabetes**: A health condition where the body has trouble keeping blood sugar at a normal level.
- **dietary copper/zinc ratio**: The amount of copper compared to zinc in the foods a person eats.
- **quintile**: One of five equal groups used to rank people from lowest to highest.

## Full citation

Nasser Laouali, Conor‐James MacDonald, Sanam Shah, Douae El Fatouhi, Francesca Romana Mancini, Guy Fagherazzi, Marie‐Christine Boutron‐Ruault (2021). Dietary Copper/Zinc Ratio and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Women: The E3N Cohort Study. *Nutrients*. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082502