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By admin, May 17, 2010 12:33 pm

We know that food — specifically too much of it and the resulting weight gain — causes type 2 diabetes. But could what we eat be a cause of type 1 diabetes? Perhaps, says a new study that has linked wheat consumption to development of type 1 diabetes in young people (generally age 40 and younger), in a finding that has surprised many doctors and scientists. This is research that Daily Health News contributing editor, Andrew L. Rubman, ND, says is “quite amazing and hugely important.”

Unlike the more common type 2, type 1 diabetes is a progressive autoimmune disorder that people develop early in life. Some cases have clear genetic roots, but scientists have believed that environmental factors could also play a role — including, possibly, something in the diet. This small study from the University of Ottawa demonstrates that one factor may be wheat consumption.

Wheat and Diabetes Link

The study included 42 men and women, mostly young adults, with type 1 diabetes and a control group of 22 similar young people who did not have diabetes or any other known autoimmune disease. Researchers wanted to see how the immune systems in those with diabetes would respond to wheat.

What they learned: Twenty of the 42 diabetes patients were “high responders” to wheat, which was demonstrated by heightened immune system activity. According to the researchers, this response was found at a “significantly higher” rate than in the control group. Also, nearly all patients in this group carried a gene known to increase risk of diabetes.

Wheat and What Else?

Wheat cannot be said to actually have caused the onset of diabetes in these patients, Dr. Rubman said, but the study does make a case that wheat consumption (specifically gluten found in wheat, rye and barley) could play a role in turning the genetic diabetes switch to “on” for those who carry the risk gene. Other factors may be involved too, he noted, while affirming that this study provides an early seed of knowledge that may someday help people avoid diabetes onset, or at the very least reduce the distress it causes. While there is more to learn, it is a healthy habit for all, especially children, to limit wheat consumption, rotating it with assorted other grains in order to minimize its impact on the body.

Dr. Rubman says that gluten avoidance might prove useful for people who already have type 1 diabetes because it may reduce the impact of the disease. If you have this type of diabetes, try a gluten-free diet for four to six months to see if symptom severity and blood sugar control improve. If the answer is yes, Dr. Rubman advises staying gluten-free for life.

Source(s):

Andrew L. Rubman, ND, medical director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut. www.SouthburyClinic.com.

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By admin, April 5, 2010 2:37 pm

Lifestyle change has always been a cornerstone of treatment for people with type 2 diabetes. Beyond that, we don’t hear all that much about natural approaches. So I was heartened to learn that at the March 2009 Diabetes UK’s Annual Professional Conference in Glasgow, scientists presented findings on traditional plant-based remedies to prevent and control diabetes. I set out to gather some information from Mark Stengler, ND, author of Bottom Line’s Natural Healing, about other such treatments — and found out that many date back hundreds, even thousands, of years.

Manage your diabetes easily

Everything Old is New Again

According to Dr. Stengler, type 2 diabetes absolutely can be prevented and, in certain cases, even reversed with diet, exercise and appropriate dietary supplements. He believes the British researchers are on the right track and was happy to share with me some of his own “best practice” advice for prevention, maintenance and symptom management of this lifestyle-related disease.

To Prevent Diabetes

Gymnema Sylvestre to Curb Sugar Cravings

We began by discussing gymnema sylvestre, which British investigators in Glasgow identified as beneficial to both prediabetic and diabetic patients. A staple of Ayurvedic medicine, this herb helps curb cravings for sugary foods that throw your blood glucose levels off balance. Scientists speculate that it works by positively influencing insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Dr. Stengler’s advice: Dr. Stengler believes gymnema sylvestre works best when used in combination with other glucose-balancing herbs, such as bitter melon and fenugreek. Ask your doctor for advice on the best combination and dosage for you.

Chromium to Normalize Sugar Levels

Your body requires adequate levels of chromium to properly control blood glucose levels. This essential trace mineral aids in the uptake of blood sugar into the body’s cells, where it can be used to generate energy more efficiently. It’s also helpful in reducing sweet cravings.

Dr. Stengler’s advice: Under your physician’s supervision, take up to 1,000 micrograms of chromium a day. Dr. Stengler adds that this is a good herb to take with gymnema.

Regulate Blood Sugar with Fiber and Fiber Supplements

Soluble fiber helps prevent or control prediabetes and diabetes by slowing the rate at which intestines release glucose into the bloodstream, thus modulating fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Rich sources of soluble fiber include plant foods, such as legumes, oat bran, rye, barley, broccoli, carrots, artichokes, peas, prunes, berries and bananas. In a small study in Taiwan, scientists found that supplementation with glucomannan (a soluble dietary fiber made from konjac flour) lowered elevated levels of blood lipids, cholesterol and glucose in people with diabetes.

Dr. Stengler’s advice: Most Americans eat too much junk food and too little fiber. For his patients who fall into that category, Dr. Stengler typically prescribes one glucomannan capsule 30 minutes before lunch and dinner, and another before bedtime with a large glass of water.

Managing Symptoms and Minimizing Complications

Boost Antioxidant Levels with Alpha-Lipoic Acid

This powerful antioxidant kills free radicals that damage cells and cause pain, inflammation, burning, tingling and numbness in people who have peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage) caused by diabetes. Studies also suggest that alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) enables the body to utilize glucose more efficiently.

Dr. Stengler’s advice: Take alpha-lipoic acid daily under the supervision of a trained professional.

Decrease Blood Glucose Levels with Chamomile Tea

Drinking chamomile tea, a rich source of antioxidants, may help prevent diabetes complications, such as blindness, nerve damage and kidney problems, say UK and Japanese scientists. In a trial of diabetic rats, those fed chamomile experienced a decrease in blood glucose levels associated with induced stress, leading to fewer degenerative changes in tissue associated with inflammation. These findings were reported online in the August 6, 2008, issue of Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Dr. Stengler’s advice: Drink chamomile tea along with antioxidant-rich black, white and green teas.

Take Omega-3 Fatty Acids to Reduce Inflammation

These healthy fats improve the body’s ability to respond to insulin, reduce inflammation, lower blood lipids and prevent excessive blood clotting. Good dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids include cold-water fish, such as salmon or cod (eat two or three times a week), olive or canola oil, flaxseed and English walnuts.

Dr. Stengler’s advice: Unless you know you are getting sufficient omega-3 fatty acids in your diet, it’s good to take a daily fish oil supplement that contains about 1,000 mg of the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and about 500 mg of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Caution: Because many dietary supplements lower blood sugar, and fish oil supplements may alter the way anticoagulant therapy functions, it is critical to work closely with your doctor before and while taking any of the above supplements. He/she will prescribe the right doses for you and also may suggest that you alter other medications accordingly.

Don’t Neglect the ABC’s of Diabetes Self-Care

When addressing a difficult disease such as diabetes, all the nutrients and vitamins in the world will do no good if you do not also follow the basics of diabetes self-care: Maintain a healthy weight… get 20 to 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week… follow a diet that emphasizes lean proteins and healthy fats and limits simple carbohydrates… monitor blood glucose levels… and take diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol medicine as prescribed by your physician. Dr. Stengler adds that even as simple a measure as taking a 10-minute walk after each meal can keep blood sugar under control. Start today.

Source(s):

Mark A. Stengler, NMD, a naturopathic medical doctor and leading authority on the practice of alternative and integrated medicine. He is author of Bottom Line’s Natural Healing newsletter, author of The Natural Physician’s Healing Therapies (Bottom Line Books), director of the La Jolla Whole Health Clinic in La Jolla, California, and adjunct clinical professor at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about his work, visit www.drstengler.com and www.lajollawholehealth.com.

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By admin, March 27, 2010 8:47 am

The feeling of being on “pins and needles” is wonderful — if it describes how children feel when looking forward to a birthday party or adults when anticipating a special vacation. But where diabetes patients are concerned, those words often are used to describe a painful chronic condition, calleddiabetic peripheral neuropathy, that results from damage to nerves (typically in the hands, arms, feet and legs) caused by elevated blood sugar. Affecting about 60% of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, neuropathy is the leading cause of diabetes-related hospital admissions and amputations, and it is not curable — so finding any information about how to prevent it or slow its progression is valuable.

Is there a connection?

Now a study from the University of Michigan has uncovered a crucial clue that helps identify patients most at risk for neuropathy progression. Researchers analyzed data from 427 people with diabetes and early-stage neuropathy using advanced technology to measure the amount of damage to patients’ peripheral nerves at the beginning of the study and again one year later. The surprising finding was that those whose neuropathy got worse over the year were the same ones who also had elevated levels of triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood. In fact, having elevated triglycerides was a more accurate predictor of neuropathy progression than other factors such as blood sugar or high levels of cholesterol.

What Does this Mean for Your Health?

I spoke with study coauthor Kelli A. Sullivan, PhD, assistant research professor in neurology at University of Michigan Medical School. She told me that people with type 2 diabetes frequently have elevated triglycerides primarily because they are so often overweight, which is known to be associated with high triglycerides. The study’s findings could be a crucial indicator to doctors that they should monitor triglyceride levels in overweight or obese diabetic patients as closely as they do blood sugar.

Fortunately, there are ways to bring elevated triglyceride levels down into a normal range. Lifestyle habits have a strong impact on normalizing triglycerides — this includes shedding excess pounds and having a healthy diet that limits fats and sugars… not smoking… and moderate alcohol consumption, especially red wine. Exercise is a must, says Dr. Sullivan, as demonstrated in a 2006 Italian study that showed regular long-term aerobic exercise improved neuropathy in early stages. And since having more muscle mass benefits nerve tissue as well, strength training is helpful too.

Source(s):

Kelli A. Sullivan, PhD, assistant research professor, department of neurology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor.

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By admin, March 2, 2010 9:55 am

If you have diabetes and heart disease — and many Americans do, or will, since the two tend to go hand in hand — it is important to be aware of special considerations regarding your treatment, especially when it comes to invasive heart procedures.

Heart surgery causing conflicts with diabetics

A Landmark Study

Surprisingly, there is no clear consensus on how to treat diabetic patients with heart disease. That, coupled with concern about the exorbitant cost of treating diabetes (it now accounts for one out of every five federal health-care dollars spent), led researchers to undertake the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI 2D) trial, which is a comparative effectiveness study of two different treatments for diabetic patients with heart disease.

In the five-year randomized, clinical trial of 2,368 diabetics with heart disease at 49 sites in six countries, researchers compared optimal medical therapy (medications and lifestyle counseling) with the same plus surgery to see which worked best in preventing a cardiovascular event and/or early death. These patients were generally considered to be at low risk for heart attack and stroke based on the extent of their coronary artery disease and symptoms, such as their degree of angina (chest pain), when the study began. The “optimal medical therapy” (e.g., medications such as beta-blockers and statins) was given to all participants to control blood pressure and cholesterol, and participants were also counseled, as appropriate, to quit smoking and/or lose weight, notes William E. Boden, MD, FACC, clinical chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine and professor of medicine and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo Schools of Medicine & Public Health.

For the group that received medical therapy plus surgery, half the participants were randomly assigned to either undergo stent angioplasty or coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Over the five-year period following the intervention, Dr. Boden and his colleagues found that…

• There was little or no difference in outcome between those who underwent angioplasty versus only optimal medical therapy — angioplasty patients had a 10.8% death rate, compared with a 10.2% death rate among those on optimal medical therapy.
• In the bypass group — which included individuals with more severe heart disease — surgery was more effective than optimal medical therapy. Bypass recipients had a 22.4% chance of having a heart attack or stroke or dying in the next five years, compared with 30.5% of participants who only took medications.

These results were published in the June 2009 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

High Tech is Not Always the Answer

We’re often inclined to believe that high-tech devices and interventions are superior, Dr. Boden observes. This is not always the case — sometimes conservative medical therapy is more effective, since it is less invasive and therefore less dangerous, and it costs less, too. The BARI 2D results confirm that intensive medical (non-surgical) therapy can be an effective first line of treatment for diabetics with heart disease, particularly for those with less severe disease.

Source(s):

William E. Boden, MD, FACC, clinical chief, division of cardiovascular medicine, professor of medicine and preventive medicine, University at Buffalo Schools of Medicine & Public Health, medical director, cardiovascular services, Kaleida Health chief of cardiology, Buffalo General and Millard Fillmore Hospitals, Buffalo, New York.

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By admin, January 29, 2010 2:26 pm

We’ve long considered most cases of diabetes a lifestyle disease, associated with poor diet and a lack of exercise, but now researchers have found that other factors beyond heredity may also play a role, specifically environmental ones. I spoke with one of the leading researchers in this area, Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, assistant professor and researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, about how environmental toxins impact the development of diabetes and what we can do to protect ourselves.

Is your drinking water dangerous? Find out now

IS IT SAFE TO DRINK THE WATER?

In one recent study, scientists found that arsenic, a naturally occurring element in the environment that results when minerals dissolve in rocks and soil, was related to the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. This is potentially very important, since an estimated 8% of public water supplies in the US have levels of inorganic arsenic higher than the safety standard established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is 10 micrograms per liter. Previous research has linked exposure to this heavy metal with bladder, lung, kidney and skin cancer, as well as other health problems. To determine the relationship between arsenic and diabetes, Dr. Navas-Acien and her team of collaborators analyzed data from 788 adults age 20 and older whose urine was tested for traces of this toxin.

They found that …

• Participants with type 2 diabetes had a 26% higher arsenic level than people who did not have the disease.
• Those with the highest levels of arsenic were more than three times as likely to have diabetes than those with the lowest levels. Drinking water can be contaminated with arsenic in some mining areas and in areas with inappropriate arsenic waste disposal… also, air pollution can be an additional source of arsenic exposure in certain areas.

The theory is that inorganic arsenic may contribute to diabetes by interfering with insulin sensitivity. When the body’s cells are exposed to both insulin and arsenic, they absorb less blood glucose than when exposed to insulin alone and, of course, impaired ability to manage glucose is a hallmark of diabetes. Inorganic arsenic may also contribute to diabetes by encouraging inflammation. (Note: Inorganic arsenic is distinct from arsenobetaine, an organic arsenic compound often found in seafood that is not believed to pose health risks.)

These findings were published in the August 20, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Further research is necessary to confirm the causal role of arsenic in diabetes development.

PESTICIDES AND DIABETES

Pesticides are also being implicated as a possible factor in increasing rates of diabetes, Dr. Navas-Acien told me. Scientists at the US National Institutes of Health looked into the incidence of diabetes in workers who applied pesticides on farms and in other agricultural settings. They found that workers who used chlorinated pesticides for more than 100 days over the course of their lifetimes faced a significantly higher risk of diabetes. The associations between particular pesticides and diabetes ranged from a 20% to 200% jump in risk. Also, scientists at University of Cambridge in the UK have noted the need for more research on a possible link between persistent organic pollutants (POPs, a chemical group that includes many pesticides) and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Although POPs such as DDT have been banned, they persist in our environment, slowly biodegrading and entering the food supply. Other environmental chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants used in a range of consumer products, from electronic equipment to clothing, or bisphenol A, found in plastics, may be associated with the development of diabetes as well.

WHILE WE WAIT FOR MORE INFORMATION…

While researchers continue to study what role environmental toxins may play in susceptibility to type 2 diabetes, it is important to do what we can to limit exposure to those we know are potentially dangerous. Reasonable steps to take to protect yourself and your family include…

• Ask your water utility company for a water quality report. You can also review independent tests on bottled water brands at the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Web site,www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/appa.asp.
• Filter your tap water before drinking. Reverse osmosis filters are effective at removing arsenic, but pitcher filters and water softeners are not.
• Go green. For example, instead of deadly pesticides, use pest-resistant grasses to manage your lawn. Read more about “integrated pest management” (IPM) athttp://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/ipm.htm… replace chemical-laden cleaning products in your home with green brands such as Seventh Generation (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/).

While the jury is still out on any direct causal relationship between environmental toxins and diabetes, there is a strong suggestion of such links. This just adds more to the already long list of health risks you may be able to avoid altogether by living life as naturally and healthfully as possible.

Source(s):

Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

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By admin, November 3, 2009 1:34 am

With the amount of people being affected by Type 2 diabetes there are many more people trying to find a diet plan that will work with it. This seems to be a very difficult process as there is an extensive amount of different nutrients someone with diabetes needs on a day to day basis. Dieting with diabetes can be hard and in some instances dangerous if not done right. This is something that has been thought about by Medifast and made possible.

When Medifast heard about the lack of diets developed for people with diabetes they began their research so that they could finally develop something that would help those with diabetes to lose weight. It can be really hard to lose weight when you have diabetes, especially since your diet has already taken a huge hit.

Diabetes and dieting working together.

Your health is a very important thing and if you do not take care of it you are going to find yourself dealing with many health ailments in the future. You do not want to deal with this, so consider getting involved with a diet plan from Medifast instead.

The plans from Medifast have gone through an extensive amount of research and tests to ensure that they work. People who are currently involved with one of the various diet plans have the ability to be apart of the MyMedifast Community as well. This community has been developed to help people finally not feel alone with their dieting adventures. When someone is taking on a diet alone they are not going to have anyone to turn to for emotional support and in many instances, give up.

Dieting with diabetes has become something many people are looking for. Diabetes affects thousands of people nationwide and many of these people are still not on the proper diets to help manage their health properly. The only way you are going to improve your health is by having a healthy diet. With Medifast diet plans this is possible once and for all. Stop letting all those quick meals that are full of useless fats and calories over take your life and eat something that will improve your health instead.

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