Is your sleep schedule putting you at risk for type 2 diabetes?
Shifting to these type of foods keeps your blood sugar levels steady and increases fat metabolism.
Shifting to these type of foods keeps your blood sugar levels steady and increases fat metabolism.
Replacing carbohydrates with protein and fat reduces high blood sugar and liver fat content over a period of six weeks, research finds.
Conventional dietary advice for type 2 diabetics involves a low fat diet and high-carb foods with a low glycaemic index (GI) but a Danish study suggests this is not the best approach.
The GI is a ranking system of carbohydrate content in foods that shows those carbs that are slower to digest and be absorbed
Presently, 85 percent of type 2 diabetics are overweight and are told to follow a weight loss diet with fewer calories, low in fat and a high in carbohydrates with a low GI.
The idea is to overcome type 2 diabetes by helping patients to keep their blood sugar levels under control.
However, the Danish researchers assessed a group of type 2 diabetes patients and found that a diet low in carbohydrates, high in protein and moderately increased fat will improve regulating blood glucose levels (glycaemic control).
Additionally, it helps fat metabolism and reduces the fat content in the liver and pancreas.
Excess fat will cause fatty liver (hepatic steatosis) and fatty pancreas (pancreatic steatosis) disease.
Dr Thure Krarup, study co-author, said:
“The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects of the diet without ‘interference’ from a weight loss.
For that reason, the patients were asked to maintain their weight.
Our study confirms the assumption that a diet with a reduced carbohydrate content can improve patients’ ability to regulate their blood sugar levels — without the patients concurrently losing weight.
Our findings are important, because we’ve removed weight loss from the equation.
Previous studies have provided contradictory conclusions, and weight loss has complicated interpretations in a number of these studies.”
Several studies have suggested that a low-carb, high protein diet can benefit type 2 diabetics by reduction in sugar cravings, improved energy levels, and increased weight loss.
Dr Krarup concluded:
“The study shows that by reducing the share of carbohydrates in the diet and increasing the share of protein and fat, you can both treat high blood sugar and reduce liver fat content.
Further intensive research is needed in order to optimise our dietary recommendations for patients with type 2 diabetes”
The study was published in the journal Diabetologia (Skytte et al., 2019).
Lifestyle factors that signal how long we live.
Lifestyle factors that signal how long we live.
The main lifestyle factors that increase your life expectancy are reducing stress and avoiding smoking, heavy drinking and type 2 diabetes, a study reveals.
Type 2 diabetes can be prevented naturally by doing regular physical activity, healthy eating, and getting enough sleep.
A person’s quality of life, such as poor sleep and lifestyle risk factors such as obesity will all influence longevity.
Researchers found that diabetes and smoking are the leading causes of life shortening for both men and women.
Smoking lowers life expectancy by 6.6 years and diabetes by 6.5 years and heavy stress by 2.8 years for a man aged 30.
Smoking cause a 5.5 years fewer years, diabetes 5.3 years, and heavy stress 2.3 years decline in life expectancy for a 30-year-old woman.
Exercise is another lifestyle risk factor: men with a lack of physical activity had 2.4 years shorter life.
In contrast, improving quality of life and positive changes in lifestyle, such as eating lots of fruits and vegetables can boost longevity.
Eating vegetables makes people live longer by 0.9 years and fruits by 1.4 years.
For older persons, the factors that affect longevity were similar to younger people, except for the outcomes which were smaller.
People who live with moderation seem to have the best outcomes as well as living longer.
Psychological risk factors also affect life expectancy, for example, having some stress — as long as at a similar level to what is usual for others — did not reduce lifespan.
However, higher levels of stress took a few years off their life time.
The analysed data are from 38,549 Finish people aged between 25 and 74 with a follow-up period of 16 years.
Dr Tommi Härkänen, the study’s first author, said:
“Before, life expectancy has usually been assessed based on only a few sociodemographic background factor groups, such as age, sex, and education.
In this study, we wanted to assess the impact of several different factors to a person’s life expectancy, so we could compare their effects.”
The life expectancy differences between women and men appear to be related to some modifiable risk factors.
Professor Seppo Koskinen, study co-author, explains:
“What was interesting about the study was how small the difference in the life expectancy of 30-year men and women was based on the same risk factor values – only 1.6 years.
According to the statistics from Statistics Finland, the difference between the sexes has been over five years for all 30-year-olds, which comes down to women having healthier lifestyles than men.”
Education in this study appeared to have only a small impact on life expectancy if other risk factor levels were similar.
The study was published in the British Medical Journal (Härkänen et al., 2020).
The drink will help control blood sugar and lower the risk of diabetes by half.
The drink will help control blood sugar and lower the risk of diabetes by half.
Adults who drink tea habitually are more likely to maintain their blood sugar levels and are at reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
According to a study, consuming dark tea in particular every day halves the odds for developing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Dark tea such as Pu-erh belongs to the fermented teas category so it shouldn’t be confused with regular black tea, although that is also effective.
Adults who consumed dark tea every day were at a 53 percent lower risk of prediabetes and 47 percent reduced chance for type 2 diabetes than non-tea drinkers.
Dr Tongzhi Wu, the study’s co-author, said:
“The substantial health benefits of tea, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, have been reported in several studies over recent years, but the mechanisms underlying these benefits have been unclear.
Our findings hint at the protective effects of habitual tea drinking on blood sugar management via increased glucose excretion in urine, improved insulin resistance and thus better control of blood sugar.
These benefits were most pronounced among daily dark tea drinkers.”
The added health benefits might be related to the fermentation method used in producing dark teas.
The tea leaves undergo a microbial fermentation process to keep their quality and flavour intact for a longer period of time.
More importantly, the microbial fermentation increases bioactive compounds such as free amino acids, polysaccharides, alkaloids, and polyphenols.
These compounds are known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, increase levels of good bacteria in the gut, and enhance function of beta cells in the pancreas responsible for the production of insulin.
In this study, participants were asked what type of tea they consumed (dark, black, green, or other tea) and how often (every day, often, sometimes, or never).
The team looked at the connection between the type of tea, the frequency, and the levels of glucose in the urine samples, insulin tests, and glycaemic status.
The body of a diabetic person has the capacity to reabsorb glucose from the urine resulting in increased blood sugar levels.
The analysis showed that drinking tea every day increased urinary glucose removal from the body and improved insulin sensitivity, lowered the risk of prediabetes by 15 percent and type 2 diabetes by 28 percent.
However, the beneficial health effects were higher for those drinking dark teas than others.
Dr Wu said:
“These findings suggest that the actions of bioactive compounds in dark tea may directly or indirectly modulate glucose excretion in the kidneys, an effect, to some extent, mimicking that of sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, a new anti-diabetic drug class that is not only effective at preventing and treating type 2 diabetes, but also has a substantial protective effects on the heart and kidneys.”
Professor Zilin Sun, the study’s co-author, said:
“Our findings suggest that drinking dark tea every day has the potential to lessen type 2 diabetes risk and progression through better blood sugar control.
When you look at all the different biomarkers associated with habitual drinking of dark tea, it may be one simple step people can easily take to improve their diet and health.”
The research was presented at the Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), (Wu et al., 2023).
Two servings a day of this high-fat food could lower diabetes risk and reduce high blood pressure.
Two servings a day of this high-fat food could lower diabetes risk and reduce high blood pressure.
Eating more whole fat dairy is linked to a lower incidence of diabetes and hypertension, a study has found.
Having dairy products twice a day in your regular diet reduces the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes, the risk factors of Metabolic syndrome.
Diabetes, hypertension, and obesity together will lead to metabolic syndrome, a disorder that puts people at higher risk of heart disease and stroke.
Past studies suggest that higher consumption of dairy products reduces the odds of high blood pressure, diabetes, and so metabolic syndrome.
This study suggests that full-fat dairy foods but not low-fat dairy have the strongest effect on lowering the incidence of metabolic syndrome and its related risk factors.
To test if this is true for populations in different countries, researchers included 21 countries on five continents.
Participants were between 35- and 70-years-old and the average follow-up was over nine years.
Dairy intake was either low-fat (1–2%) or whole-fat, including mixed dishes prepared with dairy ingredients, milk, yogurt, cheese, yogurt drinks, butter, and cream.
Average diary intake was 179 grams (g) per day, with whole-fat dairy intake counting almost twice as much as low-fat.
The standard serving and portion sizes were used, for example, 5 g for one teaspoon of butter, 15 g for a slice of cheese, and 244 g for a cup of yogurt or a glass of milk.
Compared with eating no dairy, two servings a day of dairy foods reduced the risk of metabolic syndrome by 24 percent and for whole-fat diary by 28 percent.
The likelihood of developing diabetes and hypertension was reduced up to 12 percent.
The risk was reduced to 14 percent with a dairy intake of 3 servings per day.
The authors concluded:
“If our findings are confirmed in sufficiently large and long term trials, then increasing dairy consumption may represent a feasible and low cost approach to reducing [metabolic syndrome], hypertension, diabetes, and ultimately cardiovascular disease events worldwide.”
The study was published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care (Bhavadharini et al., 2020).
Correcting this disorder in diabetics would benefit them as well as many anti-diabetes drugs.
Correcting this disorder in diabetics would benefit them as well as many anti-diabetes drugs.
Poor sleep can be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, research finds.
Poor sleep quality, or changes in circadian rhythms caused by night-shift work, have been linked to alterations in insulin levels.
Other signs of type 2 diabetes include feeling thirsty all the time, losing weight, going to the toilet a lot and even blurred vision.
When poor sleep continues, the body makes less insulin, a hormone that allows the body to use glucose (sugar) as energy.
Blood sugar level is regulated by insulin and so depletion of insulin can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Moreover, poor sleep through the night increases levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol.
Cortisol weakens insulin productivity by increasing the blood sugar levels and the consequence is too much sugar pumping into the bloodstream.
High blood sugar, which is known as hyperglycemia, is a sign of developing type 2 diabetes.
High blood glucose levels can harm the blood vessels resulting in nerve damage, poor vision or even blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.
Studies suggest that people with diabetes who have poor sleep have higher insulin resistance and so more difficulty in managing the disease.
Dr Kristen Knutson, the lead author of a study published in the journal Diabetes Care, said:
“People who have a hard time controlling their blood glucose levels have a greater risk of complications.
They have a reduced quality of life.
And, they have a reduced life expectancy.”
This study monitored sleep duration and quality in diabetics.
They also reported if they suffered from any sleep disorders like sleep apnea, snoring or insomnia.
Their results showed that diabetics subjects with poor sleep had 82% higher insulin resistance compared to those who had diabetes, but were normal sleepers.
Dr Knutson said:
“For someone who already has diabetes, adding a sleep treatment intervention, whether it’s treating sleep apnea or treating insomnia, may be an additional help for them to control their disease.”
Improving sleep is a powerful intervention — it can be as effective as common drugs for type 2 diabetes.
Professor Eve Van Cauter, co-author of the study said:
“This suggests that improving sleep quality in diabetics would have a similar beneficial effect as the most commonly used anti-diabetes drugs.”
Diabetes is predominant in the US and it is increasing rapidly worldwide.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2015 more than 100 million US adults were suffering from diabetes or prediabetes.
The study was published in Diabetes Care (Knutson et al., 2011).
Patients with diabetes could lose 15 kg and beat the condition as long as follow this path.
Patients with diabetes could lose 15 kg and beat the condition as long as follow this path.
Type 2 diabetes is reversible for up to 10 years if patients undergo a low-calorie diet and don’t regain the weight after losing it.
Diabetics, within only seven days of being on this diet, saw their insulin sensitivity return to normal due to the reduction of fat content in liver.
After eight weeks the pancreas’ fat content was reduced, insulin secretion and glucose control went back to normal levels.
Professor Roy Taylor, who has studied the condition for more than 40 years, presented these findings at the European Association For The Study Of Diabetes.
Professor Taylor, said:
“The good news for people with Type 2 diabetes is that our work shows that even if you have had the condition for 10 years, you are likely to be able to reverse it by moving that all important tiny amount of fat out of the pancreas.
At present, this can only be done through substantial weight loss.”
Past studies show that all these abnormalities could be switched off if excessive eating is sharply reduced by a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) also known as a crash diet.
A counterbalance study demonstrated that the metabolism will return to normal after losing weight as long as diabetes patients keep maintaining the weight loss.
Professor Taylor, explained:
“Surprisingly, it was observed that the diet devised as an experimental tool was actually liked by research participants.
It was associated with no hunger and no tiredness in most people, but with rapidly increased wellbeing.
The ‘One, Two’ approach used in the Counterbalance study was a defined two phase programme.
The Phase 1 is the period of weight loss — calorie restriction without additional exercise.
A carefully planned transition period leads to Phase 2 — long term supported weight maintenance by modest calorie restriction with increased daily physical activity.”
People with diabetes who followed this approach lost around 15 kg of weight and had normal glucose levels for many years.
The study was presented at the European Association For The Study Of Diabetes (EASD 2017) in Lisbon.
The emotion causes consistent stress to the body, which may hasten the onset of diabetes.
The emotion causes consistent stress to the body, which may hasten the onset of diabetes.
Prolonged loneliness can lead to type-2 diabetes, research suggests.
An absence of deep, positive relationships is the key factor, rather than a simple lack of contact.
In other words, one can still be lonely in a crowd.
One-third of adults in the US report that they feel lonely at least some of the time.
The same figure for the UK is one-in-five.
It is not known exactly why loneliness is linked to type-2 diabetes.
One possible explanation is that loneliness causes consistent stress to the body, which hastens the onset of the disease.
Dr Ruth Hackett, the study’s first author, said:
“The study shows a strong relationship between loneliness and the later onset of type 2 diabetes.
What is particularly striking is that this relationship is robust even when factors that are important in diabetes development are taken into account such as smoking, alcohol intake and blood glucose as well as mental health factors such as depression.
The study also demonstrates a clear distinction between loneliness and social isolation in that isolation or living alone does not predict type 2 diabetes whereas loneliness, which is defined by a person’s quality of relationships, does.”
The study included 4,112 people aged over 50 who were tracked over 15 years.
During this period, 264 people developed type 2 diabetes, with lonely people at a higher risk.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects how the body turns food into energy.
It means that the body finds it difficult to keep blood sugar at normal levels.
Diabetes can cause serious health problems, such as heart and kidney disease as well as vision loss.
Dr Hackett said:
“I came up with the idea for the research during UK lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic as I became increasingly aware and interested in how loneliness may affect our health, especially as it is likely that many more people were experiencing this difficult emotion during this period.”
Stress linked to loneliness may be causing diabetes, said Dr Hackett:
“If the feeling of loneliness becomes chronic.
Then everyday you’re stimulating the stress system and over time that leads to wear and tear on your body and those negative changes in stress-related biology may be linked to type 2 diabetes development.”
The study was published in the journal Diabetologia (Hackett et al., 2020).
High dosage of this vitamin can help prevent diabetes developing, a new study has found.
High dosage of this vitamin can help prevent diabetes developing, a new study has found.
High doses of vitamin D for prediabetic people can increase glucose metabolism, which in turn slows down the disease’s development.
The action of insulin in muscle tissue improved when vitamin D3 was given to newly diagnosed diabetes patients, the study found.
Researchers used a dosage of 5,000 IU per day over a 6-month period, which is about 5 to 10 times more than the recommended daily vitamin D intake.
There are different types of Vitamin D: the two major forms are vitamin D2 or ergocalciferol, and vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol.
According to a new CDC report, more than 100 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes or prediabetes.
Prediabetes is linked to higher blood glucose levels than normal.
Prediabetes is a fast growing problem that, if not treated, can lead to type 2 diabetes in 5 years.
Type 2 diabetes can cause serious diseases including kidney failure, nerve damage, cardiovascular diseases and blindness.
People at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes can have low levels of vitamin D.
The effect of vitamin D in prediabetes or new diabetes patients was recently studied by Dr Claudia Gagnon and colleagues from Université Laval in Quebec.
They measured glucose metabolism and markers of insulin function before and after six months supplementation with vitamin D and found that insulin sensitivity was significantly improved.
High insulin sensitivity makes our cells use blood glucose more efficiently and so blood sugar will decrease in the body.
People who are not sensitive to insulin suffer from a condition called insulin resistance (IR), a factor that leads to type 2 diabetes.
Dr Gagnon says:
“The reason we saw improvements in glucose metabolism following vitamin D supplementation in those at high risk of diabetes, or with newly diagnosed diabetes, while other studies failed to demonstrate an effect in people with long-standing type 2 diabetes is unclear.
This could be due to the fact that improvements in metabolic function are harder to detect in those with longer-term disease or that a longer treatment time is needed to see the benefits.”
She adds:
“Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes are a growing public health concern and although our results are promising, further studies are required to confirm our findings, to identify whether some people may benefit more from this intervention, and to evaluate the safety of high-dose vitamin D supplementation in the long term.
Until then I would suggest that current vitamin D supplementation recommendations be followed.”
The study was published in the European Journal of Endocrinology (Lemieux et al., 2019).
Diabetes is treatable without heavy calorie restrictions and draining weight management plans.
Diabetes is treatable without heavy calorie restrictions and draining weight management plans.
People who lose at least 10 percent of their body weight in the first five years after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are most likely to get rid of the disease, research reveals.
The study found that 10 percent weight loss can double the chance of remission compared with patients who lose no weight.
This means that people with diabetes can overcome the disease as long as they gradually lose weight.
Dr Hajira Dambha-Miller, the study’s first author, said:
“We’ve known for some time now that it’s possible to send diabetes into remission using fairly drastic measures such as intensive weight loss programmes and extreme calorie restriction.
These interventions can be very challenging to individuals and difficult to achieve.
But, our results suggest that it may be possible to get rid of diabetes, for at least five years, with a more modest weight loss of 10%.
This will be more motivating and hence more achievable for many people.”
More than 400 million people in the world have type 2 diabetes and are in danger of having heart disease, blindness, stroke, and lower limb amputation.
Medication combined with positive lifestyle changes can help patients cope with the condition.
But rigorous exercise regimes or strict diet plans have been shown to return blood glucose levels to normal and treat diabetes.
The weight loss management programmes usually require rigid calorie restrictions over a short period of time.
Past studies have been shown that nine out of ten newly diagnosed patients and 50 percent of people with long-term diabetes have recovered from the disease when they followed an intensive low-calorie diet for eight weeks under clinical supervision.
The very low calorie diet involves eating 700 calories per day, a similar amount to one large cheeseburger.
Professor Simon Griffin, study senior author, said:
“This reinforces the importance of managing one’s weight, which can be achieved through changes in diet and increasing physical activity.
Type 2 diabetes, while a chronic disease, can lead to significant complications, but as our study shows, can be controlled and even reversed.”
The study was published in Diabetic Medicine (Dambha-Miller et al., 2019).
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