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Diabetes Food Article Archives
May 2012
For people with diabetes, breakfast is more than just a morning meal. According to recent research, it may hold the key to good blood glucose numbers for the rest of the day.
0 comments - Posted May 11, 2012
Feeling tired? Your lack of rest may be putting you at increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. That's the conclusion of a new paper, published in The American Journal of Human Biology, that looked at evidence collected from numerous experimental and observational studies. The link was clear: People who got less than six hours of sleep a night were more likely to have a high body mass index (BMI) and be obese. The connection found in the study seems stronger for children and teenagers, which is especially worrisome given the skyrocketing rates of type 2 diabetes in young people.
0 comments - Posted May 10, 2012
April 2012
Food plays an important role in our lives. For most of us, it is more than just a means of sustenance. For some, it is a source of great pleasure. For others, it is a source of painful consequences. And for many, it is both.
0 comments - Posted Apr 29, 2012
As an orthopedic surgeon, I have many patients with diabetes who tell me, "I can't have surgery because I won't heal." That is certainly not the case, however. Diabetes does affect the small blood vessels and the function of immune cells when blood sugar is high, but with proper nutrition and blood sugar management, people with diabetes are very safe to undergo knee replacements, abdominal surgery, and many elective procedures.
1 comment - Posted Apr 28, 2012
As we approach the summer season, our thoughts turn to barbecues, picnics, amusement parks, and road trips to the beach. It is a season of fun, but it can be hard for people with diabetes to enjoy the festivities and still maintain healthy eating habits.
1 comment - Posted Apr 23, 2012
I was a mixture of nerves and excitement as I met one of my favorite celebrity chefs at the American Diabetes Association's Expo in Chicago on April 14th. Jamie Deen, Paula Deen's adorable, blue-eyed, dimpled son, was there doing a food demonstration, meeting with fans, and extending a healthy dose of warm smiles and pure southern hospitality.
0 comments - Posted Apr 19, 2012
Many people with diabetes have had to eliminate traditional flour breads and refined starches from their diets because of the way they spike blood sugar. "Diabetic Lifestyles Bread" from Alvarado Street Bakery is a nutritious alternative to traditional flour breads and causes a much slower rise in blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Apr 18, 2012
Just a 1 percent weight loss in older people with type 2 diabetes can improve their physical mobility by up to 7 percent, according to a new study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2012
To love a diabetic is to be a doctor. It means helping her to remember her medications. It means driving her for an hour to the only 24 hour pharmacy when she's gotten the flu and can't take the Nyquil in the refrigerator. Or driving her to the hospital when the simple flu turns into bronchitis and her blood turns acidic.
37 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2012
North Carolina-born chef Sam Talbot first came to national attention when he placed third in the Season 2 run of Bravo's Top Chef TV competition. Sam, who has type 1 diabetes and wears an insulin pump, held the executive chef position at several New York City restaurants, including Black Duck, Williamsburgh Cafe, and Punch, before opening his current restaurant, the acclaimed Surf Lodge, in Montauk on Long Island.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2012
An examination of several studies that included a total of 350,000 people has linked high consumption of white rice with an increase in type 2 diabetes. A comparison of the studies that were conducted in China and Japan, where white rice is a staple, indicated that people there were 55 percent more likely to develop the disease than Asian people who ate the least rice.
2 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2012
To discover the relationship between potassium levels and type 2 diabetes, a Johns Hopkins University study looked at more than 12,000 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), performed in 1987 and 1996. The study found that as potassium levels went up, the incidence of diabetes among study participants went down. The more than 2,000 African Americans in the study had lower average potassium levels than the 9,000 Caucasians and were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Apr 8, 2012
INGREDIENTS
1 large bunch (about 1 1/4 pounds) kale, stems and center ribs discarded, leaves roughly torn
2 sheets nori, cut into 1-by-2-inch strips
1/4 cup Roasted Garlic Oil* (see below)
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 comment - Posted Apr 6, 2012
The best things in life are often right in front of our noses, but we tend to take them for granted. William Bell put it best in 1961 when he recorded the soul classic "You Don't Miss Your Water (‘Til Your Well Runs Dry)" on Stax records. He realized just how true his words were in 1965, when Otis Redding re-recorded the song and had a much bigger hit with it. Even the Byrds had a semi-hit when they released the song in 1968 and again in 1990, as did Peter Tosh with his reggae version in 1972. Poor William Bell....his well never even filled up before it went dry. The concept is quite simple, really. All that goodness is surrounding each and every one of us, and we don't have a clue until it's gone.
3 comments - Posted Apr 5, 2012
Iranian scientists report that a traditional Middle Eastern yogurt drink, doogh, when fortified with vitamin D, decreases the markers that indicate inflammation in persons with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 3, 2012
March 2012
It's spring break again, when thousands of people head to the beach. A lot of wonderful things come with being out and about on spring break, but if you have diabetes, there are also several things you should consider. There's going to be more traffic, fewer parking places, lots of people, an abundance of uncalculated carbohydrate sources, and longer waits for everything, to name just a few.
2 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2012
A little more than 25 years ago, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2012
Everyone needs vitamin D to be healthy and maintain strong bones, but a new study has found that it may also protect against stroke. In the study, 21,000 people aged 45 and older answered a food questionnaire. According to the findings, presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference, there was an 11 percent reduction in stroke among those who consumed the most vitamin D.
0 comments - Posted Mar 16, 2012
When it comes to diabetes, people often blame the patient instead of the disease. I cannot think of another chronic illness for which this is the case. Much of the public seems to believe that we bring diabetes on ourselves. When people with diabetes are diagnosed with complications, uninformed observers often insist that it happened because they were "bad diabetics." Comments like "She didn't take care of herself" make me instantly defensive and angry. How can anyone know what that person went through on a day-to-day basis with her diabetes?
31 comments - Posted Mar 8, 2012
As I was sitting in the hospital after a heart attack, my cardiologist walked in and said, "You have to stop eating meat." "Red meat?" I asked hopefully. "All meat," he replied firmly. It was disconcerting, to say the least, because meat has been in my life since I could feed myself. But my cardiologist explained, "If you don't want to end up back here again, you will start on an plant-based diet immediately." That day, I stopped eating meat. In fact, I asked the hospital food service to switch me to a vegetarian diet.
26 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2012
February 2012
"I knew I didn't eat a totally healthy diet because bread is a big weakness of mine. Worse, exercise was something I kept planning to do but hadn't gotten around to," recalls 62-year-old Laura M., who lives in a New York City suburb. "I had been feeling more tired than usual and had a cut on my right leg that seemed to be healing slowly, but other than that I felt fine. When during the course of an annual check-up, my doctor said I had diabetes, I practically fell apart."
1 comment - Posted Feb 28, 2012
A gluten-free diet in the first 12 months of life does not lower the risk of later developing type 1 diabetes in children who have a family history of the disease, says a German study. Previous studies had suggested that babies whose diets included gluten in their first months of life might be more likely to develop type 1 than youngsters whose diets did not.
1 comment - Posted Feb 22, 2012
As a woman with diabetes, you may have noticed that you face unique challenges, from where to place your insulin pump, to pregnancy, to hormone fluctuations. Many diabetes books offer general diabetes advice, but few focus on women beyond just a short chapter. That is, until now.
3 comments - Posted Feb 20, 2012
My best friend from high school, Katherine, married a wonderful man who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a little over two years ago. John Schaaf, now 60, lives with Katherine in Berkeley, Calif., and works for Chevron Corporation in nearby Richmond.
4 comments - Posted Feb 13, 2012
Cinnamon, chromium, and alpha-lipoic acid are dietary supplements that have been studied for diabetes management, but are not commonly found in daily multivitamins. Chromium* and cinnamon have the least supportive evidence of efficacy, while some studies have found alpha-lipoic acid to be promising, at least subjectively, in reducing the discomforts of peripheral neuropathy.
1 comment - Posted Feb 12, 2012
Diabetes doesn't confine itself to a single week or month. It's a year-round condition, and each season offers its own challenges and opportunities for those of us with the disease. We should be prepared to change and evolve as the seasons shift--not only to stay healthy, but also to enjoy all the fun that our dynamic world offers.
1 comment - Posted Feb 7, 2012
Barley has more beta glucan fiber than any other grain, and it has repeatedly established positive clinical results with regard to diabetes control. It not only boosts immune function by supporting macrophages and neutrophils, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and helps control obesity, but also attenuates postprandial glucose levels, improves insulin sensitivity, and promotes a feeling of satiety.
6 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2012
January 2012
If you, like many people with diabetes, are trying to lose weight, you might be more successful if you cut back on carbohydrates for just two days a week instead of undertaking an unrelenting low-calorie diet. A recent report found that women who banished carbohydrates for two days a week and ate normally the rest of the time lost about nine pounds in four months, compared to the five pounds lost by women who cut back to roughly 1,500 calories every day.
7 comments - Posted Jan 26, 2012
CHICAGO, IL -- January 24, 2012 -- The news of celebrity chef Paula Deen having diabetes has triggered a national conversation about how diet affects people with diabetes or those who are at risk of getting it.
0 comments - Posted Jan 25, 2012
In my work as a prevention health technician in the Lakota community of South Dakota, I encourage people to ask questions and learn the facts about diabetes. Once they are aware of what diabetes is and how they can prevent or control it, they become empowered.
4 comments - Posted Jan 19, 2012
Like I did, you may take it for granted that you don't have to worry about having a heart attack. You may assume that heart attacks only happen to senior citizens. But I am living proof that there is no age limit to heart attack. At age 35, just three days after Christmas, it happened to me.
3 comments - Posted Jan 18, 2012
Ethan Lewis, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 12, founded GlucoBrands only 11 years later. The company produces a portable, inexpensive, tasty, fast-acting glucose gel that people can take to quickly restore healthy blood sugar levels when they experience hypoglycemia.
1 comment - Posted Jan 16, 2012
A new year means new beginnings. Traditionally, it's a time to resolve to make changes for the better in our lives. This year, I decided to write a resolution list dedicated specifically to diabetes. I hope that some of you will want to try these ideas with me.
4 comments - Posted Jan 8, 2012
A dietary supplement, also known as a food supplement or nutritional supplement, contains a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet by providing an element that might not otherwise be consumed. "Dietary ingredients" include vitamins, minerals, herbs and other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, and metabolites. Dietary supplements, which may be extracts or concentrates, come in many forms, including tablets, capsules, soft gels, gelcaps, liquids, powders, and bars.
0 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2012
Some women who drink two of more sugary beverages daily are lucky: their consumption of sweetened drinks doesn't put on extra weight.
0 comments - Posted Jan 5, 2012
What's it really like to have type 1 diabetes? Every morning I start the day with a finger prick and two insulin injections. It doesn't matter if I don't feel like it. It doesn't matter if I'm tired. There is simply no room for pre-coffee dosage errors, excuses, or whining. Some mornings are good and some are bad, based upon my blood glucose reading. Its level varies greatly depending on whether my liver has released large stores of glucose during the dawn hours.
25 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2012
December 2011
Vaginal yeast infections are annoying, not dangerous, but they can seriously hamper your sex life, especially if you have diabetes. What's the connection, and what can you do to prevent and treat yeast infections?
3 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2011
We are a tight-knit community. I'm not talking about my neighbors in my hometown of Chicago. I'm talking about my worldwide neighbors in the diabetic online community. Anyone dealing with diabetes knows the bond that it brings. When a person with diabetes is wronged, the rest of us feel the sting. Most of us living with diabetes have stories about people badgering our diet choices, saying inappropriate or insensitive things, and, sadly, crossing the line even further.
5 comments - Posted Dec 20, 2011
If you have diabetes, you know all too well what's going to happen between now and the end of the year. You'll be forced to make some quick and painful decisions at sumptuous holiday feasts. Do you refuse the lavish, carbohydrate-rich fare and give up on the fun of the season? Or do you go whole hog, eating everything in sight, and hope that your insulin or medication can take up the slack?
3 comments - Posted Dec 18, 2011
"I have type 2 diabetes, diagnosed five years ago, and am 67 years old. I have worked very hard to manage this disease, but without the success I would like."
0 comments - Posted Dec 16, 2011
I wish there were a fail-safe manual for diabetes. Just when I'm thinking about how great my blood sugars have been, bam! I see a 300 on my meter, or a 40. It's so hard to know why: The off numbers could be due to hormones, stress, sickness, an incorrect carb count, varying activity levels, or any combination thereof. With diabetes, you really do learn as you go. Here are a few things I have learned along the way.
2 comments - Posted Dec 13, 2011
Here's good news for people who love nuts and Greek yogurt! Replacing even one serving of red meat with these tasty foods can substantially lower your risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health.
1 comment - Posted Dec 11, 2011
"I wasn't even addressing my high blood pressure until my uncle Jay, in a nursing home at 36, said ‘Don't get diabetes.' ‘I won't,' I promised him, and it changed my life."
4 comments - Posted Dec 7, 2011
Women are better at coping with problems than men, right? Not when it comes to being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. According to a new survey, that diagnosis had a greater negative impact on women's emotional outlook and adherence to diet and exercise than the same diagnosis given to men. The survey was conducted in September 2011, and included 831 completed responses from 458 women and 373 men.
1 comment - Posted Dec 6, 2011
Jeff O'Connell is the author of "Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Deadliest Habit and the Simple Way to Beat It." I discovered his book while browsing the shelves of my local library, and I could hardly put it down. Though I have type I diabetes and O'Connell's book focuses on type 2, I found many of his thoughts applicable to my own health. His book is no doubt controversial, so I wanted to delve deeper into his daring claims and share his responses with the diabetic community. After reading my interview with Jeff, please leave a comment below to let Diabetes Health know what you think.
10 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2011
November 2011
A new diabetes-friendly sugar, proven to help reduce sugar absorption, will soon be added to popular breads and cereals. "Sugir" is real sugar that contains an all-natural, tasteless additive called Emulin. Emulin, a patented formulation of compounds found in fruits, prevents the body from absorbing about a third of ingested sugar. A previous study showed that Emulin blocks the absorption of sugar by more than 30 percent.
2 comments - Posted Nov 30, 2011
Earl "the Pearl" Monroe was one of the greatest guards in the history of the National Basketball Association, playing from 1967 through 1980 for the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks. A member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, he was enshrined in the league's Hall of Fame in 1990. The Knicks retired his jersey number, 15, in 1986.
0 comments - Posted Nov 29, 2011
Diabetes Health publisher Nadia Al-Samarrie recently spoke with television and movie actor Anthony Anderson, who has taken a lead role with Eli Lilly & Company's F.A.C.E. campaign, a diabetes outreach to African Americans. A veteran of more than 20 films, Anthony, age 41, currently plays Detective Kevin Bernard on NBC's Emmy Award-winning drama, "Law & Order."
1 comment - Posted Nov 27, 2011
Living with diabetes, you are already hyper-aware of food, but the holidays seem to heighten that awareness. Faced with your aunt's delicious homemade cornbread and your grandma's famous sweet potato casserole, you may find yourself digging through your closet for your old carbohydrate-counting books and guessing at your insulin adjustments. Who wants to go through the holidays with the added stress of high blood sugars and associated mood swings, especially when your family is already driving you nuts? No, thanks.
4 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2011
It's hard being the new person at work. It's even harder when you're the new person and you have diabetes. Whenever I start a new job, thoughts race through my mind: Will I go low while I'm training? Will I have quick access to snacks? Will I be able to check my blood sugar without an audience? How about taking an insulin injection at the lunch table? It isn't easy feeling forced to expose so many personal details to people you just met.
2 comments - Posted Nov 20, 2011
When I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I recall the numerous comments that people blurted out in an attempt to make me feel better about my situation. But the truth was that I just needed to be treated like everyone else. I was in the midst of a confusing, depressing, and life-altering diagnosis. The last thing I needed was a pat on the back that felt more like a slap in the face.
11 comments - Posted Nov 15, 2011
Anyone who has lost a close family member to type 2 diabetes understands the grief and paralysis it creates, especially when the one who died was only 53.
7 comments - Posted Nov 14, 2011
I thought I had seen it all as a person with diabetes. Going to college, marriage, moves, career changes, you name it. I had soldiered on through them all, my control shifting from tight to loose to somewhere in the middle as the situation changed. I had adapted pretty well, I told myself.
2 comments - Posted Nov 12, 2011
Carol Normadi is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Northern California who is co-founder of Beyond Hunger, Inc., a group dedicated to helping people overcome obsessive concerns with food. She has co-authored two books on the topic of food obsessions: "It's Not About Food: Ending Your Obsession With Food and Weight" (Putnam, 1998) and "Over It: A Teen's Guide to Getting Beyond Food and Weight" (New World Library 2001).
10 comments - Posted Nov 4, 2011
October 2011
October is my diagnosis month. At 14 years old, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just a few weeks before Halloween. I remember thinking, at least I'm too old for trick or treating. My younger sister had been diagnosed six months earlier, however, and at 10 years old, she still loved to trick or treat. To ease her pain, my parents got creative and shifted the emphasis of Halloween off sweets and onto scary: Haunted houses, hayrides, and parties with bowls full of smushed tomatoes for witches hearts and cold grapes for eyeballs became our annual tradition. My sister and I still said no to most of the sugary sweets, but we were the first ones to say yes when the doors of the haunted house opened.
0 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2011
Like many people, I have a soft spot for salty chips, butterscotch sundaes, cheesecake, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and countless other comfort foods. A couple of martinis, accompanied by plump, red, pimento-filled olives, are another pleasant indulgence. And martinis were exactly what my wife Pat and I were drinking during the 2-for-1 Happy Hour at a chic Atlantic City bar during a vacation about five years ago.
0 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2011
Wrongly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was 30 years old, Chris Angell spent several frustrating weeks trying to make sense of his condition and not understanding why he wasn't getting any better. His diagnosis was eventually changed to type 1 diabetes, but Chris never received the necessary education to get his blood sugars in control. "I didn't know what I was supposed to be eating or how to count carbs, and I really felt isolated," he says.
1 comment - Posted Oct 25, 2011
Trying to lose weight as an insulin-injecting person with type 1 diabetes couldn't be more frustrating. It gets on my last nerve that exercise can trigger mind-numbing lows, lows that cause me to inhale a portion of those recently burned calories. That said, I don't skip exercise to avoid lows. I just check my blood sugars more often, use caution with my insulin dosing, and follow the advice of my doctors.
22 comments - Posted Oct 21, 2011
Sometimes I don't feel like explaining myself. Sometimes I just want to eat a pastry in public in peace, without the "diabetes police" showing up and giving me their two cents. When that happens, I can usually handle it without my blood pressure rising. I politely explain to these well-meaning people that I'm perfectly in control of my diabetes and that as long as I count the carbohydrates and take my shot, I can eat anything I please. Occasionally though, I find myself getting irritated and angry. I get tired of defending myself all the time.
23 comments - Posted Oct 4, 2011
September 2011
Imagine if you could keep diabetes at bay for another three or four years with lifestyle changes. Would you change what you ate? Would you commit to an exercise program, maintain a food journal, and join a support group? Imagine if you could take these simple steps and save money. How quickly would you say "Sign me up"?
1 comment - Posted Sep 26, 2011
Being a rookie driver on the fast-paced IndyCar racing circuit is pressure enough for any 26-year-old. But for Charlie Kimball, one of four wheel men on businessman Chip Ganassi's IndyCar race team, there's the added need to manage type 1 diabetes while roaring around the track at speeds that often exceed 200 miles per hour.
0 comments - Posted Sep 25, 2011
Scientists have found a protein that plays an important role in allowing our bodies to absorb glucose from our blood. What's more, lower levels of that protein may contribute to type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 23, 2011
It's that time of year again: flu season. I never thought much about getting a flu shot until fourteen years ago, when I ended up in the emergency room with the flu and a staggering blood sugar of over 800 mg/dL. I had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a few years before and had never discussed a sick day plan with my doctor. But during this experience, I discovered that diabetes and the flu get along about as well as a house cat and a junkyard dog.
5 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2011
Scientists have found a protein that plays an important role in allowing our bodies to absorb glucose from our blood. What's more, lower levels of that protein may contribute to type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 19, 2011
It may sound silly to say this, especially in this era of computing and high technology, but in our house, one of the most important tools in managing diabetes is a notebook, an ink pen, and three brightly colored magic markers. Of course, I'm talking about the logbook. That's not to say we don't also rely on complicated software to help track our daughter's blood sugars. But when it comes to understanding and using the data to our advantage, there is some truth to the age old belief in hands-on training.
1 comment - Posted Sep 16, 2011
"If you weren't having this conversation with me, who, other than your wife, would you be having it with?" That question, in response to something I'd said about treating my nine-year-old daughter's diabetes, was posed to me over the phone by a friend I had made less than six months earlier. She has a daughter too, the same age as mine, who also has type 1. Their diagnosis came a couple of years before ours, so I respect her experience and opinion, and so does my wife, Franca.
0 comments - Posted Sep 9, 2011
When you live with diabetes, there's a lot to do. Checking blood sugars. Counting carbs. Exercising. Not to mention all those fun-filled doctors' appointments. So the last time your physician or diabetes educator suggested ketone testing, it's completely understandable that your head was nodding but your mind was thinking "No way, Jack." But before abandoning the idea completely, there are a few things you should know.
5 comments - Posted Sep 8, 2011
An estimated 34 million Americans will be on the road during Labor Day weekend, many of them with type 2 diabetes. Road travel can interfere with blood sugar management and lead to low blood sugar, which can cause serious complications, such as loss of consciousness, if not treated quickly.
1 comment - Posted Sep 6, 2011
Carbohydrates can increase blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, as well as contribute to weight gain. A recent study shows that eating two ounces of raw, dry, or roasted nuts daily as a replacement for two ounces of other carbohydrates may control blood sugar levels and cholesterol in type 2 diabetes without packing on the pounds.
0 comments - Posted Sep 5, 2011
August 2011
As an NFL quarterback, Jay Cutler makes his living putting a football into the hands of an open receiver before getting slammed to the ground by a huge defensive lineman. It's a stressful occupation, all about timing, a little luck, and seeing the big picture in a split second.
8 comments - Posted Aug 31, 2011
Spices not only add zing to meals, but they may also reduce the high levels of triglycerides produced by eating high-fat meals.
0 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2011
Carbohydrates have become the ugly stepsister in the family photo album of healthy eating. Standing in the grocery aisle, consumers study ingredients and food labels, counting and analyzing the carb content of their foods. In the last decade, the popularity of low carb diets rose to dramatic heights as Americans gravitated toward the South Beach, Atkins, and Zone diets. Fruits were forsaken for plates piled high with steak and eggs.
7 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2011
Walking down the aisle of our church, I held onto my Dad's arm and tried to breathe deeply, but the flutters in my stomach and beads of sweat sliding down the back of my legs made me wonder if my blood sugar was dropping. When I reached the front of the church, I took my future husband's hands and saw that he was shaking too. I breathed a sigh of relief and realized it was just nerves.
1 comment - Posted Aug 23, 2011
My name is Katherine Marple, and I've had type 1 diabetes for 13 years. I'm the first in my family to have the disease, so I've done most of the research and made most of the discoveries on my own. One of those discoveries was the power of metformin (in addition to insulin) to help me control my diabetes.
16 comments - Posted Aug 18, 2011
A new food-oriented app is now available for people with diabetes: iEatOut Gluten & Allergy Free. The app, designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. provides instant access to tips for safely eating out for people with food allergies.
0 comments - Posted Aug 17, 2011
As a dad, do you tend to be authoritative and have high expectations of your child's self control? Do you set clear limits and command respect, without bulldozing him or her? If so, you may be helping your child with type 1 diabetes stick to his or her treatment regimen.
0 comments - Posted Aug 16, 2011
Our office manager sent us this link to a site with beautiful color photos of 10 foods that people with diabetes should avoid.
1 comment - Posted Aug 9, 2011
The University of Quebec is sponsoring an online survey (go to www.eddiabetes.com) directed at people with diabetes who may have an eating disorder.
2 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2011
A Boston-based study has found that vitamin D supplements can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes by improving their beta cell functioning.
2 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2011
July 2011
How many times has this happened to you? You're driving somewhere and something feels off. You suspect that your blood sugar level may be dropping, but you plow ahead. Now, imagine your car sounding the alarm: "Attention: This is your car speaking. Your blood sugar is low. Pull over and eat a snack."
3 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2011
Spending too many hours watching TV can also substantially increase your odds of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease or dying early. That's the conclusion of a Harvard School of Public Health study that looked at the effects of heavy TV watching.
1 comment - Posted Jul 23, 2011
Italian researchers have found that increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids leads to a decrease in insulin resistance, a common precursor to the development of type 2 diabetes. It also improves lipid profiles and adiponectin levels. (Adiponectin is a protein that is involved in metabolizing glucose and fatty acids. Low levels are associated with insulin resistance, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and obesity.)
0 comments - Posted Jul 21, 2011
A recent article in the New York Times says that such old prescription diabetes drugs as metformin and generics such as glimepiride are often as effective as or even more effective than newer, more expensive drugs.
9 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2011
Body fat is like two twins: one evil and one good. In this case, white fat-the kind that likes to cluster around the abdomen and hang on to calories-is the bad stuff. The "good" fat is brown, and it has been found to assist the body in burning calories, thus helping keep weight down.
0 comments - Posted Jul 15, 2011
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on June 25, 2009. At the time, I was a few weeks shy of my nineteenth birthday and had just finished my first year of college at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
6 comments - Posted Jul 12, 2011
Recently, we published an article by Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, titled "From Old Dogmas to New Realities. "In the article, Hope voiced the opinion that a low carb diet is not the only dietary option for people with diabetes, and that, in fact, such thinking is an "old dogma." In response, we received a number of strongly worded comments advocating the low carb diet as the only way to go.
48 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2011
Roger Hurdsman lives in Roy, Utah, surrounded by women. His wife of four years, Hilary, is there, along with his two young daughters, Bonnie and Tess. He seems to be handling the estrogen well though, perhaps because he devotes his days to designing software for the Department of Defense. He is able to spend time with computers and gadgets before being inundated with tea parties and dress-up when he gets home.
1 comment - Posted Jul 4, 2011
Say goodbye to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's old Food Pyramid. The tapered food guide is giving way to MyPlate, a colorful visual aid that shows the rough proportions of fruit, vegetables, protein, grains, and that dairy people should consume at every meal.
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 2011
June 2011
In the last decade, dramatic changes have occurred in our understanding of the onset and progression of prediabetes. Lightning speed changes have also occurred regarding the therapies available to achieve optimal blood glucose control. Even with all of this change, however, many old dogmas hang on. It's time to be aware of the new realities. In this article, I focus on two common old dogmas and the new realities.
71 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2011
Lap-Band manufacturer Allergan has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow surgeries using the device on overweight teenagers as young as 14 years old.
3 comments - Posted Jun 27, 2011
"My pump, my pump, my lovely little pump!" My sister invented her own version of the Black Eyed Peas' song, "My Humps" to poke friendly fun at my insulin pump.
20 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2011
An Australian researcher who deliberately fed his lab rats a high-sugar/high-fat diet says that a flavonoid called rutin helped block the growth of fat cells in their abdomens and kept them from putting on weight despite their bad diet. Flavonoids are plant pigments that researchers are finding have beneficial metabolic effects because of their antioxidant capabilities.
0 comments - Posted Jun 21, 2011
With Father's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to stop for a moment and reflect on what dads do for us, especially dads who have diabetic children. The pressure and emotional aspects of diabetes can be overwhelming, not to mention the stress it can put on a family. For every needle prick, shot, and counted carb my father (and mother) helped me with, I want to say thanks.
21 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2011
Max Bruno, a freshman at the State University of New York at New Paltz, tries to get to the gym about four times a week. He says that he knows his limits for working out, but likes to push himself. "I just have to be careful," he explains. "About an hour or so after I'm done working out, my blood sugar drops really low."
14 comments - Posted Jun 14, 2011
As prices rise, Americans are beginning to pay almost as much attention to the cost of food as they do to its taste. That's one of the findings of the 2011 Food & Health Survey, recently published by the International Food Industry Council Foundation (IFICF).
0 comments - Posted Jun 9, 2011
May 2011
"Nutrient Depletions" is a new smart phone app that allows users to see which of their prescription medications may be draining nutrients from their body. The app, available at iTunes stores for $1.99, works on Apple's iPhone, iTouch, and iPad products.
4 comments - Posted May 31, 2011
Meet the latest superfood: maple syrup. Wait a minute...maple syrup? The super-sugary stuff poured on pancakes and waffles and used to glaze hams? That maple syrup?
9 comments - Posted May 24, 2011
You're heard the doctors. You've read the articles. You know all about tight control.
25 comments - Posted May 20, 2011
Meet Mary,* a 16-year-old girl with type 1 diabetes. When her parents ask her how her blood sugar is, she always has a good number. She keeps a tidy logbook of her blood sugars, and they look fine, although her last A1C was inexplicably high. It's been a long time since she was diagnosed, and her parents are confident that she knows how to care for herself. She has been somewhat less energetic for quite awhile, but her parents attribute that to growing pains, as Mary has grown from a chubby child into a very slender young woman. She appears a little dehydrated and flushed sometimes, but she always drinks a lot of water and goes to the bathroom frequently, so her parents aren't concerned. They have also noted a fruity odor about her, which she attributes to a new lip gloss.
5 comments - Posted May 14, 2011
A new study says that people who consume a "moderate" amount of candy per day have a slightly lower body mass index than people who don't eat candy. They also run a 15 percent lower risk than the general population of developing metabolic syndrome, the cluster of conditions that is often a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted May 11, 2011
HOLLYWOOD, FL -- They come from New York, Miami, Milwaukee and more. They have children of all ages with type 1 diabetes - and they're on a mission to find a cure. They're the "Real Moms of the DRI Foundation" and in honor of Mother's Day they're asking millions of moms - and others - to support the Diabetes Research Institute, a world leader in cure-focused research.
2 comments - Posted May 8, 2011
The drug discussed below is for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
7 comments - Posted May 6, 2011
April 2011
Canadian scientists have found that nobiletin, a substance found in high concentrations in tangerines, thwarted obesity and the onset of diabetes in lab mice. The researchers at the University of Western Ontario fed the mice a high-sugar, high-fat diet that mimicked the diet of many people in Western societies. One group of animals became obese, developing fatty livers and elevated levels of cholesterol and insulin-typical precursors to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But a second group of mice, given the flavonoid nobiletin, did not develop the symptoms of the first group. The nobiletin prevented fatty buildup in the liver by blocking the genes that control the production of fat.
4 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2011
We all know by now that fat isn't necessarily a bad thing. Enough advertisements and recommendations for fish oil and omega-3 supplements have appeared over the past few years to make that clear. But what if "good fat" isn't just about eating fish or a taking a fishy-tasting supplement? What if that good fat can be found in a common cooking oil?
0 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2011
What is it about salt that brings out so many powerful flavors and strong feelings? Simple sodium chloride, or salt, as it's known to everyone but chemistry teachers, has been applied to food as a seasoning since the beginning of civilization. Unfortunately, the sodium in salt has proven dangerous both to diabetics and to healthy people who have a propensity toward heart disease.
1 comment - Posted Apr 26, 2011
Phil Southerland's autobiography is an inspirational coming-of-age memoir about a type 1 baby who wasn't supposed to live. But his doctor's dismal prediction didn't take into consideration his mother's indefatigable determination that her baby would thrive no matter what, and Phil's own fierce drive to conquer every single challenge he encountered, including his diabetes. It's an engrossing book, a sports adventure story with a medical subplot and a roster of dynamic characters, the most dynamic of whom is Phil himself. If we could harness his energy, our dependence on foreign oil would be a thing of the past.
2 comments - Posted Apr 20, 2011
Italian and Greek researchers conducting a meta-analysis* of the diets of more than 500,000 people have concluded that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that are common precursors to type 2 diabetes. Those factors include overweight or obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, high blood sugar, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and high "bad" cholesterol.
The Mediterranean diet is high in fruit, vegetables, whole grain foods, and low-fat dairy products. Proteins include fish, legumes, poultry, tree nuts, and mono-unsaturated fatty acids from olive oil. Alcohol intake is moderate and almost always in conjunction with meals. Red meat is only an occasional menu item.
The scientists looked at 50 studies that involved more than 500,000 people, then extrapolated the effects of a Mediterranean diet from them. Although the meta-analysis pointed to the usefulness of the Mediterranean diet in fending off metabolic syndrome, its authors said that their conclusion is tentative, given the need for more research on the topic.
The study was published in the March 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
* A meta-analysis looks at a number of similar studies and tries to derive new and useful results from them by detecting common patterns among them.
0 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2011
After comparing results from 24 studies, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found little evidence that increasing soy intake improves people's blood sugar levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2011
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is, as the name implies, corn syrup whose sugar, glucose, has been partially changed into another type of sugar, fructose.
0 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2011
Beta blockers, which many people with diabetes take to control high blood pressure, may be one of the reasons why type 2s often tend to gain and keep weight. That's the conclusion of a study from St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Australia.
0 comments - Posted Apr 8, 2011
France-based pharmaceutical manufacturer sanofi-aventis has announced the availability of several new media designed to help the company communicate with people who have diabetes.
• A blog, "Discuss Diabetes," offers health, nutrition, and lifestyle information, as well as a way to offer suggestions to the company. The blog is available at www.discussdiabetes.com.
0 comments - Posted Apr 6, 2011
As we wrote back in 2008, the EndoBarrier is a very clever way to simulate the effect of a gastric bypass without the unpleasant scalpel part. It looks like a long clear plastic stocking, and it's simply threaded through the patient's mouth and stomach, down to the small intestine, where it lines the intestine's upper section (the same part that is bypassed in traditional surgery). Food slips right through it, but digestive enzymes are trapped on its other side. The two don't get to join forces until a couple of feet further downstream, so the effect on diabetes is a lot like that of a bypass: It resolves the symptoms of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2011
March 2011
Now that a few months have passed since the New Year, what is the state of your resolution to lose weight? If it is a just a painful memory, you might be pondering the strength of your willpower and concluding that it is shamefully weak. In fact, it's not, according to Daniel Akst, the author of We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess. Although a full two-thirds of us are overweight, our willpower is no weaker than that of the slim generations that preceded us. It's just that we're up against temptations that we never evolved to resist, in an environment that seduces rather than sustains us.
4 comments - Posted Mar 24, 2011
Weight loss can help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar and avoid potential health risks associated with the disease. Did you know that losing even seven percent of your body weight can lower blood sugar, reduce blood pressure, and improve cholesterol levels1?
"Consider diabetes as a disease that has different phases--with the central feature a disorder of insulin production and insulin use," said Roberta Anding, MS, RD/LD,CSSD,CDE. Anding is a clinical dietitian and certified diabetes educator at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "To better control and lose weight safely with type 2 diabetes, it is important to consider the type and amount of food on your plate."
4 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2011
You know that awful feeling when a sugar low is coming. I break out into a cold sweat, feel panicky, get nauseated, and have trouble answering extremely simple questions like "Do you need to eat?" Well, I was feeling it again, and again, and I didn't know why. That's what I hate the most: When things go wrong, but I think I've been doing everything right.
1 comment - Posted Mar 8, 2011
Ten years ago, an astute physician diagnosed me with Type 2 diabetes. I exhibited none of the classic symptoms of rapid weight loss, extreme thirst, and frequent urination. I attributed fatigue to my job. For about a year before diagnosis, I experienced what I thought were yeast infections and treated them with over-the-counter medications. I later learned that this condition is a symptom of diabetes. I am non-insulin dependent.
0 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2011
Hispanics are almost twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have type 2 diabetes, and more than a third of working adult Hispanics do not have health insurance. For this audience, Jane Delgado, PhD, has written The Buena Salud Guide to Diabetes and Your Life. Available in both Spanish and English, it's a culturally sensitive and reassuring book that dispels myths and presents detailed science while gently guiding readers toward the right path in caring for their diabetes. The tone is conversational, as Dr. Delgado speaks to her readers like a family member who knows them well and has their best interests at heart.
0 comments - Posted Mar 2, 2011
Scandal swirling around a former diabetes drug has upended medical regulation in France, with the country's health minister promising tough new reforms.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2011
February 2011
Ellen Granberg is an obesity sociologist who studies the processes that people go through when they lose weight and keep it off. As she says, "If the problem were that we don't know what people should eat to lose weight, that would be one thing, but we don't have that problem. There are a hundred weight loss plans out there that are perfectly good. We understand all about the physiology of weight loss maintenance and the metabolic impacts, but nothing about the social and emotional impacts. People who sustain weight loss over time move through a lot of different challenges."
0 comments - Posted Feb 27, 2011
Folks who need that morning cup of coffee to get going may be protecting themselves from type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. UCLA researchers wrote in the journal Diabetes last month that drinking four cups of coffee a day reduced women's chance of developing type 2 by a bit less than half. What's more, the scientists point to a specific reason why all that java has a beneficial effect: a protein known as sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Scientists have suspected for some time that SHBG was connected to diabetes development.
0 comments - Posted Feb 19, 2011
Of all diabetic complications, neuropathy is one of the scariest and most difficult to treat. Nerve damage in the feet, leading to numbness or pain and, in severe cases, to foot ulcers or amputations, affects up to 60 percent of diabetics, according to recent research.
1 comment - Posted Feb 18, 2011
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is, as the name implies, corn syrup whose glucose has been partially changed into a different sugar, fructose. To make HFCS, you start with corn, then mill it to produce starch -corn starch. Starch, the most important carbohydrate in the human diet, consists of long chains of glucose. To make corn syrup, you mix the corn starch with water and then add an enzyme, produced by a bacterium, that breaks the starch down into shorter chains of glucose. Then you add another enzyme, produced by a fungus, that breaks the short chains down into glucose molecules. At that point, you have regular corn syrup.
1 comment - Posted Feb 17, 2011
Everywhere you look, there seems to be a great tasting high carb meal, dessert, or snack staring back at you. While away at college last fall, I found a t-shirt picturing a cupcake above a skull and crossbones. For me, that image really sums up how we need to deal with being diabetic while being constantly tempted by sugary treats.
4 comments - Posted Feb 16, 2011
According to a new study published in Diabetes Care, your finger-prick blood glucose test may be "abnormally and significantly high" if you test after handling fruit without first scrubbing your hands thoroughly and vigorously.
0 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2011
Ever see the top 10 lists for foods everyone should eat to superpower your diet? Ever wonder which will mesh with your diabetes meal plan? Wonder no more. Your list of the top 10 diabetes superfoods has arrived.
0 comments - Posted Feb 7, 2011
Walmart, the nation's largest grocer, averages 20 million customers every single day, so their food policies can affect a lot of people. For one thing, researchers have linked part of the rise in obesity to the prevalence of cheaper food, and Walmart is famous for cheaper food.
0 comments - Posted Feb 7, 2011
Diva TalkRadio is an interactive, live internet talk-radio destination that focuses on issues and concerns of those living with, at risk of and affected by diabetes. Divabetic's founder and executive director, Max "Mr. Divabetic" Szadek serves as the resident host of DivaTalkRadio programs. This month, Mr. Divabetic shines the spotlight on Constance Brown-Riggs MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN. Constance is a Registered Dietitian-Certified Diabetes Educator and a National Spokesperson American Dietetic Association. Constance has been honored with the Diabetes Care and Education Practice Group (DCE) 2007 Diabetes Educator of the Year Award. Over the course of her career, Constance Brown-Riggs has established herself as an expert on the subject of nutrition, diabetes and the cultural issues that impact the health and health care of people of color. She is not only versed in the science of medical nutrition, but also has an active nutrition counseling practice through which she sees hundreds of patients. Her ability to translate her academic and clinical knowledge into clear, understandable terms have made her a nationally renowned, sought-after speaker, educator and author. She is passionate about creating opportunities to spread the word about health and nutrition, and developing educational tools which shorten the cultural distance between patients and caregivers. Every aspect of her work supports that mission
1 comment - Posted Feb 2, 2011
January 2011
After the American Heart Association introduced its heart healthy logo in 1995, manufacturers apparently decided that such "healthy" logos were a pretty good marketing idea. Similar logos, called front-of-the-package labels, or FoP labels, have become popular with several food manufacturers, each of which has developed its own labels using its own criteria. Now, not surprisingly, a study by the Prevention Institute has found that these labels are misleading to customers. According to the Prevention Institute's executive director, Larry Cohen, they "emphasize one healthy aspect to trick [customers] into buying something fundamentally unhealthy." Dora the Explorer Fruit Shapes, for example, prominently labels itself as "gluten free," but does not mention the fact that 58 percent of its calories come from sugar.
0 comments - Posted Jan 31, 2011
Despite what many think, diabetes does not have to deter people who have the disease from enjoying Super Bowl Sunday parties along with everyone else, according to the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE). In fact, managing your diabetes is often an exercise in moderation, more than anything else. With more than 24 million people in the U.S. who have diabetes, this is a very real issue, but there is no reason diabetics can't enjoy the festivities -- and the food -- at Super Bowl parties. The AADE put together the following tips for people with diabetes who want to enjoy the food - but need a little guidance about how to eat smart given all of the Super Bowl food temptations.
1 comment - Posted Jan 19, 2011
On the outskirts of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, meals are likely to be based on white rice, potatoes, sugar, and white bread. Given their reliance on high carbohydrate foods that are low in essential nutrients, many of the residents are overweight and malnourished at the same time. The lack of vitamin C in their diet may contribute to metabolic syndrome, according to researchers from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University and the Corporacion Ecuatoriana de Biotecnologia. The researchers also concluded that vitamin E may have a protective effect against metabolic syndrome.
0 comments - Posted Jan 18, 2011
Introducing "Type-1 University" (T1U) - the online school for people with diabetes who use insulin, including parents and caregivers. The school can be found only in cyberspace - at www.type1university.com
2 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2011
Talk about a win-win situation! It seems that many aphrodisiacs--herbs that boost sexual energy and function--can also bring down blood sugar, cholesterol, and/or blood pressure. At least four herbs have shown these double benefits in scientific studies.
1 comment - Posted Jan 6, 2011
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 represents a major step forward in our nation's effort to provide all children with healthy food in schools. Increasingly schools are playing a central role in children's health. Over 31 million children receive meals through the school lunch program and many children receive most, if not all, of their meals at school. With over seventeen million children living in food insecure households and one out of every three children in America now considered overweight or obese, schools often are on the front lines of our national challenge to combat childhood obesity and improve children's overall health. This legislation includes significant improvements that will help provide children with healthier and more nutritious food options, educate children about making healthy food choices, and teach children healthy habits that can last a lifetime.
0 comments - Posted Jan 4, 2011
December 2010
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City has received a $600,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to study the effects of resveratrol on lowering impaired glucose tolerance in older adults.
2 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2010
For those trying to eat a healthy diet, whole-fat dairy and trans fats are usually not on the menu - at least, not yet. Scientists have narrowed in on a trans fat component found mainly in dairy fat that may ward off type 2 diabetes and protect cardiovascular health. While the research is far from conclusive and requires much further study, it suggests fats may play a more complex role in human health than previously thought.
2 comments - Posted Dec 24, 2010
With nearly 16 million Americans living today with pre-diabetes, a condition that is the precursor to type 2 diabetes, and half of all Americans expected to have some form of diabetes by the year 2020, healthy eating is more important than ever (1,2). But here is some good news: a recent scientific study shows that incorporating almonds into your diet can help treat and possibly prevent type 2 diabetes, as well as cardiovascular disease.
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2010
Obese lab rats that have undergone gastric bypass surgery to induce weight loss show a reduced desire for sugar water compared to obese rats that have not had the operation. Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine who observed that outcome also reported that the rats' preferences for salty, sour, or bitter tastes did not change. Lean rats who were given gastric bypass surgery as a control showed no changes in any of their taste preferences.
0 comments - Posted Dec 11, 2010
Kaiser Permanente presented a $20,000 grant to the Institute of Human Services to support vocational skills training in urban agriculture and an edible gardening initiative in conjunction with IHS' Rooftop Garden project at its Women's and Family Shelter.
0 comments - Posted Dec 3, 2010
An estimated two million Latinos in the United States have type 2 diabetes, a full 10 percent of the Latino population. Facebook, the fourth most popular Internet site among Latinos, reaches nearly 45 percent of the Latino population that goes online. Put those two facts together, and you have the audience for a new online game, HealthSeekerTM Explorando tu Salud, Paso a Paso ("Exploring Your Health, Step by Step").
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2010
November 2010
A friend of mine recently remarked that she wants her family to eat healthier, but she just doesn't know that much about nutrition. Though I can sympathize with her in some ways (nutritional education is a daunting and never-ending process), I do feel that the overall American attitude toward food is that ignorance is bliss. It reminds me of the preteen character in the movie Son-In-Law, who puts his sister's bra cups over his ears and tells his parents in a taunting voice, "I can't hear you!" Unfortunately, what you don't know CAN hurt you, and not just you, but also your family.
3 comments - Posted Nov 22, 2010
Over the years, I have had many exercisers with diabetes ask me why they're gaining weight instead of losing it. There are two possible answers to that question. One answer is that muscle is heavier than fat, so if you are gaining muscle while losing fat-especially in the early stages of a new exercise program-your scale weight probably doesn't reflect your positive changes in body composition (i.e., less fat, more muscle).
2 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2010
It's a pretty common complaint heard in households around the country: "My tummy hurts." Parents and teachers have been battling this complaint for decades, with children insisting that they are in pain and having no explanation why.
0 comments - Posted Nov 8, 2010
For over 30 years, we have been told over and over by doctors, the media, nutritionists, and food companies that saturated fat is bad for us, causing us to gain weight and contributing to cardiovascular disease (CVD). It has led to a whole industry of low fat and non-fat food options, most claiming that saturated fat is bad for our health.
4 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2010
October 2010
Imagine that you're a miner. Imagine you have diabetes (that, at least, shouldn't be too hard). Now, imagine that you have to spend two months trapped underground with other miners. How would you do?
0 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2010
Weight Watchers International, Inc., the world's leading provider of weight management services, and Merck, a global healthcare leader, announced today an innovative collaboration focused on fighting obesity. The two companies will launch an initiative in which Merck will provide physicians and other health care providers with educational information about the Weight Watchers® program and its underlying clinical evidence to assist doctors in addressing the ongoing weight management needs of their patients.
0 comments - Posted Oct 21, 2010
Reducing the cost of low-carbohydrate foods for people with diabetes could significantly reduce medical costs associated with the disease that affects more than 23 million Americans, according to a recent study.
0 comments - Posted Oct 20, 2010
Michelle Obama recently announced that she plans to eliminate childhood obesity in a generation. If all goes according to her plan, childhood obesity will have dropped from the current rate of 32 percent to a rate of 5 percent by 2030. That rate of 32 percent translates to over 25 million obese children and adolescents, so a lot of attention has been given to examining the direct causes of childhood obesity, the factors that contribute, and the best ways to eliminate it altogether.
1 comment - Posted Oct 14, 2010
Employers are in a potentially powerful position to help employees and their families make healthier choices, hints a new study conducted by the IBM Corporation.
0 comments - Posted Oct 7, 2010
September 2010
Do you ever wish you could leave your diabetes at home? Maybe you're at a holiday party, chit chatting with your buds gathered around the bar enjoying an adult beverage (or two), maybe grazing at the table of cookies, cakes and other tempting morsels. "Oh, I think I'll try one of those. Maybe one of those too. I didn't bring my diabetes with me, so I don't have to think about it tonight." Diabetes is not last year's outfit you can leave at home, or a bad relationship you can dump and move on. It is more like a tattoo. It goes everywhere with you.
0 comments - Posted Sep 24, 2010
"What's for dinner?" is a commonly asked question in many households. As children, spouses, friends, and others stream into your home after work, school, or a day of errands, they are eager to sit down, enjoy a meal, and unwind.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2010
New research findings reveal that one of America's favorite colorful fruits, blueberries, have properties that help to improve factors related to pre-diabetes and decrease inflammation in obese men and women. Chronic low-grade inflammation related to obesity contributes to insulin resistance, a major factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. "This is an excellent example of the importance of clinical trials to building our knowledge-base in helping to improve public health," said Steven Heymsfield, PBRC Executive Director
0 comments - Posted Sep 21, 2010
Delicious turkey sausage and earthy mushrooms make this dish stick-to-your-ribs hearty for those cool autumn days. Try it with a spinach salad and enjoy the season.
0 comments - Posted Sep 20, 2010
A recipe that always comes out when there is leftover ham in the refrigerator, this colorful and very healthy dish tastes great. Use just deli ham from the grocery store or dress it up with some fancy cured ham such as real Italian Prosciutto.
0 comments - Posted Sep 19, 2010
Fall is a welcome season, full of bounty and beauty. The heat of summer gives way to calmer days and crisper evenings. We trade our shorts and swimsuits for jackets and jeans and enjoy campfires, hayrides, and holiday celebrations.
0 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2010
August 2010
NaturEra, (http://www.NaturEra.com) a dietary supplements emerging leader, this month announced the launch of its new Sugar Crush dietary supplements would take place at the American Association of Diabetes Educators meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Sugar Crush research has been accepted for Poster presentation at the AADE meeting. The full clinical research study (http://www.naturera.com/Manuscript.pdf) shows that NaturEra's 'Sugar Crush' and 'Sugar Crush Daily' dietary supplement formulas used in combination lower and maintain healthy blood sugar levels for people with diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Aug 26, 2010
In the early days after my type 1 diabetes diagnosis, I sentenced a lot of foods to what I came to think of as my personal DO-NOT-EAT list, often with only slight provocation.
1 comment - Posted Aug 25, 2010
The Long awaited Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010 (SS 3307) has passed the Senate, after a push by the ADA membership and other advocates, urging Senators to get the job done! The Act, which passed the Senate unanimously, now moves to the House where it is expected to pass.
0 comments - Posted Aug 9, 2010
Insulin-resistant obese women lost more weight after 12 weeks on a low-carbohydrate diet than they did on a low-fat diet, according to a study conducted by the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno. (The study was funded by Jenny Craig, a company that sells diet foods.)
0 comments - Posted Aug 7, 2010
Two recent research studies on humans indicate that resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine and peanuts, increases insulin sensitivity in older and obese people. A third study, done on mice, shows that resveratrol may someday become a powerful tool in therapies directed at macular degeneration and other retinal maladies.
0 comments - Posted Aug 6, 2010
Keep a close eye on this story. It has two elements necessary for creating a lot of buzz: a celebrity and his unconventional "cure" for a disease.
0 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2010
July 2010
Now that it's summer, I'm enjoying a typical teacher's vacation: summer break. I have three months of freedom, which for many is a dream come true. However, I live in the sweltering Midwest, where it's typical to see mid-summer temperatures of one hundred degrees or more, with an even higher heat index. These oppressive temperatures can continue into late October.
0 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2010
From environmentally friendly hybrid cars and heating with solar power to organic or natural foods, our culture is increasingly embracing green strategies. "Using natural dietary supplements to support healthy blood sugar levels and minimize the impact of glycation is a rational continuation of this green philosophy," says Steven Joyal, MD, vice president of Scientific Affairs and Medical Development for the Life Extension Foundation in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (www.lef.org). He is also author of the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2010
While teetotaling is the surest way to avoid abusing alcohol, it turns out that moderate alcohol intake may be one way to stave off the development of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2010
There's nothing quite like a dip in the Mediterranean Sea at sunset. The warm, clear water, shimmering clouds, and sound of families enjoying aperitifs at beachside cafes--it was the perfect start to a late-summer Italian holiday. We were visiting my boyfriend's brother, who had moved from England to Genoa a few years prior. It was my first time across the Atlantic, so my boyfriend Dunstan and I tried to make it count with 10 days filled with dinners, family celebrations, a road trip to Rome, hiking, and plenty of swimming.
0 comments - Posted Jul 13, 2010
Salmon is one of the world’s healthiest foods. Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, vitamins D and B12, and protein, it’s an absolute powerhouse of good nutrition. Better yet, it tastes great! Perfect for the hot days of summer the sweet orange-ginger glaze is tinged with just a tinge of heat. If you prefer, an indoor grill or sauté pan can be used to cook the salmon.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2010
In a recent study of the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and glucose intolerance in people with type 2 diabetes, more than 90 percent of the type 2 diabetes patients were found to be deficient in vitamin D, with their control over the disease worsening as their deficiency increased.
0 comments - Posted Jul 4, 2010
A diet including coconut oil, a medium chain fatty acid (MCFA), helps combat insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the inability of cells to respond to insulin and take in glucose for energy. The pancreas tries to compensate for insulin resistance by producing even more insulin, but eventually glucose accumulates in the bloodstream. Over time, insulin resistance and obesity can lead to pre-diabetes or full-blown type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2010
June 2010
White rice and brown rice are reminiscent of those old dramas about identical twins, wherein one turns out to be angelic and the other turns out to be bad news.
0 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2010
AARP today launched its second annual "Fat-to-Fit Summer Weight Loss Challenge," an online program challenging people to make positive, permanent lifestyle changes to improve their health. AARP's Fat-to-Fit challenge will be hosted on AARP's website (www.aarp.org/fat2fit). Fitness expert and author Carole Carson, a Nevada City, California, resident who lost more than 60 pounds at age 60, will lead Fat-to-Fit online community members through the summer-long program.
0 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2010
There are so many weight loss programs out there, sometimes it is hard just to keep track of them, let alone choose one that will work. Add in the factor of diabetes, and the path to weight loss becomes harder to navigate and often contains land mines that we never even knew existed.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2010
WASHINGTON - In collaboration with Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) launched the Good Health ClubSM Physician Toolkit - unique educational materials designed to foster better communication between pediatricians and their patients on childhood obesity and diabetes prevention. The toolkit will be available to pediatricians in communities across the country.
0 comments - Posted Jun 11, 2010
I am that mom. The one who buys organic foods, bakes her own bread, bans high fructose corn syrup and trans fats, and always totes around healthy snacks. I don't drink soda, my toddler has never consumed fish sticks, and not once since her birth have we visited McDonalds for a "value" or Happy Meal.
0 comments - Posted Jun 10, 2010
We all know that certain chemicals in everyday products are harmful: mercury and lead, just to name a couple. But how harmful, and what can we do about it?
0 comments - Posted Jun 9, 2010
That confused-looking old man in the dietary supplements aisle was more than he seemed. He was actually an undercover government agent.
0 comments - Posted Jun 8, 2010
It's a cool Sunday evening, and I'm sitting in a lively Italian restaurant. My husband is across the table. We've just placed our orders, and we're engaged in easy conversation.
0 comments - Posted Jun 8, 2010
Over the past few decades, some medical researchers have pointed the finger at meat consumption as a major factor in the development of heart disease and diabetes. However, a meta-analysis conducted by the Harvard School of Medical Health has concluded that it may be the salt and chemical preservatives used in processed meats that lead to health problems, not the meats themselves.
0 comments - Posted Jun 5, 2010
Dr. Rutai Hui of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College in Beijing and colleagues found chocolate only helped people who already had risk factors for heart disease and only when consumed in modest amounts.
0 comments - Posted Jun 4, 2010
May 2010
American Farmland Trust (AFT) is pleased to announce its 2010 "America's Favorite Farmers Markets" online contest kicks off on June 1 at http://www.farmland.org/vote. The contest is a nation-wide challenge to see which farmers markets can rally the most support from its customers. The goal is to promote the connection between fresh local food and the local farms and farmland that supply it.
0 comments - Posted May 27, 2010
The 57 million Americans currently living with "pre-diabetes" could benefit from a group weight loss program, like Weight Watchers, according to a new study published in this month's American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. Researchers found that after a 6-month Weight Watchers group program, overweight or obese adults who attended at least two thirds of the weekly sessions, not only lost weight, but also significantly reduced fasting glucose and insulin levels - important indicators of diabetes risk.
0 comments - Posted May 22, 2010
Nobody will believe you created these perfect cherry "pies" in under 30 minutes. (And of course you don't have to tell). Fresh raspberries complement the cherry pie filling perfectly and add a fresh homemade quality while refrigerated piecrust makes them as easy as, well, pie!
2 comments - Posted May 11, 2010
Chicken Caesar Salad is undoubtedly one of the most popular (if not the most popular) entrée salad featured on restaurant menus. But what most people don't realize is that most recipes for Chicken Caesar Salads contain more fat and calories than a loaded Big Mac-that's a big problem, especially if you are watching out for your health. Here's an easy way to create a delicious and healthful restaurant-quality Chicken Caesar right at home. To enjoy it as a side salad, simply leave out the chicken.
1 comment - Posted May 3, 2010
A Danish analysis of data from 21 research studies on the effects of saturated fat intake has concluded that swapping refined carbohydrates, such as pasta and white bread, for fat causes spikes in blood sugar that are harmful to the heart. However, cutting down on saturated fats while increasing consumption of whole-grain breads and vegetables-low glycemic index* foods-had a discernible positive impact on heart health.
0 comments - Posted May 2, 2010
April 2010
-SIGH- A pessimist might say that the following news is another sign that Mother Nature sometimes has one mean sense of humor: Reducing your caloric intake in order to lose weight may, ironically, lead to weight gain.
3 comments - Posted Apr 29, 2010
(Reuters Health) - Adding soy supplements to the diet may not improve blood sugar control in older women who are at high risk of or in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.
0 comments - Posted Apr 7, 2010
March 2010
I do not conceal the fact that I love dessert. I believe that it is something that I deserve, a reward for working out that morning, keeping my blood sugar in check, monitoring my carbohydrate intake, going to work, and taking care of household duties.
15 comments - Posted Mar 31, 2010
A group of Swedish researchers has found that men who consume more than the recommended daily amount of calcium are less likely to die than their counterparts who consume little calcium. Their study, titled "Dietary Calcium and Magnesium Intake and Mortality: A Prospective Study of Men," appears in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
2 comments - Posted Mar 15, 2010
The study started out with nearly 20,000 trim middle-aged and older women. Over time, women who drank alcohol in moderation put on less weight and were less apt to become overweight compared to non-drinkers. This was true even after taking into account various lifestyle and dietary factors that might influence a woman's weight.
2 comments - Posted Mar 9, 2010
This is a terrific family favorite. The thick and velvety Parmesan cream sauce that adorns this dish mimics rich Alfredo sauce (only without the requisite butter and cream). If you don't have bowtie pasta on hand, feel free to substitute any pasta.
3 comments - Posted Mar 2, 2010
February 2010
For as long as I can remember, I have disliked meat. I believe it started with my sensitive gag reflex as a child. I could hardly chew and swallow pork chops, pineapple, or anything else that didn't go down easily. In high school I became best friends with a girl who didn't eat meat. It seemed like a really cool lifestyle, so I joined ranks with her. Instead of eating meat, we consumed french fries, fruit punch, and snack cakes. This became our definition of vegetarianism. Then, during my junior year of high school, my doctor informed me that my chronic low blood sugars might be improved by more protein consumption, so I forced myself back into the life of a carnivore, not knowing then that protein consumption didn't have to equal a slab of meat at every meal.
7 comments - Posted Feb 20, 2010
This is the third - and final - installment of our three-part series "Handing Down the Genes." Part III: "Nutrition and Exercise Tips"
1 comment - Posted Feb 19, 2010
A university study says that aerobic exercise, a known means of increasing insulin sensitivity, is most effective if the meals following it are low in carbohydrates. The study also revealed that consuming a low-calorie meal after exercising does not increase insulin sensitivity any better than eating a low-carb meal after a workout. In addition, it found that the beneficial effects of exercise are immediate and do not build up over time or last very long. Improvements in metabolism, including insulin sensitivity and lowered blood pressure, occur directly as a result of the latest exercise session, but taper off within hours or days. There is no "storing up" the benefits of exercise.
3 comments - Posted Feb 17, 2010
This is the second installment of our three-part series "Handing Down the Genes." Part II: "Preventing Type 2 in Children"
1 comment - Posted Feb 13, 2010
Foods that are sugar free, no sugar added, or low carb, typically have the sugar replaced with sugar alcohol. Sugar alcohols have a significantly diminished impact on blood sugar levels as compared to regular sugar because they are incompletely absorbed into the blood stream from the small intestine. They also have fewer calories than sugar, and are not as sweet as sugar. Some common sugar alcohols are: glycol, sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, and lactitol. The simplest sugar alcohol, ethylene glycol, is the sweet but notoriously toxic chemical used in antifreeze. Sugar alcohol is typically derived from fruits and vegetables.
3 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2010
I can't think of a better way to say " I love you," than a perfect Red Velvet Cupcake. These easy-to-make one-bowl cupcakes take the cake with just 180 calories and a mere teaspoon of added sugar. (For comparison, a typical cupcake bakery Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting has over 500 royal calories and a whopping 15 teaspoons of sugar).
9 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2010
Steel-cut oats are whole grains, made when the groats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) are cut into pieces by steel. Also known as coarse-cut oats or Irish oats, they are golden and look a little like small pieces of rice. They gain part of their distinctive flavor from the roasting process after being harvested and cleaned. Although the oats are then hulled, this process does not strip away their bran and germ, allowing them to retain a concentrated source of their fiber and nutrients.
4 comments - Posted Feb 9, 2010
Many of us have a "BFF" (Best Friend Forever), but people with diabetes or pre-diabetes need a BFF who understands the importance of maintaining a healthy diabetic lifestyle -- a "DFF" (Diabetes Friend Forever). To honor these unsung heroes, Dreamfields Pasta is launching a first-of-its-kind contest to pay tribute to the special people who help make living with diabetes a manageable experience.
2 comments - Posted Feb 6, 2010
This is the beginning of our three part series "Handing Down the Genes." Part I: "When to Worry-and When Not to-About Your Child's Increased Risk for Diabetes."
3 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2010
January 2010
I have a long-standing obsession with baking. The art of creating cookies, bars, pies, and cakes got me through some of the most stressful times in my life, including holidays, college final exams, and a new job. After I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of twenty-four, however, I learned that my traditional ingredients, including white flour, sugar, and excessive amounts of chocolate, lead to high blood sugars and of course, fatigue, fogginess, and other undesirable side effects.
15 comments - Posted Jan 26, 2010
Although my boys love to order Chicken Parmesan when we dine out, the health content is always a concern - especially because it usually arrives thickly breaded, deeply fried, smothered in cheese, and served on a mountain of spaghetti. Here's a terrific and easy stove-top recipe that's filled with all of the same great flavors, but none of the excess fat and carbs.
0 comments - Posted Jan 20, 2010
Bestselling cookbook author and nutritionist Marlene Koch (pronounced, serendipitously, "cook") has been dubbed a "magician in the kitchen" when it comes to creating great-tasting, healthy recipes that everyone can enjoy, including those with diabetes!
1 comment - Posted Jan 20, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Studies reporting a link between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain have garnered a lot of attention, but actual research on the issue has yielded mixed results, researchers note in a new report.
2 comments - Posted Jan 5, 2010
December 2009
According to Marlene, finding the perfect mix of ingredients is key when creating healthier versions of your favorite foods. From composing a healthier sandwich to perfecting pasta dishes and creating delightful desserts, Marlene reveals some of her tastiest ingredient tips:
1 comment - Posted Dec 31, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Combining artificial sweeteners with the real thing boosts the stomach's secretion of a hormone that makes people feel full and helps control blood sugar, new research shows.
2 comments - Posted Dec 26, 2009
‘Tis the season to be jolly? The most wonderful time of the year? Joy to the world? Between Black Friday, meal preparations, decorating, dealing with clashing family members, and party after party, the holiday season can be one of the most stressful times of the year. The joy and jolly that we sing about in Christmas carols hardly resonates in our lives as we prepare for and then attempt to survive the stress of the holidays.
3 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2009
The dictionary defines a sugar plum as a small round or oval piece of sugary candy. But for most of us, visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads conjures up a far vaster array of sweet holiday treats. From cakes, cookies, and pies, to sugar-laced seasonal beverages, and yes, plenty of sweet confections, the holiday season is arguably the sweetest time of the year - and the most difficult when one is trying to keep carbohydrates and calories in check.
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2009
CHICAGO - Individuals who drink more coffee (regular or decaffeinated) or tea appear to have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to an analysis of previous studies reported in the December 14/28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. A previously published meta-analysis suggested drinking more coffee may be linked with a reduced risk, but the amount of available information has more than doubled since.
4 comments - Posted Dec 14, 2009
It's been known for some time that omega-3 fatty acids decrease the risk of heart disease, but no one has really known if one dietary source is better than another. For that reason, Lixin Meng, MS, a PhD candidate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, designed a study to compare sources, types, amounts, and frequencies of omega-3 in diets, while taking into account gender and ethnic groups. The study was presented at the American Heart Association's 2009 Scientific Sessions.
2 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2009
"Fat is better in the butt than in the gut," in the words of Nancy Bohannon, MD, FACP, FACE, Director of the Clinical Research Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Program in San Francisco. Dr. Bohannon explained in a recent CA-AADE conference that fat is supposed to be subcutaneous. But when you have too much fat, your body has nowhere to put it, so it starts parking it where it doesn't belong-in the muscles or around the heart. This visceral fat, or belly fat, is the bad kind of fat, and it puts stress on the body and organs, including the heart.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2009
November 2009
Dr. Jennie C. Brand-Miller, from the University of Sydney stated that, "The food insulin index (FII) may provide a better way to adjust insulin dose in Type 1 diabetes.... In time, it may also enable us to design diets to prevent diabetes."
2 comments - Posted Nov 26, 2009
We hear it all the time, from the diet ads on television to the lectures from our doctors and dietitians. What matters is not only what you eat, but also how much you eat. But how can you control your portions? Is it possible to have a healthy relationship with food? How can you make sure you are full, but not stuffed? Can you keep your blood sugars under control? The answer to all these questions is yes!
1 comment - Posted Nov 24, 2009
CRANBERRY CHUTNEY Every year during the holidays, I make cranberry chutney to serve with turkey. Chutneys combine vinegar with sugar for a balance of sweet and sour flavors, but this one also has a touch of heat from red pepper flakes, along with a lovely hint of orange. Make another batch or use leftover chutney as a great spread for cold turkey sandwiches. This chutney also really dresses up pork tenderloin.
1 comment - Posted Nov 23, 2009
Q: How do I lower my blood sugar when it goes over 200 mg/dl? I have type 2 diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2009
Bridgewater, NJ, November 19, 2009 - Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced today that GoMealsTM, a new iPhone application (app) designed to help people living with diabetes make healthy food choices, is now available for download at the iTunes App store. GoMealsTM is a food tracking tool which allows users to search thousands of foods and dishes from popular restaurants and grocery stores to easily see the nutritional content of meals and snacks.
0 comments - Posted Nov 20, 2009
Do you ever stand in the fruit and vegetable section of your food store and wonder if it's really worth it to buy organic produce? Or do you wonder which conventionally grown items you can buy to save money and which items you should absolutely buy organic? I sure do. And I always resent standing there at the market, having to choose between a piece of fruit that has been exposed to chemicals and one that hasn't. Who should have to make a choice like that? Especially if you are taking that food home to your children. No one wants to eat poison.
3 comments - Posted Nov 13, 2009
October 2009
While Googling recently, I found a link to Soul-Food-Advisor, a website devoted to "African American cuisine and soul food, mostly known as Southern or comfort food." It sounded, frankly, delicious. But as someone with pre-diabetes, I am trying to eat fewer carbs, avoid anything fried, and turn the other cheek when I see macaroni and cheese-my favorite comfort food since I was a little kid. So instead of looking at Soul Food Advisor, I turned my attention to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) MyFoodAdvisor online tool.
2 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A number of traditional Chinese herbs may help control blood sugar levels in people at high risk of diabetes, a new research review suggests.
0 comments - Posted Oct 22, 2009
Fort Worth, Texas - Trey Weir, founder of Trey Weir Media, LLC, announces the launch of Type2Friendly, a digital restaurant guide for Type 2 Diabetics. Weir, a former professional arena football player and veteran mobile and Internet technology entrepreneur, was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2008. After his diagnosis, he struggled to find information on restaurants that served "Diabetic friendly" food. As a result, he became frustrated with the limited options he had for dining out.
1 comment - Posted Oct 22, 2009
October 12, 2009. Philadelphia, Pa. - Children in Philadelphia who attended public schools and shopped at corner stores before or after school purchased almost 360 calories of foods and beverages per visit, according to new research published in the journal Pediatrics. Chips, candy and sugar-sweetened beverages were the most frequently purchased items. This is the first study to document both what foods and beverages children purchased in local corner stores on their way to and from school, and the nutritional content of those items.
0 comments - Posted Oct 15, 2009
September 2009
The way information is presented to us makes a big difference in whether we are able to integrate that information into our daily lives. Although graphs and numbers may sway some people, putting educational materials into a culturally relevant context can be more effective. A recent study, for example, has found that a dietary program based on the Medicine Wheel Model for Nutrition can change eating patterns among Native Americans, who have the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease of all ethnic groups.
2 comments - Posted Sep 26, 2009
DAVIS, CA, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 - While health officials have long suspected the link between obesity and soda consumption, research released today provides the first scientific evidence of the potent role soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages play in fueling California's expanding girth.
4 comments - Posted Sep 24, 2009
We're drinking so much sugar-sweetened soda that it's become a taxing problem, according to a Health Policy Report published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. Between 1977 and 2002, Americans doubled their intake of sugary beverages. Unfortunately, that's not good news for anyone but the beverage companies. Although high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, and fruit juice concentrates are naturally derived sweeteners (as opposed to artificial low- or no-calorie sweeteners), this added sugar has been linked to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
24 comments - Posted Sep 19, 2009
Those of you who are familiar with the South know what kudzu is. An Asian vine that can grow a foot taller every day, it was brought to the American Southeast in the 1930s in a sadly boneheaded attempt to control erosion. Unfortunately, the little green visitor liked it here so much that in the decades since, it has colonized 10 million acres of farms and woods, becoming a massive and costly nuisance.
0 comments - Posted Sep 16, 2009
You might think that people with type 2 diabetes would know better than most what they should put into and leave out of their diets. At least, that was the expectation of researchers at the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, when they set out to learn why people with type 2 are often overweight. What they found, however, surprised them. Their study of 2,757 type 2s showed that:
7 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2009
An Italian study of people with type 2 diabetes has found that 70 percent of those who followed a low-fat diet eventually needed diabetes drugs, as opposed to only 44 percent of those who ate a Mediterranean diet.
4 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2009
The American Heart Association, noting a direct link between sugar consumption and the development of such conditions as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, has called upon Americans to drastically reduce their consumption of "added sugar." Added sugar is defined, reasonably enough, as sugar added to foods during processing, cooking, or at meals.
3 comments - Posted Sep 10, 2009
Juice extracted from North American lowbush blueberries, biotransformed with bacteria from the skin of the fruit, holds great promise as an anti-obesity and anti-diabetic agent. The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, was conducted by researchers from the Université de Montréal, the Institut Armand-Frappier and the Université de Moncton who tested the effects of biotransformed juices compared to regular blueberry drinks on mice.
3 comments - Posted Sep 10, 2009
Scientists and healthcare professionals have known for some time that low levels of vitamin D almost double the risk of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes. But until now, they haven't known why.
1 comment - Posted Sep 8, 2009
Here's a sweet bit of news: Drinking sugar-free beverages sweetened with low-calorie sweeteners increases "dietary restraint," the ability of people to maintain long-term weight loss.
5 comments - Posted Sep 7, 2009
A South Carolina study has found that the DASH diet, originally designed to treat hypertension, is linked to a lower rate of type 2 diabetes in whites, but not in blacks or Hispanics.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2009
According to a recent Pennsylvania study, kids need to learn to control themselves when it comes to food. Obviously, self-control is important for us all, kids and adults alike, when it comes to weight management. It’s equally apparent that children need to be taught by their parents to make healthy food choices. But parents who strictly forbid their children to eat many foods might be contributing to a lack of self-control in their offspring, thereby creating the very chubbiness that they were trying to avert.
2 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2009
Eating fat is usually not very helpful when it comes to losing weight. According to a researcher at Ohio State University, however, two natural oils that contain "good fats" can melt away pounds in postmenopausal obese women with type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Sep 2, 2009
August 2009
In a Canadian study involving 42 patients with type 1 diabetes, nearly half of the subjects had an abnormal response to wheat proteins. Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa, who conducted the study, found that the patients' over-reaction to wheat is linked to genes that are associated with type 1 diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Aug 31, 2009
Everyone knows that eating only high fat food is unhealthy way down the road, but we don't really worry that eating a burger will hurt us by next week. Unfortunately, however, it turns out that a high fat diet damages our health (and our brain functioning) a lot sooner than we would like to think. In fact, new research shows that the effects are felt within only ten days. As far as I'm concerned, this was already shown conclusively in the film "Super Size Me," in which director Morgan Spurlock personally examined the effects of fast food on the human body. For one month, he ate only at McDonald's, ordering everything on the menu and "super-sizing" his order whenever asked. Right before our eyes, Spurlock began looking sicker and sicker.
12 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2009
The PreDx Diabetes Risk Score determines risk of developing type 2 diabetes within five years
0 comments - Posted Aug 26, 2009
This year the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) went deep south for its annual conference, hosting the event in Atlanta, Georgia, from August 3rd through August 9th. Diabetes Health was there, hobnobbing with thousands of attendees and hundreds of companies, and it was an amazing experience.
0 comments - Posted Aug 15, 2009
A study of the sugar consumption habits of 30,000 Americans by the American Dietetic Association concludes that race/ethnicity, family income and education levels are important factors in how much sugar a person eats.
1 comment - Posted Aug 8, 2009
Eating fat is usually not very helpful when it comes to losing weight. According to a researcher at Ohio State University, however, two natural oils that contain "good fats" can melt away pounds in postmenopausal obese women with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 2, 2009
Eating fat is usually not very helpful when it comes to losing weight. According to a researcher at Ohio State University, however, two natural oils that contain "good fats" can melt away pounds in postmenopausal obese women with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 2, 2009
It's very likely that you, like most people, believe many myths about diabetes. If you do, you might actually be doing yourself harm. Learning the truth can empower you (as it did me) to make choices and take actions that increase the quality and length of your life.
9 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2009
July 2009
Never underestimate the power of people with diabetes and their families. When we as a consumer group purchase more fruits and vegetables, walk or bicycle instead of taking the car, and educate ourselves about a healthy lifestyle, we are addressing global issues as well as personal ones and can have a strong, positive effect on the future.
1 comment - Posted Jul 23, 2009
The Organic Center (TOC), a leading research institute focused on the science of organic food and farming, announced that a balanced, organic diet-both before and during pregnancy-can significantly reduce a child's likelihood of becoming overweight or obese or developing diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Jul 17, 2009
This article was submitted by GlaxoSmithKline, makers of LOVAZA, a medication to lower very high triglycerides, made from omega-3 fish oil.
0 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2009
Rhode Island researchers say they have found strong evidence that links the level of nitrates in the environment and food supply to increases in deaths from such diseases as diabetes, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's-all insulin-resistant ailments.
1 comment - Posted Jul 16, 2009
A 24-week study of the effects of red yeast rice on the cholesterol levels of people who cannot take statins shows that the ancient Asian food could be a viable statin alternative.
3 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2009
Patriotism, parades, parties, and pyrotechnics - July Fourth is a high intensity day of celebrations and national pride. In many towns, families move from one exciting event to the next, and the day can be very unpredictable. Still, parents of children with diabetes want carefree time with their families, and children don't want to think about diabetes details. A bit of advanced planning and packing can make this festive day much easier.
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 2009
June 2009
This is a nice salad to serve with a summer barbecue. It also makes a wonderful addition to a summer picnic. Double the recipe to serve more people.
0 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2009
Introduced to South Africa by the Cape Malays, this Indonesian curried meat loaf is to South Africa what Moussaka is to Greece and Lasagne is to Italy. Traditionally, Bobotie is served with yellow rice (add turmeric), chutney and banana slices dipped in milk. This is a tasty meat loaf to pack in the cooler for a summer picnic.
0 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2009
May 2009
Sometimes complex problems have simple answers. Take the alarming rise in obesity in the United States since 1970. Researchers have speculated in the past that the cause might be a combination of factors, perhaps a lack of exercise working in concert with the spread of cheap high-calorie junk food.
3 comments - Posted May 23, 2009
The American Diabetes Association has released a list of "superfoods" it says "have necessary nutrients for good diabetes management, including fiber, potassium, healthy fats, magnesium and antioxidants."
22 comments - Posted May 5, 2009
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has issued a call for proposals through its national program, Project HealthDesign: Rethinking the Power and Potential of Personal Health Records. Grant recipients will work to assess and test the potential of "observations of daily living" (ODLs) to help patients and physicians better manage chronic illnesses.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2009
April 2009
What do you eat in a 140 mile Ironman triathlon? I get that question a lot. It's been said that the Ironman race is 10% fitness, and 90% nutrition. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but for those of us with diabetes, that's our daily life. Nutrition affects everything we do. Exercise, sleep, driving a car, all of those activities require a person with diabetes to think about the carbohydrates they have consumed and when they will eat or drink them again
2 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2009
The following list shows 50 of the ways we have "convenienced" ourselves into diabesity. Before the technology boom, most Americans were active at work, at home, and at play. Much of what we did was manual, so we burned off the calories that we took in. When you consider that we did many of these activities on a regular basis, it is easy to see how we were able to remain trim. Obviously, no single one of these activities burns a large amount of calories by itself, but taken together, it is easy to see that the number of calories burned really begins to add up. (By the way, if you remember any of the things on this list, you don't have to tell anyone.)
12 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2009
Long before Joy Pape, RN, BSN, CDE, WOCN, CFCN, served a stint as the clinical editor and contributing columnist for Diabetes Health Professional, she was a seasoned diabetes expert who knew her way around almost every aspect of the disease.
0 comments - Posted Apr 22, 2009
Well, this is a surprise. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 contains a little known section, Section 1013, that has actually led to something really useful: Up-to-date information about diabetes culled from real research and presented in language that we all can understand. Section 1013 authorizes the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to compare the effectiveness of different approaches to difficult health problems and to make that information accessible and understandable to "decisionmakers": that is, you, me, and our doctors. And diabetes is one of the difficult health problems to which the AHRQ is directing its attention.
2 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2009
Scientists at Jilin University in Changchun, China, have used an ancient trick, employing sugar-loving bacteria, to produce a low-sugar, low-calorie vegetable juice aimed at people with diabetes and pre-diabetes who have abnormally high blood sugar.
4 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2009
A 12-month university study of 130 persons who ate either a USDA food pyramid-inspired high-carb diet or a diet moderately high in protein showed that members of the higher protein group lost 23 percent more weight and 38 percent more body fat than their high carb counterparts.
0 comments - Posted Apr 3, 2009
Being overweight is something all doctors and most laypeople know significantly increases the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes. In fact, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) says that more than 90 percent of people who are newly diagnosed with type 2 are overweight. But why does excess fat increase the risk of diabetes? Isn't the disease, after all, one that involves the body's inability to metabolize glucose?
3 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2009
March 2009
The following is a Q&A with Judith Waldrop, who participated in Living Well, a week-long residential program designed for women with type 2 diabetes. The program is a joint effort of the healthy weight loss pioneers at Green Mountain at Fox Run and the Joslin Diabetes Center. This year, Living Well will take place April 19-25, 2009.
1 comment - Posted Mar 31, 2009
There's a perception out there that people with type 2 could control their disease if they just tried hard enough. But self-control and will power are not the whole story. A new study published in this month's Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness includes "eating out, lack of social support and high-risk lifestyles" as just a few of the roadblocks that stop patients with type 2 diabetes from controlling their condition.
8 comments - Posted Mar 23, 2009
Amy's Kitchen is a remarkable natural frozen food company located in Petaluma, California, just 30 miles north of the Diabetes Health offices. The company was founded in 1987 by Rachel and Andy Berliner, who named it after their young daughter Amy. They started on the proverbial "shoestring" budget, working out of their house and using their barn as headquarters.
1 comment - Posted Mar 20, 2009
New cases of adult type 2 diabetes have increased by more than 90 percent in the past 10 years, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease and Prevention.(1) Equally troubling is the dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes among children. Recent reports reveal a 200 percent increase in hospitalizations for children with type 2 diabetes, a condition that was rarely diagnosed in children decades ago.(2) In the words of the CDC, "Diabetes is common, disabling, and deadly."(3)
2 comments - Posted Mar 18, 2009
Obesity has long been accepted as a risk factor for diabetes. The results of four recently published studies, however, have revealed that the real risk factor may be the insecticides present in that fat. The initial investigations showed that the expected association between obesity and diabetes/insulin resistance was absent in people who had low levels of organochlorine insecticides in their blood (1, 2). However, the expected association between obesity and diabetes/insulin resistance increased with levels of these insecticides. In the last year, two additional studies have linked these insecticides with diabetes (3, 4).
10 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2009
The old joke has a man going to the doctor and saying, "It hurts when I do this. What should I do to make it go away?"
6 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2009
Whenever Diabetes Health publishes an article about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), we receive mountains of printed material from corn industry advocates. They argue that the effects of HFCS cannot be extrapolated from research because the "studies look at the effects of fructose independently." They claim, in the words of Christopher Mohr, MS, RD, LDN, of the Corn Refiners Association, that "the absence of glucose makes pure fructose fundamentally different from HFCS."
14 comments - Posted Mar 11, 2009
Chances are that you know somebody who can pack away the highest-fat foods-marbled steak, cheese, butter, and ice cream-and never gain weight. If you've always shrugged it off and said, "It must be genetic," it turns out that you may be right.
2 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2009
A few years ago a young man named Jeff came into my office seeking help to lose weight. He was 5'10" tall and weighed 130 pounds. Jeff denied starving himself, denied making himself throw up, and denied over-exercising. I tried to convince him that he was actually 30 pounds underweight. As I looked for the most effective ways of motivating him to restore his health, he brought up the fact that he had type 1 diabetes. Jeff said that he rarely gave himself insulin and that he had "diabulimia." I had never heard of diabulimia and had no idea what I was dealing with. I gave him a list of clinicians and asked him to call me back after he made appointments with an endocrinologist and a psychotherapist.
13 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2009
February 2009
Doctors often tell people with high blood pressure to decrease their consumption of sodium. Now researchers at the Loyola University Health System in suburban Chicago have found that it is probably wise to increase potassium intake at the same time.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2009
January 2009
Remember that New Year's resolution that you made a few weeks ago? Oh yeah, that one. How's that going? If you're like most people, you may have started to slack off just a little bit. Or even worse, maybe it's already a distant memory. No worries, I won't tell. Let's get you going again.
1 comment - Posted Jan 27, 2009
For patients who suffer frequent sharp abdominal pain from chronic pancreatitis, antioxidants may offer effective pain relief, according to a study recently published in Gastroenterology, the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute.
5 comments - Posted Jan 23, 2009
Current thinking has it that obese people are obese because they engage in less physical activity and burn fewer calories than their thinner counterparts. But suppose you could show that obese women burn just as many calories as their thinner, supposedly fitter counterparts?
0 comments - Posted Jan 21, 2009
Scientists at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, have developed a synthetic version of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol that doctors are always nudging their patients with diabetes to monitor.
0 comments - Posted Jan 20, 2009
Two diets - one severely restricting carbohydrate intake but with no limit on calories, and the other emphasizing low-glycemic carbohydrates and low calories - allowed high percentages of obese type 2 patients in a university study to reduce or even eliminate their diabetes medications (95.2 percent of the patients on the extreme low-carb diet and 62.1 percent of the patients on the low-glycemic diet).
6 comments - Posted Jan 14, 2009
About half of young people who have diabetes report having tried to lose weight at one time or another, says a Kaiser Permanente Southern California study reported in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care.
4 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2009
As science peers deeper into the genetic make-up of humans, a new branch of study, nutrigenomics, seeks to explore the correlation between people's "gene expressions" and the diets best suited to them.
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2009
December 2008
Every year the American Diabetes Associations revises and updates its Clinical Practice Recommendations, a publication upon which many doctors and medical caregivers depend as a primary source of diabetes treatment information.
12 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Post-menopausal women hoping to avert type 2 diabetes stand a better chance of success if they rely on losing weight rather than on a low-fat diet, according to results of a 12-year study conducted by the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
3 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Researchers at Boston-based Joslin Diabetes Center report that almost 75 percent of children and teens with type 1 diabetes lack sufficient vitamin D. As a result, they are susceptible to bone problems later in life, including an increased risk of bone fractures.
2 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Diabetes may be described as a disease of glucose intolerance: high blood glucose is both the characteristic indicator and the cause of complications.
120 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
About a year ago, Cheryl Tooke found herself in the last place she ever wanted to be. She weighed 268 pounds, and her doctor had just diagnosed her with type 2 diabetes.
84 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
Obesity in the United States is increasing in epidemic proportions. This is true in children as well as adults. It's estimated that the healthcare costs associated with obesity and its related complications will exceed $130 billion this year.
52 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
A Spanish university study has found that a traditional Mediterranean diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, and fish may reduce the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes by 83 percent.
1 comment - Posted Dec 22, 2008
Many people think of heart disease as something that mostly afflicts men. But heart disease actually kills more women in the United States than anything else, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. And diabetes plays a stronger role in risk for heart disease in women than it does in men.
1 comment - Posted Dec 15, 2008
The end of the year can be a difficult time because for many of us, it’s not just a day or two but whole weeks of merrymaking. We all know people who throw caution to the winds and give up all semblance of healthy behavior when holiday or vacation time comes around. It is not uncommon for these people to still be struggling to get back on track by March of the following year.
1 comment - Posted Dec 10, 2008
Sometimes happy holiday dreams and dazzling parties turn into nightmares of stressful schedules, impulse eating and battered blood glucose. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or the winter solstice, bountiful food and holiday stress can affect your festive mood and your health.
2 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2008
Are you ready to celebrate the holidays? How many festivities are on your calendar this season? It’s time to navigate the minefield of situations that can throw your diabetes off course and send a joyous occasion into the dumps.
0 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2008
The first time I presented medical research findings, I was not yet a physician. The year was about 1975. I was in my early forties and a mid-career engineer. The forum was a scientific symposium on diabetes. At the time, I felt that I had discovered the holy grail of diabetes care and was eager to share what I had learned.
22 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Older men who are worried about insulin resistance can take heart from a Tufts University study which shows that higher than normal doses of vitamin K slow development of the condition. (Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body increasingly cannot use insulin properly and blood glucose levels rise. It is a major precursor to type 2 diabetes.)
1 comment - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Next week we'll publish a great article written by Dr. Richard Bernstein. MD. Dr. Bernstein is a long-term proponent of paying more attention to carbs rather than fats (though he certainly doesn't advocate that you can have all the fats you want!) While Dr. Bernstein has been telling us about the benefits of low carb for over 30 years, there is still much skepticism about his (and many other's-Gary Taubes, anyone?) low carb results. The establishment has been slow to be convinced, despite the many research trials that back up their findings.
6 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
People who have been newly diagnosed with diabetes will spend substantially more in the first year on medical costs than their non-diabetic counterparts-an average of $4,174 for a 50-year-old-according to RTI International, a non-profit research institute in North Carolina.
2 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
Last week we published an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Sheri Colberg's revised, updated, and expanded version of her 2001 book, Diabetic Athlete's Handbook: Your Guide to Peak Performance. Dr. Colberg has a PhD in exercise physiology, is a Diabetes Health board member, and is herself an athlete with diabetes. Her book draws upon the experiences of hundreds of athletes with diabetes to provide the best advice for exercisers with diabetes, either type 1 or type 2.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
Once you're diagnosed with type 2, you begin a long, often trial-and-error journey toward creating a daily routine that accommodates your disease without making you feel like an invalid.
2 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
November 2008
Diabetes Health board member Sheri Colberg, PhD, has published a completely revised, updated, and expanded version of her 2001 book, Diabetic Athlete's Handbook: Your Guide to Peak Performance. Dr. Colberg, a diabetic athlete herself, has a PhD in exercise physiology. Her book draws upon the experiences of hundreds of athletes with diabetes to provide the best advice for exercisers with diabetes, either type 1 or type 2.
2 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2008
The holiday season is here. Time to deck the halls, trim the tree, and most importantly, fire up the oven. For most Americans, the holidays mean chestnuts roasting on an open fire, homemade pumpkin pie, and turkey with all the trimmings. But what if you must cook for a family plagued with food allergies? What if you have one yourself? Does your holiday feast have to be a bland, flavorless affair? And if not, is it inevitable that you (or someone) must suffer the decidedly unfestive fate of being stuck at a dinner table full of foods that you can't enjoy?
1 comment - Posted Nov 24, 2008
No doubt about it: Most of us have never felt less in control of our destinies. The stock market is bottoming out and no one knows what to do about it. Jobs are down, food prices are up, and who knows what's going on with gas. To make things even more expensive, the holidays are upon us. Mix all these factors together, and you have a recipe for runaway stress and anxiety. But there is one thing you can control: your body weight. That's right. Now is the time to get fit, lose any extra pounds that might be hanging around, and develop the habits that will keep your weight at a healthful level over the long term.
1 comment - Posted Nov 24, 2008
Dear Laura,
I just finished viewing your clip online. You seem like a very intelligent and involved mom who decided it was time to take charge. I applaud you, and I agree with many points you make, but I disagree with your position on food.
11 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
A compound in brown rice called acylated steryl glucoside (ASG) can significantly reduce the chances of the nerve and vascular damage that often results from type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
The ADA has a new book out, called What to Expect When You Have Diabetes: 170 Tips for Living Well With Diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 10, 2008
It's National Diabetes Month! Why not reward yourself for all that work you've done educating yourself about diabetes, all that time you've watched your diet, and all that time you've spent exercising? Have yourself a little sugar-free ice cream!
8 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
October 2008
I have had type 1 diabetes for 16 years and, after a long path with many ups and downs, I have finally achieved optimal diabetic health. I have discovered the special lifestyle and diet mix that works and have brought my A1c from 11.4% to 5.2% while increasing my energy and overall health. I'm an elite athlete who plays professional ice hockey, and I currently run marathons.
19 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2008
Orexigen Therapeutics has announced that the investigational weight loss drug Contrave (naltrexone SR/bupropion SR) reduced the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, which is associated with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, by 50 percent.
1 comment - Posted Oct 13, 2008
September 2008
A professional doctors' group has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to require that Avandia's warning label include a statement that a low-fat vegan diet is a safer, more effective approach to lowering blood sugar levels than the drug itself.
20 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Many people know that it is beneficial to eat your morning meal, but it can be challenging for many reasons. Breakfast is not the meal to miss, especially when you feel stressed, since it can set the mood for the entire day. The truth is that what you eat for breakfast may be more important than if you eat breakfast at all.
6 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Originally ice cream consisted of milk, cream, sugar, flavoring and lots of air. But modern brands adhering to this original recipe are few and far between.
1 comment - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Gastroparesis doesn't sound good, and it isn't. Literally "stomach paralysis," it is a form of diabetic neuropathy, or nerve damage, that is a common complication of diabetes. The damaged nerve in question is the vagus nerve, named for its vagabond-like wandering nature.
27 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
I remember the call from the doctor's office two weeks after a long overdue annual physical. I sat in the examining room expecting to hear the usual "lose weight" diagnosis. I had been feeling tired and had been making more than a few daily trips to the bathroom. But in spite of the fact that my grandmother, father, cousin, and brother all suffered from type 2 diabetes, I was not prepared for my doctor's stern warning: My sugar had been totally out of control for several months. I needed to adjust my diet and lifestyle immediately. I was a 40-year-old chocoholic and totally calorie clueless. I also weighed 255 pounds. The doctor prescribed an oral medication and told me that monthly visits for testing would now be required. I thought, OK, I can do this.
1 comment - Posted Sep 18, 2008
People asked to choose between a "good" snack and a "bad" snack may not make the choice they said they would when the snacks finally arrive. In an article in the September/October 2008 issue of The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior*, researchers in Holland found a substantial inconsistency between healthful snack choice intentions and actual behavior.
1 comment - Posted Sep 18, 2008
When I became a type 2 about fifteen years ago, I wanted to find a way to manage my weight and blood sugar with diet and exercise. I tried the high carb diet recommended by my doctor and dietitian for a time. It worked wonderfully well while my blood sugar level was high, but when my blood sugar stabilized and I was able to go off medication, I started gaining weight again. The next thing I tried was low carbohydrate dieting. I found it to be a very effective way to lose weight rapidly, but I was unable to endure the regimen for more than a short time.
5 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2008
Elevated cholesterol levels return to normal or near normal levels over time in four out of ten children with uncontrollable epilepsy treated with a high-fat ketogenic diet, according to results of a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study reported in the Journal of Child Neurology.
0 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2008
With 21 million U.S. residents now officially diagnosed as having diabetes, healthcare professionals are looking at another statistic that is causing them many a sleepless night: The Centers for Disease Control estimate that there are 57 million people with pre-diabetes in the United States. (Pre-diabetes is defined as impaired fasting glucose of 100 to 125 mg/dl, impaired glucose tolerance of 140 to 199 mg/dl, or both.)
6 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
Abundant dietary vitamin C may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, say researchers from the Institute of Metabolic Science at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, England.
2 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
August 2008
Time to tack on another strong argument against the consumption of carbohydrates: A scientist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, says that appetite control cells in the brain degenerate as we age, leading to a sense of increased hunger and potential weight gain.
1 comment - Posted Aug 28, 2008
My husband and I have nine children. Elliott is our oldest and when he was diagnosed with type 1 at age 11 in 1996, we were blindsided. Neither my husband, nor I, nor anyone in our extended family had diabetes. Elliot had all of the classic symptoms: excessive thirst, frequent urination, uncontrollable hunger, occasional blurry vision, and (something I think a lot of parents don't recognize as a sign) bedwetting.
11 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2008
The members of the AADE are an impassioned group who genuinely want to make a difference in their patients' lives. It was an ideal place for me to be, especially because I had a concern of my own: Why am I getting red dots every time I inject? Every educator I asked went right to work examining the problem and investigating my behavior, truly wanting to help. Unfortunately, they are dwindling in number each year, while patients are increasing in number, making their work ever more demanding.
4 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
You know how important it is to control the sugar and carbohydrates in your diet. So you read food labels and listen to your body cues to make sure you’re getting what you need to stay healthy.
52 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
Do you want to lose weight and improve your blood glucose levels? Do you want to do it without having to weigh your portions and count your calories? Try a low-fat vegan diet. A vegan diet is one with no animal products: no fish, no eggs, no dairy, and, of course, no meat.
22 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
A recent story put out by the British Broadcasting Corporation proclaimed that eating broccoli could reverse the damage to heart blood vessels caused by diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
At the beginning of 2007, we began studying guidebooks and making reservations for a long-anticipated trip to New Zealand and Australia. With limited funds and so much we wanted to do, we decided our budget would go farther if we stayed at hostels. At the same time, we were concerned about Al’s rising blood sugar scores. After visiting relatives during Christmas and celebrating the New Year, Al’s morning scores were as high as 154 mg/dl.
3 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
Type 2s who tried out either of two different basal-bolus treatments using Lantus and Apidra enjoyed significant reductions in post-meal BG levels and longer-term A1c’s.
4 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2008
July 2008
You’ve got type 2 diabetes. A few years ago, you started using a long-acting insulin once a day, and your fasting glucose levels and your A1c came down. But now your A1c is creeping back up. Your doctor tells you that you need to add a mealtime insulin to your plan.
2 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2008
The Los Angeles City Council has voted unanimously to ban the opening of new fast food restaurants in South Los Angeles (aka “South Central”) and nearby neighborhoods.
0 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2008
Nine out of ten regular food items aimed specifically at children have a poor nutritional content because of high levels of sugar, fat or sodium, according to a detailed study of 367 products published in the July issue of the UK-based journal, Obesity Reviews.
2 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2008
Although trans fats are the new bad boys of the nutritional and cardiovascular worlds, they don’t seem to have any effect on insulin resistance in lab rats.
1 comment - Posted Jul 17, 2008
WakeMed Health & Hospitals Children’s Diabetes ENERGIZE! program has won the coveted NOVA Award from the American Hospital Association (AHA).
0 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2008
Metformin, combined with dietary changes and exercise, seems to help obese pre-diabetic adolescents, especially girls, lose weight, says a report in the June 2008 Journal of Pediatrics.
8 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2008
Yes, they lacked indoor plumbing, permanent settlements and elevated manners when it came to eating, but our hunter-gatherer ancestors may have eaten a diet that can help modern people combat metabolic syndrome and even type 2 diabetes.
7 comments - Posted Jul 3, 2008
June 2008
Years ago, John Bantle, MD, gave brownies to people with diabetes. Brownies made with real sugar. And their blood glucose levels…did not skyrocket.
27 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2008
This year Carb Cards™ have added calorie and fat gram information to the 3rd edition of the carbohydrate counting flashcards. Twelve new cards with information on such foods as oatmeal, beans, and fish have been added to the revised 55-card deck to encourage healthier choices and more variety in meal planning.
1 comment - Posted Jun 26, 2008
Twenty-four diabetes doctors and researchers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden and Portugal have published a study criticizing the American Diabetes Association (ADA) assertion that diabetics should consume no fewer than 130 mg of carbohydrates daily and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) statement that low-carb diets are “not justified.”
28 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2008
When you have diabetes, you make the acquaintance of a lot of high-tech tools to help you manage it: monitors, meters and pumps. One very handy tool that sometimes gets overlooked is a digital scale for weighing and analyzing the nutritional content of food.
1 comment - Posted Jun 19, 2008
A study recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology has some exciting news for people with type 2 diabetes who love cocoa: A small test group of type 2s who drank cocoa enhanced with extra flavonols enjoyed an up to 30 percent improvement in their blood vessel health and function after one month.
0 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2008
Dear friends of Diabetes Health,
We value your hard-earned diabetes wisdom and we want you to share it with the world! Please join us as a professional or lay diabetes advisor in one of our Diabetes Health website content Rooms.
3 comments - Posted Jun 6, 2008
May 2008
The desire to be thin can be overwhelming. Few people know that better than Kelie Gardner, who started inexplicably losing a lot of weight during high school. She thought it was great until she discovered the reason—she has type 1 diabetes and her body can’t absorb the nutrients it should. After she was diagnosed and started taking insulin, Gardner returned to a healthy weight. Unfortunately, she wasn’t happy with this sign of improvement. “When I was on insulin, my body was able to start functioning normally,” says Gardner, now 26. “I went up to a normal body weight, but I was used to being skinny. I had the fear of, ‘Oh gosh, I’m going to be fat.’”
21 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
Our Advisory Board Member Dr. Richard K. Bernstein has courageously championed the low carb diet for 20 years despite the fact that many people thought he was “out to lunch.” Although his patients loved him for helping them control their high BGs and reverse their complications, other medical professionals often criticized his low carb methods.
9 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
Two new studies say that erectile dysfunction (ED) may be a warning sign of diabetes, as well as a warning of approaching cardiovascular disease.
0 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
Dear Diabetes Health,
I appreciated Jamie Bailes’ (April/May 2008) article on helping overweight kids. To me, it illustrated the complexity of weight regulation and the folly of linking it to one factor (fat).
2 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
The Diabetes Health staff recently sampled a new kind of healthy snack, and we loved them!
1 comment - Posted May 22, 2008
Let me start with my maternal grandmother, Helen. Helen had diabetes and lived to the age of 73. We all assumed that she didn’t do a good job with it, as we would often find candy wrappers under her bed. When it came to taking care of herself, Helen was my mother’s role model.
5 comments - Posted May 15, 2008
BOZEMAN, Mont. (April 30, 2008) – Governor Brian Schweitzer appeared at Montana State University Tuesday to celebrate Montana’s scientific contribution to the development of barley varieties that serve as a natural way to help manage diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
3 comments - Posted May 8, 2008
Most people are aware of the health hazards that come with sugar consumption. Still, sugar restriction is difficult for our generation, which has developed a strong sweet tooth. However, for those who want to or must limit sugar, there is an extensive variety of sugar substitutes on the market.
21 comments - Posted May 1, 2008
April 2008
Carol Whitton of Coral Springs, Florida, discovered that her blood sugar often increased sharply after she drank a diet soda while dining in a restaurant. So she started to test her diet drinks for sugar, a practice she learned from watching the “Living With Diabetes” television program.
29 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
Does Low-Carb Cheat Young Children of Their Needs?
KheurserRD wrote us to say, “From a dietitian's perspective, 30 grams of carbs doesn't allow for much. It would not allow for the recommended amounts of milk/milk equivalents or fruit a child needs. Not to mention the lack of fiber. Whatever happened to balance, portion control, physical activity, and eating within your calorie needs? ...If such extreme restrictions are being made, how can very young children meet their requirements for calcium and other vitamins and minerals present in milk or fruit and some carbohydrate-containing vegetables? Were these children monitored for nutritional deficiencies, or have the long-term effects of such a diet been studied when the diet was started at such a young age? Even if there are no recommendations for fiber, diets rich in fiber are associated with the prevention of many diseases.”
6 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
Does anyone living in our well-nourished country, eating a reasonable diet, really need to take vitamins, minerals, or herbs? Should a person with diabetes take them? If so, which ones and how much? When it comes to supplements, the answers are often unclear.
20 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2008
DiabetesAmerica, a network of diabetes care and management centers across Texas, is offering free online health and lifestyle classes to the public.
0 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2008
As food costs rise and more and more “diabetic” foods appear on grocery shelves, the American Diabetic Association has published 13 commonsense tips on how to eat more cheaply and still manage diabetes.
7 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2008
March 2008
I am a diabetic and was taking four insulin shots per day and still had problems with my sugar. I did two months of research on the Web because I had to find a way to get off the shots. I hate needles I was astonished at what I found on natural herbs!
37 comments - Posted Mar 19, 2008
For the first time, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) came out in support of low-carbohydrate diets for people with diabetes who want to manage their weight. The ADA announced this landmark decision in December 2007 with its 2008 clinical practice recommendations. The latest recommendation is in sharp contrast to decades of promoting only low-fat/high-carb diets.
2 comments - Posted Mar 9, 2008
What is the secret of effective weight management? When a person develops type 2 diabetes, this is a critical question. Losing weight is one of the most successful ways of dealing with this disorder. This is the challenge that I faced when I diagnosed as diabetic about 15 years ago.
2 comments - Posted Mar 7, 2008
Don’t make a run on the tea section of your neighborhood supermarket just yet, but keep this in mind: Scientists at the Neurosciences Institute of the University of Dundee in Scotland say that drinking black tea could help combat diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2008
Previous observational studies have reported that heavy alcohol intake is a risk factor for hypertension. But such studies may be confounded by factors such as diet, smoking, exercise levels and socio-economic position. Clinical trials exploring the link are difficult to implement and have limited follow-up time.
0 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2008
One of the cartoons you recently published, where a character eats chocolate because his sugar is too low, gave the wrong message. Chocolate should not be used for treating hypoglycemia. There is too much fat in it for it to be effective.
10 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2008
February 2008
According to British researchers at Barts and the London School of Medicine, drinking 500 ml (about one pint) of beetroot juice every day can significantly reduce blood pressure. It's the nitrate contained in the juice that produces the effect.
3 comments - Posted Feb 17, 2008
The debate between low-carb and low-fat diet advocates took a dramatic turn in January with the American Diabetes Association's limited approval of low-carb diets as weight-loss aids. Momentum seemed to have shifted to low-carb proponents.
14 comments - Posted Feb 13, 2008
Pioneering low-carb diet advocate Dr. Richard K. Bernstein has responded to the American Diabetes Association's recent support for low-carb diets with a critique of several of the ADA's most cherished notions.
30 comments - Posted Feb 8, 2008
Recently, meal-replacement bars, powders and beverages have been touted as a popular way of providing nutritious options for today's busy lifestyles, as well as aids for weight loss and poor appetite.
0 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2008
January 2008
German doctors solved two mysterious cases of rapid - and dangerous - weight loss from diarrhea once they determined that the cause was chewing too much sugar-free gum containing the artificial sweetener sorbitol.
2 comments - Posted Jan 22, 2008
To successfully treat any disease, one must know what disease to treat. Treating only a symptom of the disease will leave the underlying disease unchecked and possibly worse. For example, we evolved the "runny" nose to help us clean out upper respiratory infections. So taking a decongestant to eradicate the symptom of a "runny" nose is actually counterproductive for the underlying disease.
23 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2008
The powerful - but cautious - American Diabetes Association has announced that it now supports low-carbohydrate diets for people with diabetes who want to lose weight.
7 comments - Posted Jan 9, 2008
December 2007
African-American and Chinese women who eat foods that are high on the glycemic index may carry a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to two recent university studies.
1 comment - Posted Dec 31, 2007
Recently on "Good Morning America," a friend of mine (and fellow A1c champion) watched author Gary Taubes talk about his new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. My friend sent this email around: "Taubes says that exercise makes us hungry for carbohydrates and that carbohydrates cause insulin secretion, which creates fat."
49 comments - Posted Dec 27, 2007
I am writing to share my experience with a low carbohydrate diet tailored to meet our needs as vegetarians. We have two people with type 1 diabetes in our family, and we have been vegetarians for over fifteen years.
7 comments - Posted Dec 26, 2007
Not too long ago most of us figured that salt was the white stuff you poured out of the box that had the cute little girl with the umbrella on it. Occasionally we might have heard somebody mutter something about "sea salt" or "kosher salt," but for most of us it was all the same thing.
5 comments - Posted Dec 24, 2007
Diabetes Essentials is a group of four nutritional supplements recently released by Nutrition 21. They include Diachrome Blood Sugar Health capsules; the same product in a drink powder called Nutrition to Go; Multivitamin Nutrition to Go powder; and Heart Health tablets.
4 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2007
It's really true: dark chocolate makes your coronary arteries open up and increases heart blood flow. In a two-week trial, 39 adults ate either 550 milligrams per day of dark chocolate (with a cocoa content of 70 percent or greater), which is full of flavonoids, or the same amount of white chocolate, which has no flavonoids.
1 comment - Posted Dec 9, 2007
Previous research has found vitamin D deficiency to be associated with impaired beta cell functioning and insulin resistance, and it's been suggested that vitamin D reduces the risk of type 2.
0 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2007
Diabetes is not a disease of blood sugar. It is a disease of insulin and, perhaps more importantly, leptin signaling. Until that truth is accepted, we will continue to see epidemic growth in type 2 diabetes and obesity, growth that underscores the inadequacy of current conventional medical treatment and the falsity of prevailing nutritional advice.
27 comments - Posted Dec 3, 2007
November 2007
Over the course of the year, we meticulously update all our charts to bring you the most accurate information about hundreds of products, services, and medications. Now we've gathered every one of those charts, from humble lancets to sophisticated continuous glucose monitors, into one handy place.
1 comment - Posted Nov 26, 2007
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter; that is, a molecule that carries messages between neurons in your brain. It's a feel-good neurotransmitter that makes you think "I want that! I'm going to get it! And wow, that was great!"
3 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2007
Fact One: Insulin receptor substrate-2 (Irs2) is a protein that sits on cell surfaces; its job is to allow those cells to respond to insulin.
Fact Two: Starved mice, which have low blood levels of insulin and heightened insulin sensitivity, live longer than well-fed mice.
2 comments - Posted Nov 16, 2007
In a recent three-month study, 43 non-insulin-dependent people with type 2 diabetes were given either a daily dose of 1000 milligrams of cinnamon or a placebo.
24 comments - Posted Nov 15, 2007
A study of 2543 obese Mayo Clinic patients has revealed that only 505 of them were formally diagnosed as obese. If they were diagnosed, it was more likely to be done by a resident than by a staff physician.
3 comments - Posted Nov 13, 2007
SoLo Gi® Low Glycemic bars are delicious. We can vouch for that because we've eaten our way through all five flavors. And because they're clinically validated to have a very low glycemic index, they don't raise your blood sugar like other snack bars.
0 comments - Posted Nov 11, 2007
Right now, nearly one in six children is overweight. Given the findings of a group of studies recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, however, it's a wonder that they all aren't fat. Their environment is certainly working against them.
4 comments - Posted Nov 7, 2007
We recently taste-tested some of these robust little cookies, and my, are they good. Natasha, a long-time Russian baker, makes them with almond meal instead of flour so that people with celiac disease can enjoy them.
2 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2007
October 2007
Old-fashioned cod liver oil supplements in infancy have already been associated with a decreased risk of type 1 diabetes among Norwegian children, who are apparently given the omega-3-rich, albeit nauseating, tonic on a regular basis.
3 comments - Posted Oct 30, 2007
Stevia is a natural sweetener made from the leaves of a South American herb, Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, commonly known as sweetleaf or sugarleaf.
7 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2007
A low glycemic diet is sometimes advised for people with diabetes because it raises blood sugar slowly and reduces blood sugar spikes. Well, now Australian dermatologists have found that it clears up your skin as well.
4 comments - Posted Oct 23, 2007
When calculating glycemic index (GI) values, glucose is arbitrarily given the highest GI value: 100. To assign a GI value to another type of carb, a complex process is used to compare the blood sugar response elicited by the test carb to the blood sugar response provoked by glucose.
2 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2007
The take-home message from the Tufts study is that the GI value of white bread is 70. That's nothing new: The same value has been found in dozens of other studies around the world (1).
2 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2007
Our diet has changed a great deal since our days as hunter-gatherers on the African plains. Not only do we eat more carbs and fats, but we may also be getting far fewer of the micronutrients that were abundant in the primitive diet.
6 comments - Posted Oct 9, 2007
A study of 4,099 non-diabetic elderly patients has found that a low-glycemic index diet reduces the incidence and severity of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of irreversible blindness.
0 comments - Posted Oct 3, 2007
Saul Katz is one charismatic health bar maker, a fascinating talker and visionary who makes health bars seem like the most important thing in the world. In 1989, he began his quest to create a "functional food" that would combine science, nature, and great taste in a snack bar. Not only did he want his bar to promote health, enhance performance, and prevent disease; he also dreamed of air-dropping his bars to disaster victims in need of a good self-contained meal. It's taken over a decade of intense scientific alchemy to achieve, but he's managed to do it all.
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 2007
September 2007
When islet cells are transplanted into a person, they don't go into their usual home in the pancreas. Instead, they're injected into the portal vein, the large vein that feeds the liver with rich fats and sugars from the digestive system.
0 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2007
In a recent chemical analysis of eleven carbonated soft drinks sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), researchers from Rutgers University found very high levels of reactive carbonyls.
0 comments - Posted Sep 12, 2007
For at least 12,000 years, Peru has been inhabited by descendants of the Inca civilization. For countless generations, the farmers of the Peruvian Andes have lived on potatoes, cornmeal cakes, and alpacha, or goat meat.
1 comment - Posted Sep 8, 2007
An Australian review of six short clinical trials has found that low glycemic diets (which involve eating foods that raise blood sugar slowly instead of quickly) cause about two pounds more weight loss than calorie-restricted diets.
3 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2007
August 2007
Researchers from Alberta have found that when they fed baby rats diet foods and drinks, the little rats' ability to assess how much energy is in foods was thrown out of whack.
0 comments - Posted Aug 30, 2007
People with type 1 or type 2 diabetes have about three-quarters less thiamine (vitamin B) in their blood than people without diabetes, according to new research out of Warwick Medical School in England. And it's not because they're not eating enough thiamine.
5 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2007
Recently, four men and sixteen women with metabolic syndrome, weighing an average of 200 pounds, were put on the low carb South Beach diet for three months.
1 comment - Posted Aug 17, 2007
A study of 2,375 middle-aged British men reports that those who drank at least a pint of milk a day were 62 percent less likely than non-milk-drinkers to have metabolic syndrome (defined as raised levels of two or more of the following: blood glucose, insulin, blood fats, body fat, and blood pressure).
0 comments - Posted Aug 11, 2007
Between two million and ten thousand years ago, during the Paleolithic era in which we evolved, there was no agriculture, no farmed grains, no refined fat or sugar, little salt, and no dairy.
0 comments - Posted Aug 10, 2007
Selenium has been touted as an anti-oxidant that may improve a variety of conditions from cold sores to arthritis; there are even a few ongoing studies that are testing it as a cancer preventative.
0 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2007
Parents of newly-diagnosed children with diabetes have something in common - they don't sleep soundly through the night. Anxiety soars in the darkness. When our son Danny was diagnosed at age seven, my husband Brian and I barely closed our eyes, and we set our alarm to check on him at least once every night.
3 comments - Posted Aug 2, 2007
July 2007
According to a June study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, eating one small square of very dark chocolate lowers systolic (the top number) blood pressure by about three points and diastolic (the bottom number) blood pressure by about two points.
0 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2007
A Frappuccino from Starbucks is delicious, no doubt about it, but it can have close to five hundred calories if you go for all the options, and over sixty hefty grams of carbohydrates. Not a good idea if you have diabetes, but then again, depriving yourself is no fun either. What to do, what to do….
1 comment - Posted Jul 25, 2007
The low carb diet definitely has its party faithful, but how exactly does the low carb diet cause your body to burn fat? Earlier studies have shown that feeding rodents a low carb, high fat diet caused fat usage and weight loss, but the mechanism of the process wasn't known.
1 comment - Posted Jul 14, 2007
Dishware is destiny, according to new research just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. There exists a plate that has just been scientifically proven to cause weight loss. And it's a mighty cute little piece of pottery to boot.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2007
If you like cinnamon on your pudding, you could be in luck. In a Swedish study of fourteen healthy pudding-eating subjects, a teaspoon of cinnamon sprinkled on top dampened the post-meal blood glucose rises usually seen after a pudding fest.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2007
June 2007
As many of us know to our dismay, the desire to chow down fatty, sugary food can be very strong indeed. In a recent six-week study of 88 obese, non-diabetic men and women, Symlin, a synthetic hormone currently used to dampen diabetic blood sugar swings, was found to dampen those very desires.
1 comment - Posted Jun 27, 2007
In a recent Dutch study, researchers gave either a placebo or a daily dose of 400 micrograms of chromium in the form of chromium yeast to 57 obese, insulin-requiring type 2 patients with A1c’s above eight percent.
0 comments - Posted Jun 25, 2007
Anne Williamson has had type 1 diabetes for forty years, since the age of seven. But because of the Easter basket incident, she still vividly remembers her time in the hospital. Anne was alone in her hospital room when a volunteer insisted on leaving a candy-filled Easter basket by her bed.
0 comments - Posted Jun 23, 2007
Which diet works best for you may depend on whether or not you are secreting high levels of insulin. From September 2004 to December 2006, researchers monitored 73 obese young adults who ate either a low-fat diet (55 percent carbs and 20 percent fat) or a low-glycemic diet (40 percent carbs and 35 percent fat).
0 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2007
Everybody knows that to lose weight, you're supposed to practice portion control, cut down on carbs and fat, and exercise to beat the band. Lifestyle change is the ticket, that's a general given. But what about those of us who can't turn away from a portion no matter how humongous it is?
1 comment - Posted Jun 16, 2007
A company called Sugarest has developed a pill made from the Indian herb Gymnema sylvestre that purports to deaden your ability to taste sugar, thereby rendering sweets tasteless.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2007
In a recent University of Michigan study, rats bred to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and impaired glucose tolerance received a diet that included at least one percent freeze-dried powdered whole tart cherries for a period of ninety days.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2007
Several years ago, my husband Brian and my son Danny were eating at the Food Court of a local mall. "Dad, when someone gets three wishes from the genie in the lamp, why don't they just wish for more wishes?" Danny asked.
0 comments - Posted Jun 14, 2007
More fiber from grains and cereals (but not from fruit and vegetables) and higher intake of magnesium may each be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a report in the May Archives of Internal Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Jun 9, 2007
In a recent Dutch study, researchers gave either a placebo or a daily dose of 400 micrograms of chromium to 57 obese, insulin-requiring type 2 patients with A1c's above eight percent.
1 comment - Posted Jun 3, 2007
May 2007
Back in 2003, a study in Diabetes Care showed that in thirty people with type 2 diabetes, one to six grams of cinnamon daily for forty days resulted in a drop in blood sugar levels, triglycerides, and LDL (bad cholesterol)...
4 comments - Posted May 17, 2007
In the March 2007 issue of Diabetes Care, Swedish researchers examined the fasting plasma glucose levels and post-load (after being given glucose) sugar levels of 33,293 women and 31,304 men.
0 comments - Posted May 14, 2007
What is the best kept secret in weight management? When I became a type 2 diabetic and had to lose a significant amount of weight, I wanted a program that was guaranteed to succeed. I tried low carbohydrate dieting, but found it too difficult.
1 comment - Posted May 10, 2007
April 2007
We are a nation of fatties, according to the World Health Organization, but we’re not the fattest in the world. That dubious honor goes to seven Pacific Island nations, whose population of the rotund varies from 78 percent in Palau to a staggering 94 percent in the (geographically) tiny island nation of Nauru. Nearly 31 percent of Nauruians have type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2007
Constant controversy swirls about which kind of weight-loss diet works best, but there is precious little scientific evidence comparing one diet to another. To provide some real diet data, a recent Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study pitted the Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and Ornish diets against each other in a year-long head-to-head study.
0 comments - Posted Apr 26, 2007
If food groups were sporting leagues, carbs would be the NFL. You've got your low carb teams, your high carb vegan teams, and your middling carb teams—and each team believes that truth is on its side.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Carbs and carbs alone, not fat, increase body weight. It doesn't matter whether the carbs are from sugar, bread, fruit, or vegetables: They’re all rapidly digested and quickly converted to blood glucose. A short time after a carb-rich meal, the glucose in your bloodstream rises rapidly, and your pancreas produces a large amount of insulin to take the excess glucose out.
26 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Remember the big picture: Populations that stick to traditional high-carbohydrate diets (for example, Asian rice-based diets) typically have low rates of obesity and diabetes. When they abandon traditional rice-based diets in favor of meatier Western fare, carbohydrate intake falls, but weight problems and diabetes increase.
4 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
When I developed diabetes in 1946, physicians thought that the high illness and death rate of diabetics was due to dietary fat and the supposedly resultant elevation of serum cholesterol. Since the DCCT trial, the scientific literature overwhelmingly supports the role of elevated blood sugar in all long-term diabetic complications.
2 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Let’s be realistic and take a long-term perspective in this “which diet is best” debate, rather than wasting time quibbling over extremes—from low-carb to vegan. You’ll have type 2 diabetes for the rest of your life, and you’ll likely struggle with weight management throughout your life as well. The major challenge in weight loss, and even more so in weight maintenance, is long-term adherence.
12 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
The benefits of unsaturated fatty acids in your diet are well documented. Now research is looking into the effects of incorporating one of these healthy fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), into animal and human diets. CLA is present in dairy products and meat from ruminants and in very low amounts in our bodies.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Caramel Sin, Inc., has concocted a line of condiments called Fools, natural fruit-based spreads and relishes with no added sweeteners of any sort. They were created by a foodie/filmmaker who’s found fans for his Fools among Hollywood’s finest.
0 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2007
Curious Cookie makes some really good cookies. I had intended to eat one while writing this review, but curiously, there were none left. The staff had eaten the entire sample pack.
1 comment - Posted Apr 23, 2007
Miracle Muffins have truly created a miracle—they’ve managed to make a muffin mix without any traditional muffin ingredients. Miracle muffins contain no flour, sugar, butter, or oil. Just add water, mix, and bake, and you’ve got a dozen fiber-full muffins in any one of several unusual flavors, including black cherry and cinnamon green tea.
0 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2007
Ah, the good life. Dining out, shopping for clothes, dining out, shopping for clothes, dining out, shopping…wait a minute. Is there a pattern here? Americans are eating out more and more, and leading researchers say that’s a big part of why so many of us are overweight. The biggest part of that big part? Big portions–Portion Distortion!
0 comments - Posted Apr 18, 2007
A December 2006 review of clinical studies on chromium picolinate, published in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, confirmed that chromium picolinate improves blood glucose control and lipid levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2007
Upcoming research in the Journal of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice reveals that Pycnogenol (pik-naw-jin-all) that many-talented extract of pine tree, is 190 times more effective than the prescription medicine acarbose (Precose) in slowing uptake of glucose after a meal, thereby preventing after-meal glucose spikes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2007
If you have to be fat, it’s a far, far better thing to be fat in places other than your belly. Visceral fat, the kind deep inside the abdomen that inextricably surrounds internal organs, is an organ in itself, secreting hormones and active molecules, called cytokines, which are bad for your health.
1 comment - Posted Apr 14, 2007
March 2007
Q: I’m reading “The Diabetic Athlete,” by Sheri Colberg-Ochs. She writes that it’s good for diabetics to take some glycerol (glycerine) when exercising. Is this pure glycerol or is this in powder form? Here in Denmark I can get only the glycerol liquid, and I thought it was a constipation product.
0 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2007
When my seven-year-old son, Danny, was diagnosed with type 1diabetes, I had to take a serious look at his diet. He had always been our “picky” eater, and I had gone along with his demands to keep the peace. As a result, his favorite foods at the time of his diagnosis were pancakes with syrup, grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, cookies, juice, and the only vegetable he ate—cucumbers. These foods became the centerpiece of the meal plan constructed by the hospital nutritionist.
0 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2007
You can call it a sparkling beverage, but you can’t call it healthy: An analysis of 88 studies on the effects of regular (non-diet) soda pop, the best-selling item in grocery stores, has concluded that it’s not good for you. Soft drinks, sold to the tune of $11.7 billion a year, are associated with reduced milk and nutrient intake and with increased calorie consumption, body weight, and type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 15, 2007
Researchers from Penn State, published in the February 7, 2007 Cell Metabolism, have discovered that when mice are deprived of only a single amino acid, their metabolisms are fooled into thinking they are starving. In response, they stop synthesizing new fats and they use up all their fat stores, losing 97 percent of their body fat in the process.
0 comments - Posted Mar 15, 2007
New York, NY - According to NY Department of Health and Mental Hygiene report released January 30, 2007, one in eight adults in New York City has diabetes. Among those, African Americans have one of the highest rates at nearly 14.5%. Nationwide 2.6 million African Americans over the age of 20 have diabetes. That’s 10 African Americans for every 6 white Americans with diabetes. Of the 2.8 million African Americans with diabetes, only 1.5 million have been diagnosed. An estimated 730,000 don’t even know they have the disease!
0 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2007
BOSTON - March 1, 2007 - A new study from Joslin Diabetes Center may shed light on why some people can eat excessive amounts of food and not gain weight or develop type 2 diabetes, while others are more likely to develop obesity and this most common form of diabetes on any diet.
0 comments - Posted Mar 7, 2007
Are ketones a healthy or an unhealthy sign?
Ketones in the urine can be a danger sign if your blood sugar is too
high and insulin levels are too low. It can indicate acidosis, an
abnormal condition usually occurring in people with out of control
type 1 diabetes requiring immediate medical attention. Ketones can
also occur because of other metabolic conditions.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2007
February 2007
On December 5, 2006, the New York City Board of Health officially voted to ban trans fats from New York City food establishments and mobile food unit commissaries.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Dreamfields Healthy Living Pasta has introduced two new pasta products—lasagna and rotini. Both became available last spring in supermarkets nationwide, and they join the existing Dreamfields line that includes spaghetti, elbows, penne rigate, and linguine.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
The Almased Turbo Diet, according to its manufacturer, is a “stimulant free” diet that teaches the body to “think thin.”
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Zinc plays a role in the synthesis and action of insulin in the body. Insulin, obviously, plays a critical role in diabetes. But does zinc, then, play a critical role in diabetes prevention? There’s no evidence of that, according to a review of the scientific literature published in January 2007 by the Cochrane Library, which found nothing to suggest that zinc supplementation is useful in the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Caffeinated coffee offers a “protective effect” against developing diabetes, according to research presented at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, California.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
As a type 1 interested in nature’s ability to heal, I ask, What is causing this so-called diabetes epidemic? Why is it expanding from Western countries to developing countries at the same rate that fast food and junk food are spreading?
2 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
December 2006
During this time of year, we are all busy. Many of us are so overextended with demands on time and energy that we allow our usual health routines to fall by the wayside.
0 comments - Posted Dec 7, 2006
November 2006
The glycemic index of foods you eat could be the reason that one day you find your sugars out of control, but you’re shocked, because you haven’t strayed from your diabetes nutrition guidelines.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2006
October 2006
Chromium picolinate supplementation in type 2s already taking sulfonylureas significantly improves insulin sensitivity and glucose control. In addition, it also improves body weight when compared with a placebo group.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
A low-fat vegan diet was found to improve blood glucose and lipid control in type 2 diabetics, according to researchers at George Washington University School of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
‘You wouldn’t believe how much I ate. Every night, besides dinner, I ate one of those big poppers full of popcorn with lots of butter and salt on it.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
A common misunderstanding regarding the metabolic effects of low-carbohydrate diets concerns the formation of ketone bodies. The presence of ketones caused by fat burning is often confused with ketoacidosis resulting from uncontrolled diabetes, starvation or certain alcoholic conditions.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
With the month of Halloween upon us, so begins the time of year when tempting food and nutritional delicacies will line the aisles of retail outlets everywhere.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
September 2006
As little as 15 years ago, drinking fluids during sports practice or exercise was considered a sign of weakness. In fact, water was often withheld from athletes as punishment or as an attempt to make them “tough.”
2 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
The amount of inaccurate or even misleading information that is passed off as fact among many people regarding lower-carb lifestyles still surprises me.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
August 2006
Italian researchers say that approximately three out of every five people with type 2 diabetes show signs of vitamin D deficiency.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
Blaine Pharmaceuticals of Fort Wright, Kentucky, has announced the availability of its DiaSense family of nutritional supplements specifically for those living with or at risk for type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
One of the common criticisms of the lower-carb lifestyle is that it doesn’t provide adequate nutrition. Is this really true?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
Stevia is a bush native to South America that has been used for centuries by the natives of Paraguay, where it’s grown primarily as a sweetener and for medicinal uses. The stevia leaf is usually a component of Paraguayan teas, including the widely popular beverage yerba mate.
3 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
July 2006
Living Protein is a non-soy plant-based protein supplement manufactured by Living Fuel, Inc., in Tampa, Fla.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Sweet Simplicity is a new sweetener on the market made from erythritol (an all-natural sugar alcohol found in grapes, pears and even some soy products), fructose (found in a variety of fruits and in honey) and natural flavors.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Tumaro’s announces the availability of its new Soy-Full Heart flatbreads.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Television chef and food personality Emeril Lagasse has teamed up with B&G Foods, Inc., to develop three all-natural cooking stocks.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Suté International, Inc., has introduced its new Oat Pasta, a pre-cooked pasta made with whole oats and wheat. When rehydrated in hot water for 10 minutes or in cold water for two hours, it’s a ready-to-eat pasta with a nutty flavor. It contains 2 grams of soluble fiber per serving.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
“The Ultimate Calorie, Carb and Fat-Gram Counter: Quick, Easy Meal Planning Using Counts for Your Favorite Foods” (Small Steps Press, 2006) is a new book by Lea Ann Holzmeister, RD, CDE.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
The mantra of healthcare professionals when talking about weight loss is plain and simple: Eat less and exercise more. The dream of many people who are overweight or obese would be to simply inject something that would help them to do just that.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
On May 3, 2006, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation—a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association—ironed out an agreement with representatives of Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and the American Beverage Association to establish new guidelines limiting portion sizes and reducing the number of calories available to children during the school day. In short, only lower-calorie and nutritious beverages will be sold in schools.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Years ago it was common for women to indulge their food cravings during pregnancy, and usually without ill effect. Now it is vital that women of childbearing age understand the importance of good nutrition before pregnancy and how to decrease their risk of diabetes during pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
June 2006
It used to be called late- or adult-onset diabetes; now it is called type 2. Instead of occurring primarily in people in their 60s or 70s, it is now found in people of all ages—even youngsters in grade school.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
Pump Wear, Inc., of Latham, New York, has introduced the Carb Chain.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
According to a survey conducted by the Whole Grains Council and a manufacturer of whole grain products, it was found that 68 percent of adults are unaware that they should consume at least three daily servings of whole grains. In addition, more than one-fifth of the public (22 percent) was unable to name any of the benefits of eating whole grains.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
If you’ve ever tried a sugar-free food product but didn’t care for the sugar alcohols, Eat Well Be Well Foods, Inc., of Hood River, Oregon, has a suggestion for you.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
Over the past five years, there has been a 40 percent increase in bacon consumption in the United States, due partly to the popularity of high-protein, low-carb diets. Many consumers believe bacon is high in protein, but regular pork bacon is high in fat with little protein.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
May 2006
Walden Farms Calorie-Free Salad Dressing is available in 16 varieties.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
Cumberland Packing Corporation, the makers of Sweet’N Low sweetener, have re-launched two Sweet’N Low flavored syrups.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
A study published in the February 2006 issue of the Journal of Nutrition says that chromium prompts muscles to become more efficient.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
Are you tired of starting diets again and again or of gaining and losing the same pounds? Are you frustrated by knowing you need to lose weight but just can’t face being hungry all the time? Do you keep making the same mistakes with food and sabotaging your own efforts?
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
Who says the low-carb lifestyle is dead? You would never believe that after spending a weekend with experts in the field.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2006
April 2006
Is it possible that meat consumption plays a role in the incidence of type 1? Italian researchers believe it might.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
There is a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes in women who consume alcohol. That was the finding of researchers in the Netherlands investigating the relationship between alcohol consumption and type 2 in older women.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
U.K. researchers say there is an association between obesity and the consumption of soft drinks.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Partially substituting carbohydrate with either protein or monounsaturated fat can lower blood pressure, improve lipid levels and reduce estimated cardiovascular risk, according to a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
As I discussed in the February 2006 issue, the Atkins Nutritional Approach has four phases, ranging from the most restrictive Induction phase to the Lifetime Maintenance phase.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
March 2006
People are constantly being told that the only way to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight is to control calorie intake. It does not matter so much where the calories come from as long as one is eating less and burning more. Is this true? It is to some extent, but not completely.
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 2006
Insulow is an all-natural oral supplement that, according to its manufacturer, “addresses the root of the problem for diabetics and pre-diabetics: the correct balance between insulin production and glucose uptake.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
February 2006
Dolce Food Corporation has introduced new flavors for its low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie Dolce Futuro ice cream. Dolce Futuro is now available in:
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
With the introduction of its new Solo Low GI bars, Solo GI Nutrition of Alberta, Canada, has coined the phrase “Slooow carbs.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
The Atkins Nutritional Approach (ANA) is a plan that teaches you to personalize your eating plan over the course of four phases. The plan begins with Phase 1, which initiates weight loss, and progresses through Phase 4, which helps you to maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime. In addition to the food plan, the ANA includes supplementation and regular exercise. It is a permanent lifestyle change, rather than a “diet” that you go on and off of.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
Valentine’s Day is the single biggest day for chocolate sales. Among the many kinds of chocolate now available for gift giving are sugar-free as well as dairy-free varieties. Today, sugar-free chocolates may also be labeled “lower carb.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
January 2006
In a review paper published in the July 2005 issue of Nutrition and Metabolism, researchers at the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension at the State University of New York say that a high-carbohydrate diet raises postprandial plasma glucose and insulin secretion, thereby increasing risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
For people who have been newly diagnosed with type 1, Italian researchers suggest that intensive insulin therapy (ITT) coupled with nicotinamide for two years improves metabolic control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Why not make 2006 the year you explore the many flavors and textures of foods made from the versatile soybean? Throughout the year, Diabetes Health will provide recipes for a variety of these tasty, nutritious foods.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
PBM Products of Gordonsville, Virginia, has launched GlucoBurst, a fast-acting, paraben-free glucose gel sold in single-serving packets.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, the maker of Splenda products, announces their all-new Splenda Brown Sugar Blend—a reduced-calorie brown sugar product that blends brown sugar with Splenda (sucralose).
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Fifty 50 Foods is now offering a line of sugar-free and low-calorie fruit spreads that have only five calories per tablespoon.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Heritage Family Specialty Foods, Inc., of Grand Prairie, Texas, now offers ImiTaters—an all-natural, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie mashed potato alternative.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Even though an adequate dietary intake of magnesium may alleviate the risk of cardiovascular disease, most Americans still consume magnesium at levels well below the recommended daily allowance (RDA).
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
The development and progression of diabetes is slow and insidious. However, as Dr. Robert Atkins observed through decades of evaluating patients with blood glucose abnormalities, it can be divided into six distinct stages. His observations are similar to those of researchers published in the March 1992 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
When Daisy Herrera of Orlando, Florida, was 13 years old, she breakfasted on two bowls of Lucky Charms cereal or three chocolate glazed Dunkin Donuts. She drank two 2-liter bottles of Pepsi every couple of days and cartons of chocolate milk. She binged on candy and potato chips while hiding under the bed. She ate an average of four McDonalds or Burger King meals each week. She stood 4’8” tall and weighed 130 pounds. Her mother, Maria, called her a “little round ball.” Daisy’s blood glucose level often topped 400 mg/dl. Even though she was still a child, Daisy was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes—a condition formerly known as “adult-onset diabetes.”
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
December 2005
Read any good food product labels lately? The information they offer can help you make improved food choices, if you know how to use it.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
We all know that having diabetes does not exclude us from the merriment of the holiday season. And a book called “Low-Carb Cocktails: All the Fun and Taste Without the Carbs” (M. Evans and Co., 2004) offers recipes that can help prevent “yuletide libations from turning into blood-sugar nightmares.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Nutritional recommendations always seem to be changing. One year we’re advised to switch from butter to margarine. A year later, we learn that margarine is worse for us than butter.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
November 2005
Thanksgiving leftovers can be reheated and enjoyed in their original form, or you can create new healthy recipes by mixing foods with lots of vegetables.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Think of last year’s holiday season. What do you remember most about it?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Banaba is a variety of crepe myrtle that grows in the Philippines, India, Malaysia and Australia. A tea made from the leaves is used to treat diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Enterex Diabetic meal replacement drinks now come in new aluminum containers.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Ampalaya (Momordica charantia), also known as bitter melon or bitter gourd, is a medicinal herb that is traditionally used as a home remedy for various illnesses. For diabetics, it has been demonstrated to have blood glucose-lowering qualities, according to studies published in a 1999 issue of the Bangladesh Medical Research Council Bulletin.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
True Lemon, a new flavoring powder for drinking water, is made with all-natural ingredients, has no calories or carbohydrates and contains no sweeteners, preservatives or sodium. The manufacturer, Grand Brands, says True Lemon, “It adds only a refreshing lemon taste to water. True Lemon consumers find that they increase their water consumption because True Lemon enlivens plain water’s taste without changing it into another beverage.”
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
A diet with a low glycemic load may be more effective in reducing cardiovascular disease risk than a conventional energy-restricted, low-fat diet, according to the researchers at Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
October 2005
There are so many food products containing artificial and alternative sweeteners on the market today that they have become a topic of great interest among diabetic patients and health professionals.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Just in time for tricks and treats, Hershey’s has reformulated its line of sugar-free candies to offer consumers “a richer, creamier taste and texture.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
The makers of Glucerna bars and shakes have introduced enhanced shake flavors and redesigned packaging.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
In hospitalized people with type 2 diabetes, Glucerna was found to have a “neutral effect on [blood glucose] control and lipid metabolism . . . compared with a high-carbohydrate and a lower-fat formula.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
The makers of ExtendBar announced new products, benefits and flavors at the August 2005 American Association of Diabetes Educators conference in Washington, D.C.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
“Good Carbs, Bad Carbs” by Johanna Burani, MS, RD, CDE, is a thorough look at nutrition, food and the role of the glycemic index.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Good news for chocolate lovers: An Italian study found that dark chocolate decreases blood pressure and improves insulin sensitivity in healthy people without diabetes. White chocolate (which does not contain flavanols), however, was not found to have the same effects.
2 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
September 2005
If you are following a lower-carb lifestyle and are planning to be in the San Diego area in the near future, be sure to put Indulgence Bakery and Café on a your list of places to visit.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Shugr is a new zero-calorie sweetener manufactured by Swiss Research, Inc., of Los Angeles, California, available nationwide at The Vitamin Shoppe.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 2005
By following a low-carbohydrate diet for two weeks, obese patients were able to reduce calorie intake, lose weight and improve their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Holy basil, or Ocimum sanctum, is an herb native to India and is regarded as one of the most important plants used in Ayurvedic medicine.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
August 2005
Summer activities are in full swing with ball games in the park, family reunions and vacations. The warm weather draws us to the great outdoors for fun as well as mealtimes. Picnics, potlucks, sack lunches and travel meals are a part of our summer routine that can sometimes make blood glucose harder to manage.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Louisiana researchers say that controlling the size of your food bites significantly reduces food and caloric intake.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Low-carb guru and best-selling cookbook author Dana Carpender’s latest offering is “Low-Carb Smoothies: More Than 50 Fabulous Recipes the Whole Family Will Love.”
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that people consume omega-3 fatty acids, found in the flesh of oily fish, for their heart-protective benefits. However, some types of fish contain high levels of contaminants, including mercury.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
July 2005
The article "High Fructose Corn Syrup: Is This Disguised Sugar Affecting Your Diabetes?"(May 2005) unfortunately suggests that food manufacturers are misusing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a natural, home-grown sweetener from Midwest corn fields.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
Last month, we focused on carbohydrates. This month, we talk about how to analyze the information on fats shown on the food label.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2005
On April 19, 2005, the USDA Food Guide Pyramid was given a facelift for the first time in 13 years.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
June 2005
In the last two articles in this series, we discussed the significance of HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and C-reactive protein (CRP) in evaluating—and lowering— your risk of cardiovascular disease. Now we’ll discuss another lesser known but extremely important blood marker: homocysteine.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
Have you ever wondered how to count the carbohydrates on a food label? Does it really matter how many grams of sugar are in a food? Do “sugar free” and “calorie free” mean the same thing? Do you need to count the fiber in your breakfast cereal as carbohydrate?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
If you love rumors and intrigue, enter the world of artificial sweeteners.
9 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
May 2005
Legendary endocrinologist Francine R. Kaufman, MD, has written a new book entitled “Diabesity: The Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic That Threatens America—And What We Must Do To Stop It” (Bantam Books, 2005).
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Ivy gourd (Coccinia indica) is a unique tropical plant that is a member of the family of Cucurbitaceae. It grows well in India and Thailand as well as in tropical areas such as Hawaii.
5 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Many people don’t realize this, but the only reason many of us are so concerned about our cholesterol levels is that to date, cholesterol has given us a “best guess” as to our risk for heart disease.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Do you know if the last bagel or muffin you ate was a single serving or four portions disguised as one large serving? With supersizing being the norm, accurately estimating portions can be challenging.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Herbs, supplements and other nontraditional treatments have become increasingly popular. According to a study published in the February 2002 issue of Diabetes Care, people with diabetes are more likely to use complementary and alternative medicines than other healthy individuals. Are you tempted to try any? Here is a list of tips for you to consider before you do.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2005
April 2005
Nopal (Opuntia streptacantha), also known as prickly pear, is a member of the cactus family native to Mexico.
4 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
What’s so great about the glycemic index?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
Caution: Consult with your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
Carbohydrate counting and new sugar substitutes, food products and medications have given people with diabetes an array of strategies and resources to help them manage their blood glucose. However, for some people, following a structured diabetes meal plan may not work.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
March 2005
Celebrating a holiday usually involves enjoying certain traditional foods. It’s not necessary to purchase special cookbooks for diabetes-friendly holiday recipes. Modifying your favorite recipes to improve their nutritional value can produce wonderful results as well as some surprises. Decreasing the carbohydrates, calories and fat in many recipes will result in dishes that are more nutrient-dense, which can lead to better health and increased longevity.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Have you seen the movie “Super Size Me”?
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
A: Fiber can help stabilize your blood glucose. There are two major types of fiber: water soluble and insoluble. Foods high in soluble fiber in particular cause fewer rises in blood glucose after meals, because the fiber is digested slowly, delaying the absorption of carbohydrates.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Veronica Atkins, the widow of the late low-carb pioneer Robert Atkins, MD, is coauthor with Stephanie Nathanson of the new “Atkins for Life Low-Carb Cookbook.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Vitasoy USA of Ayer, Massachusetts, is offering what it calls “the first fiber-smart, calcium-smart, calorie-smart and carb-smart soymilk.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Before 1981, all patients diagnosed with diabetes were given dietary exchanges to follow when planning their meals or snacks. While exchanges were formulated for all food groups, the main focus for glycemic control was on carbohydrates. At the time these guidelines were established, focusing on portions seemed appropriate since the Nutrition Facts Label was not available.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Weight Watchers. Atkins. South Beach. Ornish. The Zone.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
On January 12, 2005, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) published their new Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Ginseng is a root that has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. There are two different forms that have been used for diabetes: Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) as well as American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L).
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Last year, Stacey Martin, a 41-year-old real estate agent from East Hampton, New York, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. At 270 pounds, the medical community considered her “morbidly obese.”
8 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
February 2005
For many years, people with diabetes have had to follow meal plans that limit their consumption of sweet treats, making them feel like outlaws for enjoying a piece of pie or candy.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Containing no refined white sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives or trans fats, Sweet Abandon Personal Cakes are sweetened with fructose, which, according to Benchmark Foods, the manufacturer of the cakes, has a slower effect on the rise of blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Iranian researchers suggest that increasing intake of whole grains may reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, meds might need to be decreased and blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is also known as bitter gourd, bitter cucumber, bitter apple, karolla and karela.
5 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Choose combinations of foods with carbohydrates for quick energy and choose protein foods for sustained energy. Plan healthy snacks for your daily menu.
3 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Carbohydrates are the body’s fuel of choice. Although we ingest calories from carbohydrates, proteins and fats, it’s the carb calories that the body turns into its readily available form of energy, glucose.
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Did you know that two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke? For people with diabetes, the risk of heart attack or stroke is great. That’s why your healthcare team promotes good blood glucose, blood pressure and lipid control as key steps in prevention.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
January 2005
It seemed that every time we gave something a try and it didn’t quite work out, Mom and Dad always had a cliché at the ready to cushion the blow.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, meds might need to be decreased, and blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is a plant product that has been used for a variety of medicinal and other purposes, and may be used in the treatment of diabetes.
3 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Many of the “lifestyle” magazines and television programs that you see from now until February are likely to feature New Year’s makeover diets. These diets will be promoted as “the one” sure to make you slim for life and to be easier to follow than all the rest.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
December 2004
• Eat at regular mealtimes. • Grab a snack or quick meal before going shopping or to a party if it’s later than your usual dining time.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Following the success of “The Low-Carb Barbeque Cookbook,” Carpender returned to the test kitchen and created “500 More Low-Carb Recipes: 500 All-New Recipes From Around the World.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
This time of year presents extra challenges. It’s not easy to live with and manage diabetes during the holidays, but it can be done. Here are some tips for staying focused, fit and in control during this season:
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
The makers of Sweet’n Low (saccharine) sugar substitute have introduced six desserts for people keeping an eye on their carb consumption.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Maple Grove Farms of Vermont offers a pancake and waffle mix that has only 100 calories, 2 grams of fat and 11 grams of carbohydrate per serving and no trans fats.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Caution: Always confer with your healthcare provider before taking supplements. In some cases supplements may interact with other medications or cause low blood glucose (hypoglycemia).
1 comment - Posted Dec 1, 2004
With the cold and flu season upon us, what is a person with diabetes to do when it comes to all those sugar-laden cough syrups? Which over-the-counter (OTC) choice is right for you? Scot-Tussin Sugar-Free medicines are distributed nationwide through many outlets, including the largest wholesale drug companies as well as drug store chains such as CVS.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Baja Bob’s of San Diego, California, has introduced the first line of low-carb martini mixes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Q: My 6-year-old granddaughter is receiving insulin injections. Are there any booklets I can get that have sample menus for a child that young? She is coming to visit me, and I would like to have the proper foods available.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
November 2004
This article is by no means an endorsement for consuming alcohol. Every person with diabetes should check with his or her healthcare professional about the use of alcohol. In addition to the effects of alcohol on diabetes control, including potentially causing hypoglycemia, there are possible interactions with other medications.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
In August 2004, Equal introduced its Sugar Lite From Equal brand.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
Developed specifically for people with diabetes by endocrinologist Francine Kaufman, ExtendBar now has a new formula, available in Chocolate Delight and Peanut Delight flavors.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
Q: I am a 54-year-old woman with diabetes, trying to lose a substantial amount of weight. I want to be healthier and want nutrition that will help my goal. I seem to be at a standstill. Can you give me some easy nutrition ideas?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
There is growing interest recently in the potential benefits of using cinnamon for treating diabetes.
30 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
October 2004
Always inform your healthcare professional about any and all herbals or supplements that you may be taking.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Here are some facts you should be aware of before you decide to take a dietary supplement for diabetes:
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Flipping through old family cookbooks, you see a recipe you’d like to try. However, you’re not sure if it would work with your diabetes meal plan.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
To enhance flavor: Add an additional teaspoon of vanilla extract per each cup of granular sugar substitute, such as Equal, NutraSweet, DiabetiSweet or Splenda. To achieve a better rise in baked goods using a low-calorie sweetener, switch from 9-inch to 8-inch round pans with 2-inch high sides. You can also try adding a half cup of dry milk powder and a half teaspoon of baking soda for every one cup of granular sugar substitute or low-calorie sweetener. When baking with yeast, maintain at least two teaspoons of sugar in a recipe for yeast activation. Baking time may be shorter with low-calorie sweetener. Check cookies three to five minutes sooner and cakes seven to 10 minutes sooner than called for by the original recipe.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Every November is National Diabetes Month. So wouldn’t it make sense that October be National Pre-Diabetes Month?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Here are some facts you should be aware of before you decide to take a dietary supplement for diabetes:
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
September 2004
As part of our Food for Thought section, we will begin profiling a nutritional supplement every month.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 2004
Safety first: Remember to check with your healthcare team before starting any new exercise program.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
A new report out by the NDP Group—a provider of food consumption patterns at restaurants and at home—found that despite all the attention low-carb eating is getting, actual carb consumption is higher than expected in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
August 2004
A diet in which fat makes up only 19 percent of total calories may not provide enough calories and essential fatty acids, as well as vitamin E and zinc.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
For years, researchers have been suggesting the glycemic index for achieving better blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Ala Carb cheesecakes can be found in the freezer section of major grocers, wholesale club outlets and health and natural food stores. They are available in packages of four individually wrapped 3-ounce cheesecakes for a suggested retail price of $9.99.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Low Carb Creations has introduced its line of Carb Olé tortillas. The gordita-style whole-wheat tortillas are the first of several products the company plans to launch under its Carb Olé label over the next several months.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Diachrome, a patented combination of chromium picolinate and biotin, significantly lowers coronary risk factors in type 2s. According to a small study presented at an American Heart Association meeting, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB), held in May in San Francisco.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
July 2004
Obese adults who increase their dietary calcium while adhering to a diet lose more weight than those on a similar diet who don’t take additional calcium.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
We have known for years that an adequate calcium intake can help prevent osteoporosis. Current research suggests it may keep waistlines trim as well.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Not only are many people who want to lose weight jumping on the low-carb caravan, so are some people who have diabetes. Some wonder why, since the message seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Diabetes and heart disease are so closely related. Can a lower-carb meal plan help improve the odds? We’re learning.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Good Humor-Breyers is offering two free brochures for those of us who love ice cream.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Pepperidge Farm has announced that it has transitioned its entire line of Goldfish crackers to be free of trans fatty acids.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Hot summer days, peaceful lakes, get-away adventures, time to reconnect and relax with family and friends.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
June 2004
“In a restaurant setting, increasing the size of an entrée results in increased energy intake,” say Pennsylvania State University researchers. “These results support the suggestion large restaurant portions may be contributing to the obesity epidemic.”
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Consumption of portion-controlled food results in weight and fat loss, according to University of Illinois researchers.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
The next time you see or hear an ad claiming that some dietary supplement will help you lose 10 pounds in two days, take it with a grain of salt.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Sure, it’s easier these days to find lower-carb options at restaurants, but let’s face it, traveling can provide an excuse that allows us to lose control. “I’m on a trip,” or “I’m on vacation,” seem to always be the popular refrains. But there is no vacation from diabetes or weight and health management.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Allied Domecq Spirits and Kahlua recently announced a licensing agreement with Seattle-based Da Vinci Gourmet, the maker of flavored syrups and sauces for specialty coffee and tea drinks and sodas.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Fast on the heels of her two best-selling cookbooks, Dana Carpender’s new collection of low-carb barbecuing recipes has just been released.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Containing only 10 calories and 2 grams of sugar per 6.76-ounce serving, Kool-Aid Jammers 10 Tropical Punch is a new option for kids with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
“Are those new wraps at Subway good for me?” “If I make applesauce with Splenda, can I eat all I want?” “How do I count the carbohydrates in low-carb yogurt?” Do questions like these cross your mind every time you dine out, set foot in the supermarket or flip through a recipe book?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
My Deluxe Calorie Diary, a free Excel-based spreadsheet program designed by Thomas M. Manger, MD, PhD, allows users to record all their daily meals and snacks and instantly learn their totals for calories, carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
May 2004
Lots of new low-carb cookbooks are available. It’s easy to convert traditional high-carbohydrate recipes into lower-carb versions. Before we had the luxury of all the lower-carb cookbooks that are now available, I would look at a recipe and identify the higher-carb ingredients; then I’d try to decrease them in quantity, omit them entirely, or replace them with something else that would work as well and would still taste good.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
April 2004
Clif Bar Inc. of Berkeley, California, has introduced a low-carb snack made especially for women.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Who would have ever dreamed it? A year ago this column debuted when Diabetes Health asked me to write a feature article about some of the research related to lower-carbohydrate diets.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Mulberry leaves aren’t just for silkworms anymore: When fed to diabetes-induced rats, they have been shown to improve glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Do you want your food purchases to be trans fat free in 2004? If so, you’d better get your passport ready and head to Denmark.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
It’s a good bet that the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse didn’t have to worry about body-fat composition, considering all the tea drinking they did in “Alice in Wonderland.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
March 2004
If you are reading this column, you have probably decided to try the lower-carb approach to your diet—or you are at least thinking about it.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
A low-calorie diet that includes almonds may have a “potential role” in fighting the obesity epidemic.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
The mainstream medical community is starting to take notice: High-protein diets work! Researchers at the University of Minnesota say a high-protein diet lowers after-meal blood glucose 40 percent in type 2s and improves overall glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Eating a low-fat diet that includes the controversial fat substitute olestra (Olean) produced improvement in cardiovascular risk factors in a recent study—an effect largely explained by the participants’ weight loss.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
I struggle to understand why you are publishing information recommending low-or no-carb meals for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
A September 2003 decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Oregon determined that eating is a “major life activity,” for the purpose of establishing a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Nearly 10 years ago when Chris Smith was 27, he got bad news in the form of a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. Now known as the Diabetic Chef, Smith is making the most of having diabetes by “re-teaching America to cook.”
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 2004
February 2004
Best-selling cookbook author Dana Carpender has released her newest collection of tasty lower-carb recipes, entitled “15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes: Instant Recipes for Dinners, Desserts, & More!” (Fair Winds Press, 2003).
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
So you want to lose weight. Prepare for war!
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Icelandic researchers who investigated the relation of food to the incidence of type 1 diabetes among adolescents from 11 European countries report some unexpected findings…
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
I’m not a diet doctor, but I can help you lose weight. A lot of it. In less time than you’d ever think was possible. The secret is a revolutionary new diet I developed while working with overweight men and women who visited my cardiology practice in Miami.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Suddenly it seems that sugar-free products are everywhere.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
In October 2003, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity held its conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Here we provide summaries of some of the more interesting research presented at the conference.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Have you had type 2 diabetes for less than five years? Do you want to lose approximately 30 percent of your body weight?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
If your child is younger than 3 months, you might want to be cautious about adding any foods that contain gluten to the baby’s diet.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Scientists have often speculated about the role various foods in the infant diet might play in the development of type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
January 2004
In 1978, after prolonged hospitalization, my father died from consequences of diabetes associated with abnormal lipids and high blood pressure.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
November 2003
Chocolate! Although millions love it, chocolate has always gotten a bad rap in the diabetes community.
3 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2003
May 2003
German researchers propose that a synthetic derivative of thiamine, or vitamin B1, may be useful in preventing blindness, limb loss, kidney failure and other complications of diabetes that are caused by high blood-glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
April 2003
Children with type 1 diabetes who followed a low glycemic index (low-GI) diet for one year ate approximately the same amount of macronutrients and variety of foods as a group that followed the traditional carbohydrate-exchange diet, say researchers in Australia.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
The portion sizes of food consumed in the United States have grown significantly in the past 25 years—with the greatest increases measured for food eaten at fast-food establishments and in the home.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
We have all heard great success stories about people who follow a diet low in carbohydrates. Many report weight loss, more energy and normal glucose levels. Maybe you are curious, but you're scared to try it. It goes against everything you've been taught about a healthy diet.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
"We don't use them anymore," said my certified diabetes educator when I asked for a copy of the exchange lists used for meal planning.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
"Nobody is forced to eat at McDonald's," a federal judge said as he threw out a class-action lawsuit that blamed McDonald's food for causing obesity, diabetes and other health problems in children.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
With the concepts of glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) influencing the way many people with diabetes eat, four leading researchers on the glycemic index have written a book to help people better understand this approach.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
A recent study by French researchers demonstrated that taking an injection of Humalog (insulin lispro) before lunch can lower dinnertime blood-glucose levels in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Boys in particular also saw improved overall blood-glucose control after adding the lunchtime Humalog.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
We don't use them anymore," said my certified diabetes educator (CDE) when I asked for a copy of the exchange lists used for meal planning.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
March 2003
On January 1, 2003, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on the state of America's waistlines.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
Only since the early 1950s have medical doctors in the United States recognized that celiac disease (also called gluten enteropathy) requires a lifelong commitment to a gluten-free diet.
2 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
It's okay to have another cup of coffee. In fact, have the whole pot.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
February 2003
In today's busy world, it's difficult enough for most of us to get a meal on the table at all—let alone follow a healthy meal plan every day.
2 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Insulin-to-carbohydrate (I:C) ratios, which are used to calculate the insulin doses people with diabetes need for specific amounts of food containing carbohydrate, are an important part of any intensive diabetes management program.
5 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Go ahead—have that peanut butter sandwich. Findings from the Harvard University Nurses' Health Study suggest that women who eat several servings of nuts or peanut butter a week can lower their risk of getting type 2 diabetes by as much as 27 percent. The Nurses' Health Study followed nearly 84,000 female nurses for 16 years beginning in 1980.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
In today's busy world, it's difficult enough for most of us to get a meal on the table at all - let alone following a healthy meal plan every day.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
January 2003
Prepackaged one-day supplies of vitamins, minerals and alpha-lipoic acid in a mix that is said to benefit people with diabetes are available from Nature Made.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
A recent study conducted as part of the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) trial found that vitamin E supplementation had no effect on cardiovascular disease, other coronary risk factors, or kidney disease in middle-aged and elderly people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
Prepackaged one-day supplies of vitamins, minerals and alpha-lipoic acid in a mix that is said to benefit people with diabetes are available from Nature Made.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
December 2002
Although increasing cereal fiber in the diet appears to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, increased consumption of cereal fiber doesn't seem to offer beneficial value to people with existing type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Identifying foods that cause the release of a naturally occurring gut hormone known as PYY3-36—or creating a pill that contains the hormone—may help in obesity control, say researchers who studied the effects of PYY3-36 in both rodents and human volunteers.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
A food ingredient long regarded as a "silent killer" may be brought to justice next spring.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
With more flavors of calorie-free syrup than Baskin-Robbins has ice cream, Da Vinci Gourmet sugar-free flavored syrups can add flavor to your dishes and drinks in more than 30 ways—from almond to white chocolate and a plethora of flavors from the mundane to the esoteric.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
LeCarb frozen desserts, which have 3 grams of sugars per serving—compared to 14 grams in regular ice cream—are now available at Wal-Mart Supercenters across the country and at Brookshire's, Super 1 Foods and Ole Foods stores in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Trash the Wonder Bread and white rice and replace them with whole grains and brown rice if you want to reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
A food ingredient long regarded as a "silent killer" may be brought to justice next spring.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
With more flavors of calorie-free syrup than Baskin-Robbins has ice cream, Da Vinci Gourmet sugar-free flavored syrups can add flavor to your dishes and drinks in more than 30 ways-from almond to white chocolate and a plethora of flavors from the mundane to the esoteric.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
LeCarb frozen desserts, which have 3 grams of sugars per serving-compared to 14 grams in regular ice cream-are now available at Wal-Mart Supercenters across the country and at Brookshire's, Super 1 Foods, and Ole Foods stores in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
November 2002
Guilty pleasures are certainly in abundance between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. However, if you are a person with diabetes, too much guilty pleasure may make your A1C resemble something less pleasant than a picture print by Currier and Ives.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to take the Chinese weight loss products Chaso (Jianfei) Diet Capsules and Chaso Genpi. The FDA reports that several people in Japan have become ill, and some have died, after taking the diet products.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
7-Eleven began test-marketing Crystal Light Raspberry Ice Slurpees at 7-Eleven stores in Detroit, Michigan, and Kansas City, Missouri, in July, with plans to expand to stores across the country that offer at least six Slurpee flavor barrels. 7-Eleven had previously added Crystal Light Lemonade to its array of Slurpee flavors.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Cutting your carbs and increasing your protein intake? You could be damaging your kidneys, according to researchers who studied the effects of a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet on 10 people who did not have diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Do your favorite restaurants and fast-food eateries fit comfortably into your diabetes meal plan?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Most people associate sweetness with happiness, good times and good food. In fact, the average American goes so far as to consume an estimated 20 teaspoons of sugar each day.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2002
The holiday season presents many challenges for people with diabetes. Because we tend to eat more (at office parties and family outings) and exercise less during these months, weight gain could typically be as much as five to 10 pounds.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Can drinking water contribute to your risk of getting type 1 diabetes? Maybe, say researchers who analyzed the acidity, color and mineral content of tap water from the homes of 64 people with type 1 diabetes and 250 randomly selected control subjects.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Do your favorite restaurants and fast-food eateries fit comfortably into your diabetes meal plan? Now they can!
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Most people associate sweetness with happiness, good times and good food. In fact, the average American goes so far as to consume an estimated 20 teaspoons of sugar each day.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Guilty pleasures are certainly in abundance between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. However, if you are a person with diabetes, too much guilty pleasure may make your A1C resemble something less pleasant than a picture print by Currier and Ives.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
October 2002
The use of complementary and alternative medicine is higher than the national average in people with type 2 diabetes, say researchers from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who presented data at the June 2002 American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in San Francisco.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Should you skip eating animal protein in favor of vegetable protein if you have type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria (a sign of kidney disease)?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
September 2002
Extended-release niacin (Niaspan), administered in relatively low doses—1,000 or 1,500 mg per day—for lipid therapy is a treatment option for type 2s who exhibit the typical diabetic lipid profile of high triglycerides, small dense LDL ("bad") cholesterol, high free-fatty-acid levels and low HDL ("good") cholesterol.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
August 2002
Q: I received an e-mail recently that has been circulating around the Internet since 1995. It concerns the sweetener aspartame. Is this sweetener dangerous to use?
5 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Now you can have your shakes and drink ‘em, too! Carbolite Foods is introducing new high-protein, low-carbohydrate, whey-based shake mixes to give consumers choices in addition to the company's soy-based vanilla- and chocolate-flavored mixes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Mama told you to drink your milk. Now there is evidence that she might have been inadvertently protecting you from developing insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) during your young adult years.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Mama told you to drink your milk. Now there is evidence that she might have been inadvertently protecting you from developing insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) during your young adult years.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
July 2002
Many educational materials are available that can help a person who has diabetes make healthy food choices. Nutrition labels on various foods can be especially useful for preparing and analyzing a meal plan and choosing foods that are right for your individual needs.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
Medifast, Inc., of Owing Mills, Maryland, is launching a new line of meal-replacement products designed for people with diabetes. The Medifast Plus for Diabetics line features soy-based foods and includes products such as shakes, bars, soups, oatmeal, chili and ready-to-drink beverages that are low in sugar, fat, calories and carbohydrates and are also low on the glycemic index, according to a Medifast news release.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
June 2002
The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen has petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the diet drug Meridia (sibutramine). A news release from Public Citizen cites more than two dozen deaths and 397 adverse reactions reported to the FDA since the drug's introduction in 1998.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
May 2002
It is not uncommon to read an article about physical activity that advises you to eat a snack before you exercise. Sometimes the article also advises you to perform the exercise after a meal or to avoid activity while insulin is peaking.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
They won't come to the table when called, they dawdle over their food, they would rather drink than eat and they might refuse to eat starches.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Eating processed meats such as hot dogs and bacon may increase a man's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to researchers from the United States and Holland. On the other hand, eating polyunsaturated fat may decrease a person's risk for type 2 diabetes, the researchers state in the March 2002 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Giving a baby vitamin D supplements in its first year of life significantly reduces the child's chance of developing type 1 diabetes, according to a Finnish study. Researchers studied the effects of vitamin D supplementation on 10,366 children and published the results in the November 3, 2001, issue of The Lancet.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
April 2002
When I was asked to write this article, my first thought was, "Oh, boy, this should be fun." But as I started my research, I found that I was way behind the curve in my understanding of the importance of tracking my food intake.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
According to the latest research, people with diabetes should include soybeans and foods containing soy in their meal plans. Because soy foods are high in fiber and have a low glycemic index, they offer many health benefits for people with diabetes, such as lowering blood-glucose levels after meals and helping to control weight.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
March 2002
Carbohydrates seem to be in the news a lot these days. You either hear or read that if you want to lose weight, you shouldn't eat carbohydrates, or that if you want to control your blood-glucose levels, there are some specific carbohydrates you should not eat. The question, then, is to sort out what's important.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
People with type 2 diabetes often have blood-glucose levels of 200 mg/dl or higher after meals, even if they are maintaining good A1C control, according to the results of a new study.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
A low-calorie diet, particularly one that includes meal-replacement foods, can lead to long-term weight loss, according to researchers at the University of Kentucky. In addition, they say, more exercise helps to keep the weight off. Researchers examined data from 29 studies of weight-loss programs for their report, which was published in the November 2001 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
A little boy wanted ice cream after dinner one night. Because his parents had already counted his carbohydrates and given him a carefully calculated dose of insulin, his mother tried to dissuade him.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Q: My husband is on insulin and he takes Lipitor (a statin). To help with his diabetes, he has taken vitamin E (400 I.U. daily) for several years and vitamin C (500 mg daily). A recent news report said that taking vitamin E and vitamin C with statins could do more harm than good to the heart when taken in high doses. Are these doses that my husband is taking considered high? I also read that vitamin E is very beneficial to people with diabetes. Should he stop taking vitamins E and C?
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
January 2002
Seniors with diabetes may need to make changes to their diet to remain healthy, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). In addition, people may have more difficulty preparing food as they get older.
0 comments - Posted Jan 2, 2002
Researchers in the United Kingdom are suggesting that zinc and magnesium in the domestic drinking water of far southwest England may, by association, protect against childhood diabetes. According to the September 2001 issue of Diabetic Medicine, the researchers are calling for further confirmation of any protective qualities.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
High-protein diets that cut back on fruits, vegetables and carbohydrates put you at risk for multiple diseases and won't help you lose weight, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 2002
Short-term treatment with vitamins C and E lowers the urinary albumin excretion rate (AER) in people with type 2 diabetes who have micro/macroalbuminuria, according to a team of Danish researchers. In the September 2001 issue of Diabetic Medicine, they suggest that further long-term, large-scale studies of this albuminuria-reducing treatment modality are needed.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
December 2001
One would think that with all the technological advances in handheld computers, there would be a plethora of software products available for every need. In fact, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of software products on the market today. However, finding the specific type of software you need can be quite challenging.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Diabetes food! Just the words can conjure up past images of long treks down the pharmacy aisle—past the orthopedic shoe supports, and toward the sparse, deserted shelf of "sugar-free products."
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Food and gifts! What would the holidays be without them? From the traditional dishes we prepare every year to the unusual and exotic specialty, from the highly frivolous gift to the perfect one matched exactly to the needs of the recipient, we strive to make the holidays wonderful by providing food and gifts for the people we love.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Not everyone agrees that the Glycemic Index (GI) is the way to go when planning your carbohydrate intake. Despite that fact, nutrition expert Patti Geil, MS, RD, FADA, CDE, writes about the importance of the GI in the article "From Jelly Beans to Kidney Beans: What Diabetes Educators Should Know About the Glycemic Index."
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
The National Kidney Foundation has issued a dining guide that will help people with kidney problems maneuver their way through restaurant menus and make healthy eating choices.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Tossing back a couple of brews while watching the big game could be protecting you from getting type 2 diabetes, according to researchers in the United States and Australia.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
November 2001
I was a 325-pound chef; a cooking machine with rave reviews; a man given to extremes. Then, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Suddenly, I had to change my diet and I was stunned and beside myself with concern. I have always had a lover's quarrel with food, but now I had to search for alternative ingredients that would appease my taste buds while being nutritious and beneficial for a diabetic diet.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
If only all those high-carb foods like pasta and pastries weren't so high on the glycemic index, you could eat them more often.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
October 2001
Now, doctors and patients can access all the information they need regarding the patient's health with the InSight Professional. In August 2001, Disetronic Medical Systems Inc. of St. Paul, Minnesota, launched the online diabetes management program that allows users to create a personal database of their insulin intake, blood-sugar levels and more. Patients can upload information directly from their insulin pumps and blood glucose meters from their home computers.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Which of the following statements do you think are true?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Eat a low-fat diet, take a brisk walk or ride a bike for 30 minutes a day five days a week and your risk of getting type 2 diabetes will be reduced by 58 percent. Also, taking the type 2 drug Glucophage can also cut the risk of developing type 2 by 31 percent, say researchers in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Adjusting insulin regimens does not cause people to adopt a poor diet, according to researchers in the United Kingdom. Researchers from Bournemouth, Dorset, studied the change in patients' diets when they were allowed to adjust the amount of insulin therapy to the total carbohydrate content. They questioned whether or not the change in the insulin regimen would cause patients to consume more fat.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
If you are trying to develop a diet consisting of low-GI foods, consider the following:
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
September 2001
The glycemic index (GI) may not be a leading economic indicator, but it is a leading diabetes indicator. Knowing whether the GI of a food is high or low can be a great aid in the quest for control.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
Choosing a diet that does not contain foods heavy in trans fats could reduce a woman's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by about 40 percent, say Harvard researchers. Also called hydrogenated oil, trans fats can be found in margarine, shortening, cookies, cakes and other processed foods. Hydrogenated oils are manipulated by science to stay hard at room temperature.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
Eating less animal protein and sugar may improve HbA1c levels in your body, say researchers from the University of South Florida in Tampa.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
August 2001
Everyone, including your neighbor, manicurist and racquetball partner, seems to be jumping enthusiastically onto the "supplement bandwagon." Should you and your diabetes climb aboard?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
Like many people with diabetes, Gayle Hoover Thorne of Sacramento, California, was led to her type 2 diagnosis by water—or rather, the feeling that she couldn't get enough of it.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
July 2001
The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes incorporate 20 to 35 grams of dietary fiber into their diets on a daily basis in order to control their blood sugars. To help people with diabetes meet this goal, the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston has published a new high-fiber cookbook entitled "The Joslin Diabetes Healthy Carbohydrate Cookbook."
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
Kelly Van Horn, RD, CDE, of Sammamish, Washington, received the Creative Nutrition Education Award from the American Dietetic Association for her innovative product that teaches educators and their patients about nutrition.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
Carb Cards LLC of Montrose, Colorado, has introduced its 21/2 x 31/2 flash cards designed to help children and adults with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
On April 30, The Kamut Association of North America announced that its Kamut Pasta was awarded the Low-Glycemic Seal of Approval by the The Glycemic Research Institute of Washington, D.C.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
A recent study shows that taking extended-release niacin, a vitamin known to lower cholesterol, helps reduce risk of cardiovascular disease without affecting sugar levels in the body.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
According to researchers in Sweden, eating fish protein reduces the risk of developing microalbuminuria, a condition marked by protein in the urine that is associated with kidney disease.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
June 2001
Nutrition 21 has announced the introduction of a dietary supplement that has been shown to help improve the absorption of glucose in the body.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
Very Fine Products of Littleton, Massachusetts has announced the arrival of Fruit2OPlus, a new line of flavored spring water enriched with vitamins and herbs.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
If you think what you feed your children does not matter, the results of recent studies will surely prove you wrong. According to the latest research, high-fat meals are a risk factor in causing obesity among children.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
Eating fruits and vegetables may help reduce the risk of diabetes, especially among women and people with higher education levels, according to a recent study published in the January issue of Preventive Medicine.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2001
Carla Elliot liked to keep busy. A bright and outgoing 14-year-old girl, Carla involved herself in as many activities as she could. Whether it was swimming, cheerleading, softball, 4-H club meetings or simply running around the neighborhood, Carla was there.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
May 2001
According to the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP), BMI—a measurement of height and weight—is the gold standard for measuring obesity.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
Including sugar in the diet plan for a person with type 2 diabetes may be beneficial, according to a recent study conducted by researchers in Canada.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
For many people with type 2 diabetes, diet and medication alone are not successfully treating the disease, researchers announced on March 16 at the Diabetes Health Expo in Miami.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
Could zinc hold one of the keys to a cure for type 1 diabetes?
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
April 2001
If someone in your family has type 1 diabetes, you should be screened for celiac disease, a chronic condition in which the wall of the small intestine is damaged by a toxic reaction to gluten, a substance found in some grains. Untreated celiac disease can lead to a number of nutritional deficiencies, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2001
March 2001
Studies are increasingly proving the benefits of keeping your after-meal BG levels down. Along with these results comes an interest among many with diabetes to help lower their glucose levels using natural substances.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
A Tums a day could keep B12 malabsorption away, say researchers who studied the effects of metformin on vitamin B12 absorption. Metformin, sold under the brand name Glucophage, is an oral agent prescribed for type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
Life Services of Neptune, New Jersey, now manufactures a high-protein/low-carbohydrate macaroni and cheese dinner called KETO Macaroni and Cheese. Each serving contains five grams of carbohydrate.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
When your mother tells you to eat your broccoli, you should listen.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
Guylian USA of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, has introduced the Guylian's No-Sugar-Added chocolate bar, designed specifically for people with diabetes who love chocolate but can do without the bland taste of some sugar-free chocolate delicacies.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
February 2001
As a physically active individual in today's world, you are likely to be bombarded with all sorts of claims about nutritional supplements that will enhance your athletic performance. In reality, very few have been scientifically proven to have any effect on athletic performance.
3 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
A healthy dose of vitamins may be a valuable tool in lowering urinary albumin excretion rates in people with type 2 diabetes. Unveiled at this year's August meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, a recent Danish study found that taking large daily doses of vitamins C and E significantly reduced short-term levels of albumin excretion in the urine (Diabetologia, Vol. 43, Suppl. 1, p. A36).
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 2001
In yet another study examining the benefits of vitamin E supplementation, researchers have proclaimed that routine vitamin E use may have a beneficial effect on the hearts of people with type 1 diabetes. They add that vitamin E should be considered a life-long part of a type 1's vitamin regimen.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
January 2001
Japanese researchers are saying it is important for people with diabetes with normal blood-pressure levels to be on a salt-restricted diet long before the occurrence of any type of high blood pressure. In an August 24, 2000, interview with Reuters Health, M. Imanishi, MD, of Osaka City General Hospital, said, "Before hypertension, salt-sensitivity appears, especially in diabetic patients, because of the renal damage caused by the diabetes."
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
The long-term effects of a high-protein diet remain a hotly debated mystery, but a German team says such eating regimens may hold a lot of promise. According to a study published in the October 2000 issue of Diabetologia, meals high in protein stimulate glucagon secretion and increase insulin release.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
New research is showing that what matters after dinner is not dessert. In a study published in the September 2000 issue of Diabetes Care, a team of researchers say their findings show that good postprandial (after-meal) glucose levels are key to overall control and lowering HbA1cs.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
December 2000
Chai-Na-Ta Corporation of Langley, British Columbia, announced on September 12 that a research study using its North American Ginseng significantly reduced the blood glucose level of patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
"Taking a quarter to a full teaspoon a day of cinnamon, perhaps in orange juice, coffee or on oatmeal, may prevent or at least delay type 2 diabetes," say researchers at the U.S. Agricultural Research Service's nutrition labs in Beltsville, Maryland.
2 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
October 2000
Whether you're off to work or school, portable foods have become increasingly popular. Who needs the long waits and high prices of restaurants when your own kitchen can provide better food at better prices?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are saying a popular dietary supplement has been proven to reduce the amount of fat many dieters regain after losing weight.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
In late July, Sorbee International of Philadelphia introduced a full line of its sugar-free grocery products in hopes of enhancing diabetic consumer's options.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
Stewart's Beverages of Denver has introduced a new gourmet soft drink called "S," which is sweetened with a blend of the low-calorie sweeteners ACE K and Splenda. According to Stewart's marketing director, Ellen Gibson, "S" is a safe diet drink for people with diabetes, pregnant women and people on low-sodium diets.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
September 2000
Barbara Nelson, CDE, of Boise, Idaho, recently noticed that many of her patients were using the book "Sugarbusters!" for their dietary guidelines, usually at the recommendation of their health care providers. She wrote in asking for our thoughts on this book, and we got the following answer from Joy Pape, RN, CDE:
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
High doses of vitamin E are shown to be anti-inflammatory as well as useful in reducing plaque formation in type 2 diabetes. Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, administered a daily dose of 1200 IU of vitamin E (natural alpha-tocopherol) per day to 75 subjects in a clinical trial lasting three months.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
Carl S. Lau of Los Angeles, California wrote in response to our July article on the Food Guide Pyramid, wanting to know what scientific evidence there was showing low-carbohydrate diets to be unsafe. Elizabeth Rhodes, RD, LD, author of our July piece, had this to say in reply:
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
Sugar Busters Ice Cream, manufactured by Marigold Foods of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been introduced nationally as a new dessert option for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
A new study published in the July 18 Annals of Internal Medicine says exercising without dieting is as effective for modest weight loss as dieting without exercising.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
August 2000
If you have been disappointed by the taste of sugar-free candies and cookies in past years, try them again. Some newer products taste so good that they are marketed to anyone who is willing to eat a little healthier, as long as this doesn’t mean having to give up foods they enjoy. Many packages don’t even mention diabetes benefits.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
Chromium's effects on diabetes have garnered attention in the past, but a recent study shows its benefits can be felt before type 2 diabetes develops—and may even prevent it from ever occurring.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
Beef may be what's for dinner, but eating a mostly chicken diet can greatly reduce one's chances of developing kidney disease.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
July 2000
The Food Guide Pyramid does not prescribe a universal diet, but needs to be interpreted differently according to individual needs. Here are two people of very different backgrounds, and a sample menu of what they might consume to stay within the boundaries of the Pyramid. In all cases, the need for snacks should be dictated by blood glucose levels and physical activity:
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2000
June 2000
Older women with higher intakes of whole-grain foods and dietary fiber have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to findings published in the April issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
Approximately 21 percent of Americans who suffer from arthritis use glucosamine sulfate supplements to help ease their pain. U.S sales of glucosamine are $230 million per year, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
Taking American ginseng before a meal can reduce blood sugar in people with and without diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
Health Care Products of Amityville, New York, announced the availability of DiabetiSweet "Measure for Measure," the first-ever bulk sweetener that completely replaces sugar in baking and cooking.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
May 2000
Two more herbal preparations containing a blood sugar-lowering prescription drug were recalled by two California firms. The recall action came just two months after the FDA issued a warning about five other herbal products that contained blood-sugar lowering drugs.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2000
April 2000
On February 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned people with diabetes not to use five brands of Chinese herbal products. The FDA says that the herbs illegally contain the prescription diabetes drugs glyburide and phenformin which can cause dangerous drops in blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
March 2000
While rigorous glycemic control is important for all diabetic patients, it's especially important after surgery. Better glycemic control after surgery reduces the rate of bacterial infections; and high post-surgery BGs often lead to more infections.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2000
Moderate drinkers may be less at risk for developing type 2 diabetes than nondrinkers and heavy drinkers, according to research by Ming Wei, MD, and his colleagues at the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas. The research was published in the January 2000 issue of Diabetes Care. Wei's team examined the effect of alcohol consumption and the rates of type 2 diabetes in 8,663 men in the state of Texas. Over 6 years, 149 subjects developed diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2000
February 2000
Robert C. Atkins, the author of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, has not been a stranger to controversy ever since his first book was published 20 years ago. He continues to be controversial in his advocacy of dietary supplements and minerals in his diet plan. Many doctors are leery of supplements because they have not undergone the rigorous approval process that the Food and Drug Administration puts prescription drugs through. Yet, Atkins puts as much weight on supplements as he does on prescription drugs.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2000
January 2000
Pycnogenol, the number one prescription for retinopathy in France, is unknown to many doctors in the United States who treat people with diabetes. French doctors swear by Pycnogenol's antioxidant powers, but most American doctors cannot even pronounce it.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2000
Pancreas Tonic, a new herbal treatment for people with diabetes, is drawing conflicting opinions from different quarters of the diabetes community. In 1999, Pancreas Tonic was hailed during an episode of the NBC television program EXTRA as "…the cure for diabetes" by William Taylor, MD, an internist. In additon, testimonials were given by people with diabetes who said that Pancreas Tonic really worked for the treatment of their blood sugars. According to transcripts from the EXTRA episode, Taylor added that Pancreas Tonic could be "one of the biggest medical breakthroughs of the century."
3 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2000
November 1999
Q: I am a recently diagnosed type 2, 32-year-old female. My diagnosis was a real wake-up call and I immediately started eating better. I've lost 40 pounds and am continuing to lose weight.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
If you've studied the facts, discussed them with your health care team, and concluded that one or more of these supplements will benefit you, here are some suggested daily amounts, arranged as follows:
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Question: What are the “free foods,” foods that have no carbohydrates? From: Anonymous, Montana.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Q: In the past, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommended that when a serving of food has 5 or more grams of fiber, people should subtract that number from the total grams of carbohydrates, because fiber is not broken down into glucose.
4 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Researchers from MCP Hahnemann University in Philadelphia discovered that a magnesium-poor diet increases insulin resistance in black Americans.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Researchers suggest that getting less chromium than what you need may contribute to the onset of type 2 diabetes over the long term. Rats given a diet low in chromium had insulin levels twice as high as a group of rats fed a diet high in chromium. The results of the study were published in the August issue of Metabolism.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Artificial sweetener Splenda is gradually making its way to many sugar-free products on the market. Tropicana Twister Light drinks are the latest to sweeten with Splenda.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Balance Bar Company has added a new line called Balance Outdoor, bars designed to sustain energy during outdoor activities. Balance Outdoor bars follow the 40-30-30 plan: 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein and 30 percent fat. In comparison, most sports energy bars are 75 percent or more carbohydrates and low in fat.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
October 1999
Large doses of vitamin E may help normalize retinal blood flow problems and improve kidney function in people with diabetes, according to researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1999
In a January 1991 issue of Diabetes Care, it was demonstrated for the first time that vitamin E in patients with diabetes reduces protein glycoslation, which is a process where glucose attaches itself to the hemoglobin inside your red blood cells, contributing to complications. Also, a study conducted by vitamin manufacturer Hoffman-LaRoche of Switzerland reported that doses as low as 200 IU of vitamin E significantly reduced glycoslation.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1999
September 1999
Most vacations in Southern California include trips to Disneyland, hours of lying on the beach and fat-filled restaurant dinners. However, a small subset of vacationers go there to lose weight. These people visit the Pritikin Longevity Center, located inside the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
According to the July issue of Diabetes Care, high doses of supplementary vitamin C may cause an unexpected elevation of blood sugar levels and false diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
4 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
The D-Care line of products now offers several herbal combination tablets specifically designed for diabetes care. All contain gymnema sylvestre, an herb often linked to improved glucose control, plus other herbs to aid in specific areas of wellness.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
Another bedtime nutrition bar for people with diabetes came on the market in June. The Extend Bar is a long-acting carbohydrate snack that lasts for up to nine hours, and helps prevent episodes of hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
August 1999
Q: I have been taking vitamin E for over 10 years. I started on 100 mg., then moved up to 200 mg. About six months ago, I switched to 400 mg. Recently, however, I started having swelling in my lower legs and feet. I also started having blisters that oozed on my legs.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Vitamin C and E supplements reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in women with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Fish oil helps lower triglycerides, but does not interfere with diabetes control. High levels of triglycerides might be harmful to people with diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Instead of a sugar-free diet, people with diabetes might do better on a hang-up-free diet.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
For some years, we've heard that saturated fats are bad for us. Now, many people are pointing their fingers at trans fats.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Lester Packer and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, presented research that demonstrates for the first time that free alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is detectable in nerves, and that its level does not depend on the route of administration, but rather on the treatment dose. The study also shows that blood levels of ALA do not reflect its concentrations in nerve or other tissues. The research was presented at the American Diabetes Association's scientific sessions in June.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
July 1999
Walking could be the easiest, least expensive exercise, and it is proven to help shed pounds and improve glucose levels. An Australian study looks at post-menopausal type 2 women, and how walking changed their health.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
You need more than an apple a day. Nearly every health expert agrees that you need at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. This is the way to better general health, normal weight and a good supply of antioxidants. But, unless you're one of the few who actually get five a day, it may require some effort on your part. To help make it easier, here are some tips from experts in diabetes and nutrition.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
People with diabetes might have an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) or stroke if they eat one or more eggs per day.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 1999
Type 1 diabetes develops in 5 to 10 percent of all people with celiac disease, which affects approximately 1 in 250 Americans.
4 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
You know you need a calcium supplement, but that awful, chalky taste just makes it unbearable. A new, chocolate-flavored calcium chew might make it more tempting. It's called Viactiv, and it comes from Mead Johnson Nutritionals.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
A new iced tea with exotic, natural flavors could be just what you're looking for to escape the summer heat. Honest Tea is all natural, brewed in spring water, and has about 5 grams of carbohydrate and 34 calories or less per serving, depending on the flavor.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
June 1999
Researchers are saying that diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in children under the age of 18 has increased tenfold in the past five years.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1999
The trick to a bedtime snack is to eat just enough to sustain blood sugar while not overeating.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1999
May 1999
For people with type 2 diabetes, exercise is an imperative companion piece to managing blood sugars. For people with type 1 diabetes, however, it is a more difficult proposition.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 1999
April 1999
How did one type 2 go from 20 units of insulin per day to none, and no blood sugar level above 185? He took Cogent DB, an Indian type 2 medication made from several herbs, which the Mayo Clinic is reported to be interested in testing.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
B vitamins may prove to be more helpful than we thought they were. According to scientists, one B vitamin, niacin, also known as nicotinamide or B3, could even prevent type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
You rely on your physicians to recommend the best therapy, but how much do they know about vitamins and nutrition?
2 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and other national health care groups are requesting that the United States government stress fruits and vegetables more strongly in its health care guidelines for Americans. They want the government to bring fruits and vegetables to the "core" of the American diet.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
March 1999
For every study saying aspartame is harmful, another says it is not. Hundreds of studies throughout the world have been performed with aspartame. Here's just a tiny sample of contradictory studies, with a summary of their conclusions.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1999
February 1999
Vanadium, a metallic element found in humans, has insulin-like capabilities, according to recent discoveries. As a result, there is increased interest in using vanadium as a possible treatment for diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1999
January 1999
In a preliminary study conducted at the departments of endocrinology and neurology at Hacettepe University in Turkey, it was discovered that vitamin E supplementation could aid in the prevention of mild-to-moderate peripheral neuropathy in individuals with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1999
Authors Biermann and Toohey strike again. This prolific diabetes duo has updated their supremely popular book, The Diabetic's Book: All Your Questions Answered. Praise for previous editions says that it is a down-to-earth, practical and upbeat guide anyone can understand.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1999
December 1998
Jean Chediac has type 2 diabetes and had not taken his medication for a week, running his BGs up to double their normal level. He finally went to his health care provider, who gave him his medicine. Within a day, his BGs were back to normal.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
Dori Linnell of Eureka, Montana, would do anything for Tel, her 5-year-old son with diabetes. With diligence, knowledge and love, she has kept his HbA1cs in the nearly perfect range of 6.8 to 7.0 %. Linnell is obviously doing what works but always looking for something that may work better. She read about BetaFast, a product that is said to help people with diabetes control their blood sugars. BetaFast is made from the leaf extract of the herb Gymnema sylvestre, a climbing plant found in India. Always a believer in herbs, she wanted to try it with Tel.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
Current evidence suggests that lipoproteins (such as LDL-cholesterol) need to be oxidized to cause atherosclerosis. Such oxidative stress appears to be increased in diabetes, which causes additional atherosclerosis.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
Prevention magazine's publication, 200 Herbal Remedies, linked the following herbs with diabetes control:
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
Meals 'n Carbs is a new CD-ROM designed by two diabetes educators to help people plan their meals with diabetes management in mind. The CD-ROM begins with basic information about digestion, diabetes and carbohydrate counting for people recently diagnosed with diabetes. It then progresses to a meal planner, in which you use your mouse to add foods to a meal and print out your nutritional information.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
September 1998
For centuries Middle Eastern cultures have been using the herb fenugreek to treat obesity. Nutricept, Inc. has applied this ancient knowledge to diabetes care, creating a new form of fenugreek in its product Limitrol. Limitrol is a dietary fiber supplement which can be taken as a capsule or a pudding.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
Helping space aliens and controlling blood glucose may sound like an odd mix, but in a new educational software program produced by the Starbright Foundation, a non-profit organization, the two work together to help teach kids about diabetes. The program, funded by Eli Lilly & Company, is just one example of the computer software products available to help people of all ages manage their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
According to research funded by the National Cattleman's Beef Association, a common fat found in red meats and cheeses might help prevent type 2 diabetes. In their study, the fatty acid, known as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) provided short-term prevention of the onset of diabetes in lab animals.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
Just when you thought you had artificial sweeteners all figured out and had settled on a particular brand, the sweetener scene is changing again.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 1998
It was over a business meal in a fancy Buffalo, New York, restaurant that the hottest new weight-loss and insulin-control program was born. The program is called Sugar Busters.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
August 1998
It's impossible to pick out the "best" research, particularly when there is so much interesting scientific work to choose from. My choice of what to include in this report, while necessarily arbitrary, was guided by what seemed most interesting to me. So if you've been involved in a particular research project that I've omitted, please accept my apologies. Here are the new findings that I would like to share.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
May 1998
How full did that meal you just ate make you feel? Did it satisfy your hunger, or did it make you feel like you'll need a snack later?
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
The vitamin known for numerous health-related benefits may also aid circulation in patients with type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
Canyon Ranch Health Resort. Established in Tucson, Arizona, in 1979, Canyon Ranch Health Resort has two other locations in Lenox, Mass., and a soon-to-be-opened resort in Bali, Indonesia.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 1998
Each of the following foods is rated by how much additional food people ate after consuming them to satisfy their hunger. Tip: If you want to lose weight, avoid the lower numbers!
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
April 1998
Are you looking for an effective way to fight low blood sugars but unsure which product to take - candy, cake frosting, honey? These are all good choices. However, they contain sucrose, or white sugar, which takes a while to digest in the stomach - minutes which you might not want to waste when suffering from a low blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1998
March 1998
Researchers Mary C. Gannon, PhD, et al. investigated the possibility of ingesting fructose with protein to stimulate insulin secretion in people with untreated type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1998
February 1998
Recent research by Sven-Erik Bursell, PhD, of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston suggests that high doses of Vitamin E (1300 IU per day) alter the development and/or progression of diabetic retinopathy.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1998
Evidence that moderate amounts of dietary fat intake is OK is popping up everywhere. Several studies indicate that severely restricting fat to lower cholesterol won't prevent heart disease caused by cholesterol any better than moderately cutting fat.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1998
January 1998
Last month I excitedly reported that a march on Washington had been announced. However, it grew so fast that the planners had to step back and take a second look. They are now calling it a "Political Impact Rally," and the date might be changing. For more information, a toll free number has been set up by volunteer Robin Harrison. Call (888) 253-7144 to find out more about this emerging, grassroots advocacy campaign.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1998
December 1997
Imagine this. You enter a grocery store and on the directory directly above "Diapers" is "Diabetes". This aisle contains every food made for people with diabetes. And thankfully, a number of choices exist in this land of sugar-free sweets, sweeteners and snacks.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1997
October 1997
B vitamins have been found beneficial for degenerative nerve diseases like diabetic neuropathy, according to a study published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics vol. 34, No. 2 - 1996 (47-50).
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 1997
August 1997
Magnesium is a mineral that is essential for the digestion of carbohydrates. As part of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, researchers evaluated magnesium levels in over 12,000 people and found over six years of follow-up that those with the lowest levels had a significantly increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. While it is a reasonable hypothesis, there is no proof yet that magnesium supplements can decrease this risk or improve glycemic control for type 2s.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
It is commonly recommended that insulin boluses be taken 15 to 45 minutes before eating. The new fast acting insulin Lispro has cut this time down considerably. Now it appears that if the dosage is adjusted to the amount eaten, the insulin can even be taken after a meal and provide equal or better control.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
June 1997
You exercise. You do this because it's good for your health, can help stabilize your blood sugars and makes you look and feel better. It provides you with exhilarating, character-building challenges whether you run in the Boston Marathon or increase your walking distance from two to three miles per day.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1997
May 1997
Antioxidants, a main selling point for countless nutritional supplements and multi-vitamins these days, are drawing the attention of health experts.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1997
April 1997
A recent study by Harvard scientists gives us one more good reason to eat our Wheaties.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1997
February 1997
New findings on the consumption of certain sugars may lead to greater dietary flexibility, at least for a small subset of people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1997
A new study shows vitamin E reduces heart attacks by 75 percent. Results like this, and those from similar studies, have led the American Heart Association to name vitamin E the fourth most noteworthy health aid for heart disease in its review of 1996 research advances.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1997
January 1997
It seems hard to believe that a simple, over-the-counter vitamin could greatly reduce the chance of developing cardiovascular disease, lower HbA1c levels and improve insulin sensitivity without anyone having noticed. But, until recently, vitamin E seems to have been doing just that.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
Could vitamin B3 help slow down, or possibly halt the development of type I diabetes? A recent study shows that when the vitamin is given at diagnosis it helps keep the remaining Beta-cells active.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
People with diabetes are taking steps to enhance their lives and feel better using complementary therapies in conjunction with their prescribed medical treatments. Practicing complementary therapy is a way of integrating non-western treatments with conventional medicine.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
October 1996
There's a war going on: The War of the Diabetic Diets. The generals are amassing their loyal troops and building up their ammunition storehouses of research and evidence (both scientific and anecdotal). All the generals are convinced that the better diet-their diet-will prevail and rule the Land of Diabetes forever.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1996
In the current controversy between advocates of high-carbohydrates versus those who insist upon low-carbohydrates, doctors have taken to making broad, sweeping statements concerning the human race. Each side seems to have a completely different idea of what causes disease.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1996
September 1996
There came a point in Evelyn Narad's life when she knew it was time to get serious about losing weight. She was 75 years old and had been diagnosed with type II diabetes 22 years ago. A broken shoulder and hand in the summer of 1995 kept her from exercising, and every inactive day she spent inside her house seemed like another pound gained.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1996
August 1996
A new book which may revolutionize the way people with diabetes analyze food is being published out of Australia and Canada. The book, The G.I. Factor: The Glycaemic Index Solution, is a definitive look at an underutilized tool.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
People who have a difficult time recognizing when their blood sugar is dropping may have to look no further than a cup of coffee for help.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
For ages, people with diabetes have made sure to eat something before bed to keep their blood sugars up during the night. The trick has been to eat just enough to sustain blood sugar while not overeating. A nutritionist may recommend a half sandwich before bed, but the patient might fix himself a sixteen-layer sandwich like Dagwood Bumstead does in the comic strip. Overeating can lead to high blood sugars during the night and weight gain over an extended period.
1 comment - Posted Aug 1, 1996
July 1996
Research from Finland indicates that high doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) helps people with type 2 diabetes maintain glycemic control.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 1996
June 1996
A new line of frozen dinners specifically designed for people with diabetes is now available.
2 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1996
The European Parliament continues to debate whether diabetic foods should be regulated by the government, according to recent Reuters reports. All countries in the European Union (EU) oppose such regulation, except Germany.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1996
May 1996
Scientists have found yet another reason for people to take a daily supplement of vitamin C. Not only does it help to ward off colds, but the antioxidant vitamin C can improve the blood circulation in people with type 2 diabetes. As a result, vitamin C may prove to be a potent combatant against diabetes-induced vascular disease, which can cause retinopathy, nephropathy and atherosclerosis.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 1996
April 1996
The new year is just a few months old, but how many of us have kept our New Year's resolutions to lose weight? For many people, that promise went into the dumpster with the Christmas fruitcake.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Procter & Gamble's "fake fat" product, olestra, as an additive to chips and other snack foods.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
March 1996
According to some reports, chromium picolinate can lower insulin requirements. In fact, some people swear by it, and there are athletes that take more than 800 mcg of the substance every day.
2 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
Fiber-we've heard it's good for us, but what exactly does that mean? What do people with diabetes need to do to make sure they're getting the right type of fiber in the right amounts? Don't worry-help is on the way.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
Go to any bookstore and look at the diet and cookbook section. You'll find book after book of lowfat diet plans and cookbooks. Go to any market and you'll see shelf after shelf of lowfat products. You'd think the lowfat lifestyle was the only way to go. The Fickle Finger of food facts can't abide by this. It just has to swivel in the opposite direction. And strangely enough, that swivel is starting right here in Diabetesland.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
February 1996
Forget the uptight approach to diabetes management. When patients come to Rhonda Howard, RD, CDE, at the Humphreys Diabetes Center in Boise, Idaho, they are taught to trust their bodies instead of fight them.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1996
January 1996
We live in a toxic environment. Much of what we consume is simply not good for our bodies-it builds up and eventually damages our health. Antioxidant vitamins-vitamins C and E, and beta carotene-may be what we need to "clean up" our systems.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1996
Finland consumes more cow's milk than any other country and Finnish people have the highest incidence of diabetes in the world-40 cases per 100,000 people. This is about six times higher than the frequency of diabetes in France. The French drink much less milk and have only 7.5 people with diabetes per 100,000 among the Caucasian population.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1996
There's no such thing as a fat-free lunch. Not yet, anyway.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1996
Q: Where can I get a list of "free" foods that people with diabetes can eat, and what types of snacks are available? It would be nice to be able to eat something and feel confident about what it will do to my BGs.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1996
December 1995
Ginseng, long used to treat a variety of ills, can reduce blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Ginseng is a plant extract that has been used for centuries to reduce fatigue and elevate mood.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1995
September 1995
As a doctor living with diabetes for more than 25 years and caring for more than 8000 people with diabetes, I know that diabetes can, though does not need to, cause accelerated aging of the vascular and nervous systems. Eating the best foods, including plenty of fresh raw vegetables and fruits, taking vitamins and anti-oxidants, controlling blood sugars, blood pressure and cholesterol are all crucially important in keeping healthy with diabetes. But there has been one element left overlooked by most people: water.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1995
In the last 20 years there has been a change in the kind of sugar food manufacturers use to sweeten their products. In the past, sucrose was king. Today, fructose, in the form of high fructose syrup (HFS), is much more common. This is touted as good news for people with diabetes, but is it?
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1995
August 1995
Vanadium is a trace metal found in our food and in our bodies, which is known to improve insulin sensitivity. A study conducted at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine is the first to document the benefits of vanadium in humans.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1995
Researchers tested Alaskan Eskimos and Indians in 15 different villages to determine whether their diet of seal oil and salmon influenced their risk of developing diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1995
July 1995
May 1995
Researchers in India have shown that psyllium husk, which is the outer layer of the plantain seed, can significantly reduce cholesterol when administered to patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1995
March 1995
Thirty-five children, ages 9-13, with diabetes of varying severity were studied in Russia to observe their ability to metabolize vitamins.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1995
February 1995
Vitamin E may decrease the risk of developing some of the most common complications of diabetes, according to a study done at Joslin Diabetes Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and Kyushu University in Japan.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1995
A strong connection between the consumption of cows milk and the development of type I diabetes was confirmed by researchers in Italy, according to a study published in Diabetes Care (Dec. 1994).
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1995
January 1995
A drop of 17.4 percent in triglyceride levels was obtained in a study conducted at the Medical Center Hospital and the Audie Murphy Veterans Hospital in San Antonio, TX.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1995
September 1994
Q: Recently I read an article in Post Graduate Medicine ("Effective Insulin Use," Vol. 95, No. 8, June 1994, pgs. 52, 54, 58-60, 63-64, and 67). The article suggests the patient not eat if the blood glucose is greater than 150 mg/dl. I would appreciate you reading this article and giving me your opinion.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 1994
July 1994
The vitamin E market in the United States, estimated at $600 million in sales, has been growing at an annualized rate of 25 percent.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1994
May 1994
A recent report from the University of Kuopio in Finland has found that fructose may be an acceptable alternative to sugar in the diet of people with diabetes who are liable to high after meal glucose concentrations (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 1994). In patients with mild non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, fructose may contribute lower after meal glucose and insulin responses than most other carbohydrate sources.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1994
Researchers at the University of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, are calling for a reassessment of the value of the glycemic index in the treatment of diabetes (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 1994). They cite 11 medium to long-term studies that have specifically used the glycemic index (GI) approach to determine clinical gains in diabetes or lipid management. All but one study produced positive findings.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1994
A study from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, indicates that slower rates of carbohydrate absorption might have advantages in reducing after-meal high blood sugars.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1994
March 1994
Introduction: It was a long, difficult, and confusing road that lead me to the conclusion that as a person with diabetes (type I for 45 years), I should take vitamin, mineral, and trace element (micronutrient) supplements daily. My educational background, like that of most other health care providers, did not include much clinical information about the need for micronutrients. Most of the information presented concerned biochemical effects (the effects of vitamins on the chemical reactions of cells) or deficiency states due to an unbalanced diet. I can remember my professor summarizing vitamin use by saying "the vast majority of people in the United States don't need to take daily vitamin supplements, as long as they consume well-balanced and nutritious meals each day." He also emphasized the lack of long-term clinical studies about micronutrient supplementation. My professor categorized the people who probably needed supplements as: children during growth stages, pregnant and lactating women, elderly patients, individuals with specific vitamin deficiencies, patients with chronic conditions, alcoholics, individuals under stress, and those who did not follow a well-balanced diet. I added up all the people in these categories and realized that a relatively high percentage of the total US population might need daily supplements.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1994
Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is associated with altered electrolyte metabolism and a derangement of the parathyroid hormone (PTH)-vitamin D endocrine system. Twenty three children with diabetes were found to have lower serum values for calcium, magnesium, PTH, calcitriol, and osteocalcin than age- and sex-matched control subjects without diabetes. After patients were given magnesium orally (6mg/kg daily) for up to 60 days, concentrations significantly increased, reaching control values.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1994
Thirty people with diabetes who require insulin, matched for duration of disease and metabolic control, were sorted into three groups of ten each. One group was given a placebo, one group was given 600 mg of Vitamin E and the third group received 1200mg of Vitamin E daily for two months.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1994
Researchers in a Texas hospital report that patients treated with vitamin B6 over periods of 8 months-28 years have never developed retinopathy. Since blindness and vision are so important, they suggest the apparent relationship of a deficiency of vitamin B6 should be studied as a molecular cause of diabetic neuropathy (Biochemistry and Biophysiology Research Communications, August 1991).
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1994
Researchers in Paris have discovered a possible link between alcohol and diabetes (European Journal of Medicine, October, 1992). Using a routine health check of over 7000 workers (excluding people previously diagnosed with diabetes and pregnant women), alcohol consumption was compared with blood glucose levels after adjusting for other risk factors.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1994
The tissue vitamin C level in adults with and without IDDM was measured before and after an above average daily vitamin C intake. Subjects with IDDM stored half as much Vitamin C as non-diabetics.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1994
February 1994
In a study conducted at the Northeastern Ohio University Medical College, the effect of aspartame (Nutrasweet) on patients with a history of depression was measured.
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 1994
January 1994
A study of 15 Type 2 diabetic patients who controlled their diabetes through diet, were given 15 grams of guar gum per day over a 48 week period. The results of the study indicate that guar gum improved long-term glycemic control, postprandial (after meals) glucose tolerance, and lipid concentrations (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October, 1993).
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1994
November 1993
In past studies, fish oil has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of heart disease, but a new study from the Netherlands indicates that for people with diabetes, this may not be the case. The study, published in the July 1993 issue of Diabetes Care, took place over a 16 year period and included 272 people from the town of Rotterdam, 27 of whom had diabetes and 56 with glucose intolerance. Fish intake was the equivalent of 1 meal of fish per week.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1993
August 1993
Magnesium appears to play a role in insulin resistance, carbohydrate intolerance, and hypertension. Is adequate magnesium is obtainable by following a nutritionally balanced mealplan?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1993
July 1993
Long considered a cornerstone of diabetes management, exercise has been underemphasized as a therapeutic treatment. This is not without reason, as the effects of exercise on blood glucose levels in people with Insulin Dependent Diabetes (IDDM) is physiologically complex, and requires individual tailoring rather than a rigid, uniform prescription. As always, the most effective way to integrate exercise is by being adequately informed.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 1993
April 1993
Researchers at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem have reported evidence that diabetes may lead to ascorbic acid (vitamin C) deficiency.
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 1993
March 1993
A study from Denmark has found that eating frequent small meals, rather than less frequent large meals, can be beneficial for people with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). The report of the study was published in Diabetes Care, January 1993.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1993
January 1993
Last October, the International Diabetic Athletes Association (IDAA-USA) met in Phoenix, Arizona, for its annual meeting. At the conference, 60 active men and women shared information on methods of integrating a vigorous lifestyle with diabetes. Most of the speakers were athletes and health professionals who spoke of diabetes and exercise from personal experience.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1993
December 1992
Did you know that the average American gains approximately 7 pounds between the Thanksgiving and New Year's holiday?
0 comments - Posted Dec 3, 1992
Most patients with diabetes generally do not require routine vitamin and mineral supplementation, just like the rest of the population. However, based on the published medical literature, it would appear that some degree of supplementation with certain vitamins (e.g., vitamins C and E) and minerals (e.g., magnesium) may be worthwhile and become more commonly recommended in the future. The role of vitamins and minerals in controlling blood glucose levels in the patients with diabetes also is discussed.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1992
The results of a recent study conducted in Colorado suggest that the exposure to low levels of nitrates in drinking water may play a role in the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1992
A study conducted by a joint research group from the University of Melbourne and Deakin University in Australia has found that low-carbohydrate diets that are high in fat content can have a negative effect on blood glucose control in people with Type I diabetes. The report on the study was published in the November 1992 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1992
November 1992
Dr. Alan Marcus is a diabetes specialist who practices in Laguna Hills, California. He is also a medical advisor to MiniMed Technologies and a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk Insulin. Dr. Marcus also serves as Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine for the USC School of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1992
September 1991
For the past 10 years, I have been telling people with diabetes to drink fruit juice only if they are having a hypoglycemic reaction. My feelings on this issue have now been backed up in a recent study published in the Diabetes Educator (volume 17, number 4). Marilyn Sullivan, MS, RD, CDE and Robert Scott, MD found that both fruit juice and decaffeinated cola raised patients blood sugar at a similar rate. They concluded by stating: "When it comes time to revise the Diabetic Exchange Lists for Meal Planning, the authors may want to reconsider listing fruit juices as acceptable choices from the fruit list to be used in routine meal planning."
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1991
