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Latest Nutrition Research Articles
Diabetes Nutrition Research Article Archives
April 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
July 2011
"Good news," my diabetes nurse educator says to me. "Your new insurance covers continuous glucose monitoring supplies!" I give her a half-smile as my brain screams at me, "CGM? Really? Something else to deal with on top of this damn disease, an insulin pump, exercise, and nutrition?" But I comply, and a CGM is added to the rest of my paraphernalia.
26 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2011
May 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
April 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
March 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
A new report recently published in the American Chemical Society's bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry adds a new punch to the power of garlic in the fight against heart disease. The report concludes that garlic has "significant" potential for preventing cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease that is a leading cause of death in people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2011
October 2010
Getting enough magnesium in your diet could help prevent type 2 diabetes. Dr. Ka He of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues have found that people who consumed the most magnesium from foods and vitamin supplements were about half as likely to develop diabetes over the next 20 years as people who took in the least magnesium.
0 comments - Posted Oct 22, 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
September 2010
Children who have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes might be identified earlier by way of tell-tale genetic indicators known as biomarkers. Some of those new biomarkers might be pinpointed in research led by Nancy F. Butte and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's National Institutes of Health.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2010
August 2010
Doctors have long known that different populations have different risks for chronic illness. Certain ethnic groups, for instance, are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than others. But why? The National Institutes of Health aims to find out. It's Network on Inequality, Complexity, and Health will take a broad look at factors that influence disease and aim to make positive changes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2010
July 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
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
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
If you take metformin to control your type 2 diabetes, ask your doctor to take a look at your vitamin B-12 levels when you get a chance. A recent British study shows that metformin may cause a deficiency in the vitamin, which is necessary for the regeneration of red blood cells and the maintenance of nervous system health.
0 comments - Posted Jun 5, 2010
December 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
September 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
Research by Utah scientists has clarified the mechanism behind the long-held notion that sugar somehow "feeds" tumors. In addition to suggesting a new way to fight cancer, the findings provide insight into how the body metabolizes glucose and may eventually affect treatments for diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2009
August 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
May 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
Three studies just published in the New England Journal of Medicine have discovered that most adults have several grams of brown fat sequestered in little pockets on their necks and backs. It's a tiny amount, but it's big news because brown fat is not your everyday fat, the unwelcome white variety that stores calories and makes us hate mirrors. Brown fat is a busy little heat-producing fat that actually burns calories. It's brown because it contains special mitochondria, tiny factories within the fat cells that produce heat, lots of it, when activated by cold.
2 comments - Posted Apr 24, 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
Canadian scientists studying the effects of glucose on cellular aging have discovered an unusual effect that could change how doctors treat diabetes and even address the human lifespan.
2 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2009
March 2009
If you fancy cat naps and think that they might be a handy way to circumvent the ill effects of too little sleep at night (see Sleeping Less Than 6 Hours a Night? Your Risk of Developing a Type 2 Precursor Is Nearly 5x Higher), think again: A British study of the napping habits of more than 16,000 people in China has concluded that taking a nap even once a week can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 26 percent over people who never take naps.
7 comments - Posted Mar 25, 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
February 2009
Too little production of a molecule called LSR (lipolysis-stimulated lipoprotein receptor) in the liver sends blood fat soaring to pathological levels in mice with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, say scientists at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.
1 comment - Posted Feb 26, 2009
January 2009
Researchers in India have found that 65 proteins in the saliva of people with type 2 diabetes have patterns unlike the patterns of the same proteins in the saliva of individuals without diabetes. Not only may the differences be a potential way to identify type 2s, but the proteins themselves are associated with immune response and metabolic regulation-two bodily functions that run afoul in type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 29, 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
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
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
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
British researchers have discovered genetic links between type 1 diabetes and celiac disease (a digestive disorder characterized by an impaired reaction to gluten) that have them speculating that both diseases may stem from a common underlying cause.
6 comments - Posted Dec 15, 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
November 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
September 2008
Researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago have shown that mice exposed to common stomach bacteria are protected against the development of type 1. Their findings, published in the journal Nature, uphold the so-called "hygiene hypothesis" - the theory that a lack of exposure to parasites, bacteria, and viruses in the developed world may lead to increased risk of allergies, asthma, and other disorders of the immune system. The results also suggest that exposure to some forms of bacteria might actually help prevent the onset of type 1.
4 comments - Posted Sep 29, 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
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
Diabetes educator Cindy Young used case studies to illustrate the many little things that can have a big effect on your blood glucose-or just on the readings you get with your meter.
7 comments - Posted Sep 11, 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Low doses of resveratrol, an ingredient found in red wine, make insulin-resistant mice more sensitive to insulin. Don't try this at home, however, because you'd have to drink almost a gallon of wine every day to get the same effect.
3 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2007
November 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
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
Taste buds have little receptors to sense the lovely taste of sugar, but now scientists have found that tasting sweets doesn't end with your tongue.
0 comments - Posted Oct 20, 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
September 2007
Your zip code can predict whether your zippers zip, according to a Seattle study that analyzed neighborhood property values by zip code. After examining data from over 8,000 people, researchers from the University of Washington found that for every $100,000 drop in average home prices, obesity rates rose by two percent.
0 comments - Posted Sep 18, 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
McDonald's has spent a lot of money to worm its way into the psyche of your toddlers, to the point that they practically salivate like Pavlov's dog at the mere sight of a branded bag.
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 2007
Drinking one soft drink a day, diet or not, is associated with a 44 percent increased likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome, that unwelcome conglomeration of conditions that puts you at risk of type 2 diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.
0 comments - Posted Aug 21, 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
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
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
Prickly pear pads, otherwise known as nopales, are a staple of Mexican cuisine: People in mid- to low socioeconomic populations in Mexico tend to eat them about three times a week. Apparently they're pretty tasty when stripped of their prickles and boiled up in bite-sized pieces.
0 comments - Posted Jun 22, 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
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
Grape-eating rodents have a significantly lowered incidence of type 1 diabetes, according to research published in the May 2007 Journal of Nutrition. The study showed that grape-eating reduced the movement of immune cells into the islets of Langerhans, thus preventing damage to the beta cells located therein.
0 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2007
Marie Benton, a Maori health researcher in New Zealand, has carried out a ten-year study of her tribe, comparing nine people who ate eel regularly and lived a traditional lifestyle with nine people who ate a more Western diet.
0 comments - Posted Jun 10, 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
May 2007
Here's yet another bit of research connecting fat to fructose-laden beverages A study recently published in Hepatology shows that fructose-laden water (10% wt/vol) decreases liver fat breakdown and causes lipid accumulation in rats.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2007
Overweight and insulin resistance may contribute to LADA, a form of type 1 diabetes, according to results of a study by Dr. Sofia Carlsson and her fellow researchers from Stockholm.
0 comments - Posted May 7, 2007
An observational study of 10,469 cereal-eating physicians between 1982 and 2006 revealed that the 79 percent who ate whole grain cereals (defined for this study as at least 25 percent oat or bran content) experienced less heart failure than the 21 percent who ate refined cereals.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2007
April 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
A study published in the December 2006 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that high fructose consumption doesn’t raise insulin resistance or ectopic lipid deposition (fat in the wrong place) in healthy lean young males, but does heighten risk of cardiovascular disease by increasing plasma triglycerides.
0 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2007
Why do Chinese Canadians have higher levels of HDL (healthy cholesterol) than South Asian Canadians? Because they eat fewer carbohydrates.
0 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2007
March 2007
An October 2006 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the association between eating certain food groups and waist circumference. The study, which lasted five years, followed 22,570 Danish women and 20,126 Danish men.
0 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2007
September 2006
August 2006
Higher intakes of heme iron (iron derived from animal products) is associated with a “significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes,” according to Harvard University researchers.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 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
July 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
May 2006
Researchers at Harvard Medical School say there is a “modest positive association” between potato consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women.
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
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
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
Indian researchers believe that the compound resveratrol, found in the skins of red grapes, is the reason certain red wines may be good for heart health. Now, it appears to benefit kidneys as well.
0 comments - Posted Apr 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
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
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
November 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
Swedish researchers contend that adding dairy whey to meals with rapidly digested and absorbed carbohydrates stimulates insulin release and reduces after-meal blood glucose excursion.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2005
“Type 1 diabetes is associated with a higher prevalence of bulimia nervosa in females,” say researchers at Florence University School of Medicine in Florence, Italy.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
October 2005
According to a recent study, soy-based meal replacement plans (MRs) yield greater weight loss and better blood glucose control than American Diabetes Association-recommended individualized diet plans (IDPs).
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Eating yogurt in place of other foods can be a boon to weight loss, conclude Tennessee researchers who designed a study to compare potential antiobesity benefits from increased dietary calcium compared to other calcium sources.
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
August 2005
Eating peanuts and peanut products is a good dietary decision, according to Penn State University researchers.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Ghrelin, a hormone produced by the stomach cells, plays an important role in food intake, but little is known about how ghrelin concentrations are affected by dietary factors.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Dietary glycemic load may predict the level of HDL cholesterol in younger people.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
April 2005
Mild to moderate consumption of alcohol is inversely and significantly associated with the following components of the metabolic syndrome: Low HDL (good) cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, high waist circumference and high blood insulin levels, say Boston researchers.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
March 2005
If your body mass index (BMI) is over 35, you have a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with diabetes, according to U.S. government statistics.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Weight Watchers. Atkins. South Beach. Ornish. The Zone.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
In less than one year, the Food and Drug Administration will require all food manufacturers to list the amount of trans fats on their labels. A wealth of research has been warning consumers of the dangers of trans fats.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
February 2005
Iranian researchers suggest that increasing intake of whole grains may reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Taken with a low- or modified-fat diet, Australian researchers say that 30 grams of walnuts per day improve the lipid profile of patients with type 2.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Pinitol, isolated from soybeans, may be beneficial in reducing cardiovascular risk in type 2s, according to Korean researchers.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
December 2004
Low-fat, high-fiber diets promoted weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes without causing unfavorable alterations in plasma lipids or blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
“Higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a greater magnitude of weight gain and an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes in women,” say Harvard researchers, “possibly by providing excessive calories and large amounts of rapidly absorbable sugars.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
September 2004
Alcohol tends to lower blood glucose. This means you do not need to take extra insulin or medication to cover the alcohol you drink. In fact, it can be dangerous to do so.
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
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
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
“Trans fatty acid [TFA] intake is positively associated with markers of systemic inflammation in women,” say Harvard Medical School researchers.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
May 2004
On the same day that the U.S. government was lamenting the news that obesity has caught up with smoking as a leading killer of Americans, a study demonstrated that a pill may help people quit smoking and lose weight at the same time.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
Would you believe the two leading killers in the United States are lifestyle choices? It’s true.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
April 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
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
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
February 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
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
November 2003
Chocolate! Although millions love it, chocolate has always gotten a bad rap in the diabetes community.
3 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2003
April 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
February 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
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
A food ingredient long regarded as a "silent killer" may be brought to justice next spring.
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
October 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
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
May 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
April 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
February 2002
The amount of fat you eat can affect your A1C level, say researchers in the United Kingdom, but the type of fat can also make a difference. Researchers writing in the November 2001 issue of Diabetes Care report that people who consumed more polyunsaturated fat, which includes most vegetable oils, nuts and high-fat fish, had lower A1C levels across the normal range than those whose fat intake came primarily from meat, milk and milk products.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
September 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
July 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
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
March 2001
When your mother tells you to eat your broccoli, you should listen.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
January 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
August 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
November 1999
Just in time for National Diabetes Month, there is new data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) which shows that more than half of people with type 2 diabetes in the United States have unacceptably high blood sugar levels, putting them at increased risk for serious diabetes-related complications.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
July 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
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
September 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
June 1998
Fish oil may lower triglyceride levels by almost 30 percent, according to an analysis of 26 published clinical trials performed by researchers at the Ziekenhuis der Veije University in the Netherlands. All trials studied included more than five diabetes patients (both IDDM and NIDDM) and looked at the effect of fish oil and docosahexaenoic acid on serum lipids and glucose tolerance.
0 comments - Posted Jun 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
November 1997
Sweet 'N Low recently awarded Jerrilynn D. Burrowes, MS, RD, CS, CDN, with the newly established Sweet 'N Low Nutrition Scholarship of $5,000.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1997
August 1997
If you have an eating disorder and need help, contact the American Anorexia/Bulimia Association (AABA) at (212) 575-6200 or write them at 165 West 46th Street, Suite 1108, New York, NY 10036. You can also contact psychologist William Polonsky, PhD, CDE, for referrals at (619) 965-5659 or he can be contacted by e-mail at WHPolonsky@aol.com.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
May 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
December 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