Allergies & Diabetes
From fall leaves to spring pollen, allergies can strike during any season. People might be allergic to dust, pollen, animals, certain foods and other common environmental elements. Because people with diabetes are particularly vulnerable to allergies, it is essential to discover how to minimize the symptoms. Allergies and Diabetes are both Autoimmune Disorders The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology reports approximately 50 million Americans suffer from allergies. Allergies are an autoimmune disorder as is type 1 diabetes. Many people with type 1 or 2 diabetes may also have allergies. The body’s natural response to allergens is to fight them. As a result, you experience symptoms such as sneezing, watery eyes, congestion, and a dry throat. Sometimes your eyes are itchy, and you get swelling of the face, lips, tongue or hands. Other symptoms may include chest heaviness or tightness and difficulty breathing as well as a stomach discomfort and bloating. The Ramifications of Dehydration: Allergies and Diabetes Allergies may cause your body to become dehydrated. When people with diabetes suffer dehydration, it may lead to fluctuating blood sugar levels and an elevated heart rate. Drink plain filtered water throughout the day to prevent the release of histamines. Your body releases histamine to stop water loss, and this triggers allergy symptoms. Stay hydrated to eliminate allergy symptoms and avoid blood sugar surges. When you exercise, keep bottled water handy to avoid dehydration. Foods and Allergy Symptoms Certain foods may aggravate allergy symptoms. You may need to avoid beverages and foods that produce mucous such as dairy products including milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Be aware that alcohol, such as red wine, contains sulfites and may cause alle Continue reading >>
Food Allergies And Diabetes
Posted by Catherine | November 8, 2015 | Diabetic Diet | 0 | Food allergies and diabetes are really not a great combination. Although food sensitivity can have a variety of symptoms results they very often leave you feeling tired and jaded. Managing diabetes is hard enough without the added complication of food sensitivities. Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic condition and food intolerances can trigger inflammation, destruction of cells in the form of an autoimmune disease and insulin resistance can be triggered by food intolerances. What that means in plain English is if you have a food intolerance or a combination food intolerances it may be far harder for you if not impossible to cure your diabetes. Fortunately, food allergies are very rare they affect less than 1% of the population. Food intolerance of food sensitivity is a milder form of allergy and these effect about 20% of the population. Food intolerance tends also to be to specific groups of products. The main culprits are Wheat-based bread and cereals and wheat bran products. Processed bread cakes pastries biscuits and cookies Dairy products, especially cows milk and cows milk cheese Food additives such as monosodium glutinate and tartrazine and yellow additives Because these intolerances are so common to this types of foods you often get an immediate improvement. The first step is to eliminate the first five group for two weeks. If there is an immediate improvement there is no need to go any further but if you feel better after three weeks it is worth eliminating the next five culprits and they are: Tomatoes, peppers and aubergines, and potatoes If you feel better after two weeks it is worth staying off the first big five group and reintroduce each week one food from the second group. When you reintroduce a foo Continue reading >>
Understand The Connection Between Food Allergies And Diabetes
(NewsTarget) Here is food for thought. Food allergies can actually cause diabetic responses complicating anti-diabetic protocols and treatments. With Diabetes Mellitus being a metabolic disorder, diabetes becomes less controllable or irreversible when other metabolic issues due to food allergies and intolerances arise. Inflammation, auto-immune destruction of cells, and insulin resistance can be triggered by food intolerances. Inflammation The necessity to trim or eliminate saturated fat from the diet has been well documented. It seems that saturated fat not only can affect good heart health, but can also trigger insulin resistance. Research conducted at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that saturated fats cause immune cells to activate and excrete an inflammatory protein called interleukin-1 Beta. This protein interacts with organs and tissues causing them to resist insulin. Dr. William Philpott noted that some food allergies caused body cells to swell (edema) leading to insulin resistance. Edema is a response to inflammation which contributed to diabetic type responses in the body. He and his team observed blood sugar levels of patients before and after meals. When the offending food was removed, the diabetic response vanished in conjunction with the inflammation. The offending foods were usually corn, wheat, and dairy products. Auto-Immune Destruction In some Type 1 diabetics auto-immune responses can play a key role in their diabetes. It is thought that some 75% of Type 1 diabetics are allergic to their own pancreatic cells, which are responsible for insulin production. Research conducted in Australia and Italy has found a correlation between cow's milk and Type 1 diabetes in children. Bovine Serum Albumin is a protein to which some individu Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes And Food Allergies
Allergies are the reaction of the immune system to something it believes is foreign and dangerous to the body. Food allergies are due to the immune system in the gut or blood stream, becoming reactive to food proteins. Food allergies can be very difficult to identify because they have a diverse spectrum of mild to moderate symptoms, although they can have devastating effects on health with long term exposure. Many parents have experienced milk allergies in their toddlers with symptoms such as asthma, eczema (skin rashes), and digestive problems. While removing milk from their diet resolves the symptoms, some pediatricians will just advise a concerned parent not to worry as their child will outgrow the allergy. While the pediatric symptoms may appear to be resolved, the susceptible child?s immune system now has a higher risk of becoming overactive which, over time, may cause damage to virtually any organ or tissue in the human body, including the pancreas. Food allergies complicate the way a diabetic responds to treatment, whether insulin or non-insulin dependent. Because diabetes is a metabolic disorder, the complications caused by food allergies may make diabetes more difficult to control. Studies suggest that 4 to 9 percent of children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes also have the autoimmune disease called celiac disease (an allergy to gluten/wheat.) Although 60 to 70% of these kids have no celiac symptoms as children, over time the intestinal wall will be severely damaged by the immune system resulting in chronic malabsorption issues and GI distress as adults. Doctors routinely test for celiac disease in those newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, but a study from Italy indicates that cow?s milk may also be a trigger for Type 1 diabetes. Significantly increased levels Continue reading >>
Causes Of Type 1 Diabetes
Tweet Type 1 diabetes belongs to a group of conditions known as autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases are when the body incorrectly identifies its own useful cells as an attacking organism. In type 1 diabetes, it is the beta cells in the pancreas which produce insulin that are wrongfully targeted and killed off by specific antibodies created by the body’s immune system. Researchers have been investigating what may cause the immune system to act in this way but to date researchers have theories but no concrete proof. Genetic predisposition Researchers have uncovered a number of genetic regions that are linked closely with type 1 diabetes. Each of these is denoted with a name such as IDDM1. At least 18 different regions have been discovered and some of the genetic areas include an increased susceptibility for other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and coeliac disease. Whilst genetics offers clues as to why some people are more susceptible to type 1 diabetes, it doesn’t explain why some people with these genes develop type 1 diabetes and why others with these genes don’t. For example, having an identical twin with type 1 diabetes gives you a statistically higher risk but it doesn’t necessarily mean you will develop the condition. Genetics does not explain either why people will develop type 1 diabetes at different ages. Type 1 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed in 10 to 14 year olds but can be diagnosed at any age. Read more on diabetes and genetics Type 1 diabetes triggers Researchers have hypothesised that whilst some people are have a genetic predisposition to type 1 diabetes, there is likely to be an environmental factor that triggers the initial development of type 1 diabetes. Some of the possible triggers that have been suggested include: Continue reading >>
Natural Treatment For Type I Diabetes – Possible Causes
Three Articles On Type I Diabetes: Article #1: Introduction To Type I Diabetes Article #2: Possible Causes of Type 1 Diabetes (This Article) Article #3: The Treatment of Type I Diabetes Article #2: Possible Causes of Type I Diabetes By far the most common theory as to why type 1 diabetes forms is the destruction of the beta cells. There are several theories as to why this happens. The generally accepted theory is that an “auto-immune” reaction of the body physically destroys the beta cells in the pancreas. In other words, abnormal proteins get into the blood and in the body's attempts to destroy the proteins the beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed. There are theories (some with very sold evidence) as to why these proteins get into the body. The theories with the most scientific evidence revolve around vaccinations or milk (i.e. dairy products) as being the cause of the abnormal proteins entering the body and triggering the auto-immune reaction. Vaccinations are known to get all kinds of deadly and damaging things directly into the bloodstream, including abnormal proteins (triggering many different kinds of auto-immune diseases), and a wide variety of very undesirable molecules into our bodies. Impurities in a vaccine are injected directly into the body, bypassing the digestive system's ability to deal with them. If these unnatural proteins are similar enough to normal cells or beneficial proteins in the body, the immune system, in attacking the unnatural molecules, may be fooled and start attacking the natural cells or beneficial proteins. This may also lead to the immune system attacking the beta cells. Here is a very good article on this subject: Dr. Rebecca Carley, M.D. article [the article is on her main web page] Dairy products can also get abnormal protei Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes Linked To Immune Response To Wheat
Follow all of ScienceDaily's latest research news and top science headlines ! Type 1 Diabetes Linked To Immune Response To Wheat Scientists have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Scientists tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Fraser Scott and his team tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. The study is published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Diabetes. Early in life, the immune system is supposed to learn to attack foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, while leaving the bodys own tissues and harmless molecules in the environment alone (including food in the gut). When this process goes awry, autoimmune diseases and allergies can develop. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the pancreas, the organ that regulates blood sugar. Dr. Scotts research is the first to clearly show that immune cells called T cells from people with type 1 diabetes are also more likely to over-react to wheat. His research also shows that the over-reaction is linked to genes associated with type 1 diabetes. The immune system has to find the perfect balance to defend the body against foreign invaders without hurting itself or over-reacting to the environment and this can be particularly challenging in the gut, where there is an abundance of food and bacteria, said Dr. Scott, a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Professor of Medicine at the U Continue reading >>
Eb Nutrtition - Diabetes (type 1, Type 2)
Diabetes (medically known as diabetes mellitus) is a condition characterized by poorly managed blood sugar levels that elevate in response to insufficient production and/or utilization of the hormone, insulin. Insulin promotes the absorption of glucose at the cell site in an effort to convert sugar into energy. In diabetes, the body either fails to utilize insulin efficiently, does not make enough insulin, or both. The result is an accumulation of glucose in the blood, which, if left untreated, may lead to various medical complications. There are two major types of diabetes: type 1diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a disorder of the body's immune system . Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells in the pancreas that are responsible for producing insulin. When beta cells are destroyed, insulin can no longer be produced and blood glucose levels begin to rise. If left untreated, high blood glucose levels can cause serious damage to all of the organ systems of the body. Type 1 diabetes is generally diagnosed in children, teenagers, or young adults. Scientists do not yet know exactly what causes type 1 diabetes, but they believe that autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors are involved. Individuals with type 1 diabetes must take insulin in order for their bodies to process sugar efficiently. This involves undergoing daily injections, or having insulin delivered through an insulin pump, and testing their blood sugar levels multiple times a day. People with diabetes must also carefully balance their food intake and their exercise to regulate their blood sugar levels in an attempt to avoid hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemic (high bloo Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes
develops because the body's immune system destroys beta cells in a part of the pancreas called the islet tissue. These beta cells produce insulin. So people with type 1 diabetes can't make their own insulin. The pancreas normally adjusts the amount of insulin it makes based on your changing blood sugar. When you have diabetes, your insulin injections can't control your blood sugar moment to moment, the way your pancreas would. So you may have high and low blood sugar levels from time to time. Causes of high blood sugar include: Not getting enough insulin. Eating more food than usual. Stress and being ill (such as with severe flu) or having an infection, especially if you aren't eating or drinking enough. Taking medicines that can raise blood sugar levels, such as those for sleep, some decongestants, and corticosteroids (such as prednisone). The dawn phenomenon or the Somogyi effect, which can cause early-morning high blood sugar. Adolescence, because of hormone changes and rapid growth. Pregnancy. Sometimes a person's blood sugar level rises greatly before he or she knows something is wrong. Because insulin isn't available, the cells in the body are unable to get the sugar (glucose) they need for energy. The body begins to break down fat and muscle for energy. When fat is used for energy, ketones-or fatty acids-are produced and enter the bloodstream. This causes the chemical imbalance diabetic ketoacidosis. This can be a life-threatening condition. Causes of low blood sugar include: Taking too much insulin. Skipping or delaying a meal or snack. Exercising more than usual without eating enough food. Drinking too much alcohol, especially on an empty stomach. Taking medicines that can lower blood sugar, such as large amounts of aspirin and medicines for mental disorders. S Continue reading >>
Link Between Type 1 Diabetes And Allergic Response To Wheat
Link between Type 1 Diabetes and allergic response to wheat Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Dr Fraser Scott and his team tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. The infant and young immune system is meant to learn to differentiate between foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria (to be attacked) and the bodys own tissues and harmless molecules such as food. But when this process goes awry, autoimmune diseases and allergies can develop. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the pancreas, the organ that regulates blood sugar. Now Dr Fraser Scott and his research team have, for the first time, clearly shown that immune cells, called T cells, from people with type 1 diabetes are also more likely to over-react to wheat and that the over-reaction is linked to genes associated with type 1 diabetes. The research suggests that people with certain genes may be more likely to develop an over-reaction to wheat and possibly other foods in the gut and this may tip the balance with the immune system and make the body more likely to develop other immune problems, such as type 1 diabetes. Dr Scotts previous research had shown that a wheat-free diet can reduce the risk of developing diabetes in animal models, but he notes that more research will be required to confirm the link and determine possible effects of diet changes in humans. Continue reading >>
Food Intolerance May Cause Diabetes | Science | The Guardian
A common type of diabetes that affects young people may be caused by an adverse reaction to food, scientists have found. Suspicion has fallen on diet as a trigger for type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in childhood, following the surprise discovery that the condition is genetically similar to coeliac disease, a gut disorder caused by intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat. Genetic tests on nearly 20,000 people revealed that those with type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease shared seven unusual genetic regions that were not seen in healthy volunteers. The finding will prompt scientists to investigate whether gluten or other dietary factors may cause diabetes in young people who are genetically susceptible to the condition. Early-onset diabetes occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, which is needed to control blood sugar levels. Around 250,000 in Britain are diagnosed with the condition, which can lead to blindness, limb amputations, kidney failure and heart disease. Coeliac disease affects about 1% of the population and is also caused by a malfunction in the immune system, but because it attacks gut cells that can grow back, the disease is treatable. "What we need to look at now is if there is a dietary trigger for type 1 diabetes," said David van Heel, a geneticist at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, who co-authored the study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Continue reading >>
Diabetes And Food Allergies: The Connection?
Food allergies can make diabetes difficult to manage. An allergy is a reaction of your immune system to a substance that is not considered foreign to your body. What makes them worse is that they show little visible symptoms. Food allergies complicate the way the condition responds to the treatment being undertaken. There can be some metabolism complications of that can be caused by food allergies. Moreover, intolerances can make the condition more difficult to control and even irreversible at times. Some of the complications that food allergies or other intolerances can trigger are auto-immune cell destruction, inflammation and insulin resistance. Food allergies give rise to insulin resistance after the body swells up (oedema). Oedema is a response to the inflammation which contributes to the diabetic type conditions in the body. Inflammation caused by saturated fats is also one of the main triggers of an adverse diabetic response to food intolerance. Saturated fats cause the immune cells release a protein interleukin-1 Beta which is inflammatory. This protein reacts with various organs and tissues and resists insulin. Auto-immune responses are generally the effect of food allergies common with diabetes. Insulin resistance can result from many causes, which include food allergies and other intolerances. These can come in many forms. The highly processed food that we eat these days, which is full of chemicals, can cause the very process of ingestion can to chronic inflammation in some cases. This chronic inflammation disturbs the normal body processes such as insulin production. This creates a vicious cycle. Given such a relation between allergies and diabetics, they should consider food allergy testing. (Images:Getty) Read more articles on Diabetes. Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes Diet
Type 1 diabetes diet definition and facts In Type 1 diabetes the pancreas can do longer release insulin. The high blood sugar that results can lead to complications such as kidney, nerve, and eye damage, and cardiovascular disease. Glycemic index and glycemic load are scientific terms used to measure he impact of a food on blood sugar. Foods with low glycemic load (index) raise blood sugar modestly, and thus are better choices for people with diabetes. Meal timing is very important for people with type 1 diabetes. Meals must match insulin doses. Eating meals with a low glycemic load (index) makes meal timing easier. Low glycemic load meals raise blood sugar slowly and steadily, leaving plenty of time for the body (or the injected insulin dose) to respond. Skipping a meal or eating late puts a person at risk for low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Foods to eat for a type 1 diabetic diet include complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, whole wheat, quinoa, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, beans, and lentils. Foods to avoid for a type 1 diabetes diet include sodas (both diet and regular), simple carbohydrates - processed/refined sugars (white bread, pastries, chips, cookies, pastas), trans fats (anything with the word hydrogenated on the label), and high-fat animal products. Fats don't have much of a direct effect on blood sugar but they can be useful in slowing the absorption of carbohydrates. Protein provides steady energy with little effect on blood sugar. It keeps blood sugar stable, and can help with sugar cravings and feeling full after eating. Protein-packed foods to include on your menu are beans, legumes, eggs, seafood, dairy, peas, tofu, and lean meats and poultry. The Mediterranean diet plan is often recommended for people with type 1 diabetes because it is full of nut Continue reading >>
Gluten And Diabetes: Is There A Connection?
Although many people continue to buy gluten-free foods at grocery stores and restaurants, it appears the gluten-free trend is waning for those looking to lose weight or gain energy, according to Packaged Facts, a market research company. For those who have to restrict gluten for medical reasons, such as managing celiac disease, gluten-free foods are necessary. A key treatment for those with celiac disease, a recognized and diagnosable medical disorder, is to avoid gluten. But some celebrities and popular diet books have demonized gluten, elevating gluten-free diets to the mainstream. This exposure has led people with no medical reasons to attempt to eliminate gluten from their diets. “It’s caused a bit of hysteria,” says Pam Cureton, a registered dietitian at the Center for Celiac Research in Baltimore. Some people incorrectly associate a gluten-free diet as synonymous with choosing to restrict the amount of carbohydrate they eat. Consumers see the gluten-free label on packaging and assume it must be better. Often, however, the gluten-free food is lower in nutrients and higher in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, making it a less healthy choice for most people—especially for those with diabetes. Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance: What’s the Difference? Celiac disease, a chronic autoimmune intestinal disorder, affects about 1 percent of the general population. It’s about 8 percent more common among people with type 1 diabetes, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation. Celiac disease is characterized by intestinal damage, nutrient deficiencies, joint pain, severe fatigue, weakness, and infertility. Some people, however, have no obvious symptoms when they are diagnosed. Gluten sensitivity is more common than celiac disease. “It affects about 6 pe Continue reading >>
Wheat And Dairy
We avoided dairy, gluten, and other allergenic foods with my youngest child, both while I was pregnant, and in his first few years of life. He breastfed exclusively for 6 months, and for a few years afterwards. He still developed diabetes. There has long been debate (and there are innumerable studies) about cow's milk and type 1 diabetes. Recent studies that have followed children over time do find evidence that cow's milk consumption may increase the risk of type 1 diabetes and/or associated autoimmunity, although perhaps depending on genetic risk. For example: A long-term study of U.S. children (beginning at birth) found that greater consumption of cow's milk was associated with the development of type 1-related autoantibodies-- but only in children of low to moderate risk of disease. However, cow's milk consumption was also associated with an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes in all of the antibody-positive children (Lamb et al. 2014). Published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, a double-blind, randomized study assigned genetically at-risk infants to receive either regular cow's milk infant formula, or a a casein hydrolysate formula, when breastmilk was not available in the first 6-8 months of life. Over the next ten years, the children are being analyzed for type 1 diabetes as well as type 1 related autoantibodies. The first results were hopeful: the children given hydrolyzed infant formula had a 50% lower risk of developing type 1 related autoantibodies by age 10. (Since this study did not include people from the general population, whether this intervention will work in people less genetically at risk of type 1 is not known). This study was part of a larger trial, the TRIGR (Trial to Reduce IDDM in the Genetically at Risk). TRIGR began Continue reading >>
