Eating Chilli And Smoking Cannabis ‘could Help Cure Diabetes And Colitis – By Calming The Gut’

Eating chilli and smoking cannabis ‘could help cure diabetes and colitis – by calming the gut’

WHAT do chilli spice and cannabis have in common?
On the face of it, very little. But, scientists hope both could help develop new treatments for type 1 diabetes and the gut disease colitis.
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When eaten, both interact with the same receptor in our stomachs, new findings suggest.
And the result is they help calm the gut, scientists at the University of Connecticut found.
Mice fed both chilli peppers and the class B drug showed less inflammation in their guts.
And, the researchers even found they were able to reverse type 1 diabetes in some mice, by feeding them the fiery pepper.
The chilli was found to bind itself to a receptor called TRPV1, which is found in the gut, oesophagus and pancreas.
When it bound itself to the receptor it created a compound called anandamide, which is chemically similar to cannabinoids found in marijuana.
It was this compound that caused the immune system of the mice to calm down, by reducing inflammation, and the same happened when they were fed anandamide directly.
Reducing inflammation in the pancreas could help in the treatment of diabetes because the pancreas is responsible for maintaining insulin and glucose levels in the body.
A person with diabetes has too much glucose in their system and the pancreas is unable to regulate it.
The brain also creates anandamides when receptors in the brain react to people getting high, but scientists have not known why those receptors exist in the past.
Pramod Srivastava, professor of immunology and medicine at the university, said: "This allows you to imagine ways the immune system and the brain Continue reading

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Leading Diabetes Groups Publish Consensus Statement on "Beyond A1C" Measures to Guide FDA, Researchers

The Beyond A1C movement seeks regulatory and clinical are frameworks that recognize the day-to-day measures that matter to patients, such as how often they experience hypoglycemia.
After 2 years of work, a consortium of leading diabetes groups published a statement Tuesday that they hope will guide the FDA when it evaluates how drugs and devices affect the everyday health of people with type 1 diabetes (T1D).
The statement, appearing in the journal Diabetes Care, defines stages of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, time in range, and diabetic ketoacidosisis (DKA). It is a milestone in the “Beyond A1C” movement, an effort by diabetes clinicians and advocates to get regulators—and payers—to recognize management tools based on criteria other than their ability to control glycated hemoglobin (A1C).
Organized by JDRF, the Steering Committee for the Type 1 Diabetes Outcomes Program issued the statement, “Standardizing Clinically Meaningful Outcome Measures Beyond HbA1C for Type 1 Diabetes.” The committee includes members of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), the American Association of Diabetes Educators, the Endocrine Society, JDRF International, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Pediatric Endocrine Society, and T1D Exchange.
The statement acknowledges what people living with T1D tell clinicians and researchers—while A1C is a useful measure, it fails to capture the day-to-day experience of living with a disease that some describe as a blood sugar roller coaster. JDRF said in a stat Continue reading

Is your skin warning you that you have diabetes?

When your body is in trouble, sometimes the warning signs are right in your face —literally. Skin complications can be the first indication of diabetes. If your skin starts flashing warning signs like the examples below, your body’s largest organ may be trying to tell you something.
Although skin complications are often a package deal with a diabetes diagnosis, you can still prevent them from occurring and recurring. Diagnosing skin issues with a board-certified dermatologist is your first step toward conquering them.
These are common skin complications linked to diabetes:
Itchy, dry skin
When your body can’t make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin well, sugars accumulate in blood. This high blood glucose is recognized by your body as dangerous, so it attempts to remove the excess by increasing urination. Loss of fluid puts your body into a rationed state, causing your skin to become dry. Dry skin triggers many related surface-symptoms, such as itchiness, cracking and redness.
Bacterial infections
One sign your diabetes isn’t being managed is frequent bacterial infections. High blood glucose levels make you more prone to infection. Research shows that more than 80 percent of diabetes-related hospitalizations due to infections are from bacterial infections. Most bacterial infections require a prescription for treatment.
Fungal infections
Bacterial infections aren’t the only infections to watch for if you have been diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is also linked to an increase in fungal infections from organisms such as tinea and candida. Most commonly, th Continue reading

What Are The Best Seafood For Diabetics?

Seafood is a great source of minerals and vitamins and they also do not add to the saturated fats and calories. This makes them a healthy choice. In fact, as per the American Heart Association, you can have 3.5 ounces of servings of fish every week in order to get the maximum benefit. When you are a diabetes patient, your body is unable to utilize and store the sugar you get from the food you eat in an appropriate manner. This happens because the main hormone insulin responsible for utilizing glucose fails to function appropriately in a diabetic body. As such, the many complications which patients from diabetes suffer, often prepare them to be mindful of what they eat. In this article, we shall analyze some of the best seafood for diabetic patients.
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Why Can Diabetic Patients Benefit From Eating Seafood?
Seafood, particularly fish, have often been considered a healthy source of food for all the diabetes patients. Following are the reasons for the same:
Seafood hardly contains any carbohydrates.
The total quantity of harmful fats, namely trans fat and saturated fats are low in fish
The omega-3 fatty acids present in the seafood goes a long way in helping to deal with the heart-related complications which are so common in all the patients suffering from diabetes
Best Seafood for Diabetic Patients
Let us see the list of best seafood for people with diabetes:
Fish
Fish is the seafood which is considered one of the best food options for the diabetic patients. Continue reading

Best and Worst Meals for Diabetes-Savvy Dining

Balance Your Choices
When you have type 2 diabetes, you need to eat a good mix of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. So what's a well-balanced dinner? A power breakfast? The following meal examples can help you make better choices. Some people find it helps to count carbs. Keep in mind recommendations from your doctor or nutritionist, too.
The Count: 2,060 calories, 276 g carbs
No food is off-limits with diabetes, but this brunch will blow your carb and calorie budget in a hurry. Experts suggest that meals for people with diabetes should have 45-75 grams of carbohydrates, depending on individual goals. Your body weight, activity, and medications all matter. This meal packs enough carbs for four to five meals.
The Count: 294 calories, 40 g carbs
This quick meal delivers protein in a scrambled egg, and just 40 carbs, mostly from fiber-rich oatmeal and blueberries. Fiber slows digestion to help prevent blood sugar spikes. People with diabetes need to watch all types of carbs: cereal, bread, rice, pasta, starchy veggies, sweets, fruit, milk, and yogurt. Spread your total carbs across the day.
The Count: 1,760 calories, 183 g carbs.
Before one bite of burrito, you can get 98 grams of carbs and 810 calories in a basket of chips and salsa. If you're trying to slim down and eat less sodium, like many people with diabetes, the burrito adds 950 calories. You also get way more than a whole day's worth of sodium.
The Count: 443 calories, 48 g carbs
Lean beef and black beans make this Mexican dish a good option for a diabetic diet. The fiber in the beans can help lower blood chol Continue reading