How Can Drinking Wine Help Reduce Diabetes Risk?

A new study suggests that frequent, moderate alcohol consumption might lower chance of developing Type 2 diabetes
Researchers found that alcohol appeared to impact men and women differently when it comes to diabetes.
Wine has been linked in multiple studies to a reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and related health issues. Now, a group of researchers has found further evidence, suggesting that how frequently you drink may determine if you're getting optimal protective benefits against this disease.
"A number of studies [have] already found that diabetes risk was lower among those with a light to moderate intake as compared to nondrinkers and those with a heavy intake," Janne Tolstrup, who led the research team from the University of Southern Denmark's National Institute of Public Health, told Wine Spectator in an email. "We aimed at testing if drinking patterns, measured in frequency, played a role in this association."
The study, published in the diabetes research journal Diabetologia, used data from the Danish Health Examination Survey, a 2007 survey of the diet, smoking habits, alcohol intake and physical activity of Danish adults. From the data, researchers identified 70,551 diabetes-free participants (28,704 men and 41,847 women) and tracked their self-reported drinking habits and health over the course of five years.
By the end of the study in 2012, 859 of the men and 887 of the women had developed diabetes. Researchers determined that those who had the lowest risk for diabetes were those who drank at moderate—and for women, slightly higher—levels: 14 drin Continue reading

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Alcohol Consumption Lowers Diabetes Risk — but Is Abstaining Bad for You?

Everybody loves a good headline about the proven health benefits of dark chocolate or red wine, but scientific studies extolling the virtues of “sinful” substances are rarely so cut and dry. A few drinks a week may lower your chances of getting one disease, but significantly boost the risk of acquiring something just as deadly.
A good example is a study published today on the correlation between alcohol consumption and diabetes. The paper, published in the journal Diabetologia, concluded that men and women who drink alcohol three to four times a week have a significantly lower chance of acquiring diabetes compared to people who drink less than one day a week on average.
Men who drank a few days a week had a 27 percent lower diabetes risk than infrequent drinkers, according to the report, and women had a 32 percent lower chance of getting the disease, which is the sixth leading cause of death worldwide, claiming 1.59 million lives each year.
Janne Tolstrup with the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark was lead author of the alcohol and diabetes study. In an email, she drew a clear line between drawing reasonable scientific conclusions from a single study and making broad generalizations about the health benefits or risks of drinking.
“In this study, we have a narrow focus on diabetes only,” wrote Tolstrup, “but since alcohol is related to more than 50 different diseases and conditions — reflecting that alcohol affects virtually every organ system of the body — any recommendations about how to drink and how much to drink shou Continue reading

Real Talk With Dave: Feeling Bad For Having Diabetes – My Worst Experience

This is something that is very personal to me, and I really haven’t shared how I felt about it up until now.
Over Christmas break of 2016, my family and I decided to go on a vacation to Egypt. This was the first time I have traveled with my Diabetes out of the country in the 9 years I have lived with T1D, so I knew I would run into a few issues along the way, but I also knew that I would have my family with me for help and support if I needed it. Many things were planned ahead of time, such as what Diabetic supplies to bring, how much to bring, what to do to treat lows in a foreign country (that may not have the same carb contents as the US) etc. But most of these issues I was worrying about were for when I actually arrived to my destination. I had not realized that problems could still present themselves in the traveling process.
I have never been treated poorly for having a chronic illness, nor have I ever been somewhat judged for this disease that I live with 24/7 and that I did not ask for. I am not going to name where I was when this happened, as I don’t want to call out any country. That being said, I have a lot of respect for the country and people I interacted with as they were just doing their job and trying to stick to their security precautions. But, as we had a layover more than halfway to our actual destination, we stopped in a country where we were not sure how they would react to me having to bring in all my low supplies such as juice bottles, syringes, snacks, etc.
I had a separate suitcase that I carried everywhere I went that contained all my Diabetic Continue reading

Healthy Trans Fats Slash Diabetes Risk

Is "healthy trans fat" an oxymoron? Maybe not. Although we've learned to opt for zero trans fats and search labels for deadly hydrogenated oils, there may be an exception to the no trans fats rule. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have identified a naturally occurring trans fat in dairy that may substantially reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
For many years, studies have shown an association between eating dairy products and lower diabetes risk. But how dairy protects against diabetes remained a mystery. The answer may lie in dairy's fat.
Trans-palmitoleic acid is a fatty acid found in milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter. It's not produced by the body. It only comes from your diet.
Palmitoleic acid, or trans-palmitoleate, is found almost exclusively in naturally-occurring dairy and meat trans fats. Unlike trans fat found in hydrogenated vegetable oils, it has not been linked to higher heart disease risk. In fact, palmitoleic acid is heart healthy. It also has anti-microbial properties and is a key compound in cell communication.
In a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Harvard researchers analyzed data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a prospective cohort study designed to investigate risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease in the U.S.
In 2000-2002, they recruited 6,814 adults aged 45–84 years from six regions of the country. They measured circulating blood levels of trans-palmitoleate.
At the end of 5 years participants with the highest levels of trans-palmitoleate had 6.4% higher LDL cholestero Continue reading

Benefits of Camel Milk: Low Allergen Alternative to Dairy

Several weeks ago my husband, baby and I were at a conference, and during one of the breaks, I noticed they had camel milk as one of the refreshments on hand (along with water, coffee, kombucha, and paleo snacks).
I was slightly taken aback, as I can count on one hand the number of actual camels I’ve seen in my lifetime (only at the zoo), and the thought of drinking camel milk had never crossed my mind before seeing the bottles they had at the refreshment stand that day.
So of course, I had to research it to find out about any potential health benefits. And what I found out is VERY interesting!
Camel milk is unique in its potential ability to help with allergies and autism, to mitigate autoimmune disease and diabetes and for heart and immune health. It has even been used around the world as a supplement to breastmilk!
Sound crazy?
I thought so too, but it turns out that the milk from a camel is an entirely different animal (pun intended) than milk from a cow or a goat.
Here’s why:
Cows, goats and other similar animals are hoofed animals. Camels have toes (only two, made of a single bone) and both their foot structure and the proteins in their milk are dramatically different than milk from hoofed animals.
To make things slightly more confusing, camels ruminate but are not considered ruminants. As unique as camels are, their milk is even more so.
What Makes Camel Milk Different?
I started researching this and was absolutely fascinated by the research on camel milk and how it is different from other types of milk.
Protein Structure
For one thing, camel milk does not contai Continue reading