Popular Gluten-free Diets Increase Diabetes Risk – Research

Popular gluten-free diets increase diabetes risk – research

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Those with the least gluten in their diets had a slightly higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes over a few decades, according to Harvard University School of Public Health.
“We wanted to determine if gluten consumption will affect health in people with no apparent medical reasons to avoid gluten,” Dr. Geng Zong, a Harvard University research fellow, said Thursday at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Portland, Oregon.
Gluten-free diets adopted by rising number of consumers enhance risk of Type 2 diabetes: Harvard study https://t.co/rTXSJ62ckCpic.twitter.com/lyTxS2Maks
— National Post (@nationalpost) March 10, 2017
The Harvard team examined 30 years of medical data from nearly 200,000 patients. Over this period, just under 16,000 participants developed Type 2 diabetes. Wong’s team looked at people’s gluten intake and found that participants who ate the least gluten had a higher risk of development diabetes over time.
The gluten-free craze is a symptom of a bigger problem with medicine https://t.co/GgVfX2XvNxpic.twitter.com/Y7TLCaNjhb
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) March 10, 2017
Most people consumed no more than 12 grams of gluten each, (equivalent of two to three slices of wholemeal bread) with the average being 6 to 7 grams. Those in the top 20 percent for gluten intake were 13 percent less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes compared to the bottom 20 percent who typically ate 4 grams of gluten each day, the findings showed.
Zong’s team took into account other factors including people’s exercise habits, weight, typical calories in Continue reading

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No, Gluten-Free Diets Do NOT Cause Diabetes: New “Study” Has Serious Flaws

Take a look at some headlines that have been flooding the internet for the last week or so:
Gluten-Free Diets May Be Tied to an Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Going Gluten Free May Raise Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Downside to Gluten-Free Diets: Diabetes Risk?
Type 2 Diabetes Linked to Low Gluten Diets
Gluten-Free Diets Could Lead to Deficiencies and Cause Illness
Low-Gluten Diet May Be Linked to Diabetes Risk
Gluten May Be Healthier For You Than You Think
Going Gluten-Free Might Actually Increase Your Risk of Diabetes
What were your first thoughts upon reading those headlines?
Did they make you think that avoiding gluten will increase your risk of developing one of the most dangerous chronic conditions that plagues humanity…and that maybe consuming gluten is actually GOOD for you?
Here’s the source of disinformation those articles used as a reference:
There are many problems with this claim…first, this isn’t a study that is published…anywhere.
The “study” itself is filled with flaws, but none of the mainstream media outlets seemed to notice. All of them stuck with the narrative that was given. None questioned the veracity of the claims made.
The study comes from Harvard researchers, which may sound impressive, but they don’t always get things right. I’m not saying they are always wrong, but…Harvard “scientists” are largely to blame for the decades-long fear of fat trend that led people to believe that dietary fat causes disease. They also downplayed the role sugar plays in the development of heart disease.
An excerpt from my article Big Sugar Pa Continue reading

The International Diabetes Federation and Its Vision

WRITTEN BY: Alexi Melvin
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has one vision – to live in a world without diabetes.
IDF is a federation of 200+ national diabetes associations, including the American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Diabetes Educators. It aims to support and strengthen its membership by promoting diabetes care and prevention through the development and dissemination of high-quality, evidence-based information and resources for health professionals, people with diabetes and policy-makers. Any national or international association that promotes and addresses diabetes related issues may apply for membership of IDF. IDF spans 7 regions and has a pulse of key issues in each region:
165 countries, and 235 total members.
IDF strives to promote diabetes awareness in a myriad of ways through advocacy initiatives on both local and global levels. Their main focus areas include:
Health professional education
Care & prevention
Epidemiology & Research
Humanitarian support
IDF’s most noteworthy initiatives include the IDF Diabetes Atlas, World Diabetes Day (last year’s theme being “Eyes on Diabetes,” a campaign promoting the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes), the IDF Congress (the next edition will be held in Abu Dhabi in December 2017), Life for a Child (which focuses on saving the lives of children with diabetes in developing countries), and the Young Leaders in Diabetes programme.
Beyond Type 1 sat down for a chat with Lorenzo Piemonte, IDF Communications Manager, to hear more about how IDF is Continue reading

HIV and Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which levels of blood glucose (also called blood sugar) are too high. Glucose comes from the breakdown of the foods we eat and is our main source of energy. There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Use of some HIV medicines may increase blood glucose levels and lead to type 2 diabetes. Other risk factors for type 2 diabetes include a family history of diabetes, being overweight, and lack of physical activity.
People with HIV should have their blood glucose levels checked before they start taking HIV medicines. People with higher-than-normal glucose levels may need to avoid taking some HIV medicines and use other HIV medicines instead.
Blood glucose testing is also important after starting HIV medicines. If testing shows high glucose levels, a change in HIV medicines may be necessary.
Type 2 diabetes can often be controlled with a healthy diet and regular exercise. A healthy diet includes vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, and lean meats and is low in processed foods high in sugar and salt. Regular exercise means being active for 30 minutes on most days of the week. Sometimes, in addition to a healthy diet and regular physical activity, some people may need to take medicines to control type 2 diabetes. Continue reading

Are Older Adults Being Overtreated for Diabetes?

Older patients are not the same as younger patients. You’d think this was obvious, yet doctors often use a one-size-fits-all approach to prescribing treatment that can put their older patients at risk.
The latest example of this: another study showing that patients 65 or older with diabetes may be overtreated by doctors who too aggressively try to control blood sugar levels, regardless of their patients’ other health problems.
The new study, by Yale researchers, analyzed a decade of data on 1,288 diabetes patients age 65-plus, from a federal health survey. Although the patients ranged from being relatively healthy to being in poor health with multiple problems, there was little difference in the proportion given insulin and sulfonylurea drugs to tamp down their blood sugar to the same low level.
This can put older patients at risk for hypoglycemia — a dangerous reaction to low blood sugar that can cause confusion, rapid heartbeat, vision problems and loss of consciousness, according to lead study author Kasia Lipska, M.D., assistant professor of endocrinology at the Yale School of Medicine.
There’s also little evidence that aggressively lowering blood sugars in older people to the standard target — hemoglobin A1C below 7 percent — provides any benefit, “and it could, in fact, cause greater harm,” she said in a statement.
“Our study suggests that we have a one-size-fits-all approach despite questionable benefits and known risks. We have been potentially over-treating a substantial proportion of the population,” Lipska said. The study was published Jan. 12 Continue reading