Study Finds It May Lower Risk Of Diabetes

Study finds it may lower risk of diabetes

Despite recommendations from diabetes experts — including the American Diabetes Association — to eat fruit because of its high fiber and nutrients, many diabetics mistakenly think they should avoid it because of its sugar content. So British and Chinese researchers decided to look at the long-term impact of fruit consumption on both the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and of developing serious complications among those who already have diabetes.
The seven-year study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, followed the health of more than 500,000 adults ages 30 to 79 (average age 51) from urban and rural areas across China.
About 20 percent of all study participants reported eating fresh fruit daily, while 6 percent said they never or rarely ate it. However, among those with diabetes, three times more said they never ate fruit compared to those without diabetes.
Among the study’s findings:
Those with diabetes who regularly ate fruit — about 100 grams or ½ cup daily — had a 17 percent lower risk of death from any cause; 28 percent lower risk of complications involving small blood vessels like kidney and heart disease; and 13 percent lower risk of complications involving large blood vessels, such as stroke and heart disease.
Among those without diabetes, those who ate fresh fruit daily had a 12 percent lower risk of developing diabetes compared to those who never or rarely ate it.
Study coauthor Zhengming Chen, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford, said in a statement that the study “provides strong supporting evidence for the existing dieta Continue reading

Rate this article

Total 1 ratings

Eating Right with Diabetes

More than 29 million Americans live with diabetes, both diagnosed and undiagnosed. Changing eating habits can be the most challenging aspect of diabetes self-management, but diabetes is manageable.
Managing diabetes means maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. Along with proper medication and physical activity, this also requires balancing the foods you eat.
Eat a variety of foods. Choose foods from each food group every day, and don't be afraid to try new foods.
Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Fruit contains fiber, vitamins and minerals and can satisfy your sweet tooth. Include more non-starchy vegetables including leafy greens, asparagus, carrots and broccoli each day. Also, choose whole fruit more often and juice less often.
Choose healthy carbohydrates. Increase the amount of fiber you consume by eating at least half of all grains as whole-grain foods each day. Brown rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, whole-wheat breads and cereals are good sources of fiber.
Eat less fat. Choose lean meats, poultry and fish whenever possible. Bake, broil, roast, grill, boil or steam foods instead of frying. Also, choose low-fat or fat-free dairy products.
Cut the salt. Use less salt and more pepper, herbs and seasoning. Eating less salt helps control high blood pressure.
Avoid skipping meals. Skipping meals can make you more hungry, moody and unable to focus. Learn what works best for you. Some people like three meals a day, while others enjoy two meals and two snacks. Find an eating pattern that is healthy for you and stick with it.
Focus on your food. Pick one place to sit down an Continue reading

Plant-Based Diets for Diabetes

The three diabetes videos I mentioned are:
For those seeking a deeper understanding of what diabetes really is and what causes it, check out How Not to Die from Diabetes, and this series of videos:
Thankfully, not only can diabetes be reversed, but so can some of its complications. See Can Diabetic Retinopathy Be Reversed? and, for diabetic neuropathy, my live annual review From Table to Able: Combating Disabling Diseases with Food.
Of course, preventing it is better:
There are some foods that may increase the risk:
And others that may help:
If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here. Continue reading

'Diabetes epidemic in Indigenous populations' highlights disparity

About eight in 10 Indigenous Canadians who are young adults will develop Type 2 diabetes in their lifetimes compared with five in 10 in the general population, a new study suggests.
To make the projection published in Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers in Alberta used data on a population of 2.8 million adults who were free of diabetes in the province and followed their health records for 20 years.
If 20-year-olds are followed for the rest of their lifetimes, the researchers estimated about eight in 10 First Nations people and about five in 10 non-First Nations people will develop diabetes, Tanvir Chowdhury Turin, of the family medicine department at the University of Calgary, and his co-authors said.
"The numbers we find are staggering and concerning," Turin said in an interview.
The risk was higher among First Nations people for all age groups and for both sexes.
Differences included:
Rural First Nations people had a higher risk of lifetime Type 2 diabetes compared with urban First Nations people.
Type 2 diabetes onset was earlier among First Nations people than non-First Nations people.
Men had a higher lifetime risk of diabetes than women of similar age groups in the non-first Nations group, but women had a higher lifetime risk than men in the First Nations group.
The findings should reset an alarm across Canada, Turin said.
"The problem was always with us. The alarm was on. People started working on it. But somehow the snooze button got pressed," he said, referring to a gradual indifference that set in over time.
The study's authors Continue reading

A Guide to Healthy Low-Carb Eating with Diabetes

By Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE
Diabetes is a chronic disease that has reached epidemic proportions.
It currently affects over 400 million people worldwide.
Although diabetes is a complicated disease, maintaining good blood sugar control can greatly reduce the risk of complications.
One of the ways to achieve better blood sugar levels is to follow a low-carb diet.
This article provides a detailed overview of low-carb diets for managing diabetes.
What is Diabetes, and What Role Does Food Play?
If you have diabetes, your body cannot process carbohydrates effectively.
Normally, when you eat carbs, they are broken down into small units of glucose, which end up as blood sugar.
When blood sugar levels go up, the pancreas responds by producing the hormone insulin. This hormone allows the blood sugar to enter cells.
In healthy people, blood sugar levels remain within a narrow range throughout the day. In diabetes, however, this system doesn’t work the way it is supposed to.
This is a big problem, because having both too high and too low blood sugar levels can cause severe harm.
There are several types of diabetes, but the two most common ones are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Both of these conditions can be diagnosed at any age.
In type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune process destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Diabetics must inject insulin several times a day to ensure that glucose gets into the cells and stays at a healthy level in the bloodstream.
In type 2 diabetes, the beta cells at first produce enough insulin, but the body’s cells are resistant to its acti Continue reading