Too Little Gluten In Our Diet May Increase The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes

Too little gluten in our diet may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes

People with celiac disease or who are gluten intolerant may benefit from a low-gluten diet. A considerable number of people who do not have these diseases still adopt a gluten-free diet in the hope that it benefits their health. New research, however, suggests that a low-gluten diet may even have some adverse health effects, by raising the risk of diabetes.
Gluten is a protein mainly found in wheat, barley, and rye, as well as baked goods and other foods that contain these cereals. People with celiac disease - an autoimmune disorder affecting at least 3 million people in the United States - avoid gluten because their immune system responds to it by attacking the small intestine.
However, more and more people are adopting a gluten-free diet, despite its health benefits being unclear.
In fact, some nutritionists advise against avoiding gluten. Instead, they recommend a well-balanced diet that includes fruit and vegetables, as well as whole-grain wheat and other foods containing gluten.
New research - presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Lifestyle 2017 Scientific Sessions - suggests that a low-gluten diet may have adverse health effects by raising the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Studying the link between gluten consumption and type 2 diabetes
Geng Zong, Ph.D. - one of the study's authors and a research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA - explains the motivation behind the study:
We wanted to determine if gluten consumption will affect health in people with no apparent Continue reading

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No Longer Fat, Sick And Hungry: We Cured Arthritis And Pre Diabetes With Vegan Diet

The long read
Diane McConnel and Judith Fiore completely changed their lives with a plant-based diet
It was a damp, cold day in the west end of Toronto, in the fall of 2012. As I rolled over in my bed, I could feel my swollen knees aching beneath me. My other hip was hurting too, the one that had not been replaced three months before.
My lower back throbbed when I moved. My fingers were swollen like balloons, painful as red hot pokers.
I knew then that I was in big trouble. I had thought that all my health troubles were over, once I'd had my hip joint replaced at age 59, never anticipating that my arthritis was progressive and would start spreading to my other joints.
'Expert'
I waited in the crowded office of a doctor who specializes in arthritis, surrounded by others who were overweight, in pain and struggling with walkers and wheelchairs.
This expert offered no hope of recovery. I was given a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and another for pain management.
The side effects of these medications are severe, including bleeding from the rectum, with the increased risk of heart attack and stroke. He also suggested that I sign up for a government funded program on how to live with arthritis. My future looked dismal and I was scared.
Dr. McDougall
I couldn't help feeling that something must be causing this, something must be aggravating my body's delicate balance of chemistry. If I could just find out what that was. I started searching the web, looking for answers.
I typed in 'cure for arthritis' and stumbled across a doctor in California who is curing not only some forms Continue reading

Type 2 Diabetes - The Signs and Symptoms

There are 21 million people in the world who have been diagnosed with diabetes, but there are still around 8.1 million people who have the disease and don’t know about it (27.8% of people with diabetes are undiagnosed). Symptoms of this disease vary from person to person, but, like with most diseases, the earlier you catch it, the better off you will be.
Therefore, it is definitely worth getting to know, and keeping an eye out, for the symptoms of diabetes.
• You are above the age of 45
• You have already been diagnosed with pre-diabetes
• You are overweight or inactive
• You are African American, a native of Alaska, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Islander American, and are experiencing atypical symptoms.
Common Symptoms of Diabetes
If you’re experiencing any of the below, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible.
Excessive Urination (Polyuria)
Polyuria is an increase in the frequency of urination. When you have abnormally high levels of sugar in your blood, your kidneys draw in water from your tissues in order to dilute the sugar, so your body can expel it in the urine. The cells are also pumping water into the bloodstream to flush out the sugar, and the kidneys are not able to reabsorb this fluid during filtering, resulting in excessive urination.
To meet the clinical definition of polyuria, an adult’s urine output must be more than 2.5 liters per day (normal urine output is 1.5 liters).
As it’s near enough impossible for you to measure this yourself, if you notice that you’re visiting the bathroom more times than Continue reading

Quality of Life in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review

Copyright © 2017 Daniela Marchetti et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Background and Objective. Diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) could significantly increase the likelihood of health problems concerning both potential risks for the mother, fetus, and child’s development and negative effects on maternal mental health above all in terms of a diminished Quality of Life (QoL). The current systematic review study is aimed at further contributing to an advancement of knowledge about the clinical link between GDM and QoL. Methods. According to PRISMA guidelines, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane databases were searched for studies aimed at evaluating and/or improving levels of QoL in women diagnosed with GDM. Results. Fifteen research studies were identified and qualitatively analyzed by summarizing results according to the following two topics: GDM and QoL and interventions on QoL in patients with GDM. Studies showed that, in women with GDM, QoL is significantly worse in both the short term and long term. However, improvements on QoL can be achieved through different intervention programs by enhancing positive diabetes-related self-management behaviors. Conclusion. Future studies are strongly recommended to further examine the impact of integrative programs, including telemedicine and educational interventions, on QoL of GDM patients by promoting their illness accept Continue reading

#WorldDiabetesDay: 5 things to eat to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes

Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as having type 2 diabetes.
Pre-diabetes is an early alert that your diabetes risk is now very high. It is ten to 20 times greater compared to the risk for those with normal blood sugars. What you choose to eat, or avoid, influences this risk.
Diabetes Prevention Programs
Studies around the world, including Finland, China and the US have shown diabetes prevention programs prevent or delay progression to type 2 diabetes. When people eat more healthily, drop their body weight by 5-10% and walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, they lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by about 58% over two years.
We recently gave 101 men with pre-diabetes a self-directed diabetes prevention program over six months. We found they were able to reduce their portion size of potato and meat and improve their variety of health foods.
They were able to reduce the proportion of energy coming from junk food by 7.6% more than the group who didn’t change their diet and got a four-point increase in their scores from the Healthy Eating Quiz. These improved eating patterns were associated with an average weight loss of 5.5kg and better blood sugar regulation.
This is great news for the 318 million adults around the world, who have pre-diabetes.
The original diabetes prevention studies started in the 1980s. Back then the advice was to reduce your total kilojoule intake by eating less fat, especially from take-away, processed and fried foods and to eat more foods rich in carbohyd Continue reading