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People who have had obesity-related type 2 diabetes for years have been cured, at least temporarily, by keeping to an extreme, low-calorie diet for two months.
The discovery, reported by scientists at Newcastle University in the UK, overturns previous assumptions about type 2 diabetes, which was thought to be a lifelong illness.
In the UK about two and a half million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, the large majority with type 2, and numbers are rising across much of the world. The condition has to be controlled with drugs and eventually insulin injections.
Eleven people with diabetes took part in the study, which was funded by Diabetes UK. “To have people free of diabetes after years with the condition is remarkable – and all because of an eight-week diet,” said Roy Taylor, professor at Newcastle University, who led the study. “This is a radical change in understanding type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, which used to be known as adult onset, is caused by too much glucose in the blood. The research, presented today at the American Diabetes Association conference, shows that an extremely low-calorie diet, consisting of diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables, prompts the body to remove the fat clogging the pancreas and preventing it from making insulin.
After just one week into the study, the pre-breakfast blood sugar levels of the study group had returned to normal. The pancreas regained its ability to make insulin.
After the eight-week diet the volunteers returned to normal eating but had advice on healthy foods and portion size. Ten of the group were retested and seven had stayed free of diabetes.
Taylor, the director of the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, had the idea for the study after it was shown that diabetes was reversed in people who had undergone stomach stapling or other forms of bariatric surgery because of obesity. “We believe this shows that type 2 diabetes is all about energy balance in the body,” said Taylor. “If you are eating more than you burn, then the excess is stored in the liver and pancreas as fat, which can lead to type 2 diabetes in some people. What we need to examine further is why some people are more susceptible to developing diabetes than others.”
He warned that only a minority of people, perhaps 5% or 10%, would be able to stick to the harsh diet necessary to get rid of diabetes. Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said people should not embark on such a diet without a doctor’s approval and help. “We welcome the results of this research because it shows that type 2 diabetes can be reversed, on a par with successful surgery without the side effects.
“However, this diet is not an easy fix and Diabetes UK strongly recommends that such a drastic diet should only be undertaken under medical supervision.”
Read the full article here.
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Is GMO food safe? What does “safe” mean? What are the risks? Do we actually know the risks attached to GMO food?
You will be surprised how prevalent GMO food is and how little we actually know about it.
In his hour long, in-depth interview Dr Mercola probes these issues and more with Dr. Philip Bereano, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington and an actively engaged activist against genetically modified (GM) foods.
See all 6 parts of the interview here where you can also download the complete transcript of the interview.
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Do compound cholesterol supplements really help reduce cholesterol naturally or is this a scam perpetrated by manufacturers who want to boost their sales? In this article, I show you what to look out for when you consider using such supplements in your effort to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
Nutrition and Cholesterol
One thing is certain: It has been established beyond doubt that proper nutrition and exercise can help reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels and maintain these levels afterwards. In fact, some nutrient, such as those derived from red yeast rice or flax seed, can be as effective as statins but without the side effects created by medication. Plenty of clinical studies and experiential evidence testify to the power of nutrition. It is, therefore, possible to reduce cholesterol naturally.
Cholesterol supplements are fundamentally nutritional supplements. They do what their name implies: they supplement your dietary/nutritional intake when it is not possible to eat sufficient amounts to derive the benefits for your cholesterol levels without harming you in other ways, for instance through excessive weight gain.
These supplements come in two varieties: single nutrient supplements or compound supplements.
Compound Cholesterol Supplements
Let’s focus on compound supplements here. These compounds are manufactured from natural ingredients, in some cases entirely from organically grown plants. The nutrients in these natural cholesterol supplements are combined with the intention to boost the return to or maintenance of healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Some compounds include detox properties that particularly target the liver, the source of at least 75 percent of our body’s cholesterol.
These compound cholesterol supplements are designed to help achieve one or a combination of several of the following:
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Supplements lowering high cholesterol can be an important part of your diet. They take the impact of foods to lower cholesterol a step further. It may not always be possible to obtain the necessary cholesterol lowering nutrient levels through your food. This is where supplements step in.
They provide concentrated plant extracts or oils that, if taken in the correct quantity, help you control you cholesterol levels. Taken at sufficient levels, some plant extracts can be as effective as prescription drugs. However, cholesterol lowering supplements are, above all, nutritional supplements. They are not medication nor should they be used to replace drugs without consulting a suitably qualified medical practitioner first.
Let’s clarify what we mean by ‘lowering high cholesterol’:
There are two types cholesterol in the bloodstream: LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein). LDL, the “bad” cholesterol, carries cholesterol from the liver into the body and HDL, the “good” cholesterol, takes the excess cholesterol from the body for disposal back to the liver.
‘Lowering high cholesterol’ means lowering LDL levels and raising HDL levels while bringing down total cholesterol levels.
We can classify cholesterol lowering supplements into three groups:
1. Extracts of specific plants
2. Foods ‘designed’ to lower high cholesterol
3. Compounds
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High cholesterol levels, more specifically high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels are a major contributor to heart disease. It is very easy to modify your diet and integrate foods to lower cholesterol in a low cholesterol diet plan. They will help you not just to reduce but also to control your cholesterol levels in the long run.
It is now generally accepted what a “heart healthy” diet is and that a diet for high cholesterol must be part of it. Most people won’t even be aware that nutritional guidelines for healthy living automatically embrace lots of foods to lower cholesterol. These guidelines are now pretty much universal and include:
- Eat less fat. Drastically reduce your consumption of saturated fats, and cut out trans fats (“hydrogenated” vegetable oils). Saturated fats can increase total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Replace these with mono- and polyunsaturated fats.
- Substitute meat with lean meat, poultry or fish
- Increase your consumption of fruit and vegetables.
- Replace refined carbohydrates in your diet for high cholesterol with complex carbohydrates.
Let’s look at what this means in detail. [click to continue…]
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From: Abstract (provisional) of “Arginine and antioxidant supplement on performance in elderly male cyclists: a randomized controlled trial”
A study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (23 March 2010) has shown that an arginine and antioxidant-containing supplement increased the anaerobic threshold at both week one and week three in elderly cyclists.
Background to the Study
Human exercise capacity declines with advancing age. These changes often result in loss of physical fitness and more rapid senescence. Nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated in improvement of exercise capacity through vascular smooth muscle relaxation in both coronary and skeletal muscle arteries, as well as via independent mechanisms. Antioxidants may prevent nitric oxide inactivation by oxygen free radicals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an L-arginine and antioxidant supplement on exercise performance in elderly male cyclists.
To carry out the study, sixteen male cyclists were randomized to receive either a proprietary supplement (Niteworks(R), Herbalife International Inc., Century City, CA) or a placebo powder. Exercise parameters were assessed by maximal incremental exercise testing performed on a stationary cycle ergometer using breath-by-breath analysis at baseline, week one and week three.
Result
L-arginine and antioxidant supplementation can improve exercise performance in the elderly.
You can read a provisional pdf version of the full study here.
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Physicians and nutrition scientists from around the world gathered today in Orlando for the opening of the Global Nutrition Transition Conference in order to discuss emerging trends and grass roots solutions to the global obesity epidemic employing balanced nutrition and teaching healthy active lifestyles.
The conference is addressing what is termed the “Nutrition Transition” – the effect of the globalization of the Western diet which is changing dietary patterns and the incidence of overweight and obesity throughout the world. Conference presenters focused on the dramatic increases in the incidence of overweight and obesity in countries where, until recently, obesity was virtually unknown.
Today’s speakers included Dr. Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington, Seattle; Dr. Anoop Misra, director of the Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases department of the Fortis Group of Hospitals in New Delhi, India; Dr. Nataniel Viuniski of Unimed Hospital, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Dr. Linong Ji of Peking University in China; and Dr. Marion Flechtner-Mors of the University of Ulm, Germany.
As developing countries become more prosperous, they begin to share some of the health problems of the industrialized world – including huge increases in the number of adults and children who are carrying excess weight. In countries such as India and China, the recent migration to cities [click to continue…]
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Fruit, whole or as juice, is an indispensible part of a healthy breakfast. Now, it seems, we have to watch out how our juices are packaged if we want to avoid causing the opposite to what we intend.
Scientists University of Copenhagen found that bottles of fruit juice and squash/cordial contain levels of antimony that were 2.5 times higher than deemed safe in drinking water under EU guidelines. In some cases the levels of antimony were ten times higher.
What is antimony? Antimony is often used in the production of PET bottles, the clear plastic bottles in which we like to buy our fruit juices.
The study has now shown that sugary drinks (fruit juices…) can be dangerous if bought and stored in these clear plastic bottles. Other studies have shown that the danger is not only that of cancer but also of disruption to our endocrine system. This means that this causes disruption to the functioning of our body’s own hormones.
Not a pretty picture? See for yourself:
You can read the full article on “Carcinogen antimony found in fruit juices” here.
Definitions and explanations of PET and antimony are most easily accessed at the Wiki articles on PET – Polyethylene terephthalate.
Here is a useful definition of Endocrine disruption and which chemicals cause it.
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Healthy breakfast, balanced meals, healthy snacks – are these just slogans that others wield to make us feel guilty? Or do they have solid, scientifically based foundations that can offer us guidance for day-to-day living?
A few weeks ago, …
…at dinner in one of our local eateries, my friend pointed to his plate: “It’s great, this is a balanced meal; carbs, protein, vegetables, fat. Everything the body needs. You should be proud of me the way I’m eating.”
On the face of it, he was right about the pizza in front of him. His pizza did offer all these goodies. Only they weren’t all that good when you looked at them in detail.
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