The Diabetes Pro

Peppermint will soothe your tummy. Ginseng will give you energy, save your memory, and make you the coolest kid on the block. And apparently, cinnamon might be just the thing for diabetics.

Everyone has their own opinion on complementary and alternative medicine. It’s important to work with your doctor, and be honest with them about what supplements, herbal or otherwise, that you’re taking. Some alternative therapies are very powerful, and if you keep your physician in the dark about what you’re doing, you can contribute to some very big health problems.

The latest on cinnamon is that when used in a concentrated liquid extract, it can help promote healthy blood sugar levels. A Pakistani study, in which participants took between one and six grams of cinnamon daily for forty days, details that the cinnamon taking participants saw significant improvements in blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides.

The next paragraph in the study, however, is what I find to be very telling:

The survey, which asked participants to describe what they had eaten in the last twenty-four hours, found more than 40% had not eaten a single piece of fruit, 20% had not eaten one vegetable, 55% had eaten red meat, and more than 44% had eaten at least one serving of luncheon meat or bacon that day.

Before you run out to buy cinnamon supplements, consider that. In diabetes, perhaps more than almost any other condition, we really are what we eat. Addressing proper nutrition (and getting away from the bologna!) may be far more critical to controlling blood sugar than cinnamon supplements — or what ever else the supplement flavor of the month may be.

A relationship between sleep and type two diabetes?

Is there a relationship between the number of hours of sleep someone enjoys and the likelihood of them developing type two diabetes? The answer could be yes, according to this story (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080101093903.htm) in Science Daily.

In case you don’t want to click the link, let me just give you some highlights: Researchers at the University of Chicago have discovered that suppressing the amount of sleep otherwise healthy young adults get increases their likelihood of developing type two diabetes. Depriving these individuals of two or three day’s worth of deep sleep was found to lead to a decrease in insulin sensitivity — a decrease that was comparable to gaining twenty to thirty pounds!

This is the first study to conclusively link sleep deprivation and type two diabetes. Previous studies had linked poor sleep patterns to obesity and other risk factors. From this research, it is clear that slow-wave sleep plays a role in maintaining normal glucose control.

Sleep patterns tend to change as we age (just like everything else, alas!) which could play part of the role in the relationship between insulin sensitivity and increasing age. Subjects in this study were all in their twenties, and slept for over 8 hours — yet their sleep was interrupted repeatedly throughout the evening. At the end of each study, the researchers gave intravenous glucose (a sugar solution) to each subject, then took blood samples every few minutes to measure the levels of glucose and insulin, the hormone that controls glucose uptake.

I think the results are fascinating, especially as we have some measure of control over how much sleep we get. Go check it out for yourself, and let me know what you think!

A recent study from Duke University Medical Center has shown that a moderate amount of exercise can reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of factors that combine to put individuals at higher risk for developing heart disease, stroke, and, of interest to us, diabetes.

What are these risk factors? They include: a large waist circumference — over 40 inches in men, 35 inches in women; high levels of triglycerides –over 150; low amounts of HDL — below 40 in men, 50 in women; high blood pressure, and high blood sugar. If you’ve got 3 of the 5 factors, you can be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

As we are becoming increasingly sedentary — does anybody move anymore? — this is becoming an increasingly common diagnosis. However, according to the research team at Duke Medical Center, a person can lower risk of metabolic syndrome by exercise. They recommend walking 30 minutes a day, six days per week.

You’ll go approximately 11 miles in an average week, which sounds like quite a distance — but it works out to less than 2 miles a day. You’ll benefit even if you don’t make any dietary changes — just don’t start eating more! The most obvious result will be a trimmer waistline, but regular exercise can also help decrease blood pressure.

Every little bit helps. Duke cardiologist William Kraus said, “Some exercise is better than none; more exercise is generally better than less, and no exercise can be disastrous.”

Consistency is apparently more important than intensity: researchers posit that there may be more value in moderate exercise performed every day rather than intense exercise every few days.

Diabetes is in the news again — did you see? Two recent studies on people who are considered ‘pre-diabetic’ — exhibiting a tendency toward diabetes, yet without fully manifesting the disease — established that there are simple lifestyle changes one could make to stop or slow the progression toward diabetes.

Note that I said simple. Not easy. Nothing here is impossible, but some of it is challenging.

Still, when you consider the possibility of forestalling Type 2 Diabetes, it might be worth it to:

• Cut your fat intake. No more than 30% of your daily calories should be fat. In an average diet, that’s 50-60 grams of fat.
• Cut saturated fat intake down to less than 10% of your daily calories. This is the tough one: we’re looking at 15-20 grams of saturated fat. That’s not very much at all.
• Exercise! You knew that was coming. The goal is 2 ½ hours of moderately intensive exercise: get up and get moving. Playing video games is not exercising — and I don’t want to hear how fit your thumbs are!
• Eat more fiber. This is your fruits and veggies. Your mom was right: some stuff is good for you. You want at least 25 grams of fiber every day. Nuts, legumes and whole grains also offer fiber.
• Whole grains are your friend. Eat at least three servings every day (which will also help you achieve that whole eat more fiber thing). Whole grain intake helps with blood sugar control.
• Lose weight. Now, if you’re doing all this other stuff, the weight grain won’t be too tricky. Exercise more, a healthy diet, and increased fiber intake can help the pounds drop off. Even a small lose can have a huge positive effect.

The researchers found that individuals who followed these steps and received support from family members, friends, and study staffers were able to reduce their risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes by almost 60%. That’s the type of news we like to read about!