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January 2013
Keep a close eye on this story. It has two elements necessary for creating a lot of buzz: a celebrity and his unconventional "cure" for a disease.
0 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2013
October 2012
When I became a type 2 diabetic, I wanted to find a way to manage my weight and blood sugar with diet and exercise. I tried the high carb diet recommended by my doctor and dietitian for a time. It worked wonderfully well while my blood sugar level was high, but when my blood sugar stabilized and I was able to go off medication, I started gaining weight again. The next thing I tried was low carbohydrate dieting. I found it to be a very effective way to lose weight rapidly, but I was unable to endure the regimen for more than a short time.
0 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2012
April 2012
Food plays an important role in our lives. For most of us, it is more than just a means of sustenance. For some, it is a source of great pleasure. For others, it is a source of painful consequences. And for many, it is both.
0 comments - Posted Apr 29, 2012
INGREDIENTS
1 large bunch (about 1 1/4 pounds) kale, stems and center ribs discarded, leaves roughly torn
2 sheets nori, cut into 1-by-2-inch strips
1/4 cup Roasted Garlic Oil* (see below)
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest of 1 lemon
0 comments - Posted Apr 6, 2012
February 2012
A gluten-free diet in the first 12 months of life does not lower the risk of later developing type 1 diabetes in children who have a family history of the disease, says a German study. Previous studies had suggested that babies whose diets included gluten in their first months of life might be more likely to develop type 1 than youngsters whose diets did not.
0 comments - Posted Feb 22, 2012
January 2012
If you, like many people with diabetes, are trying to lose weight, you might be more successful if you cut back on carbohydrates for just two days a week instead of undertaking an unrelenting low-calorie diet. A recent report found that women who banished carbohydrates for two days a week and ate normally the rest of the time lost about nine pounds in four months, compared to the five pounds lost by women who cut back to roughly 1,500 calories every day.
0 comments - Posted Jan 26, 2012
November 2011
A new diabetes-friendly sugar, proven to help reduce sugar absorption, will soon be added to popular breads and cereals. "Sugir" is real sugar that contains an all-natural, tasteless additive called Emulin. Emulin, a patented formulation of compounds found in fruits, prevents the body from absorbing about a third of ingested sugar. A previous study showed that Emulin blocks the absorption of sugar by more than 30 percent.
0 comments - Posted Nov 30, 2011
October 2011
Wrongly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was 30 years old, Chris Angell spent several frustrating weeks trying to make sense of his condition and not understanding why he wasn't getting any better. His diagnosis was eventually changed to type 1 diabetes, but Chris never received the necessary education to get his blood sugars in control. "I didn't know what I was supposed to be eating or how to count carbs, and I really felt isolated," he says.
0 comments - Posted Oct 25, 2011
August 2011
July 2011
Spending too many hours watching TV can also substantially increase your odds of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease or dying early. That's the conclusion of a Harvard School of Public Health study that looked at the effects of heavy TV watching.
0 comments - Posted Jul 23, 2011
A recent article in the New York Times says that such old prescription diabetes drugs as metformin and generics such as glimepiride are often as effective as or even more effective than newer, more expensive drugs.
0 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2011
Body fat is like two twins: one evil and one good. In this case, white fat-the kind that likes to cluster around the abdomen and hang on to calories-is the bad stuff. The "good" fat is brown, and it has been found to assist the body in burning calories, thus helping keep weight down.
0 comments - Posted Jul 15, 2011
Recently, we published an article by Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, titled "From Old Dogmas to New Realities. "In the article, Hope voiced the opinion that a low carb diet is not the only dietary option for people with diabetes, and that, in fact, such thinking is an "old dogma." In response, we received a number of strongly worded comments advocating the low carb diet as the only way to go.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2011
June 2011
An Australian researcher who deliberately fed his lab rats a high-sugar/high-fat diet says that a flavonoid called rutin helped block the growth of fat cells in their abdomens and kept them from putting on weight despite their bad diet. Flavonoids are plant pigments that researchers are finding have beneficial metabolic effects because of their antioxidant capabilities.
0 comments - Posted Jun 21, 2011
May 2011
Meet the latest superfood: maple syrup. Wait a minute...maple syrup? The super-sugary stuff poured on pancakes and waffles and used to glaze hams? That maple syrup?
0 comments - Posted May 24, 2011
You're heard the doctors. You've read the articles. You know all about tight control.
0 comments - Posted May 20, 2011
A new study says that people who consume a "moderate" amount of candy per day have a slightly lower body mass index than people who don't eat candy. They also run a 15 percent lower risk than the general population of developing metabolic syndrome, the cluster of conditions that is often a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 11, 2011
April 2011
Canadian scientists have found that nobiletin, a substance found in high concentrations in tangerines, thwarted obesity and the onset of diabetes in lab mice. The researchers at the University of Western Ontario fed the mice a high-sugar, high-fat diet that mimicked the diet of many people in Western societies. One group of animals became obese, developing fatty livers and elevated levels of cholesterol and insulin-typical precursors to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But a second group of mice, given the flavonoid nobiletin, did not develop the symptoms of the first group. The nobiletin prevented fatty buildup in the liver by blocking the genes that control the production of fat.
0 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2011
Italian and Greek researchers conducting a meta-analysis* of the diets of more than 500,000 people have concluded that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that are common precursors to type 2 diabetes. Those factors include overweight or obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, high blood sugar, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and high "bad" cholesterol.
The Mediterranean diet is high in fruit, vegetables, whole grain foods, and low-fat dairy products. Proteins include fish, legumes, poultry, tree nuts, and mono-unsaturated fatty acids from olive oil. Alcohol intake is moderate and almost always in conjunction with meals. Red meat is only an occasional menu item.
The scientists looked at 50 studies that involved more than 500,000 people, then extrapolated the effects of a Mediterranean diet from them. Although the meta-analysis pointed to the usefulness of the Mediterranean diet in fending off metabolic syndrome, its authors said that their conclusion is tentative, given the need for more research on the topic.
The study was published in the March 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
* A meta-analysis looks at a number of similar studies and tries to derive new and useful results from them by detecting common patterns among them.
0 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2011
After comparing results from 24 studies, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found little evidence that increasing soy intake improves people's blood sugar levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2011
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is, as the name implies, corn syrup whose sugar, glucose, has been partially changed into another type of sugar, fructose.
0 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2011
Beta blockers, which many people with diabetes take to control high blood pressure, may be one of the reasons why type 2s often tend to gain and keep weight. That's the conclusion of a study from St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Australia.
0 comments - Posted Apr 8, 2011
March 2011
Now that a few months have passed since the New Year, what is the state of your resolution to lose weight? If it is a just a painful memory, you might be pondering the strength of your willpower and concluding that it is shamefully weak. In fact, it's not, according to Daniel Akst, the author of We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess. Although a full two-thirds of us are overweight, our willpower is no weaker than that of the slim generations that preceded us. It's just that we're up against temptations that we never evolved to resist, in an environment that seduces rather than sustains us.
0 comments - Posted Mar 24, 2011
Weight loss can help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar and avoid potential health risks associated with the disease. Did you know that losing even seven percent of your body weight can lower blood sugar, reduce blood pressure, and improve cholesterol levels1?
"Consider diabetes as a disease that has different phases--with the central feature a disorder of insulin production and insulin use," said Roberta Anding, MS, RD/LD,CSSD,CDE. Anding is a clinical dietitian and certified diabetes educator at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "To better control and lose weight safely with type 2 diabetes, it is important to consider the type and amount of food on your plate."
0 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2011
You know that awful feeling when a sugar low is coming. I break out into a cold sweat, feel panicky, get nauseated, and have trouble answering extremely simple questions like "Do you need to eat?" Well, I was feeling it again, and again, and I didn't know why. That's what I hate the most: When things go wrong, but I think I've been doing everything right.
0 comments - Posted Mar 8, 2011
Hispanics are almost twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have type 2 diabetes, and more than a third of working adult Hispanics do not have health insurance. For this audience, Jane Delgado, PhD, has written The Buena Salud Guide to Diabetes and Your Life. Available in both Spanish and English, it's a culturally sensitive and reassuring book that dispels myths and presents detailed science while gently guiding readers toward the right path in caring for their diabetes. The tone is conversational, as Dr. Delgado speaks to her readers like a family member who knows them well and has their best interests at heart.
0 comments - Posted Mar 2, 2011
Scandal swirling around a former diabetes drug has upended medical regulation in France, with the country's health minister promising tough new reforms.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2011
February 2011
Ever see the top 10 lists for foods everyone should eat to superpower your diet? Ever wonder which will mesh with your diabetes meal plan? Wonder no more. Your list of the top 10 diabetes superfoods has arrived.
0 comments - Posted Feb 7, 2011
November 2010
A friend of mine recently remarked that she wants her family to eat healthier, but she just doesn't know that much about nutrition. Though I can sympathize with her in some ways (nutritional education is a daunting and never-ending process), I do feel that the overall American attitude toward food is that ignorance is bliss. It reminds me of the preteen character in the movie Son-In-Law, who puts his sister's bra cups over his ears and tells his parents in a taunting voice, "I can't hear you!" Unfortunately, what you don't know CAN hurt you, and not just you, but also your family.
0 comments - Posted Nov 22, 2010
October 2010
Imagine that you're a miner. Imagine you have diabetes (that, at least, shouldn't be too hard). Now, imagine that you have to spend two months trapped underground with other miners. How would you do?
0 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2010
Employers are in a potentially powerful position to help employees and their families make healthier choices, hints a new study conducted by the IBM Corporation.
0 comments - Posted Oct 7, 2010
September 2010
Fall is a welcome season, full of bounty and beauty. The heat of summer gives way to calmer days and crisper evenings. We trade our shorts and swimsuits for jackets and jeans and enjoy campfires, hayrides, and holiday celebrations.
0 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2010
August 2010
Insulin-resistant obese women lost more weight after 12 weeks on a low-carbohydrate diet than they did on a low-fat diet, according to a study conducted by the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno. (The study was funded by Jenny Craig, a company that sells diet foods.)
0 comments - Posted Aug 7, 2010
Two recent research studies on humans indicate that resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine and peanuts, increases insulin sensitivity in older and obese people. A third study, done on mice, shows that resveratrol may someday become a powerful tool in therapies directed at macular degeneration and other retinal maladies.
0 comments - Posted Aug 6, 2010
July 2010
Salmon is one of the world’s healthiest foods. Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, vitamins D and B12, and protein, it’s an absolute powerhouse of good nutrition. Better yet, it tastes great! Perfect for the hot days of summer the sweet orange-ginger glaze is tinged with just a tinge of heat. If you prefer, an indoor grill or sauté pan can be used to cook the salmon.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2010
In a recent study of the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and glucose intolerance in people with type 2 diabetes, more than 90 percent of the type 2 diabetes patients were found to be deficient in vitamin D, with their control over the disease worsening as their deficiency increased.
0 comments - Posted Jul 4, 2010
June 2010
White rice and brown rice are reminiscent of those old dramas about identical twins, wherein one turns out to be angelic and the other turns out to be bad news.
0 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2010
AARP today launched its second annual "Fat-to-Fit Summer Weight Loss Challenge," an online program challenging people to make positive, permanent lifestyle changes to improve their health. AARP's Fat-to-Fit challenge will be hosted on AARP's website (www.aarp.org/fat2fit). Fitness expert and author Carole Carson, a Nevada City, California, resident who lost more than 60 pounds at age 60, will lead Fat-to-Fit online community members through the summer-long program.
0 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2010
There are so many weight loss programs out there, sometimes it is hard just to keep track of them, let alone choose one that will work. Add in the factor of diabetes, and the path to weight loss becomes harder to navigate and often contains land mines that we never even knew existed.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2010
Over the past few decades, some medical researchers have pointed the finger at meat consumption as a major factor in the development of heart disease and diabetes. However, a meta-analysis conducted by the Harvard School of Medical Health has concluded that it may be the salt and chemical preservatives used in processed meats that lead to health problems, not the meats themselves.
0 comments - Posted Jun 5, 2010
Dr. Rutai Hui of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College in Beijing and colleagues found chocolate only helped people who already had risk factors for heart disease and only when consumed in modest amounts.
0 comments - Posted Jun 4, 2010
May 2010
The 57 million Americans currently living with "pre-diabetes" could benefit from a group weight loss program, like Weight Watchers, according to a new study published in this month's American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. Researchers found that after a 6-month Weight Watchers group program, overweight or obese adults who attended at least two thirds of the weekly sessions, not only lost weight, but also significantly reduced fasting glucose and insulin levels - important indicators of diabetes risk.
0 comments - Posted May 22, 2010
Nobody will believe you created these perfect cherry "pies" in under 30 minutes. (And of course you don't have to tell). Fresh raspberries complement the cherry pie filling perfectly and add a fresh homemade quality while refrigerated piecrust makes them as easy as, well, pie!
0 comments - Posted May 11, 2010
Chicken Caesar Salad is undoubtedly one of the most popular (if not the most popular) entrée salad featured on restaurant menus. But what most people don't realize is that most recipes for Chicken Caesar Salads contain more fat and calories than a loaded Big Mac-that's a big problem, especially if you are watching out for your health. Here's an easy way to create a delicious and healthful restaurant-quality Chicken Caesar right at home. To enjoy it as a side salad, simply leave out the chicken.
0 comments - Posted May 3, 2010
A Danish analysis of data from 21 research studies on the effects of saturated fat intake has concluded that swapping refined carbohydrates, such as pasta and white bread, for fat causes spikes in blood sugar that are harmful to the heart. However, cutting down on saturated fats while increasing consumption of whole-grain breads and vegetables-low glycemic index* foods-had a discernible positive impact on heart health.
0 comments - Posted May 2, 2010
February 2010
For as long as I can remember, I have disliked meat. I believe it started with my sensitive gag reflex as a child. I could hardly chew and swallow pork chops, pineapple, or anything else that didn't go down easily. In high school I became best friends with a girl who didn't eat meat. It seemed like a really cool lifestyle, so I joined ranks with her. Instead of eating meat, we consumed french fries, fruit punch, and snack cakes. This became our definition of vegetarianism. Then, during my junior year of high school, my doctor informed me that my chronic low blood sugars might be improved by more protein consumption, so I forced myself back into the life of a carnivore, not knowing then that protein consumption didn't have to equal a slab of meat at every meal.
0 comments - Posted Feb 20, 2010
December 2009
According to Marlene, finding the perfect mix of ingredients is key when creating healthier versions of your favorite foods. From composing a healthier sandwich to perfecting pasta dishes and creating delightful desserts, Marlene reveals some of her tastiest ingredient tips:
0 comments - Posted Dec 31, 2009
November 2009
We hear it all the time, from the diet ads on television to the lectures from our doctors and dietitians. What matters is not only what you eat, but also how much you eat. But how can you control your portions? Is it possible to have a healthy relationship with food? How can you make sure you are full, but not stuffed? Can you keep your blood sugars under control? The answer to all these questions is yes!
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2009
October 2009
While Googling recently, I found a link to Soul-Food-Advisor, a website devoted to "African American cuisine and soul food, mostly known as Southern or comfort food." It sounded, frankly, delicious. But as someone with pre-diabetes, I am trying to eat fewer carbs, avoid anything fried, and turn the other cheek when I see macaroni and cheese-my favorite comfort food since I was a little kid. So instead of looking at Soul Food Advisor, I turned my attention to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) MyFoodAdvisor online tool.
0 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2009
September 2009
The way information is presented to us makes a big difference in whether we are able to integrate that information into our daily lives. Although graphs and numbers may sway some people, putting educational materials into a culturally relevant context can be more effective. A recent study, for example, has found that a dietary program based on the Medicine Wheel Model for Nutrition can change eating patterns among Native Americans, who have the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease of all ethnic groups.
0 comments - Posted Sep 26, 2009
Those of you who are familiar with the South know what kudzu is. An Asian vine that can grow a foot taller every day, it was brought to the American Southeast in the 1930s in a sadly boneheaded attempt to control erosion. Unfortunately, the little green visitor liked it here so much that in the decades since, it has colonized 10 million acres of farms and woods, becoming a massive and costly nuisance.
0 comments - Posted Sep 16, 2009
You might think that people with type 2 diabetes would know better than most what they should put into and leave out of their diets. At least, that was the expectation of researchers at the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, when they set out to learn why people with type 2 are often overweight. What they found, however, surprised them. Their study of 2,757 type 2s showed that:
0 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2009
An Italian study of people with type 2 diabetes has found that 70 percent of those who followed a low-fat diet eventually needed diabetes drugs, as opposed to only 44 percent of those who ate a Mediterranean diet.
0 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2009
A South Carolina study has found that the DASH diet, originally designed to treat hypertension, is linked to a lower rate of type 2 diabetes in whites, but not in blacks or Hispanics.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2009
According to a recent Pennsylvania study, kids need to learn to control themselves when it comes to food. Obviously, self-control is important for us all, kids and adults alike, when it comes to weight management. It’s equally apparent that children need to be taught by their parents to make healthy food choices. But parents who strictly forbid their children to eat many foods might be contributing to a lack of self-control in their offspring, thereby creating the very chubbiness that they were trying to avert.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2009
August 2009
Everyone knows that eating only high fat food is unhealthy way down the road, but we don't really worry that eating a burger will hurt us by next week. Unfortunately, however, it turns out that a high fat diet damages our health (and our brain functioning) a lot sooner than we would like to think. In fact, new research shows that the effects are felt within only ten days. As far as I'm concerned, this was already shown conclusively in the film "Super Size Me," in which director Morgan Spurlock personally examined the effects of fast food on the human body. For one month, he ate only at McDonald's, ordering everything on the menu and "super-sizing" his order whenever asked. Right before our eyes, Spurlock began looking sicker and sicker.
0 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2009
The PreDx Diabetes Risk Score determines risk of developing type 2 diabetes within five years
0 comments - Posted Aug 26, 2009
A study of the sugar consumption habits of 30,000 Americans by the American Dietetic Association concludes that race/ethnicity, family income and education levels are important factors in how much sugar a person eats.
0 comments - Posted Aug 8, 2009
It's very likely that you, like most people, believe many myths about diabetes. If you do, you might actually be doing yourself harm. Learning the truth can empower you (as it did me) to make choices and take actions that increase the quality and length of your life.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2009
July 2009
Never underestimate the power of people with diabetes and their families. When we as a consumer group purchase more fruits and vegetables, walk or bicycle instead of taking the car, and educate ourselves about a healthy lifestyle, we are addressing global issues as well as personal ones and can have a strong, positive effect on the future.
0 comments - Posted Jul 23, 2009
The Organic Center (TOC), a leading research institute focused on the science of organic food and farming, announced that a balanced, organic diet-both before and during pregnancy-can significantly reduce a child's likelihood of becoming overweight or obese or developing diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2009
This article was submitted by GlaxoSmithKline, makers of LOVAZA, a medication to lower very high triglycerides, made from omega-3 fish oil.
0 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2009
Rhode Island researchers say they have found strong evidence that links the level of nitrates in the environment and food supply to increases in deaths from such diseases as diabetes, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's-all insulin-resistant ailments.
0 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2009
May 2009
Sometimes complex problems have simple answers. Take the alarming rise in obesity in the United States since 1970. Researchers have speculated in the past that the cause might be a combination of factors, perhaps a lack of exercise working in concert with the spread of cheap high-calorie junk food.
0 comments - Posted May 23, 2009
The American Diabetes Association has released a list of "superfoods" it says "have necessary nutrients for good diabetes management, including fiber, potassium, healthy fats, magnesium and antioxidants."
0 comments - Posted May 5, 2009
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has issued a call for proposals through its national program, Project HealthDesign: Rethinking the Power and Potential of Personal Health Records. Grant recipients will work to assess and test the potential of "observations of daily living" (ODLs) to help patients and physicians better manage chronic illnesses.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2009
April 2009
What do you eat in a 140 mile Ironman triathlon? I get that question a lot. It's been said that the Ironman race is 10% fitness, and 90% nutrition. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but for those of us with diabetes, that's our daily life. Nutrition affects everything we do. Exercise, sleep, driving a car, all of those activities require a person with diabetes to think about the carbohydrates they have consumed and when they will eat or drink them again
0 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2009
The following list shows 50 of the ways we have "convenienced" ourselves into diabesity. Before the technology boom, most Americans were active at work, at home, and at play. Much of what we did was manual, so we burned off the calories that we took in. When you consider that we did many of these activities on a regular basis, it is easy to see how we were able to remain trim. Obviously, no single one of these activities burns a large amount of calories by itself, but taken together, it is easy to see that the number of calories burned really begins to add up. (By the way, if you remember any of the things on this list, you don't have to tell anyone.)
0 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2009
Long before Joy Pape, RN, BSN, CDE, WOCN, CFCN, served a stint as the clinical editor and contributing columnist for Diabetes Health Professional, she was a seasoned diabetes expert who knew her way around almost every aspect of the disease.
0 comments - Posted Apr 22, 2009
A 12-month university study of 130 persons who ate either a USDA food pyramid-inspired high-carb diet or a diet moderately high in protein showed that members of the higher protein group lost 23 percent more weight and 38 percent more body fat than their high carb counterparts.
0 comments - Posted Apr 3, 2009
Being overweight is something all doctors and most laypeople know significantly increases the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes. In fact, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) says that more than 90 percent of people who are newly diagnosed with type 2 are overweight. But why does excess fat increase the risk of diabetes? Isn't the disease, after all, one that involves the body's inability to metabolize glucose?
0 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2009
March 2009
There's a perception out there that people with type 2 could control their disease if they just tried hard enough. But self-control and will power are not the whole story. A new study published in this month's Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness includes "eating out, lack of social support and high-risk lifestyles" as just a few of the roadblocks that stop patients with type 2 diabetes from controlling their condition.
0 comments - Posted Mar 23, 2009
Obesity has long been accepted as a risk factor for diabetes. The results of four recently published studies, however, have revealed that the real risk factor may be the insecticides present in that fat. The initial investigations showed that the expected association between obesity and diabetes/insulin resistance was absent in people who had low levels of organochlorine insecticides in their blood (1, 2). However, the expected association between obesity and diabetes/insulin resistance increased with levels of these insecticides. In the last year, two additional studies have linked these insecticides with diabetes (3, 4).
0 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2009
The old joke has a man going to the doctor and saying, "It hurts when I do this. What should I do to make it go away?"
0 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2009
Chances are that you know somebody who can pack away the highest-fat foods-marbled steak, cheese, butter, and ice cream-and never gain weight. If you've always shrugged it off and said, "It must be genetic," it turns out that you may be right.
0 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2009
A few years ago a young man named Jeff came into my office seeking help to lose weight. He was 5'10" tall and weighed 130 pounds. Jeff denied starving himself, denied making himself throw up, and denied over-exercising. I tried to convince him that he was actually 30 pounds underweight. As I looked for the most effective ways of motivating him to restore his health, he brought up the fact that he had type 1 diabetes. Jeff said that he rarely gave himself insulin and that he had "diabulimia." I had never heard of diabulimia and had no idea what I was dealing with. I gave him a list of clinicians and asked him to call me back after he made appointments with an endocrinologist and a psychotherapist.
0 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2009
February 2009
Doctors often tell people with high blood pressure to decrease their consumption of sodium. Now researchers at the Loyola University Health System in suburban Chicago have found that it is probably wise to increase potassium intake at the same time.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2009
January 2009
Remember that New Year's resolution that you made a few weeks ago? Oh yeah, that one. How's that going? If you're like most people, you may have started to slack off just a little bit. Or even worse, maybe it's already a distant memory. No worries, I won't tell. Let's get you going again.
0 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2009
For patients who suffer frequent sharp abdominal pain from chronic pancreatitis, antioxidants may offer effective pain relief, according to a study recently published in Gastroenterology, the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute.
0 comments - Posted Jan 23, 2009
Current thinking has it that obese people are obese because they engage in less physical activity and burn fewer calories than their thinner counterparts. But suppose you could show that obese women burn just as many calories as their thinner, supposedly fitter counterparts?
0 comments - Posted Jan 21, 2009
Two diets - one severely restricting carbohydrate intake but with no limit on calories, and the other emphasizing low-glycemic carbohydrates and low calories - allowed high percentages of obese type 2 patients in a university study to reduce or even eliminate their diabetes medications (95.2 percent of the patients on the extreme low-carb diet and 62.1 percent of the patients on the low-glycemic diet).
0 comments - Posted Jan 14, 2009
About half of young people who have diabetes report having tried to lose weight at one time or another, says a Kaiser Permanente Southern California study reported in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2009
As science peers deeper into the genetic make-up of humans, a new branch of study, nutrigenomics, seeks to explore the correlation between people's "gene expressions" and the diets best suited to them.
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2009
December 2008
Every year the American Diabetes Associations revises and updates its Clinical Practice Recommendations, a publication upon which many doctors and medical caregivers depend as a primary source of diabetes treatment information.
0 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Post-menopausal women hoping to avert type 2 diabetes stand a better chance of success if they rely on losing weight rather than on a low-fat diet, according to results of a 12-year study conducted by the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
0 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
About a year ago, Cheryl Tooke found herself in the last place she ever wanted to be. She weighed 268 pounds, and her doctor had just diagnosed her with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
Obesity in the United States is increasing in epidemic proportions. This is true in children as well as adults. It's estimated that the healthcare costs associated with obesity and its related complications will exceed $130 billion this year.
0 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
A Spanish university study has found that a traditional Mediterranean diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, and fish may reduce the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes by 83 percent.
0 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2008
Many people think of heart disease as something that mostly afflicts men. But heart disease actually kills more women in the United States than anything else, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. And diabetes plays a stronger role in risk for heart disease in women than it does in men.
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2008
Are you ready to celebrate the holidays? How many festivities are on your calendar this season? It’s time to navigate the minefield of situations that can throw your diabetes off course and send a joyous occasion into the dumps.
0 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2008
The first time I presented medical research findings, I was not yet a physician. The year was about 1975. I was in my early forties and a mid-career engineer. The forum was a scientific symposium on diabetes. At the time, I felt that I had discovered the holy grail of diabetes care and was eager to share what I had learned.
0 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Next week we'll publish a great article written by Dr. Richard Bernstein. MD. Dr. Bernstein is a long-term proponent of paying more attention to carbs rather than fats (though he certainly doesn't advocate that you can have all the fats you want!) While Dr. Bernstein has been telling us about the benefits of low carb for over 30 years, there is still much skepticism about his (and many other's-Gary Taubes, anyone?) low carb results. The establishment has been slow to be convinced, despite the many research trials that back up their findings.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
People who have been newly diagnosed with diabetes will spend substantially more in the first year on medical costs than their non-diabetic counterparts-an average of $4,174 for a 50-year-old-according to RTI International, a non-profit research institute in North Carolina.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
Once you're diagnosed with type 2, you begin a long, often trial-and-error journey toward creating a daily routine that accommodates your disease without making you feel like an invalid.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
November 2008
Diabetes Health board member Sheri Colberg, PhD, has published a completely revised, updated, and expanded version of her 2001 book, Diabetic Athlete's Handbook: Your Guide to Peak Performance. Dr. Colberg, a diabetic athlete herself, has a PhD in exercise physiology. Her book draws upon the experiences of hundreds of athletes with diabetes to provide the best advice for exercisers with diabetes, either type 1 or type 2.
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2008
No doubt about it: Most of us have never felt less in control of our destinies. The stock market is bottoming out and no one knows what to do about it. Jobs are down, food prices are up, and who knows what's going on with gas. To make things even more expensive, the holidays are upon us. Mix all these factors together, and you have a recipe for runaway stress and anxiety. But there is one thing you can control: your body weight. That's right. Now is the time to get fit, lose any extra pounds that might be hanging around, and develop the habits that will keep your weight at a healthful level over the long term.
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2008
The ADA has a new book out, called What to Expect When You Have Diabetes: 170 Tips for Living Well With Diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
October 2008
Orexigen Therapeutics has announced that the investigational weight loss drug Contrave (naltrexone SR/bupropion SR) reduced the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, which is associated with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, by 50 percent.
0 comments - Posted Oct 13, 2008
September 2008
A professional doctors' group has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to require that Avandia's warning label include a statement that a low-fat vegan diet is a safer, more effective approach to lowering blood sugar levels than the drug itself.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Many people know that it is beneficial to eat your morning meal, but it can be challenging for many reasons. Breakfast is not the meal to miss, especially when you feel stressed, since it can set the mood for the entire day. The truth is that what you eat for breakfast may be more important than if you eat breakfast at all.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Originally ice cream consisted of milk, cream, sugar, flavoring and lots of air. But modern brands adhering to this original recipe are few and far between.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Gastroparesis doesn't sound good, and it isn't. Literally "stomach paralysis," it is a form of diabetic neuropathy, or nerve damage, that is a common complication of diabetes. The damaged nerve in question is the vagus nerve, named for its vagabond-like wandering nature.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
I remember the call from the doctor's office two weeks after a long overdue annual physical. I sat in the examining room expecting to hear the usual "lose weight" diagnosis. I had been feeling tired and had been making more than a few daily trips to the bathroom. But in spite of the fact that my grandmother, father, cousin, and brother all suffered from type 2 diabetes, I was not prepared for my doctor's stern warning: My sugar had been totally out of control for several months. I needed to adjust my diet and lifestyle immediately. I was a 40-year-old chocoholic and totally calorie clueless. I also weighed 255 pounds. The doctor prescribed an oral medication and told me that monthly visits for testing would now be required. I thought, OK, I can do this.
0 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2008
People asked to choose between a "good" snack and a "bad" snack may not make the choice they said they would when the snacks finally arrive. In an article in the September/October 2008 issue of The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior*, researchers in Holland found a substantial inconsistency between healthful snack choice intentions and actual behavior.
0 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2008
Elevated cholesterol levels return to normal or near normal levels over time in four out of ten children with uncontrollable epilepsy treated with a high-fat ketogenic diet, according to results of a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study reported in the Journal of Child Neurology.
0 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2008
With 21 million U.S. residents now officially diagnosed as having diabetes, healthcare professionals are looking at another statistic that is causing them many a sleepless night: The Centers for Disease Control estimate that there are 57 million people with pre-diabetes in the United States. (Pre-diabetes is defined as impaired fasting glucose of 100 to 125 mg/dl, impaired glucose tolerance of 140 to 199 mg/dl, or both.)
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
Abundant dietary vitamin C may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, say researchers from the Institute of Metabolic Science at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, England.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
August 2008
Time to tack on another strong argument against the consumption of carbohydrates: A scientist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, says that appetite control cells in the brain degenerate as we age, leading to a sense of increased hunger and potential weight gain.
0 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2008
You know how important it is to control the sugar and carbohydrates in your diet. So you read food labels and listen to your body cues to make sure you’re getting what you need to stay healthy.
0 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
Do you want to lose weight and improve your blood glucose levels? Do you want to do it without having to weigh your portions and count your calories? Try a low-fat vegan diet. A vegan diet is one with no animal products: no fish, no eggs, no dairy, and, of course, no meat.
0 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
July 2008
Yes, they lacked indoor plumbing, permanent settlements and elevated manners when it came to eating, but our hunter-gatherer ancestors may have eaten a diet that can help modern people combat metabolic syndrome and even type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 3, 2008
June 2008
When you have diabetes, you make the acquaintance of a lot of high-tech tools to help you manage it: monitors, meters and pumps. One very handy tool that sometimes gets overlooked is a digital scale for weighing and analyzing the nutritional content of food.
0 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2008
May 2008
The desire to be thin can be overwhelming. Few people know that better than Kelie Gardner, who started inexplicably losing a lot of weight during high school. She thought it was great until she discovered the reason—she has type 1 diabetes and her body can’t absorb the nutrients it should. After she was diagnosed and started taking insulin, Gardner returned to a healthy weight. Unfortunately, she wasn’t happy with this sign of improvement. “When I was on insulin, my body was able to start functioning normally,” says Gardner, now 26. “I went up to a normal body weight, but I was used to being skinny. I had the fear of, ‘Oh gosh, I’m going to be fat.’”
0 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
Our Advisory Board Member Dr. Richard K. Bernstein has courageously championed the low carb diet for 20 years despite the fact that many people thought he was “out to lunch.” Although his patients loved him for helping them control their high BGs and reverse their complications, other medical professionals often criticized his low carb methods.
0 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
Two new studies say that erectile dysfunction (ED) may be a warning sign of diabetes, as well as a warning of approaching cardiovascular disease.
0 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
Dear Diabetes Health,
I appreciated Jamie Bailes’ (April/May 2008) article on helping overweight kids. To me, it illustrated the complexity of weight regulation and the folly of linking it to one factor (fat).
0 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
Let me start with my maternal grandmother, Helen. Helen had diabetes and lived to the age of 73. We all assumed that she didn’t do a good job with it, as we would often find candy wrappers under her bed. When it came to taking care of herself, Helen was my mother’s role model.
0 comments - Posted May 15, 2008
Most people are aware of the health hazards that come with sugar consumption. Still, sugar restriction is difficult for our generation, which has developed a strong sweet tooth. However, for those who want to or must limit sugar, there is an extensive variety of sugar substitutes on the market.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2008
April 2008
Does Low-Carb Cheat Young Children of Their Needs?
KheurserRD wrote us to say, “From a dietitian's perspective, 30 grams of carbs doesn't allow for much. It would not allow for the recommended amounts of milk/milk equivalents or fruit a child needs. Not to mention the lack of fiber. Whatever happened to balance, portion control, physical activity, and eating within your calorie needs? ...If such extreme restrictions are being made, how can very young children meet their requirements for calcium and other vitamins and minerals present in milk or fruit and some carbohydrate-containing vegetables? Were these children monitored for nutritional deficiencies, or have the long-term effects of such a diet been studied when the diet was started at such a young age? Even if there are no recommendations for fiber, diets rich in fiber are associated with the prevention of many diseases.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
As food costs rise and more and more “diabetic” foods appear on grocery shelves, the American Diabetic Association has published 13 commonsense tips on how to eat more cheaply and still manage diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2008
March 2008
For the first time, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) came out in support of low-carbohydrate diets for people with diabetes who want to manage their weight. The ADA announced this landmark decision in December 2007 with its 2008 clinical practice recommendations. The latest recommendation is in sharp contrast to decades of promoting only low-fat/high-carb diets.
0 comments - Posted Mar 9, 2008
What is the secret of effective weight management? When a person develops type 2 diabetes, this is a critical question. Losing weight is one of the most successful ways of dealing with this disorder. This is the challenge that I faced when I diagnosed as diabetic about 15 years ago.
0 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2008
Don’t make a run on the tea section of your neighborhood supermarket just yet, but keep this in mind: Scientists at the Neurosciences Institute of the University of Dundee in Scotland say that drinking black tea could help combat diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2008
Previous observational studies have reported that heavy alcohol intake is a risk factor for hypertension. But such studies may be confounded by factors such as diet, smoking, exercise levels and socio-economic position. Clinical trials exploring the link are difficult to implement and have limited follow-up time.
0 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2008
One of the cartoons you recently published, where a character eats chocolate because his sugar is too low, gave the wrong message. Chocolate should not be used for treating hypoglycemia. There is too much fat in it for it to be effective.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2008
January 2008
German doctors solved two mysterious cases of rapid - and dangerous - weight loss from diarrhea once they determined that the cause was chewing too much sugar-free gum containing the artificial sweetener sorbitol.
0 comments - Posted Jan 22, 2008
To successfully treat any disease, one must know what disease to treat. Treating only a symptom of the disease will leave the underlying disease unchecked and possibly worse. For example, we evolved the "runny" nose to help us clean out upper respiratory infections. So taking a decongestant to eradicate the symptom of a "runny" nose is actually counterproductive for the underlying disease.
0 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2008
The powerful - but cautious - American Diabetes Association has announced that it now supports low-carbohydrate diets for people with diabetes who want to lose weight.
0 comments - Posted Jan 9, 2008
December 2007
African-American and Chinese women who eat foods that are high on the glycemic index may carry a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to two recent university studies.
0 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2007
It's really true: dark chocolate makes your coronary arteries open up and increases heart blood flow. In a two-week trial, 39 adults ate either 550 milligrams per day of dark chocolate (with a cocoa content of 70 percent or greater), which is full of flavonoids, or the same amount of white chocolate, which has no flavonoids.
0 comments - Posted Dec 9, 2007
Diabetes is not a disease of blood sugar. It is a disease of insulin and, perhaps more importantly, leptin signaling. Until that truth is accepted, we will continue to see epidemic growth in type 2 diabetes and obesity, growth that underscores the inadequacy of current conventional medical treatment and the falsity of prevailing nutritional advice.
0 comments - Posted Dec 3, 2007
November 2007
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter; that is, a molecule that carries messages between neurons in your brain. It's a feel-good neurotransmitter that makes you think "I want that! I'm going to get it! And wow, that was great!"
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2007
Fact One: Insulin receptor substrate-2 (Irs2) is a protein that sits on cell surfaces; its job is to allow those cells to respond to insulin.
Fact Two: Starved mice, which have low blood levels of insulin and heightened insulin sensitivity, live longer than well-fed mice.
0 comments - Posted Nov 16, 2007
A study of 2543 obese Mayo Clinic patients has revealed that only 505 of them were formally diagnosed as obese. If they were diagnosed, it was more likely to be done by a resident than by a staff physician.
0 comments - Posted Nov 13, 2007
Right now, nearly one in six children is overweight. Given the findings of a group of studies recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, however, it's a wonder that they all aren't fat. Their environment is certainly working against them.
0 comments - Posted Nov 7, 2007
October 2007
A low glycemic diet is sometimes advised for people with diabetes because it raises blood sugar slowly and reduces blood sugar spikes. Well, now Australian dermatologists have found that it clears up your skin as well.
0 comments - Posted Oct 23, 2007
When calculating glycemic index (GI) values, glucose is arbitrarily given the highest GI value: 100. To assign a GI value to another type of carb, a complex process is used to compare the blood sugar response elicited by the test carb to the blood sugar response provoked by glucose.
0 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2007
The take-home message from the Tufts study is that the GI value of white bread is 70. That's nothing new: The same value has been found in dozens of other studies around the world (1).
0 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2007
A study of 4,099 non-diabetic elderly patients has found that a low-glycemic index diet reduces the incidence and severity of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of irreversible blindness.
0 comments - Posted Oct 3, 2007
September 2007
When islet cells are transplanted into a person, they don't go into their usual home in the pancreas. Instead, they're injected into the portal vein, the large vein that feeds the liver with rich fats and sugars from the digestive system.
0 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2007
In a recent chemical analysis of eleven carbonated soft drinks sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), researchers from Rutgers University found very high levels of reactive carbonyls.
0 comments - Posted Sep 12, 2007
For at least 12,000 years, Peru has been inhabited by descendants of the Inca civilization. For countless generations, the farmers of the Peruvian Andes have lived on potatoes, cornmeal cakes, and alpacha, or goat meat.
0 comments - Posted Sep 8, 2007
An Australian review of six short clinical trials has found that low glycemic diets (which involve eating foods that raise blood sugar slowly instead of quickly) cause about two pounds more weight loss than calorie-restricted diets.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2007
August 2007
Researchers from Alberta have found that when they fed baby rats diet foods and drinks, the little rats' ability to assess how much energy is in foods was thrown out of whack.
0 comments - Posted Aug 30, 2007
A study of 2,375 middle-aged British men reports that those who drank at least a pint of milk a day were 62 percent less likely than non-milk-drinkers to have metabolic syndrome (defined as raised levels of two or more of the following: blood glucose, insulin, blood fats, body fat, and blood pressure).
0 comments - Posted Aug 11, 2007
Between two million and ten thousand years ago, during the Paleolithic era in which we evolved, there was no agriculture, no farmed grains, no refined fat or sugar, little salt, and no dairy.
0 comments - Posted Aug 10, 2007
July 2007
Dishware is destiny, according to new research just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. There exists a plate that has just been scientifically proven to cause weight loss. And it's a mighty cute little piece of pottery to boot.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2007
June 2007
As many of us know to our dismay, the desire to chow down fatty, sugary food can be very strong indeed. In a recent six-week study of 88 obese, non-diabetic men and women, Symlin, a synthetic hormone currently used to dampen diabetic blood sugar swings, was found to dampen those very desires.
0 comments - Posted Jun 27, 2007
Anne Williamson has had type 1 diabetes for forty years, since the age of seven. But because of the Easter basket incident, she still vividly remembers her time in the hospital. Anne was alone in her hospital room when a volunteer insisted on leaving a candy-filled Easter basket by her bed.
0 comments - Posted Jun 23, 2007
Which diet works best for you may depend on whether or not you are secreting high levels of insulin. From September 2004 to December 2006, researchers monitored 73 obese young adults who ate either a low-fat diet (55 percent carbs and 20 percent fat) or a low-glycemic diet (40 percent carbs and 35 percent fat).
0 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2007
Everybody knows that to lose weight, you're supposed to practice portion control, cut down on carbs and fat, and exercise to beat the band. Lifestyle change is the ticket, that's a general given. But what about those of us who can't turn away from a portion no matter how humongous it is?
0 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2007
Several years ago, my husband Brian and my son Danny were eating at the Food Court of a local mall. "Dad, when someone gets three wishes from the genie in the lamp, why don't they just wish for more wishes?" Danny asked.
0 comments - Posted Jun 14, 2007
April 2007
Constant controversy swirls about which kind of weight-loss diet works best, but there is precious little scientific evidence comparing one diet to another. To provide some real diet data, a recent Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study pitted the Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and Ornish diets against each other in a year-long head-to-head study.
0 comments - Posted Apr 26, 2007
If food groups were sporting leagues, carbs would be the NFL. You've got your low carb teams, your high carb vegan teams, and your middling carb teams—and each team believes that truth is on its side.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Carbs and carbs alone, not fat, increase body weight. It doesn't matter whether the carbs are from sugar, bread, fruit, or vegetables: They’re all rapidly digested and quickly converted to blood glucose. A short time after a carb-rich meal, the glucose in your bloodstream rises rapidly, and your pancreas produces a large amount of insulin to take the excess glucose out.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Remember the big picture: Populations that stick to traditional high-carbohydrate diets (for example, Asian rice-based diets) typically have low rates of obesity and diabetes. When they abandon traditional rice-based diets in favor of meatier Western fare, carbohydrate intake falls, but weight problems and diabetes increase.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
When I developed diabetes in 1946, physicians thought that the high illness and death rate of diabetics was due to dietary fat and the supposedly resultant elevation of serum cholesterol. Since the DCCT trial, the scientific literature overwhelmingly supports the role of elevated blood sugar in all long-term diabetic complications.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Let’s be realistic and take a long-term perspective in this “which diet is best” debate, rather than wasting time quibbling over extremes—from low-carb to vegan. You’ll have type 2 diabetes for the rest of your life, and you’ll likely struggle with weight management throughout your life as well. The major challenge in weight loss, and even more so in weight maintenance, is long-term adherence.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
February 2007
As a type 1 interested in nature’s ability to heal, I ask, What is causing this so-called diabetes epidemic? Why is it expanding from Western countries to developing countries at the same rate that fast food and junk food are spreading?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
October 2006
A low-fat vegan diet was found to improve blood glucose and lipid control in type 2 diabetics, according to researchers at George Washington University School of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
‘You wouldn’t believe how much I ate. Every night, besides dinner, I ate one of those big poppers full of popcorn with lots of butter and salt on it.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
July 2006
The mantra of healthcare professionals when talking about weight loss is plain and simple: Eat less and exercise more. The dream of many people who are overweight or obese would be to simply inject something that would help them to do just that.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
June 2006
It used to be called late- or adult-onset diabetes; now it is called type 2. Instead of occurring primarily in people in their 60s or 70s, it is now found in people of all ages—even youngsters in grade school.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
According to a survey conducted by the Whole Grains Council and a manufacturer of whole grain products, it was found that 68 percent of adults are unaware that they should consume at least three daily servings of whole grains. In addition, more than one-fifth of the public (22 percent) was unable to name any of the benefits of eating whole grains.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
April 2006
Partially substituting carbohydrate with either protein or monounsaturated fat can lower blood pressure, improve lipid levels and reduce estimated cardiovascular risk, according to a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
March 2006
People are constantly being told that the only way to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight is to control calorie intake. It does not matter so much where the calories come from as long as one is eating less and burning more. Is this true? It is to some extent, but not completely.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
February 2006
Valentine’s Day is the single biggest day for chocolate sales. Among the many kinds of chocolate now available for gift giving are sugar-free as well as dairy-free varieties. Today, sugar-free chocolates may also be labeled “lower carb.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
January 2006
In a review paper published in the July 2005 issue of Nutrition and Metabolism, researchers at the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension at the State University of New York say that a high-carbohydrate diet raises postprandial plasma glucose and insulin secretion, thereby increasing risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
When Daisy Herrera of Orlando, Florida, was 13 years old, she breakfasted on two bowls of Lucky Charms cereal or three chocolate glazed Dunkin Donuts. She drank two 2-liter bottles of Pepsi every couple of days and cartons of chocolate milk. She binged on candy and potato chips while hiding under the bed. She ate an average of four McDonalds or Burger King meals each week. She stood 4’8” tall and weighed 130 pounds. Her mother, Maria, called her a “little round ball.” Daisy’s blood glucose level often topped 400 mg/dl. Even though she was still a child, Daisy was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes—a condition formerly known as “adult-onset diabetes.”
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
October 2005
“Good Carbs, Bad Carbs” by Johanna Burani, MS, RD, CDE, is a thorough look at nutrition, food and the role of the glycemic index.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
September 2005
By following a low-carbohydrate diet for two weeks, obese patients were able to reduce calorie intake, lose weight and improve their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
August 2005
Louisiana researchers say that controlling the size of your food bites significantly reduces food and caloric intake.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that people consume omega-3 fatty acids, found in the flesh of oily fish, for their heart-protective benefits. However, some types of fish contain high levels of contaminants, including mercury.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
July 2005
The article "High Fructose Corn Syrup: Is This Disguised Sugar Affecting Your Diabetes?"(May 2005) unfortunately suggests that food manufacturers are misusing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a natural, home-grown sweetener from Midwest corn fields.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
On April 19, 2005, the USDA Food Guide Pyramid was given a facelift for the first time in 13 years.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
June 2005
Have you ever wondered how to count the carbohydrates on a food label? Does it really matter how many grams of sugar are in a food? Do “sugar free” and “calorie free” mean the same thing? Do you need to count the fiber in your breakfast cereal as carbohydrate?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
May 2005
Legendary endocrinologist Francine R. Kaufman, MD, has written a new book entitled “Diabesity: The Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic That Threatens America—And What We Must Do To Stop It” (Bantam Books, 2005).
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Do you know if the last bagel or muffin you ate was a single serving or four portions disguised as one large serving? With supersizing being the norm, accurately estimating portions can be challenging.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
April 2005
Caution: Consult with your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
Carbohydrate counting and new sugar substitutes, food products and medications have given people with diabetes an array of strategies and resources to help them manage their blood glucose. However, for some people, following a structured diabetes meal plan may not work.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
March 2005
Have you seen the movie “Super Size Me”?
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Before 1981, all patients diagnosed with diabetes were given dietary exchanges to follow when planning their meals or snacks. While exchanges were formulated for all food groups, the main focus for glycemic control was on carbohydrates. At the time these guidelines were established, focusing on portions seemed appropriate since the Nutrition Facts Label was not available.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Weight Watchers. Atkins. South Beach. Ornish. The Zone.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
On January 12, 2005, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) published their new Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Last year, Stacey Martin, a 41-year-old real estate agent from East Hampton, New York, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. At 270 pounds, the medical community considered her “morbidly obese.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
January 2005
It seemed that every time we gave something a try and it didn’t quite work out, Mom and Dad always had a cliché at the ready to cushion the blow.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
December 2004
• Eat at regular mealtimes. • Grab a snack or quick meal before going shopping or to a party if it’s later than your usual dining time.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
This time of year presents extra challenges. It’s not easy to live with and manage diabetes during the holidays, but it can be done. Here are some tips for staying focused, fit and in control during this season:
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Q: My 6-year-old granddaughter is receiving insulin injections. Are there any booklets I can get that have sample menus for a child that young? She is coming to visit me, and I would like to have the proper foods available.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
July 2004
Obese adults who increase their dietary calcium while adhering to a diet lose more weight than those on a similar diet who don’t take additional calcium.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
June 2004
“In a restaurant setting, increasing the size of an entrée results in increased energy intake,” say Pennsylvania State University researchers. “These results support the suggestion large restaurant portions may be contributing to the obesity epidemic.”
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Consumption of portion-controlled food results in weight and fat loss, according to University of Illinois researchers.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
April 2004
Who would have ever dreamed it? A year ago this column debuted when Diabetes Health asked me to write a feature article about some of the research related to lower-carbohydrate diets.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Do you want your food purchases to be trans fat free in 2004? If so, you’d better get your passport ready and head to Denmark.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
March 2004
A low-calorie diet that includes almonds may have a “potential role” in fighting the obesity epidemic.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
The mainstream medical community is starting to take notice: High-protein diets work! Researchers at the University of Minnesota say a high-protein diet lowers after-meal blood glucose 40 percent in type 2s and improves overall glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Eating a low-fat diet that includes the controversial fat substitute olestra (Olean) produced improvement in cardiovascular risk factors in a recent study—an effect largely explained by the participants’ weight loss.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
I struggle to understand why you are publishing information recommending low-or no-carb meals for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Nearly 10 years ago when Chris Smith was 27, he got bad news in the form of a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. Now known as the Diabetic Chef, Smith is making the most of having diabetes by “re-teaching America to cook.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
February 2004
So you want to lose weight. Prepare for war!
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Icelandic researchers who investigated the relation of food to the incidence of type 1 diabetes among adolescents from 11 European countries report some unexpected findings…
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
I’m not a diet doctor, but I can help you lose weight. A lot of it. In less time than you’d ever think was possible. The secret is a revolutionary new diet I developed while working with overweight men and women who visited my cardiology practice in Miami.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Suddenly it seems that sugar-free products are everywhere.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
In October 2003, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity held its conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Here we provide summaries of some of the more interesting research presented at the conference.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
If your child is younger than 3 months, you might want to be cautious about adding any foods that contain gluten to the baby’s diet.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Scientists have often speculated about the role various foods in the infant diet might play in the development of type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
January 2004
In 1978, after prolonged hospitalization, my father died from consequences of diabetes associated with abnormal lipids and high blood pressure.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
November 2003
Chocolate! Although millions love it, chocolate has always gotten a bad rap in the diabetes community.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2003
April 2003
Children with type 1 diabetes who followed a low glycemic index (low-GI) diet for one year ate approximately the same amount of macronutrients and variety of foods as a group that followed the traditional carbohydrate-exchange diet, say researchers in Australia.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
The portion sizes of food consumed in the United States have grown significantly in the past 25 years—with the greatest increases measured for food eaten at fast-food establishments and in the home.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
We have all heard great success stories about people who follow a diet low in carbohydrates. Many report weight loss, more energy and normal glucose levels. Maybe you are curious, but you're scared to try it. It goes against everything you've been taught about a healthy diet.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
"We don't use them anymore," said my certified diabetes educator when I asked for a copy of the exchange lists used for meal planning.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
"Nobody is forced to eat at McDonald's," a federal judge said as he threw out a class-action lawsuit that blamed McDonald's food for causing obesity, diabetes and other health problems in children.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
With the concepts of glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) influencing the way many people with diabetes eat, four leading researchers on the glycemic index have written a book to help people better understand this approach.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
We don't use them anymore," said my certified diabetes educator (CDE) when I asked for a copy of the exchange lists used for meal planning.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
March 2003
On January 1, 2003, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on the state of America's waistlines.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
February 2003
In today's busy world, it's difficult enough for most of us to get a meal on the table at all—let alone follow a healthy meal plan every day.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Go ahead—have that peanut butter sandwich. Findings from the Harvard University Nurses' Health Study suggest that women who eat several servings of nuts or peanut butter a week can lower their risk of getting type 2 diabetes by as much as 27 percent. The Nurses' Health Study followed nearly 84,000 female nurses for 16 years beginning in 1980.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
December 2002
Although increasing cereal fiber in the diet appears to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, increased consumption of cereal fiber doesn't seem to offer beneficial value to people with existing type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Identifying foods that cause the release of a naturally occurring gut hormone known as PYY3-36—or creating a pill that contains the hormone—may help in obesity control, say researchers who studied the effects of PYY3-36 in both rodents and human volunteers.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
A food ingredient long regarded as a "silent killer" may be brought to justice next spring.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Trash the Wonder Bread and white rice and replace them with whole grains and brown rice if you want to reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
November 2002
Guilty pleasures are certainly in abundance between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. However, if you are a person with diabetes, too much guilty pleasure may make your A1C resemble something less pleasant than a picture print by Currier and Ives.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to take the Chinese weight loss products Chaso (Jianfei) Diet Capsules and Chaso Genpi. The FDA reports that several people in Japan have become ill, and some have died, after taking the diet products.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Cutting your carbs and increasing your protein intake? You could be damaging your kidneys, according to researchers who studied the effects of a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet on 10 people who did not have diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Do your favorite restaurants and fast-food eateries fit comfortably into your diabetes meal plan?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Most people associate sweetness with happiness, good times and good food. In fact, the average American goes so far as to consume an estimated 20 teaspoons of sugar each day.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
The holiday season presents many challenges for people with diabetes. Because we tend to eat more (at office parties and family outings) and exercise less during these months, weight gain could typically be as much as five to 10 pounds.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Most people associate sweetness with happiness, good times and good food. In fact, the average American goes so far as to consume an estimated 20 teaspoons of sugar each day.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
October 2002
Should you skip eating animal protein in favor of vegetable protein if you have type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria (a sign of kidney disease)?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
July 2002
Medifast, Inc., of Owing Mills, Maryland, is launching a new line of meal-replacement products designed for people with diabetes. The Medifast Plus for Diabetics line features soy-based foods and includes products such as shakes, bars, soups, oatmeal, chili and ready-to-drink beverages that are low in sugar, fat, calories and carbohydrates and are also low on the glycemic index, according to a Medifast news release.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
June 2002
The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen has petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the diet drug Meridia (sibutramine). A news release from Public Citizen cites more than two dozen deaths and 397 adverse reactions reported to the FDA since the drug's introduction in 1998.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
May 2002
It is not uncommon to read an article about physical activity that advises you to eat a snack before you exercise. Sometimes the article also advises you to perform the exercise after a meal or to avoid activity while insulin is peaking.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Eating processed meats such as hot dogs and bacon may increase a man's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to researchers from the United States and Holland. On the other hand, eating polyunsaturated fat may decrease a person's risk for type 2 diabetes, the researchers state in the March 2002 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
April 2002
According to the latest research, people with diabetes should include soybeans and foods containing soy in their meal plans. Because soy foods are high in fiber and have a low glycemic index, they offer many health benefits for people with diabetes, such as lowering blood-glucose levels after meals and helping to control weight.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
March 2002
A low-calorie diet, particularly one that includes meal-replacement foods, can lead to long-term weight loss, according to researchers at the University of Kentucky. In addition, they say, more exercise helps to keep the weight off. Researchers examined data from 29 studies of weight-loss programs for their report, which was published in the November 2001 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
January 2002
Seniors with diabetes may need to make changes to their diet to remain healthy, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). In addition, people may have more difficulty preparing food as they get older.
0 comments - Posted Jan 2, 2002
High-protein diets that cut back on fruits, vegetables and carbohydrates put you at risk for multiple diseases and won't help you lose weight, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
December 2001
One would think that with all the technological advances in handheld computers, there would be a plethora of software products available for every need. In fact, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of software products on the market today. However, finding the specific type of software you need can be quite challenging.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Diabetes food! Just the words can conjure up past images of long treks down the pharmacy aisle—past the orthopedic shoe supports, and toward the sparse, deserted shelf of "sugar-free products."
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Food and gifts! What would the holidays be without them? From the traditional dishes we prepare every year to the unusual and exotic specialty, from the highly frivolous gift to the perfect one matched exactly to the needs of the recipient, we strive to make the holidays wonderful by providing food and gifts for the people we love.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Not everyone agrees that the Glycemic Index (GI) is the way to go when planning your carbohydrate intake. Despite that fact, nutrition expert Patti Geil, MS, RD, FADA, CDE, writes about the importance of the GI in the article "From Jelly Beans to Kidney Beans: What Diabetes Educators Should Know About the Glycemic Index."
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
The National Kidney Foundation has issued a dining guide that will help people with kidney problems maneuver their way through restaurant menus and make healthy eating choices.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
October 2001
Which of the following statements do you think are true?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Eat a low-fat diet, take a brisk walk or ride a bike for 30 minutes a day five days a week and your risk of getting type 2 diabetes will be reduced by 58 percent. Also, taking the type 2 drug Glucophage can also cut the risk of developing type 2 by 31 percent, say researchers in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Adjusting insulin regimens does not cause people to adopt a poor diet, according to researchers in the United Kingdom. Researchers from Bournemouth, Dorset, studied the change in patients' diets when they were allowed to adjust the amount of insulin therapy to the total carbohydrate content. They questioned whether or not the change in the insulin regimen would cause patients to consume more fat.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
If you are trying to develop a diet consisting of low-GI foods, consider the following:
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
September 2001
The glycemic index (GI) may not be a leading economic indicator, but it is a leading diabetes indicator. Knowing whether the GI of a food is high or low can be a great aid in the quest for control.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
Choosing a diet that does not contain foods heavy in trans fats could reduce a woman's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by about 40 percent, say Harvard researchers. Also called hydrogenated oil, trans fats can be found in margarine, shortening, cookies, cakes and other processed foods. Hydrogenated oils are manipulated by science to stay hard at room temperature.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
Eating less animal protein and sugar may improve HbA1c levels in your body, say researchers from the University of South Florida in Tampa.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
August 2001
Like many people with diabetes, Gayle Hoover Thorne of Sacramento, California, was led to her type 2 diagnosis by water—or rather, the feeling that she couldn't get enough of it.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
July 2001
The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes incorporate 20 to 35 grams of dietary fiber into their diets on a daily basis in order to control their blood sugars. To help people with diabetes meet this goal, the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston has published a new high-fiber cookbook entitled "The Joslin Diabetes Healthy Carbohydrate Cookbook."
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
According to researchers in Sweden, eating fish protein reduces the risk of developing microalbuminuria, a condition marked by protein in the urine that is associated with kidney disease.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
June 2001
Eating fruits and vegetables may help reduce the risk of diabetes, especially among women and people with higher education levels, according to a recent study published in the January issue of Preventive Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
Carla Elliot liked to keep busy. A bright and outgoing 14-year-old girl, Carla involved herself in as many activities as she could. Whether it was swimming, cheerleading, softball, 4-H club meetings or simply running around the neighborhood, Carla was there.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
May 2001
According to the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP), BMI—a measurement of height and weight—is the gold standard for measuring obesity.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
For many people with type 2 diabetes, diet and medication alone are not successfully treating the disease, researchers announced on March 16 at the Diabetes Health Expo in Miami.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
April 2001
If someone in your family has type 1 diabetes, you should be screened for celiac disease, a chronic condition in which the wall of the small intestine is damaged by a toxic reaction to gluten, a substance found in some grains. Untreated celiac disease can lead to a number of nutritional deficiencies, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2001
March 2001
When your mother tells you to eat your broccoli, you should listen.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
February 2001
As a physically active individual in today's world, you are likely to be bombarded with all sorts of claims about nutritional supplements that will enhance your athletic performance. In reality, very few have been scientifically proven to have any effect on athletic performance.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
January 2001
Japanese researchers are saying it is important for people with diabetes with normal blood-pressure levels to be on a salt-restricted diet long before the occurrence of any type of high blood pressure. In an August 24, 2000, interview with Reuters Health, M. Imanishi, MD, of Osaka City General Hospital, said, "Before hypertension, salt-sensitivity appears, especially in diabetic patients, because of the renal damage caused by the diabetes."
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
The long-term effects of a high-protein diet remain a hotly debated mystery, but a German team says such eating regimens may hold a lot of promise. According to a study published in the October 2000 issue of Diabetologia, meals high in protein stimulate glucagon secretion and increase insulin release.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
October 2000
Whether you're off to work or school, portable foods have become increasingly popular. Who needs the long waits and high prices of restaurants when your own kitchen can provide better food at better prices?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are saying a popular dietary supplement has been proven to reduce the amount of fat many dieters regain after losing weight.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
September 2000
Barbara Nelson, CDE, of Boise, Idaho, recently noticed that many of her patients were using the book "Sugarbusters!" for their dietary guidelines, usually at the recommendation of their health care providers. She wrote in asking for our thoughts on this book, and we got the following answer from Joy Pape, RN, CDE:
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
Carl S. Lau of Los Angeles, California wrote in response to our July article on the Food Guide Pyramid, wanting to know what scientific evidence there was showing low-carbohydrate diets to be unsafe. Elizabeth Rhodes, RD, LD, author of our July piece, had this to say in reply:
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
Sugar Busters Ice Cream, manufactured by Marigold Foods of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been introduced nationally as a new dessert option for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
A new study published in the July 18 Annals of Internal Medicine says exercising without dieting is as effective for modest weight loss as dieting without exercising.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
August 2000
Beef may be what's for dinner, but eating a mostly chicken diet can greatly reduce one's chances of developing kidney disease.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
July 2000
The Food Guide Pyramid does not prescribe a universal diet, but needs to be interpreted differently according to individual needs. Here are two people of very different backgrounds, and a sample menu of what they might consume to stay within the boundaries of the Pyramid. In all cases, the need for snacks should be dictated by blood glucose levels and physical activity:
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2000
June 2000
Older women with higher intakes of whole-grain foods and dietary fiber have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to findings published in the April issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
November 1999
Question: What are the “free foods,” foods that have no carbohydrates? From: Anonymous, Montana.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
September 1999
Most vacations in Southern California include trips to Disneyland, hours of lying on the beach and fat-filled restaurant dinners. However, a small subset of vacationers go there to lose weight. These people visit the Pritikin Longevity Center, located inside the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
August 1999
Instead of a sugar-free diet, people with diabetes might do better on a hang-up-free diet.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
For some years, we've heard that saturated fats are bad for us. Now, many people are pointing their fingers at trans fats.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
July 1999
Walking could be the easiest, least expensive exercise, and it is proven to help shed pounds and improve glucose levels. An Australian study looks at post-menopausal type 2 women, and how walking changed their health.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
You need more than an apple a day. Nearly every health expert agrees that you need at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. This is the way to better general health, normal weight and a good supply of antioxidants. But, unless you're one of the few who actually get five a day, it may require some effort on your part. To help make it easier, here are some tips from experts in diabetes and nutrition.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
Type 1 diabetes develops in 5 to 10 percent of all people with celiac disease, which affects approximately 1 in 250 Americans.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
June 1999
Researchers are saying that diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in children under the age of 18 has increased tenfold in the past five years.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1999
May 1999
For people with type 2 diabetes, exercise is an imperative companion piece to managing blood sugars. For people with type 1 diabetes, however, it is a more difficult proposition.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1999
April 1999
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and other national health care groups are requesting that the United States government stress fruits and vegetables more strongly in its health care guidelines for Americans. They want the government to bring fruits and vegetables to the "core" of the American diet.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
March 1999
For every study saying aspartame is harmful, another says it is not. Hundreds of studies throughout the world have been performed with aspartame. Here's just a tiny sample of contradictory studies, with a summary of their conclusions.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1999
January 1999
Authors Biermann and Toohey strike again. This prolific diabetes duo has updated their supremely popular book, The Diabetic's Book: All Your Questions Answered. Praise for previous editions says that it is a down-to-earth, practical and upbeat guide anyone can understand.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1999
December 1998
Meals 'n Carbs is a new CD-ROM designed by two diabetes educators to help people plan their meals with diabetes management in mind. The CD-ROM begins with basic information about digestion, diabetes and carbohydrate counting for people recently diagnosed with diabetes. It then progresses to a meal planner, in which you use your mouse to add foods to a meal and print out your nutritional information.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
September 1998
Helping space aliens and controlling blood glucose may sound like an odd mix, but in a new educational software program produced by the Starbright Foundation, a non-profit organization, the two work together to help teach kids about diabetes. The program, funded by Eli Lilly & Company, is just one example of the computer software products available to help people of all ages manage their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
According to research funded by the National Cattleman's Beef Association, a common fat found in red meats and cheeses might help prevent type 2 diabetes. In their study, the fatty acid, known as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) provided short-term prevention of the onset of diabetes in lab animals.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
It was over a business meal in a fancy Buffalo, New York, restaurant that the hottest new weight-loss and insulin-control program was born. The program is called Sugar Busters.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
May 1998
How full did that meal you just ate make you feel? Did it satisfy your hunger, or did it make you feel like you'll need a snack later?
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
Canyon Ranch Health Resort. Established in Tucson, Arizona, in 1979, Canyon Ranch Health Resort has two other locations in Lenox, Mass., and a soon-to-be-opened resort in Bali, Indonesia.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
December 1997
Imagine this. You enter a grocery store and on the directory directly above "Diapers" is "Diabetes". This aisle contains every food made for people with diabetes. And thankfully, a number of choices exist in this land of sugar-free sweets, sweeteners and snacks.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1997
June 1997
You exercise. You do this because it's good for your health, can help stabilize your blood sugars and makes you look and feel better. It provides you with exhilarating, character-building challenges whether you run in the Boston Marathon or increase your walking distance from two to three miles per day.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1997
April 1997
A recent study by Harvard scientists gives us one more good reason to eat our Wheaties.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1997
February 1997
New findings on the consumption of certain sugars may lead to greater dietary flexibility, at least for a small subset of people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1997
October 1996
There's a war going on: The War of the Diabetic Diets. The generals are amassing their loyal troops and building up their ammunition storehouses of research and evidence (both scientific and anecdotal). All the generals are convinced that the better diet-their diet-will prevail and rule the Land of Diabetes forever.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1996
In the current controversy between advocates of high-carbohydrates versus those who insist upon low-carbohydrates, doctors have taken to making broad, sweeping statements concerning the human race. Each side seems to have a completely different idea of what causes disease.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1996
September 1996
There came a point in Evelyn Narad's life when she knew it was time to get serious about losing weight. She was 75 years old and had been diagnosed with type II diabetes 22 years ago. A broken shoulder and hand in the summer of 1995 kept her from exercising, and every inactive day she spent inside her house seemed like another pound gained.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1996
August 1996
A new book which may revolutionize the way people with diabetes analyze food is being published out of Australia and Canada. The book, The G.I. Factor: The Glycaemic Index Solution, is a definitive look at an underutilized tool.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
For ages, people with diabetes have made sure to eat something before bed to keep their blood sugars up during the night. The trick has been to eat just enough to sustain blood sugar while not overeating. A nutritionist may recommend a half sandwich before bed, but the patient might fix himself a sixteen-layer sandwich like Dagwood Bumstead does in the comic strip. Overeating can lead to high blood sugars during the night and weight gain over an extended period.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
June 1996
The European Parliament continues to debate whether diabetic foods should be regulated by the government, according to recent Reuters reports. All countries in the European Union (EU) oppose such regulation, except Germany.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1996
April 1996
The new year is just a few months old, but how many of us have kept our New Year's resolutions to lose weight? For many people, that promise went into the dumpster with the Christmas fruitcake.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
March 1996
Fiber-we've heard it's good for us, but what exactly does that mean? What do people with diabetes need to do to make sure they're getting the right type of fiber in the right amounts? Don't worry-help is on the way.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
Go to any bookstore and look at the diet and cookbook section. You'll find book after book of lowfat diet plans and cookbooks. Go to any market and you'll see shelf after shelf of lowfat products. You'd think the lowfat lifestyle was the only way to go. The Fickle Finger of food facts can't abide by this. It just has to swivel in the opposite direction. And strangely enough, that swivel is starting right here in Diabetesland.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
February 1996
Forget the uptight approach to diabetes management. When patients come to Rhonda Howard, RD, CDE, at the Humphreys Diabetes Center in Boise, Idaho, they are taught to trust their bodies instead of fight them.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1996
January 1996
Q: Where can I get a list of "free" foods that people with diabetes can eat, and what types of snacks are available? It would be nice to be able to eat something and feel confident about what it will do to my BGs.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1996
August 1995
Researchers tested Alaskan Eskimos and Indians in 15 different villages to determine whether their diet of seal oil and salmon influenced their risk of developing diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1995
May 1994
A recent report from the University of Kuopio in Finland has found that fructose may be an acceptable alternative to sugar in the diet of people with diabetes who are liable to high after meal glucose concentrations (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 1994). In patients with mild non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, fructose may contribute lower after meal glucose and insulin responses than most other carbohydrate sources.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1994
Researchers at the University of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, are calling for a reassessment of the value of the glycemic index in the treatment of diabetes (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 1994). They cite 11 medium to long-term studies that have specifically used the glycemic index (GI) approach to determine clinical gains in diabetes or lipid management. All but one study produced positive findings.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1994
A study from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, indicates that slower rates of carbohydrate absorption might have advantages in reducing after-meal high blood sugars.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1994
November 1993
In past studies, fish oil has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of heart disease, but a new study from the Netherlands indicates that for people with diabetes, this may not be the case. The study, published in the July 1993 issue of Diabetes Care, took place over a 16 year period and included 272 people from the town of Rotterdam, 27 of whom had diabetes and 56 with glucose intolerance. Fish intake was the equivalent of 1 meal of fish per week.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1993
August 1993
July 1993
Long considered a cornerstone of diabetes management, exercise has been underemphasized as a therapeutic treatment. This is not without reason, as the effects of exercise on blood glucose levels in people with Insulin Dependent Diabetes (IDDM) is physiologically complex, and requires individual tailoring rather than a rigid, uniform prescription. As always, the most effective way to integrate exercise is by being adequately informed.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1993
January 1993
Last October, the International Diabetic Athletes Association (IDAA-USA) met in Phoenix, Arizona, for its annual meeting. At the conference, 60 active men and women shared information on methods of integrating a vigorous lifestyle with diabetes. Most of the speakers were athletes and health professionals who spoke of diabetes and exercise from personal experience.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1993
December 1992
Did you know that the average American gains approximately 7 pounds between the Thanksgiving and New Year's holiday?
0 comments - Posted Dec 3, 1992
A study conducted by a joint research group from the University of Melbourne and Deakin University in Australia has found that low-carbohydrate diets that are high in fat content can have a negative effect on blood glucose control in people with Type I diabetes. The report on the study was published in the November 1992 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1992
September 1991
For the past 10 years, I have been telling people with diabetes to drink fruit juice only if they are having a hypoglycemic reaction. My feelings on this issue have now been backed up in a recent study published in the Diabetes Educator (volume 17, number 4). Marilyn Sullivan, MS, RD, CDE and Robert Scott, MD found that both fruit juice and decaffeinated cola raised patients blood sugar at a similar rate. They concluded by stating: "When it comes time to revise the Diabetic Exchange Lists for Meal Planning, the authors may want to reconsider listing fruit juices as acceptable choices from the fruit list to be used in routine meal planning."
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1991