Home
You can view the current or previous issues of Diabetes Health online, in their entirety, anytime you want.
Click Here To View
See if you qualify for our free healthcare professional magazines. Click here to start your application for Pre-Diabetes Health, Diabetes Health Pharmacist and Diabetes Health Professional.
Latest Obesity Articles
Popular Obesity Articles
Highly Recommended Obesity Articles
Email to a Friend
Send a link to this page to your friends and colleagues.
Potassium May Help Prevent Diabetes
Bananas are a good source of potassium.
To discover the relationship between potassium levels and type 2 diabetes, a Johns Hopkins University study looked at more than 12,000 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), performed in 1987 and 1996. The study found that as potassium levels went up, the incidence of diabetes among study participants went down. The more than 2,000 African Americans in the study had lower average potassium levels than the 9,000 Caucasians and were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
Hsin-Chieh "Jessica" Yeh, PhD, a study investigator, notes that the findings do not mean that everyone should immediately start taking potassium supplements. They do indicate that a low potassium level is a risk factor for developing diabetes and that, on average, African Americans have lower potassium levels than whites. Yeh also states that low potassium levels are linked in healthy people to higher insulin and glucose levels, both hallmarks of diabetes.
Low potassium level is a "novel" risk factor for diabetes that may be as important for some ethnicities as obesity, especially because earlier studies have shown that African Americans get less potassium in their diets than whites.
Still to come are clinical trials to see if managing potassium levels, either through diet changes or by adding supplements, reduces the risk of diabetes for some ethnic groups. Meanwhile, eating foods high in potassium can't hurt. Potassium is found in many foods, including bananas, lentils, melons, and yogurt.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2011
Categories: African Americans, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, Bananas, Caucasians, Diabetes, Diabetes, Food, Johns Hopkins University, Lentils, Melons, Obesity, Potassium Levels, Type 2 Diabetes, Type 2 Issues, Yogurt
You May Also Be Interested In...
-
Diabetes Health
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues.
-
Topics
- Diabetic / Diabetes Health
- Type 1 / 1.5 Diabetes
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Blood Glucose / Sugar
- High/Low Blood Sugar / Fast Acting Glucose
- Insulin- Pumps, Pens & Syringes
- Continuous Glucose Monitors, CGM, Infusion Sets
- Type 2 Medications
- Hyperglycemia
- Hypoglycemia
Comments
Add your comments about this article below. You can add comments as a registered user or anonymously. If you choose to post anonymously your comments will be sent to our moderator for approval before they appear on this page. If you choose to post as a registered user your comments will appear instantly.
When voicing your views via the comment feature, please respect the Diabetes Health community by refraining from comments that could be considered offensive to other people. Diabetes Health reserves the right to remove comments when necessary to maintain the cordial voice of the diabetes community.
For your privacy and protection, we ask that you do not include personal details such as address or telephone number in any comments posted.
Don't have your Diabetes Health Username? Register now and add your comments to all our content.
Register...
Register your Diabetes Health Username here.
Have Your Say...