Diabetes

7 Reasons Vegetarians Live Longer

There’s nothing wrong with eating meat if you’re doing so in moderation (I for one, will never give up the occasional cheeseburger), but research does show that vegetarians tend to be healthier overall, and even live longer.

Now there’s another health perk vegetarians can boast about. A new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine looked at data from seven clinical studies and 32 other studies published between 1900 and 2013 where participants kept a vegetarian diet and found that vegetarians have lower blood pressure compared to people who eat meat.

Here are some other reasons vegetarians may outlive meat-lovers.

1. Low blood pressure: In the latest study, researchers found that not only do vegetarians have lower blood pressure on average, but that vegetarian diets could be used to lower blood pressure among people who need an intervention.

2. Lower risk of death: A 2013 study of more than 70,000 people found that vegetarians had a 12% lower risk of death compared with non-vegetarians. With none of the saturated fat and cholesterol that clogs arteries, vegetarians may be at a lower risk for chronic diseases overall.

3. Better moods: A 2012 study randomly split participants into a three diets: all-meat allowed, fish-only, and vegetarian no-meat. The researchers found that after two weeks, the people on the vegetarian diet reported more mood improvements than those on the other two diets.

4. Less chance of heart disease: Another 2013 study of 44,000 people reported that vegetarians were 32% less likely to develop ischemic heart disease.

5. Lower risk of cancer: Researchers at Loma Linda University in California studied different versions of the vegetarian diet and cancer risk among people at a low risk for cancer overall and discovered that a vegetarian diet may have protective benefits. Although the study is not the final say on the matter, vegans had the lowest risk for cancers, specifically cancers most common among women, like breast cancer.

6. Lower risk of diabetes: Studies have shown that vegetarians are at a lower risk for developing diabetes. While the diet won’t cure the disease, it can lower an individual’s risk by helping them maintain weight and improve blood sugar control.

7. Less likely to be overweight: Research shows that vegetarians tend to be leaner than their meat-eating counterparts, and that they also tend to have lower cholesterol and body mass index (BMI). Some data suggests that a vegetarian diet can help with weight loss and be better for maintaining a healthy weight over time.

People who don’t eat vegetarian can still be very healthy, and a vegetarian diet comes with its own health risks. For instance, research has also shown that vegetarians are at a higher risk for iron deficiencies, and some experts question whether children who are raised vegetarian get the right amount of nutrients for their growing bodies. Making sure you get the right amount of nutrients is important, and keeping your physician in the loop about your eating habits can make sure you’re meeting all the requirements for good health.

Source: health and Time

Scientists query health risk of food package chemicals

Scientists say “far too little” is known about the health risks of chemicals used in food packaging, and some could cause cancer.

Research is needed to understand the effect on the human body and embryonic development of at least 4,000 chemicals used in packaging, they said.

Links between packaging and obesity, diabetes and neurological diseases need to be explored, scientists warned.

But critics have said that the call is alarmist.

Scientists Jane Muncke, John Peterson Myers, Martin Scheringer and Miquel Porta called for an investigation into the health risks of food packaging in a commentary piece published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

‘Lifelong exposure’
They noted that chemicals such as formaldehyde, which they said can cause cancer, were used in many materials, such as plastics used for fizzy-drink bottles and tableware.

Substances could leach into food, and they added that the risks of “lifelong exposure” to such chemicals were not documented, said the researchers.

“Whereas the science for some of these substances is being debated and policymakers struggle to satisfy the needs of stakeholders, consumers remain exposed to these chemicals daily, mostly unknowingly,” they said.

But carrying out analysis would not be easy, they said, as there are no unexposed populations for comparison.

The call for research has attracted criticism.

Dr Ian Musgrave, senior lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Adelaide, said it was “very hard to take seriously” the claims that formaldehyde in plastic bottles could cause cancer.

He said it was present in many foods naturally, and to consume as much formaldehyde as that in an apple someone would have to drink “at least” 20 litres of plastic-bottled water.

Dr Musgrave added: “Obviously the concern about formaldehyde from food packaging is significantly overrated, unless we are willing to place ‘potential cancer hazard’ stickers on fresh fruit and vegetables.”

‘High levels of fat’
Jon Ayres, Professor of Environmental and Respiratory Medicine at the University of Birmingham, said the scientists painted an “alarmist” picture.

He said there was “no denying” that ingesting lower doses of some substances could “in principle” be harmful, but the issue was how to recognise and quantify any effect.

Prof Ayres added: “But can these effects really be anything other than modest at worst when few have been recognised to date?”

He said that simply calling for a different approach to the chemicals “does not really help”.

Dr Oliver Jones, lecturer at the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, said: “More research is always welcome from a scientist’s point of view.

“But I would hazard a guess that the high levels of fat, sugar and salt in a lot of today’s processed food are more of a health concern than any migration of chemicals from the packaging.”

Source: BBC news

Three reasons why fast food is bad for you

Most people now flock to fast food every day due to hectic schedules in the fast-paced world, which is really unhealthy and dangerous for your health. Below are three reasons why eating fast food is bad:

Obesity: Junk food is a major contributor to obesity, which increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other chronic health problems. According to studies, kids who eat junk food regularly as part of their diet consume more fat, carbohydrates and processed sugar and less fiber leading to weight gain than those who do not eat fast food on a regular basis.

Bad cholesterol level: Since most of the fast foods contain high levels of saturated fat, eating these foods regularly can up the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood. High levels of cholesterol can cause heart attack and stroke.These foods also contain trans fat, which is the worst type of fat. Trans fat is linked to increased levels of bad cholesterol in the blood.

Sodium: Many fast foods contain high levels of sodium, which can cause high blood pressure, obesity, osteoporosis, etc. We need to eat certain amount of salt every day but overconsumption is harmful for the body. Experts have linked bowel cancer to overconsumption of salt.

Source: Zee news

Tips to CONTROL your DIABETES naturally

10 ways that will help you in taking care of your blood sugar levels in a natural way

1. Fibre rich natural foods

Diabetics should load up on fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains as they provide extraordinary support to your digestive system plus your liver. These foods add up the fibre content that helps in clearing toxins from your body as fibre binds to wastes and moves them out

2. Daily exercise

Exercise done daily helps stimulate your respiratory system that includes heart, lungs and breathing that are all natural detoxifiers. Even as you lose weight, you shed the fat that stores toxins.

3. Avoid fad diets

Any kind of diet, even a detox or a cleansing diet or any fasting, dramatically disturbs metabolism and may even do long-term damage especially for people with diabetes.

Diabetics need a steady source of nutrients to support blood sugar, not fasting that overstresses your body’s metabolism.

4. Grapefruit healthy for diabetics

Grapefruit is rich in Vitamin C and Lycopene, anti-oxidants that help protect against heart disease by lowering cholesterol and fighting free radicals.

Pectin in Grapefruit helps control blood sugar spikes.
4. Grapefruit healthy for diabetics

Grapefruit is rich in Vitamin C and Lycopene, anti-oxidants that help protect against heart disease by lowering cholesterol and fighting free radicals.

Pectin in Grapefruit helps control blood sugar spikes.

5. Nuts are healthy for diabetics

Nuts are rich in fibre and magnesium, both of which may help regulate your blood sugar; nuts are good food sources of vitamin E, an anti-oxidant that helps prevent nerve and eye damage.

Nuts go a long way in providing seniors with healthy monounsaturated fats that is good for the diabetic heart. Nuts are high in calories so a small handful each day is enough.

6. Spices healthy for diabetics

Polyphenols found in spices and herbs are powerful anti-oxidants and have an anti-inflammatory effect. Phytonutrients in Cinnamon help improve the ability to respond to insulin, thus helping normalising blood sugar levels.

Add cloves, cinnamon, oregano, marjoram, and sage to your meal.

7. Whole grains vital and healthy for diabetics

Whole grains are packed with anti-oxidants and soluble and insoluble fibre, helping reduce blood sugar spikes, overcome insulin resistance, metabolise fats and also keep the digestive track healthy.

People who eat whole grains regularly have lower blood cholesterol and the grain also keeps blood sugar levels stable.

8. Lean meat healthy for diabetics

Lean meats, fish, beans, soy products and low fat dairy products are great sources of protein.

Ensure that the protein food you choose is low in calories and saturated fat.

9. Protein choices for diabetics

The best choices of protein foods are lower in saturated fat and calories like dried beans, legumes, peas and lentils as they are packed with protein, fibre and complex carbs.

Fish and seafood like cod, halibut herring, salmon, trout, tuna, are excellent protein foods for diabetics; try poultry, without skin with lean cuts of chicken, and turkey.

10. Omega 3 rich foods for diabetics

Salmon or tuna is rich in protein and good fats that help stabilize blood sugar.

You may also include cod, halibut herring, trout, or tuna in your diabetic diet.

Source: rediff

GSK’s diabetes drug set for European approval

GlaxoSmithKline said on Friday European regulators had given the green light to its once-weekly diabetes drug albiglutide, which it is marketing as Eperzan.

Albiglutide belongs to the same class of injectable GLP-1 drugs as Victoza, from Novo Nordisk, and Byetta and Bydureon, from Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca.

A positive recommendation for a drug by the European Medicines Agency is generally followed by a marketing authorization by the European Commission. GSK said a final decision was anticipated later this quarter.

Last year regulators in the United States pushed back an approval decision on the drug until April 15.

Source: Reuters

Eating lingonberries could help prevent weight gain

Eating lingonberries could prevent weight gain more effectively than so-called “superberries”, research suggests.

Scientists tested a variety of berries from raspberries to blackcurrants for the effects they have on mice and found the Scandinavian berry almost completely prevented an increase in weight.

The lingonberries also produced lower blood sugar levels and cholesterol, the researchers from Lund University in Sweden found.

However, the açai berry from Central and South America, which is hailed as a “superberry”, came last in the study.
The team of scientists used a type of mouse regarded as a model for overweight humans at risk of diabetes because it easily stores fat. Some of the mice were fed a low-fat diet, while the majority of the animals were fed a diet high in fat.

They were then divided into groups, where all except a control group were fed a type of berry – lingonberry, bilberry, raspberry, crowberry, blackberry, prune, blackcurrant or açai berry.

When the mice were compared after three months, the lingonberry group had “by far the best results”, the researchers said.

The mice that had eaten lingonberries had not put on more weight than the mice that had eaten a low-fat diet – and their blood sugar and insulin readings were similar to those of the ‘low-fat’ mice. Their cholesterol levels and levels of fat in the liver were also lower than those of the animals who received a high-fat diet without any berries.
Blackcurrants and bilberries also produced good effects, although not as pronounced as the lingonberries.

The good results from lingonberries may be due to their polyphenol content, according to the researchers, who are continuing work to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in their effect, while studying whether the effect can be observed in humans.
Karin Berger, a diabetes researcher at Lund University, said: “Up to 20 per cent of our mice’s diet was lingonberries. It isn’t realistic for humans to eat such a high proportion.

“However, the goal is not to produce such dramatic effects as in the ‘high-fat’ mice, but rather to prevent obesity and diabetes by supplementing a more normal diet with berries.”
She added: “In our study, the açai berries led to weight gain and higher levels of fat in the liver.”

The researchers warned against eating large quantities of lingonberry jam, because boiling the berries can affect their nutrient content and jam contains a lot of sugar. They recommended eating frozen lingonberries on cereal or in a smoothie.

Source: telegraph

Chocolate, Tea, Berries May Cut Diabetes Risk

A diet that includes substances found in chocolate, tea and berries could help protect people against diabetes and other diseases, new research shows.

The study included nearly 2,000 healthy women in the United Kingdom who completed a food questionnaire and were tested for blood sugar (glucose) regulation, inflammation and insulin resistance.

“Our research looked at the benefits of eating certain sub-groups of flavanoids. We focused on flavones, which are found in herbs and vegetables such as parsley, thyme and celery, and anthocyanins, found in berries, red grapes, wine and other red or blue-colored fruits and vegetables,” study leader Aedin Cassidy, of the University of East Anglia in England, said in a university news release.

The investigators found that consuming high levels of flavones and anthocyanins was associated with lower insulin resistance, better blood sugar regulation and lower levels of inflammation. Chronic inflammation is associated with diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The study was published in the Journal of Nutrition.

“This is one of the first large-scale human studies to look at how these powerful bioactive compounds might reduce the risk of diabetes,” Cassidy said.

Earlier research that took place in laboratories suggested that these types of foods might affect blood sugar, which plays a role in type 2 diabetes risk, she noted. However, it was unknown how regular consumption of these ingredients might affect a person’s blood glucose and inflammation levels and insulin resistance, Cassidy said in the news release.

What remains unclear is exactly what amounts of these compounds are needed to reduce the risk of diabetes, the study authors added. Also unclear is how much of a health benefit the compounds really carry — the study found an association between consumption and seemingly better health but not cause-and-effect.

According to study co-author Tim Spector, of King’s College London, “This is an exciting finding that shows that some components of foods that we consider unhealthy like chocolate or wine may contain some beneficial substances. If we can start to identify and separate these substances we can potentially improve healthy eating,” he said in the news release.

Source: webmd

Traditional Chinese medicine may reduce risk of diabetes

Diabetes Definition

New research shows Chinese herbal medicine may hold promising solutions for people with pre-diabetes, reports a study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

A prediabetes diagnosis indicates that an individual has elevated blood sugar levels, but his or her glucose levels are not high enough to have developed Type 2 diabetes.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) focuses on establishing balance in the body in order to treat disease, according to study author Dr. Chun-Su Yuan, director of the Tang Center for Herbal Medicine Research at the University of Chicago.

“It’s a more holistic approach, using medicine to change the overall body function instead of very specifically on symptoms and organs [like Western medicine],” Yuan, who is also the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Chinese Medicine, told FoxNews.com.

For this study, researchers combined TCM’s traditional principles with modern medicine by identifying herbs that have proven effective in treating people with diabetes.

In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, 389 participants with impaired glucose tolerance (a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes) were tested every three months to monitor whether they had developed diabetes – or if they had experienced a restoration of normal glucose tolerance (NGT), meaning they were no longer at risk for diabetes.

Half of the participants were treated with a Chinese herbal mixture called Tianqi. Tianqi is a capsule containing 10 Chinese herbal medicines including Astragali Radix and Coptidis Rhizoma, which have been previously shown to improve glucose levels. All subjects received dietary education and were advised to maintain their usual physical fitness routines.

Overall, the study found that Tianqi appeared to reduce the risk of diabetes among study participants by 32.1 percent, compared to the placebo group. At the end of the study, 125 subjects (63.13 percent) in the Tianqi group had achieved normal glucose tolerance, compared to only 89 (46.6 percent) in the placebo group. Among the participants who went on to develop diabetes, 56 subjects (29.32 percent) were in the placebo group, compared to only 36 (18.18 percent) in the Tianqi group.

There were no reported severe adverse side effects from Tianqi.

“We are excited about this,” Yuan said. “It’s an advantage that we did not observe bad side effects.”

Furthermore, researchers believe Chinese medicine may be almost as effective as Western drugs used to tread diabetes.

“The data from our study showed that Chinese medicine has comparable effects ,” Yuan said.

However, Yuan noted that because the study was conducted in China, further research may be needed in order to prove the effectiveness of Tianqi for patients in other countries. Future research will also need to focus on quality control issues surrounding the use of herbal medicines in clinical studies, Yuan said.

“It’s not easy to do controlled trials of herbal medicine and this study did it and showed promising effects,” Yuan said. “But we need to do more studies with the possibility that in five to seven years TCM has better utility in the U.S.”

Source: Fox News

 

 

walking more is better for your health

People who walk enough to meet or exceed physical activity recommendations may be less likely to die early than those who only walk a little, new research shows.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends adults be physically active for at least two and a half hours per week. Previous research has shown exercising more than that may bring extra benefits.

“An important question left to be answered is how much walking is beneficial,” study author Paul Williams, from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, said.

He analyzed data from 42,000 mostly middle-aged people who enrolled in the National Walkers’ Health Study between 1998 and 2001. They had all subscribed to a walking magazine or attended walking events before the study.

Walkers filled out questionnaires about their health and lifestyle, including exercise and eating habits. Williams then used death records to track who in the study was still alive at the end of 2008.

Based on their questionnaire responses, 23 percent of participants didn’t walk enough to meet physical activity guidelines. Another 16 percent met the guidelines, and the rest exceeded them.

Over an average of nine and a half years, 2,448 people died – almost 6 percent.

Compared to people who didn’t meet the guidelines, those who walked more than the basic recommendation had a one-third lower chance of dying during the study period. Those who met but didn’t exceed the recommendation had an 11 percent lower chance.

That was after taking into account other differences between people who walked various amounts, like diet and education levels.

Participants who walked more had a reduced risk of dying from a stroke, diabetes and heart disease, in particular.

Walking provides plenty of health benefits. But it’s important to note that people who walk more may do so because they are healthier and therefore more able to be active, Williams said. So the new study doesn’t prove walking will extend a person’s life.

“There is always the question of the chicken and the egg – whether people who are healthier are able to walk farther or, conversely, whether the longer distance they walk may translate into better health benefits,” Williams told Reuters Health.

Based on the results, he suggested changing current guidelines by bumping up the minimum amount of physical activity to five hours per week and developing a two-tiered recommendation system that encourages people to exercise more than they do currently.

One tier would aim to get people active, and the other to add to the activity people are already doing, Williams said. That would underscore the point that for couch potatoes, starting to exercise is a healthy move – but the benefits don’t stop there.

“Achieving the weekly exercise guidelines is good,” Williams said, “but exceeding them is even better.”

“When it comes to walking, more is obviously better,” María Simón agreed. She is a fitness trainer and national spokesperson for the AHA and was not involved in the new research.

But, Simón said, the current physical activity guidelines are appropriate.

“The AHA has been very clear in specifying that the recommended guidelines are ‘minimum’ requirements to reduce the risk of heart-related diseases and death and has even provided guidelines for increased activity,” she wrote in an emailed comment.

“Nevertheless, I believe the take-home of this and similar studies is a positive one: ‘Move . . . Just get up and move,'” Simón said.

Source:  Zee news

Packaging insulin into a pill-friendly form for diabetes treatment

Since insulin’s crucial discovery nearly a century ago, countless diabetes patients have had to inject themselves with the life-saving medicine. Now scientists from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, Punjab, India are reporting a new development toward a long-sought insulin pill that could save millions the pain of daily shots.

Published in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal Biomacromolecules, the advance could someday not only eliminate the “ouch” factor, but also get needle-wary — and weary — patients to take their medicine when they should.

Sanyog Jain, assistant professor, centre for pharmaceutical nanotechnology, department of pharmaceutics, NIPER and colleagues explain that patients with diabetes sometimes skip doses or stop taking their insulin because the injections can be painful. But doing so puts their health in danger.

An estimated 347 million people globally (about 26 million in the US) are living with diabetes. In the US, more than a quarter of these patients are taking some kind of insulin therapy.

For years, researchers have sought a way to transform delivery of this therapy from a shot to a pill, but it has been a challenge. The body’s digestive enzymes that are so good at breaking down food also break down insulin before it can get to work. In addition, insulin doesn’t get easily absorbed through the gut into the bloodstream. To overcome these hurdles, Jain’s team combined two approaches to shield insulin from the digestive enzymes and then get it into the blood.

The researchers packaged insulin in tiny sacs made of lipids, or fats, called liposomes, which are already used in some treatments. Then, they wrapped the liposomes in layers of protective molecules called polyelectrolytes. To help these “layersomes” get absorbed into the bloodstream, they attached folic acid, a kind of vitamin B that has been shown to help transport liposomes across the intestinal wall into the blood. In rats, the delivery system lowered blood glucose levels almost as much as injected insulin, though the effects of the layersomes lasted longer than that of injected insulin.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Department of Science and Technology (India) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi.
Source: India medical Times