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8 Foods to Eat to Beat Diabetes (and 5 to Avoid!)

10/31/2014

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Whole Grains
Not all carbs are bad. Foods made with whole grains, such as whole-wheat bread and brown rice, are sources of filling fiber (aiding weight loss, which can reduce your diabetes risk) and nutrients such as potassium, which helps the pancreas release insulin, the hormone that helps your cells use glucose for energy.

Fish, Eggs, Poultry
Carnivores, rejoice: These foods (poultry without the skin) are fair game in a diabetes-friendly diet. Why? Because they're high in protein (result: full stomach) but typically low in fat (result: better weight management). Fatty fish also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which cut down on cardiovascular problems that can accompany diabetes.

Fruits
These sweet treats aren't forbidden. Although they do contain sugar, the rate at which it enters the bloodstream is slowed by fiber. Fruits with a red, blue or purple hue might be particularly beneficial, because they're loaded with anthocyanins, compounds that heighten your body's sensitivity to insulin.

Nuts and Seeds
Craving a snack? Grab a handful of nuts. Even though they're high in calories, they're also packed with filling protein and healthy fat that can help keep your weight in check. If you're a fan of walnuts, you're especially in luck, because their high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids improves the body's sensitivity to insulin.

Green Leafy Vegetables
Pretty much everyone, with or without diabetes, should eat a lot of veggies—ideally at least three servings per day—and green leafy types, including spinach, kale and such salad staples as romaine, should top the list. They have high fiber and water content that satiates your appetite on fewer calories, and they're an important source of magnesium, which improves the body's ability to turn glucose into energy and keep your metabolism humming (a process that is impaired in people with diabetes).

Legumes
Beans, lentils and other legumes provide blood sugar–stabilizing fiber and are a great source of protein and other nutrients, including potassium. They also are very low in saturated fat, making them a good substitute for meat.

Healthy Fats
Because diabetes raises your risk of heart disease, it's smart to avoid saturated fats (found in meat, butter and full-fat cheese and milk products) and trans fats (margarine), which raise your LDL cholesterol levels. Switching to heart-friendly monounsaturated fats (found in olive and canola oil and avocado) and polyunsaturated fats (corn oil, safflower oil) will lower your LDL cholesterol levels.

Low-Fat Dairy Products
One eight-year study found that postmenopausal women who consumed the greatest amount of low-fat dairy were least likely to develop type 2 diabetes (full-fat dairy had no beneficial effect). Experts theorize that's due to the vitamin D and calcium, which improve sensitivity to insulin.

5 Foods to Avoid
Although no food is totally taboo, keep these five to a minimum.

Red meat has long been associated with type 2 diabetes. A 2011 Harvard University study found that people who increased their red-meat intake by 3½ servings per week had a nearly 50 percent higher risk of developing the disease.
Starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, corn and peas, are high in calories and carbs compared with the leafy variety. Add peas sparingly to a salad (instead of eating them solo) or eat just half a baked potato (including the skin, which contains fiber).
Refined grains (found in white bread and most pastas) and concentrated sources of sugar (in sweets) are quickly converted into glucose, leading to a spike in blood sugar.
Fruit juice has sugar but little or none of fruit's filling fiber, which slows the absorption of sugar into the body. The result? A sugar high that doesn't quell your appetite.
Soda--both regular and diet. Numerous studies link consumption of artificially sweetened beverages to an increased diabetes risk.

We invite you to visit our Homepage for additional information on products and studies on diabetes.

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These Sugar Substitutes May Cause More Diabetes Than They Help

10/31/2014

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Millions of people around the world consume diet drinks with artificial sweeteners to lose weight or to prevent diabetes. They are sabotaging their weight-loss efforts. Artificial sweeteners cause diabetes and obesity.

Research at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel was done on the big three artificial sweeteners:
1. Aspartame, found in many diet drinks.
2. Saccharin, found in Sweet ‘n Low.
3. Sucralose found in Splenda.

All of them raised the risk of diabetes.

How Is This Happening?
“Especially intriguing is the link between use of artificial sweeteners – through the bacteria in our guts — to a tendency to develop the very disorders they were designed to prevent,” says Lead researcher Professor Eran Elinav.

Researchers studied the gut microbes found in both humans and mice. They found that artificial sweeteners altered the composition and function of bacteria in the intestines. This bacteria lives naturally in our digestive system and helps us to digest food and nutrients.

This altered composition and function of bacteria can affect the body’s ability to deal with sugar.

Altered Bacteria = Glucose Intolerance
Glucose intolerance usually develops when the body, flooded with large amounts of sugar, responds with inflammation . The body in this situation loses the ability to absorb and burn that sugar in the cell. The sugar therefore either stays in the bloodstream and causes more high blood sugar (and eventually diabetes) OR it is stored as fat.

Dr. Elinav theorizes that certain bacteria react to the chemical sweeteners by secreting substances which also provoke an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response then causes a similar gluten intolerance.

“The magnitude of the differences (between those who were eating artificial sweeteners and those who abstained) were not just a few percentages. These were actually very dramatic differences we saw both in the mice and in the human settings,” said Eran Segal, Weizmann Institute computational biologist.

Professor Eran Elinav has stopped using artificial sweeteners and removed sugar from his diet.

There have been other studies linking artificial sweeteners to diabetes:
Study in 2007 in the journal Diabetes Care found similar results.

A study on Insulin Sensitivity in 2012 found aspartame decreased insulin sensitivity and affected brain function negatively.

Still larger-scale human studies are urgently required says Dr Katarina Kos, a diabetes expert, University of Exeter.

Artificial sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame K, neotame and sucralose) are all approved for use in the U.S. by the FDA. Thus, millions consume artificial sweeteners daily because they think they are doing a good thing. You can read all about the various artificial sweeteners at: Are You Dying To Be Thin?

We need to stop drinking diet and sweetened drinks. The best beverage is water. Water helps cleanse our body, keeps us hydrated and does not raise our blood sugar. It’s cheaper too!

Drink and eat Real Food.
At Real Food For Life, I try to inspire people to eat foods that your body can recognize and digest. This means whole foods – what I call real foods. Below are two real food recipes.

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Diabetes apps for your smartphone

10/29/2014

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In recognition of November’s World Diabetes Day, here are two smartphone diabetes apps designed to help you track, analyze and manage your numbers.

Diabetes: Glucose Buddy by GlucoseBuddy.com
Features: This app helps manage diabetes by tracking glucose readings that are entered four times a day, along with food consumed, exercise and medication. There’s also an alarm that reminds you to take your glucose readings. You can even write notes to explain unusual circumstances, such as high-carbohydrate meals. Data can be uploaded to glucosebuddy.com for a more detailed analysis.
Operating System: iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
Cost: Free

OnTrack Diabetes
Features: This helpful app tracks your blood sugar, food intake, medication, blood pressure, pulse, activity, and weight. You can customize categories like medicine and exercise type, and export your data in several formats.
Operating System: Android
Cost: Free

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8 Ways Drinking Soda is Killing You

10/29/2014

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High calorie counts, insane amounts of added sugar, and unnatural additives. We all know soda is by no means healthy. It has become a major focus in the media and public health policies for good reason. America is faced with a grave issue, obesity. According to the CDC, close to 35% of U.S. adults are obese, and studies suggest, soda may play a large role in that frightening number.

Have you looked at the back of a soda can lately? Half of the ingredients are unpronounceable and the calorie count, unbearable. And diet soda? Even worse. Researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have found that older adults who drink soda daily have a 44 percent higher chance of heart attack.

Numerous studies and evidence prove that soft drinks are connected to far too many life threatening diseases. But, the empty shelves at bodegas, and blinking red ‘sold out’ scroll on vending machines are proof that soda is still the beverage choice for millions of people. So, we’ve compiled a list of the 8 reasons you NEED to stop drinking soda, because science proves, it may actually be killing you.

Aging Cells
A new study by researchers at the University of California has determined that soda is actually shortening your life by 4.6 years. The study looks at the sugary drink outside of it’s known relationship with obesity and found that it actually ages your cells. The findings reported in American Journal of Public Health show telomeres, or the protective units of DNA, were much in white blood cells of people who drink more soda. This type of health issue has been found to develop diseases associated to aging including heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancer types.

Higher Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
A study published in Diabetes Care found that aside from additional weight gain, regularly drinking soda increases a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 26% more than those who drink soda more sparingly. This risk was found to develop in those often drinking 1-2 servings of soda a day.

Higher Risk of Gout
Over the course of 22 years, one study, published in JAMA, found that sugar-sweetened soda was associated with an increasing risk of gout in women. In the 80,000 women study it found that those who drank soda had a 75% higher risk than those who rarely drank.

Higher Risk of a Heart Attack
A 2012 study published in Circulation found that drinking soda increases your risk of heart disease. In the men studied, there was a high increased risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) and adverse changes in inflammatory factors, lipids, and leptin. The study found that those who had an average of one can of soda a day were 20% more likely to have a heart attack or die from a heart attack.

Obesity
Last year, an article in Obesity Review discussed the fact that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are the single largest source of added sugar in diets in the U.S. With two out of three adults obese in the U.S., cutting down on sodas could dramatically change our health issues.

Can Cause Nerve Disorders
Researches have found that there is a very dangerous chemical in certain sodas, such as Mountain Dew. The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is an industrial chemical used as flame retardant in plastics. The chemical has been associated with memory loss and nerve disorders if consumed in high quantities.

Changes Your Metabolism
One study published in the European Journal of Nutrition tracked the daily intake of healthy men and women as they drank a Super Gulp of soda each day. After four weeks, researchers found that the participants’ metabolisms had completely changed, and it was more difficult for them to lose weight or burn fat.

All the Crazy Chemicals
Many studies have found crazy chemicals in soda such as 4-methylimidazole in the brown coloring. This chemical has proven to make animals sick and in sodas are in higher levels than legally allowed without a warning label. BPA has also been found to keep acids from reacting to the metal of cans, and BPA has been found to interfere with hormones.

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Why Is Blood Sugar High In The Morning?

10/27/2014

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Although it would seem like the body would have the lowest blood glucose in the morning this often isn’t the case for these 5 reasons.

1. Glucose Happens 24/7
All the cells in the body need glucose to fuel their function, even when we sleep. So the body breaks down stores in the liver so that the body and brain can continue to go about their functions. This glucose production will still occur when you don’t eat and in fact if you skip a meal it can increase the livers production of glucose.

2. Morning Hormones Raise Blood Glucose
Cortisol (our stress hormone) is the hormone that slowly increases in levels from around 3 am onwards to reach it’s peak early in the morning. This occurs to get us moving and to give us energy. But cortisol stimulates a rise in blood sugar response so it is in fact a ‘normal’ response but if you are diabetic there is one factor that impacts both the overnight glucose production and the rise in glucose with cortisol, and that is decreased insulin production.

3. Decreased Insulin Production
Because type 2 diabetics naturally have decreased insulin production there is not enough insulin being produced to bring these levels down, even during the night when you are sleeping. Your body is still producing glucose, your hormones are still doing their thing but insulin production is low and this is especially so during periods of fasting.

So in Yvonne’s case where she didn’t eat anything this explains why her morning levels were so high the next day.

4. Hypoglycemia known as the Somogyi effect
This is less common but in some people with diabetes low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can occur while you are sleeping. This can also cause more glucose production. Remember our cells need it so if the body thinks it’s low it will naturally produce more. So if you’re trying to identify why your blood sugar is so high in the morning, you might want to wake yourself up during the night to test it, just in case this might be your situation and your insulin needs to be adjusted. You can read more about the somogyi effect here.

5. Poor Food Choices
The last thing that can have an effect is poor food choices. Regardless of the time of day poor food choices will impact your glucose levels negatively.

So I hope that helps to answer that question.

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Gestational Diabetes May Influence Daughter's Weight Later

10/26/2014

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THURSDAY, Oct. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Daughters of women who developed gestational diabetes while pregnant may be at increased risk for being obese later in childhood, a new study suggests.

The research included more than 400 girls in California who were followed from 2005 to 2011, with annual visits to check their height, weight, body fat and abdominal obesity. The girls were between 6 and 8 years old at the start of the study. The researchers also examined the medical records of the girls' mothers.

Twenty-seven mothers developed gestational diabetes, according to the researchers. Girls whose mothers had gestational diabetes were 3.5 times more likely to be overweight later in childhood than those whose mothers did not have gestational diabetes, according to the study.

Daughters were 5.5 times more likely to become overweight if their moms had gestational diabetes and were overweight before pregnancy, the study found. The daughters were also more likely to have higher amounts of body fat as well as abdominal obesity, according to the researchers. These associations were independent of other factors known to influence overweight/obesity in girls, including race/ethnicity, having an obese mother, and stage of puberty, the study noted.

"Glucose [blood sugar] levels during pregnancy, particularly gestational diabetes, were associated with the girls being overweight, and this association was much stronger if the mother was also overweight before pregnancy," said study lead author Ai Kubo, an epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., in a Kaiser Permanente news release.

However, this study only found an association between a daughter's later weight and her mother's weight and diabetes status during pregnancy. It wasn't able to prove that these factors directly caused the girls to be overweight.

But the findings suggest that getting women to control their weight and improve their lifestyle before pregnancy may help reduce their children's risk of obesity, the researchers said.

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High Magnesium Intake May Reduce Diabetes Risk

10/25/2014

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A higher magnesium intake is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online ahead of print in Diabetes Care.

Researchers led by Adela Hruby, PhD, MPH, of the Harvard School of Public Health observed 2,582 healthy, non-diabetic patients aged 26 to 81 years who had been enrolled in the 7-year Framingham Heart Study (FHS). Among them, 42% had been overweight and 21% obese. None of them had symptoms of diabetes.

They found that, after 7 years, patients with the highest intake of magnesium were associated with at least a 53% reduced risk of overall diabetes compared to those with the lowest intake.

Additionally, there was a 37% reduced risk of developing metabolic impairment with higher magnesium. Among those who already had metabolic impairment at baseline, higher intake was linked with a 32% reduced risk of new-onset diabetes.

“This is a strong study due to its large sample size, the length of study, and all of the measures of insulin sensitivity,” said Stella Lucia Volpe, PhD, RD, LDN, of the Department of Nutrition Sciences at Drexel University in Philadelphia. “They included those who did not have diabetes mellitus to establish if dietary intake can prevent diabetes mellitus over time.”

In a study involving more than 2,500 people, those with the highest magnesium intake had the lowest risk of developingtype 2 diabetes over a 7-year period, as reported online ahead of print in Diabetes Care. “There is a substantial body of literature linking low magnesium intake or low magnesium status (as measured in the blood) to greater risk of diabetes,” added lead author Adela Hruby, PhD, MPH, who was a graduate student at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition when she conducted this research, and is now a Research Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. “

In contrast to other micronutrients, relatively little attention is given to adequate magnesium as an important part of a healthy diet." she said. "In fact, we know from national surveys, as well as in our own research populations, that somewhere between 50% and 75% of Americans have inadequate magnesium intake. When compared to a similar mineral, like calcium, which many Americans get more than enough of, the low magnesium intake presents a striking contrast."

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Drinking Tea for Diabetes Prevention

10/24/2014

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The fountain of youth still remains elusive, but there's something that seems close: green tea. People have been drinking tea for centuries, and today it's the second most popular drink in the world (after water). Some of that popularity may stem from the many widely recognized benefits of tea, including its power to prevent cancer and to sharpen mental health. But tea offers health benefits related to diabetes, too.

“We know people with diabetes have problems metabolizing sugar,” says Suzanne Steinbaum, DO, a cardiologist, director of women’s heart health at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and author of Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum’s Heart Book. “Insulin comes along to decrease sugar, but with type 2 diabetes, the body isn’t so sensitive to insulin, so blood sugar levels go up. Through a complex biochemical reaction, tea -- especially green tea -- helps sensitize cells so they are better able to metabolize sugar. Green tea is good for people with diabetes because it helps the metabolic system function better.”

A 2013 research review published in the Diabetes and Metabolism Journaloutlined the potential benefits of tea when it comes to diabetes as well as obesity, which is a risk factor for diabetes. It highlighted a Japanese study that found that people who drank 6 or more cups of green tea a day were 33 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than were people who drank less than a cup of green tea a week. It also reported on Taiwanese research that found that people who drank green tea regularly for more than a decade had smaller waists and a lower body fat composition than those who weren't regular consumers of green tea.

Drinking tea for diabetes is such a good idea because tea contains substances called polyphenols, antioxidants found in every plant. “Polyphenols help reduce oxidative stress and cause vasodilation (widening of the arteries), which decreases blood pressure, prevents clotting, and reduces cholesterol,” Dr. Steinbaum says. All of these activities reduce the risk for heart disease, which is elevated in people with diabetes. Polyphenols in green tea can also help regulate glucose in the body, helping to prevent or control diabetes.

Drinking Tea for Diabetes: Green Tea or Black Tea?
When it comes to drinking tea for diabetes, Steinbaum says benefits are tied to all teas, but that green tea is the clear winner. "For one, when you drink green tea for diabetes, you will get a higher level of polyphenols than you would get in black,” she explains. It’s the polyphenols in fruits and vegetables that give them their bright colors. So, having more color means that green tea is richer in polyphenols. “Of the black teas, the more orange the color, the higher the polyphenols,” she adds.

"Green tea is good for people with diabetes because it helps the metabolic system function better."Suzanne Steinbaum, DO TWEET

Besides its color, green tea also contains higher polyphenol levels because it's prepared from unfermented leaves, "so it is really pure,” Steinbaum says. Black tea, on the other hand, is made from leaves that are fully fermented, which robs it of some nutrients. “Plus, black tea has two to three times more caffeine than green, which isn’t good in excess,” she says.

Polyphenols: Beyond Drinking Tea for Diabetes
The benefits of tea are clear. But besides tea, a number of foods high in polyphenols also can help prevent and manage type 2 diabetes. “The fruits highest in polyphenols are berries, grapes, apples, and pomegranates -- because of their rich color,” Steinbaum says. Broccoli, onions, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, and spinach are also good sources, as are cranberries, blood oranges, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, lemons, limes, and kiwis. “We know red wine contains resveratrol, which is a polyphenol -- the highest concentration is in Bordeaux,” Steinbaum says.

Cocoa is also a good source -- a reason to eat a piece of dark chocolate now and then. “And for those following a vegetarian diet, there are also a number of foods high in polyphenols that also provide protein, such as red beans, black beans, pinto beans, pistachios, walnuts, chickpeas, and all the nut butters,” she says.

Overall, in addition to drinking tea for diabetes, eating a diet that’s good for your blood sugar isn’t complicated. “Type 2 diabetes tends to be driven by dietary lifestyle choices," Steinbaum says. "When we talk about prevention, having a diet filled with polyphenols will help the body better metabolize sugar." Hands down, eating foods rich in polyphenols -- such as garlic and brightly colored fruits and vegetables -- and drinking tea for diabetes, especially green tea, are great ideas for anyone trying to manage or prevent diabetes.

“When you say, ‘What is the best diet for diabetes?,’ people are hoping for this amazing plan," Steinbaum says. "But it really comes down to eating colorful fruits and veggies, nuts, drinking green tea, eating fish with omega-3 fatty acids, and getting a little cocoa and red wine -- and you’re done."

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8 Fall Foods to Help You Manage Diabetes

10/23/2014

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Take advantage of these seasonal goodies to help tame diabetes.

Antioxidant-packed cauliflower is full of fiber, manganese and vitamin C and is a great low-carb veggie to roast on cool nights.

Figs are high in fiber, which helps control blood sugar spikes, and polyphenols, which help fight disease. Stock up on the fresh fruit; the dried versions may have more sugars.

Fall is peak season for almonds, chestnuts, pecans and pistachios, all of which can help manage hunger. Just stick to no more than an ounce a day because nuts are loaded with calories.

Pears are loaded with calcium, fiber (be sure to eat the skin), iron, manganese and potassium. They’re also sweet enough to eat as dessert!

Want to ward off type 2 diabetes, improve heart health and aid weight loss? Hit the trifecta with a persimmon.

Pomegranates have significant amounts of vitamin C and potassium and current studies show they may have hypoglycemic benefits, which is fantastic for folks with diabetes.

Pumpkins, quite possibly the poster food for the season, are healthy powerhouses. Full of nutrients that boost heart health, trim your waistline and help your eyes, they are also high in fiber, which slows the release of sugars in the bloodstream.

Versatile sweet potatoes are high-fiber foods with a low glycemic index, making them perfect for folks with diabetes.