diabetes risk Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Does a Macrobiotic Diet Help with Diabetes?

AHA Publisher — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 08:00:31 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – What happens when you add massive amounts of carbohydrates in the form of whole grains to the daily diet of people with type 2 diabetes? Why are macrobiotic diets apparently so effective at reducing blood sugar levels in diabetics within just a few weeks’ time? The diet is centered around whole grains—brown rice, barley, and millet—so might the high fiber intake improve the gut microbiome, the friendly flora in our colon, which then leads to a reduction in insulin resistance? Or, perhaps it’s because the diet is also rich in vegetables, so that corrects some kind of low-grade acidosis from the high levels of animal protein in their regular (non-macrobiotic) diets. Regardless of the reason, researchers found a significant difference after just 21 days. Can macrobiotic diets also help with longer term blood sugar control? I examine this in my video Flashback Friday: Benefits of a Macrobiotic Diet for Diabetes. How about a six-month dietary intervention with wildly out-of-control blood sugars? As you can see at 0:51 in my video, hemoglobin A1c offers a sense of one’s average blood sugars over the previous few months. An A1c level of 5, for example, would mean that your blood sugars have been in the double digits most of the time over the last few months, indicating that your sugars have been at a normal, healthy, non diabetic level. But, an A1c of 6 is prediabetes territory and 6.5 can be a sign of full-blown diabetes; an A1c under 7 is considered controlled diabetes—what diabetics are striving towards with pills and insulin injections—and a level over 7 is considered out-of-control diabetes. In the macrobiotic diet study, the average A1c level started out off-the-charts at 12.6. The subjects had been averaging blood sugars in the 300s for months, despite all having been on insulin injections. What happened when the study participants were placed on the so-called Ma-Pi 2 diet, a strictly plant-based macrobiotic-style diet centered around whole grains, vegetables, and beans, with some sesame seeds and green tea? After just six months on the diet, their A1c levels dropped from a wildly out-of-control diabetic 12.6 to averaging a non diabetic 5.7. What’s more, although the subjects were getting daily insulin injections when their A1c was an astronomical 12.6, they achieved non diabetic 5.7 on the diet after they had all been able to eliminate their insulin. Within only six months, 100 percent of the study participants started out on insulin with out-of-control diabetes and ended with 0 percent on insulin and averaging non diabetic blood sugars. That’s the power of plants. Also within those six months, three-quarters were off all of their diabetes medications completely. Any side effects? Their bad LDL cholesterol dropped by 20 percent and their triglycerides dropped by nearly 40 percent. (And, of course, let’s not forget that anyone starting a strictly plant-based diet must ensure a regular, reliable source of vitamin B12.) All we needed was a randomized, controlled trial, and we got one: Type 2 diabetics were randomized to the macrobiotic diet versus the recommended American Diabetes Association-type diet. You can see an example of a typical day on the macrobiotic diet below and at 2:59 in my video, which includes a savory whole-grain cake for breakfast; brown rice sesame balls for a snack; a vegetable millet soup with a brown rice salad, a lot of vegetable sides, and adzuki beans for lunch; more whole grain snacks; and, similar to lunch, a dinner of vegetable barley soup with a lot of vegetables and chickpeas; and green tea throughout the day. On the more standard diabetic diet, participants might have low-fat milk and whole-wheat bread for breakfast; a Mediterranean lunch with vegetables and beans; fruit for a snack; and a bean and vegetable soup, whole-grain bread, agretti (a green leafy vegetable), and baked fish for dinner. I have to say, that’s a pretty healthy control diet. The researchers could have compared the macrobiotic diet to a trashy one, but they wanted to stack it up against the diet diabetes groups recommend. So, what happened? The macrobiotic diet won out on every measure of blood sugar control. You can view the numbers in the graph below and at 4:00 in my video. At the start of the study, participants had fasting blood sugars in the 120s. That’s bad, but they were diabetics, after all. Normal fasting blood sugars, like when you wake up in the morning before having breakfast, should be at least in the double digits and under 100. When subjects were put on the relatively healthy, more standard diabetic diet, their blood sugars got better over the three-week study, dropping from the 120s down into the 110s. (That’s the best the American Diabetes Association-type diet can do.) Compare that to an isocaloric macrobiotic diet, meaning with the same number of calories. On the macrobiotic diet, subjects improved within days and achieved normal fasting blood sugars within a week. A full 100 percent of those on the macrobiotic diet got their fasting blood sugars under 110, whereas less than half of those on the diabetes diet did. And, that was achieved while on fewer drugs. In the control group, one participant was able to reduce their oral hypoglycemic medications, whereas five of the seven on such drugs in the macrobiotic group had to stop taking them. Otherwise, if they had continued taking the drugs, their blood sugars would have fallen toolow. So, the macrobiotic diet gave better results on fewer drugs. That’s the power of a reallyhealthy diet. As an aside, what a poke in the eye with a sharp stick this study was to the low-carb crowd! Researchers took diabetics and put them on a 73 percent carbohydrate diet, adding 100 grams of carbs—in the form of grains, no less—to their daily diet. And what happened? Did their blood sugars skyrocket out of control? No, they got significantly better in a matter of days, with average fasting blood sugars starting out at 129 and falling to 95. And, in just three weeks, their bad LDL cholesterol plummeted down to 62, a nearly 48 percent drop. Is the macrobiotic diet perfect? No, but I offer some suggestions for improving it in my video Flashback Friday: Pros and Cons of a Macrobiotic Diet. Key Takeaways Macrobiotic diets have been shown to effectively reduce blood sugar levels in diabetics in just three weeks, perhaps due to its high fiber content or being rich in vegetables. A six-month dietary intervention showed that participants placed on the so-called Ma-Pi 2 diet, a strictly plant-based macrobiotic-style eating regimen with green tea, experienced significant improvements in their A1c levels, dropping from a wildly out-of-control diabetic 12.6 to averaging a non diabetic 5.7. As well, the subjects achieved non diabetic 5.7 on the diet after they had eliminated their insulin. Additionally, their bad LDL cholesterol dropped by 20 percent and their triglycerides dropped by nearly 40 percent. When type 2 diabetics were randomized to the macrobiotic diet versus the recommended American Diabetes Association-type diet, the macrobiotic diet won out on every measure of blood sugar control. And, although only one subject in the control group was able to reduce their oral hypoglycemic medications, five of the seven on such drugs in the macrobiotic group had to stop taking them lest their blood sugars fall too low. The study was likely very eye-opening to low-carb followers since the diabetics were put on a 73 percent carbohydrate diet, adding 100 g of carbs to their daily diet, and not only did their blood sugars improve, but their bad LDL cholesterol also plummeted. To read the original article click here.

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These Harmful Pesticides Linked to Type 2 Diabetes

AHA Publisher — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 08:00:59 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – A couple of weeks ago, I told you the EPA and the FDA gave Bayer Pharmaceuticals the greenlight to keep selling the weed killer Roundup… They did this even though multiple studies show that chemical herbicides and pesticides are linked to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. And now, a recent study has clearly linked these toxins to type 2 diabetes. In a brand-new study that examined farmers who use organophosphates — the most commonly used pesticides — the results couldn’t be more clear… “The prevalence of diabetes was positively associated with exposure to all types of pesticides and insecticides.”1 Another study proved that chemicals found in common insecticides and pesticides are also key diabetes triggers and may be responsible for hundreds of thousands of diabetes-related deaths every year. The researchers found that two chemicals, in particular, carbaryl and carbofuran, bind to the receptors on your cells that govern your biological clock. And this can lead directly to diabetes.2 Let me explain… Although it’s illegal in several countries, carbaryl is the third most widely used insecticide in the U.S. Carbofuran, the most toxic carbamate insecticide has been banned in the U.S. since 2009. But it’s still widely used in places where we import a lot of our produce, like Mexico and Brazil. Carbaryl and carbofuran are what are known as “POPs” — persistent organic pollutants. These chemicals don’t biodegrade easily, so they stay in the environment for a long time. But here’s where the diabetes connection comes into play… Researchers found that both carbaryl and carbofuran are structurally similar to melatonin. That’s the hormone that controls your body’s circadian rhythm – or internal clock. And your circadian rhythm does much more than controlling your sleep cycles. It also controls the metabolism of some brain-wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration, and other biological activities, including glucose levels and insulin secretion — key factors in type 2 diabetics. There’s a very delicate balance between the release of insulin from your pancreas and glucose levels in your blood, at very specific times of the day. Studies show that if the balance gets disrupted for long periods of time, it can trigger the development of diabetes.3 That’s exactly what the insecticides carbaryl and carbofuran do. They mimic melatonin and wreak havoc with your circadian rhythms. This disruption of your body’s natural circadian rhythm substantially raises your risk of diabetes. Along with a whole host of other diseases including: Heart disease Stroke Respiratory problems Depression Breast, prostate, and colon cancer Obesity Eat These 3 Superfoods to Flush Pesticides From Your Body In a recent letter, I shared how to protect yourself from the deadliest pesticide of all time. The next step in protecting yourself is to get rid of the toxic accumulation of chemicals in your body. One great way to do this is by detoxifying superfoods. Foods rich in vitamin C like fruits, berries, and fresh vegetables will help do the trick, along with fiber-rich nuts and seeds. But some foods are superstars when it comes to flushing the toxins from your system: Make grapefruit your citrus of choice. Grapefruit contains naringenin, a potent antioxidant that decreases your body’s insulin resistance to help prevent diabetes and reprogram your liver to melt excess fat, instead of storing it. This is extremely important for detoxification because insecticide toxins like carbaryl and carbofuran tend to collect in the fat around your tissues. Eating grapefruit will help you stop this process. Eat the oldest food on earth. Spirulina is a kind of blue-green algae and the world’s richest source of vitamins, minerals, iron, protein, and a host of other nutrients. But, it’s also a powerful detoxifier. Go green with barley grass. This superfood is made up of unique amino acid chains. And it’s so well balanced, it has the EXACT blend of amino acids, proteins, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals that you need for optimum health. The major contributors behind its detoxification powers are the trace elements zinc, selenium, and copper. High levels of beta-carotene energize the cleansing of waste materials such as mucus and crystallized acids, and it has a powerful detoxifying effect on your liver. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS References: 1. Juntarawijit, C, et al. “Association between diabetes and pesticides: a case-control study among Thai farmers.” Environ Health Prev Med. 2018; 23: 3 2. Popovska-Gorevski M, Dubocovich ML, et al. “Carbamate Insecticides Target Human Melatonin Receptors.” Chem Res Toxicol. 2017. 3. Bouatia-Naji N,, Bonnefond A, et al. “A variant near MTNR1B is associated with increased fasting plasma glucose levels and type 2 diabetes risk.” Nat Gen. 41, 89 – 94; 7 Dec 2008. To read the original article click here.

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New Study Helps Understand Role of Gut Microbiome in Gestational Diabetes

AHA Publisher — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 08:00:52 +0000

University of Illinois Chicago via Newswise – Researchers at University of Illinois Chicago have identified changes in the gut microbiome that can lead to gestational diabetes. “The bacteria that live in your gut impact your risk for diseases like gestational diabetes. How they do it, or lead to those outcomes, is not clear. We performed a study to identify those factors in gut bacteria that are predisposing people to some of these diseases,” said Dr. Brian Layden, associate professor and division chief for the UIC College of Medicine, endocrinology/diabetes and metabolism department, and co-author of the study. They studied the exact nature of the gut microbiome and plasma metabolome changes throughout pregnancy in mice. To aid in understanding changes to the gut microbiome during pregnancy that affect metabolism, researchers analyzed mice that received transplanted human fecal samples. The mouse models were used to identify the role of indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase, or IDO1, in pregnancy-associated insulin resistance, according to the study. Insulin resistance is a feature of Type 2 diabetes and can be present in prediabetes. Through this approach, researchers identified a metabolite, kynurenine, that is increased during pregnancy. “We identified a particular way that the bacteria interact with gut epithelial cells and regulate how a metabolite is generated which impacts somebody’s risk for something like gestational diabetes,” Layden said. The paper, “Gestational insulin resistance is mediated by the gut microbiome-indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase axis,” was published recently in the journal Gastroenterology. Gut microbiome changes during pregnancy, shifting ID01-dependent metabolism toward kynurenine production, intestinal inflammation and gestational insulin resistance. This process can be reversed when ID01 is inhibited, according to the study. The implication of these findings is that modifying or changing the gut bacteria so it does not lead to more of this metabolite could minimize the development of a diabetes-like state in pregnancy, Layden said. “These findings open up the opportunity for a screening approach for those who are at risk as well as a treatment approach for gestational diabetes where if you know they are at risk, we can modify their gut bacteria to prevent it from occurring,” Layden said. Screening could potentially be done prior to pregnancy. In the United States, 1-2% of pregnant people have Type 2 diabetes and about 6-9% of pregnant people develop gestational diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Gestational diabetes puts both the pregnant person and baby at risk for complications during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as increasing the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes after delivery for both the pregnant person and the baby (later in life). Currently, gestational diabetes is treated through diet and exercise, or medication in more severe cases. Layden said there are existing trials researching whether prebiotics and probiotics are beneficial for Type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. However, this new study could lead to more targeted approaches to gut microbiome health. Researchers plan to conduct screenings for these metabolites in human fecal and blood samples to see if the research translates to humans. To read the original article click here.

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