Diabetes News, Articles & Information

Evidence from several large studies suggests that vegetarians may be more than 50% less likely to develop type-2 diabetes than those who consume meat on a regular basis.

One of the largest studies on the link between a vegetarian diet and diabetes came from a study of 25,698 seventh day adventists in 1960 over a 21 year study period. The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health in 1985.

People who consume nuts on a regular basis may be much less likely to develop type-2 diabetes according to a recent study.

The study was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in November 2002 by researchers at the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. The authors analyzed data on 83,818 women which was collected from the Nurses Health Study (NHS) over a 16 year period from 1980 to 1996.

Those who do not get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night are between 2 and 3 times more likely to develop type-2 diabetes according to a recent study published in the journal Diabetes Care in March 2006.

The study conducted by American researchers involved a group of 1,709 men from Boston, Massachusetts aged between 40 and 75. The participants were followed over an average of 15 years during which 90 cases of type-2 diabetes were diagnosed.

A recent study has found that eating dairy products such as cheese, milk, butter, and yogurt can reduce an individuals risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care in 2006 involved following 37,183 healthy, middle-aged women for an average of 10 years. The women were asked to complete questionnaires on their consumption of 130 common food products.

Consumption of coffee may be associated in a reduction in type-2 diabetes risk according to a study published in the June 2006 edition of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

The researchers used data from the Iowa Women’s Health Study which was conducted between 1986 and 1997 and involved 28,812 post menopausal women.

Regular red meat and/or processed meat consumption of more than 5 servings a week is a significant risk factor for the development of type-2 diabetes according to several research studies.

One of the largest studies on the link between meat consumption and diabetes risk involved the study of 37,309 initially healthy women aged over 45 years who were followed for an average of 8.8 years.

Those with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 35 are almost ten times more likely to develop diabetes in their lifetime than those with a normal BMI (18.5-24.9) according to a study published in the journal Diabetes Care.

The study involved analyzing data from the US National Health Interview Survey and involved more than 200,000 American participants aged between 18-84. Overall 15,843 (6.5%) of the study participants had been diagnosed with diabetes.

Fresh fruit and green leafy vegetables such as spinach, silver-beet, and lettuce reduce the risk of developing type-2 diabetes while high consumption of fruit juice may increase type-2 diabetes risk according to a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care.

The researchers analyzed data from 71,346 healthy female nurses between the ages of 38 and 63 over an 18 year period between 1984 and 2002. Over the study period, 4,529 new cases of diabetes were diagnosed.

A 12-year study on the effects of alcohol consumption on diabetes risk has found that that alcohol consumption reduces the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. The reduction in diabetes risk was apparent even at relatively high levels of alcohol consumption (more than 28 standard drinks a week).

The researchers used data from 46,892 male health professionals who were sent questionnaires every two years for the 12 year study period.

Diabetes sufferers are just as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as those who have already survived a heart attack according to a recent Danish study published in the journal Circulation.

The study of 3.3 million residents of Denmark over the age of thirty years was conducted between 1997 and 2002. 71,801 people had been diagnosed with either type-1 or type-2 diabetes. and 79,575 had suffered a prior heart attack.

Infants who do not receive enough Vitamin D are more likely to develop type-1 diabetes later in life according to researchers who analyzed the findings of five previous studies.

The study, which appears in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, found that across the five studies, vitamin D supplementation resulted in on average a 30 percent reduction in the probability of developing type-1 diabetes later in life.

Breastfed babies are less likely to develop diabetes later in life compared to those babies who are formula fed according to recent evidence.

In one study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and led by Christopher G. Owen of St George’s University in London, data was analyzed from seven studies that had examined the impact of breast feeding on diabetes risk.

A new study, presented in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism has found that elderly people with either diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (a precursor to diabetes) , dramatically improved their sensitivity to insulin after just one week of light aerobic exercise.

The research, conducted at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, involved 12 elderly people with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) performing an hour of supervised aerobic exercise for a period of 7 days.

Scientists at a biotechnology company called Novocell have reported a break through in the treatment of diabetes by using stem cell therapy to create insulin producing cells that were injected into the mice.

The findings which were published online by the journal, Nature Biotechnology indicate that researchers managed to produce insulin producing cells through a complicated process that involved first turning the stem cells into endoderm cells in the lab.

Low-carbohydrate diets high in plant based protein and fat may be better than traditional low fat, high carbohydrate diets at lowering diabetes risk according to a new study published in the February 2008 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The researchers used data from the Nurses’ Health Study which followed over 85,000 women of which 4670 developed diabetes during the 20 year study period. The researchers examined the association between the percentage of energy intake from carbohydrates and the probability of developing diabetes.

Resistance training may be more effective at preventing obesity and diabetes than previously thought according to a recent study conducted at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).

Researchers engineered mice that could be made to grow type-2 muscle on demand by switching on a gene called Atk1 that regulates type-2 muscle development. In humans type-2 muscle is developed predominately through weight training and explosive exercise such as sprinting and is often known as “fast twitch” muscle.

The Glycemic Index (GI) measures the impact a particular food has on an individuals blood glucose levels. GI is defined as the area under the two-hour blood glucose response curve after consuming a fixed portion of a particular food. A high GI value indicates that consumption of a particular food increases blood glucose levels both faster and to a higher peak than a low GI food which increases blood glucose levels both slower and to a lower overall peak.

While more than 20 million Americans have diabetes, it is estimate that 60 million Americans have a condition known as pre-diabetes, which is also referred to as Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) or Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG).

People with pre-diabetes have blood-glucose levels that are higher than normal, but are not quite high enough for them to be classified as a diabetic.

There are numerous dietary supplements that can aid in the treatment and management of diabetes. It is recommended you consult a doctor before beginning a supplement regime.

#1 Magnesium

Diabetics tend to have much lower magnesium levels in the body. Magnesium supplementation of around 400mg a day has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity. Magnesium may also help reduce cardiovascular risk factors and high blood pressure.

Diabetics often avoid fruit because of the high sugar content many fruits have. Fortunately there are many fruits a diabetic can enjoy which do not significantly affect blood glucose levels.

Good Fruits For Diabetics

Fiber rich foods are general safe for diabetics to eat because they tend to have a lower glycaemic index and therefore do not spike blood sugar levels but increase them gradually. This is because fiber slows down the absorption of sugar into the blood stream. Fiber rich fruits tend to be fruits with edible skins and seeds as it is these parts of the fruit that are highest in fiber.