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Beat it

Eat more white meat

Know when and what to buy organic

Beet juice

I can't say enough good things about coconut oil...if you don't have any in the house you really should go and buy some AND USE IT

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Know your apples...

7 Foods That You Should Never Eat Again






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The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about prediabetes  .  

Diabetes foot wounds led to 2,000 foot amputations: report


Diabetes care: Diabetes foot self-care

Most people only become aware that they have diabetes, after they develop major complications. These complications generally affect the eyes, heart, blood vessels, kidneys, nerves, teeth and gums. However, one of the most dreadful health complications that diabetes can cause is the diabetic foot.
Diabetic foot usually occurs as a consequence of diabetic neuropathy, which means damage to the nerves because of uncontrolled blood sugars. According to the World Health Organization, almost 27 per cent of diabetics develop periphery neuropathy and more than 50 per cent of those develop foot ulcers, gangrene and amputation resulting in a high mortality rate.
With increasing blood sugar levels, the blood circulation in the legs and feet may deteriorate and the nerves may become less sensitive leading to diabetic foot. This occurs due to neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease and infections. Nerve damage or diabetic neuropathy results in loss of sensation in the feet and makes diabetics more prone to other foot infections. There is also a diminution in sweat and oil gland functionality that lubricates the skin of the foot. As a result, the foot loses its natural ability to moisturise the overlying skin and becomes dry. These factors can lead to abnormal pressure on the skin, bones and joints of the foot during walking and can lead to a breakdown of the skin on the foot. Since there is no pain, most patients do not realise the gravity of the situation and tend to ignore minor injuries like a shoe bite. Peripheral Vascular disease, on the other hand, contributes to ulcerations and leads to delayed healing of those ulcers. Also, the diabetic foot can get infected and if the infection spreads down to the bone, it can lead to an amputation of the affected limb.

Symptoms of diabetic foot:

-A tingling or burning feeling in the toes and foot
-Numbness or loss of sensation in the foot
-Acute or piercing pain
-Serious foot problems such as ulcers, deformities in foot
-Difficulty in walking
Self care for diabetics:
-The foot should be cleaned thoroughly and then moisturised with skin cream at least twice a day in order to avoid dryness.
-Lukewarm water and soap should be used for cleaning the feet.
-One should check his/her feet everyday to look for any major or minor traumas. -There should not be any pressure marks or cracks between the spaces of the toes, redness or swelling around nails.
-One should wear comfortable and sturdy shoes, which are not too tight or loose to avoid shoe bites or pressure ulcers. The best socks to wear are woolen or cotton socks.
-Toe nails should be trimmed with nail clippers after washing the feet.
One should quit smoking as it damages the blood vessels and leads to poor blood circulation.
-One should avoid immersing the foot in hot water.
-One should not self-treat blisters occurring due to tight footwear. If there is blood or pus in the blister, a doctor should be consulted immediately.
-A proper control on blood sugar levels should be maintained by eating a balanced diet and taking prescribed medications.
There are some treatments that slow the progression of the disease, relieve pain and prevent complications. Most people need a combination of medications to relieve the pain. Some antidepressants (like amitriptyline, imipramine and duloxetine) can be given to diabetics to give them relief from pain. However, their prolonged use can have side effects like constipation, drowsiness and headaches. Nerve supplements such as methylcobal and gamma linolenic acid (GLA) as well as certain other medications can also be prescribed by the doctor.
Diabetic foot, if not treated on time, can lead to amputations. Although, there is no cure for diabetic neuropathy, most of the amputations can be prevented with timely treatment and proper education.
Study Finds Antipsychotics Triple Diabetes Risk
A new study suggests that medications often prescribed to individuals with developmental disabilities are associated with a significantly heightened risk for diabetes.
Researchers found that young people taking atypical antipsychotics like Risperdal, Seroquel, Abilify and Zyprexa were three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes within the first year of using the drugs as compared to those taking other psychiatric medications.
The finding, published this month in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, is based on a review of medical records from 1996 through 2007 for individuals ages 6 to 24 enrolled in Tennessee’s Medicaid program. Nearly 29,000 of those studied were prescribed antipsychotics while the remaining 14,400 were taking other types of psychiatric drugs.
Beyond the threefold increase observed in the first year of taking antipsychotics, the study found that the risk for diabetes increased with cumulative dosages and persisted for at least a year after stopping the medications.
Doctors should carefully consider alternatives to antipsychotic medications and ensure that they are keeping tabs on kids who do take the drugs, said Wayne Ray, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University and senior author of the study.


Healthy diet in diabetes tied to less kidney disease




















Depression with diabetes may speed mental decline






















5 easy lifestyle tips

The emergence of diabetes is turning out to be debilitating day-by-day. According to the World Health Organization, there are about 346 million people worldwide with diabetes, with more than 80% of deaths occurring in developing countries.

By following simple healthy lifestyle habits, one can easily stay away from the fangs of the killer Diabetes.

-Be physically active: Exercise is the key to say no to diabetes. It not just helps reduce weight, but also regulates blood sugar levels. Half-hour of exercise whether aerobic exercise, or activities like dancing, playing tennis, brisk walking etc. reduces risk of Type 2 diabetes by 30%.

- Healthy diet: Consuming a healthy diet is a must to keep diabetes at bay. Eating foods that are rich in fibre helps to naturally balance sugar levels in the body. Avoid the habit of overeating and instead divide your meals into 5-6 including snacks, juices etc. to stay healthy. Also, don’t do emotional eating as it leads to weight gain and eventually diabetes. Junk food is a strict no-no as they are a major reason of obesity and diabetes.

-Sleep: Sleeping for at least 7-8 hours in a day is a must as proper sleep will make one feel energetic, put a check on cravings for high-calorie food and hence save one from being a victim of obesity and eventually diabetes.

-Manage stress: Stress is the major reason of why people fall prey to diabetes. Stress can actually play havoc on one’s health. As a result, the stressed out person tends to resort to unhealthy food habits like eating junk food, eating after long gaps, emotional eating etc. Also one might start smoking, consuming alcohol etc. Besides that, stress hormones may alter blood glucose levels directly increasing the risk of the diabetes. So it is important to keep a check on one’s stress levels by adapting to yoga, meditation, exercising, listening music or anything that makes you happy and stress free.

Protein Pathway Points to Possible Treatment for Diabetes

Scientists have discovered that one of the most diabolical proteins implicated in diabetes not only kills insulin-producing cells through one mechanism, but also damages the cells it doesn't kill through a second, novel mechanism.
Reigning in this rogue protein, called TXNIP, could significantly control diabetes, a disease that affects nearly 9 percent of Americans and is rapidly becoming a major cause of death and disability worldwide.
The scientists, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, identified several never-before-realized routes to target TXNIP with drugs. Their study appears today (Aug. 25) in the journal Nature Medicine. 
The protein TXNIP, short for thioredoxin-interacting protein, is involved in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Anath Shalev, director of the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center and senior author on the new paper, discovered nearly a decade ago that TXNIP is activated by sugars and kills beta cells. She found that TXNIP can unleash a wave of molecules called free radicals that tell the beta cells to commit cellular suicide in a process called apoptosis.

High Fruit / Veg Diet Linked With Lower Aneurysm Rate

Those who eat diets high in fruits and vegetables may be at a decreased risk for an often deadly form of aortic aneurysm, according to researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institute. 

An aortic aneurysm is a general term for an enlargement (dilation) of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal size. While the cause of an aneurysm may be multifactorial, the end result is an underlying weakness in the wall of the aorta at that location. The aneurysm may occasionally cause pain, which is a sign of impending rupture. When rupture occurs, massive internal hemorrhage results, and, unless treated immediately, shock and death can occur within minutes to hours.
Researchers broke 80,000 people between the ages of 46 and 84 into four groups, determined by the amount of fruits and vegetables they consumer daily.
Over the course of the 13-year study, 1,086 people had abdominal aortic aneurysms and 222 of those ruptured. Many such aneurysms are lethal, as they occur in the body's main aorta. The researchers found that those who ate the most fruits and vegetables were 31 percent less likely to suffer an abdominal aortic aneurysms and 39 percent less likely to have one rupture.
"A high consumption of fruits may help to prevent many vascular diseases, and our study suggests that a lower risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm will be among the benefits. Vegetables remain important for health. Other studies have found that eating more fruits and vegetables may decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and several cancers," said lead researcher Otto Stackelberg.

“Super” Broccoli

Broccoli is rich in glucoraphanin, may help fight a variety of afflictions including type two diabetes, cancer and obesity. The broccoli Beneforte, so called super broccoli, was developed by scientists who discovered a wild broccoli variety with high levels of glucoraphanin.

In the stomach, glucoraphanin is converted into sulforaphane, which interferes with the cancer process of cell division, while triggering the body's anti-oxidant defense mechanism.
Researchers tested the super broccoli on 48 volunteers divided into three groups: the first consumed about 400 grams of Beneforte broccoli per week for 12 weeks, the second ate an identical amount of regular broccoli, and the third consumed peas but no broccoli.
The participants who ate the super broccoli showed improved metabolism and improved processes of energy generation and synthesis of fatty acids and other metabolites.

The first trial shows that a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables effectively 're-tunes' our metabolism by rebalancing key reactions in the body - anapleurosis and catapleurosis - that are disrupted with age. 

Walking 10,000 steps a day keeps your heart fit


How do you keep track of your footstep? Buy a “Fit bit” on Amazon or anywhere else, strap it on your wrist and leave it there. Fit bit will tally your daily steps.

The medical world says that when it comes to walking for fitness, the perfect number for great heart health is about 10,000 steps – the same as walking about 5 miles. In a recent study, walking that distance proved critical to both cardiovascular fitness and blood sugar levels.

The study says that otherwise healthy people who dropped from walking 10,000 steps to about 1,000 steps daily had higher insulin resistance and weaker cardiovascular fitness after just 2 weeks of cutting back.  In 14 days of fewer steps, their hearts started to process oxygen less efficiently, and their blood couldn't break down sugars as well.

Each step you take counts towards the 10,000 step goal.

Here are some other reaons to walk.

 Walkers Live Longer so says the Honolulu Heart Study of 8000 men found that walking just two miles a day cut the risk of death almost in half. The walkers' risk of death was especially lower from cancer.

Walking Helps Prevent Weight Gain. By adding 2000 more steps a day to your regular activities, you may never gain another pound  says research by Dr. James O. Hill of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. To lose weight, add in more steps.

You Can Walk off Weight and walking reduces the risk of cancer. Study after study has shown that walking and exercise reduces your risk of breast cancer and colon cancer.

Walking also reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. You can cut your risk of both in half by walking for 30-60 minutes a day

Walking Boosts Your Brain Power. A study of people over 60 funded by the National Council on Aging, found that walking 45 minutes a day at 16-minute mile pace increased the thinking skills of those over 60.


 Walking can prevent erectile dysfunction by reducing the risk of impotence from mid-life onward.

If it came from a plant

fresh eggs (Stay healthy, pay a dollar more and buy ONLY "pasture raised" eggs)

Researchers Develop New Predictive Dementia Test For Diabetes Patients

Dr. Rachel Witmer, a medical researcher reviewed health records for 29,961 type 2 diabetes patients over the age of 60. They found that over the course of the ten-year study roughly 17 percent of all patients developed dementia. 

They cross checked each patient for any combination of 45 different risk factors including age, depression, heart disease, heart attack history and cerebrovascular disease. Using those statistics the researchers were able to break patients down in 14 different tiers of dementia risk. They found that those in highest predicted risk categories did, in fact, develop dementia more frequently. 

Junk food during pregnancy linked to Mental Illness in children

Children born to women who consume a large amount of junk food during pregnancy may be at an increased risk of mental disorders, according to a new study from researchers at Deakin University in Australia.

For the study the researchers revealed health records from over 23,000 mothers who took part in a study of mothers and children in Norway. As part of the study the mothers were surveyed on their diets throughout pregnancy and children were examined for mental disorders at both 18 months and three years.
They found that those women who ate the largest amounts of sugary sweets, salty food and refined cereals most frequently had children with behavioral problems:

Unruly kids become fatter adults


Encouraging 'good' behaviour in youngsters definitely makes parents' lives easier. It is also assumed to instill positive personality traits that will help them grow in to well rounded adults. And now new research has revealed that a person's behaviour as a child could have a startling impact on their waistline in their future.


The research found that children who acted in an irresponsible and careless manner compared to those who do not were prone to adult obesity, with the children who exhibited lower conscientiousness also generally experiencing worse overall health as adults.
 Children exhibiting lower conscientiousness are more prone to adult obesity and other health issues

The Oregon Research Institute (ORI) study examined the relationship between childhood personality and adult health. It showed a strong association between childhood conscientiousness (organised, dependable, self-disciplined) and health status in adulthood, as reported in Science Daily.




Dementia and raised blood sugar

Raised blood sugar is linked to dementia even in people without diabetes, a study has shown.
A study of 2,000 older patients found a close link between glucose levels and dementia risk
Scientists found a close association between glucose levels and dementia risk in a group of 2,000 older patients aged 65 and over.

Even in apparently healthy participants, a blood sugar level increase from 100 to 115 milligrams per decilitre (mg/dl) raised the risk of dementia by 18%.
In those with diabetes, whose blood sugar tends to be higher than average, the risk was higher. A diabetes patient with a glucose reading of 190 mg/dl was 40% more at risk than one with a level of 160 mg/dl.

The findings appear in the New England Journal Of Medicine.

Causes of death in with schizophrenia

Researchers found that schizophrenia patients were 4.7 times more likely to die within the 6.2 years of follow-up if they were smokers. But in half the patients with immune conditions, diabetes was also a leading cause of death. Nearly one third of patients with schizophrenia also had urinary tract infections.


Pets trained to detect diabetes

The first academic study to assess whether dogs could be reliably used to ¬provide an early-warning system to monitor glycaemia control has been carried out by researchers from the University of Bristol and published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Experts have proved for the first time that dogs trained to respond to their owner’s low blood sugar levels can save them from a potentially fatal hypoglycaemic attack. The animals use their acute sense of smell to detect changes in the chemical composition of their owner’s sweat or breath. They can be taught to raise the alarm by barking, pawing or even fetching a blood testing kit. 

Study Link Plastic Food Packaging To Diabetes


Another study has been published linking BPA to childhood obesity. Another, a separate study shows a possible connection between a widely used plasticizer and diabetes.
Both studies are to be published in the September 2013 edition of the journal Pediatrics and are currently available for free online.

The first study [PDF] investigated the relationship between levels of BPA in urine and subjects’ body mass index (BMI), as well as other chronic disease risk factors.

BPA is a chemical commonly used in food and beverage packaging in the U.S., though it has recently been banned for use in the making of baby bottles and infant formula packaging.
Researchers looked at around 3,300 Americans between the ages of 6 and 18, comparing their urinary BPA to measures of adiposity, cholesterol, insulin, and glucose. Results were adjusted for variables like demographics, tobacco exposure, and soda consumption.

They found that the children with the highest levels of urinary BPA also had better odds of being obese and of having waistlines out of proportion to the subject’s height. This study did not find a link between urinary and other chronic disease risk factors.

In general, critics of the study bring up two major objections. First, that urinary BPA levels don’t give any indication on whether BPA is actually being absorbed by any organs or tissues as it moves through the body, or if it’s moving through the body without having any effect. Second, some critics contend that the high level of obesity may be due to these people simply eating more food than others.

Earlier this summer, lawmakers in Washington introduced legislation that would phase out the use of products containing BPA, though it is unlikely to pass.

FDA cracks down on illegal diabetes remedies










Many diabetics require multiple drugs to control their blood sugar levels.



Risk of Diabetes Complications Lower in Asians

Diabetic patients of South Asian or Chinese ancestry had a lower risk of cardiovascular complications and death over a 5-year period compared with those with a European background, researchers found.

The risk of being hospitalized for coronary artery disease, stroke, or lower-extremity amputation was marginally lower among South Asian patients (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90-1.00) but substantially lower for Chinese patients (HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.46-0.53), according to Baiju Shah, MD, PhD, of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, and colleagues.
And the risk of dying through a median of 4.7 years of follow-up was more than 40% lower for both South Asian patients (HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.55-0.62) and Chinese patients (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.52-0.60), the researchers reported in the September issue of Diabetes Care.
Compared with people of European ancestry, many ethnic groups have an elevated risk of diabetes, although it remains unclear how the occurrence of diabetes-related cardiovascular complications might vary, particularly outside of black and Hispanic populations.

Of the components of the cardiovascular complication endpoint, coronary artery disease was less frequent among Chinese patients (but not South Asian patients), stroke was less frequent among South Asians (but not Chinese patients), and lower-extremity amputation was less frequent for both ethnic groups compared with Europeans.

Europeans carried a greater risk of cardiovascular complications and death during follow-up despite having more intensive diabetes screening before receiving their diagnosis; the average number of lab tests for diabetes screening in the 2 years before diagnosis was 2.47 for Europeans and 2.38 and 2.37 for South Asians and Chinese patients, respectively (P<0.001 for both).

The authors acknowledged that the study was limited in that the data did not include important clinical information -- including diabetes treatments and glycemic and risk factor control. In addition, the assigning of ethnicity based on surnames might have lumped some other non-European ethnic groups aside from South Asians and Chinese patients in with the Europeans.