Dec
17
2012

From Wheat to Autoimmune Disease and Obesity

By | Allergies, Arthritis, Diabetes, Gastrointestinal Disease, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Hormones, Nutrition, Obesity, Stroke

Introduction

This is a summary of the lessons from the 2012 Anti-Aging Conference in Las Vegas…from wheat to autoimmune disease and obesity. It is not possible to summarize all the multitude of lectures from a three day conference on one page. However, what was striking was that several topics developed into a common thread. These were the topics of autoimmunity, obesity, diabetes, hormone disbalances and more. Dr. William Davis, the author of the book “Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health” explained how the BASF, a major chemical company from Germany was able to chemically modify the genes of wheat in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Clearfield wheat has much more gluten

The farmers liked that the new wheat (called Clearfield wheat) grew with stronger roots, shorter final stems and much larger grains so the yield per acre was higher. The developers of this type of wheat patented it under the name of Clearfield wheat. They did not publicize at the time that there was a significant increase of the gliadin content. Clearfield wheat contains much more gliadin in comparison to the old wheat strains people consumed for thousands of years. Gliadin gets rid of the glue like substance between the gut cells. This causes leaky gut syndrome, something that came out in many other lectures throughout the conference. This exposes the immune cells to foreign proteins from the gut.  The immune system in turn hyper react with the production of autoimmune antibodies.

Stages of autoimmune diseases

Dr. Aristo Vojdani explained in his lecture that there are three stages of autoimmune disease. First, there is the silent stage where there are no symptoms, but the immune system is starting to react. Next there is autoimmune reactivity, which is the second stage. The third stage is autoimmune disease where there are signs of loss of body function. Autoimmunity develops in about 1/3 of identical twins in families who are prone to this. When the researchers examined non-identical twins as a control group, only 2% to 5% of twins developed it.

Autoimmune diseases due to genetics and the environment

This tells us that genetics are responsible for only about 1/3 of the cases of autoimmunity. The other 2/3 come from the environment such as genetically modified foods. In addition, fat cells secrete toxic chemicals and inflammatory cytokines.  Dr. Vojdani emphasized that gliadin in our foods has become one of the major factors of driving autoimmune diseases up in the last few decades. The immune cells with the name of T cells determine whether they accept our own cells as “self”.  Alternatively, they consider other cells as “foreign” and attack them. This occurs in autoimmune diseases such as Celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, MS and others.

Las Vegas December 15, 2012v

Las Vegas, December 15, 2012

There are regulatory T cells, which are good. But there are also T cells whose genetic material underwent a change and became Th17 cells. These cells are a kind of “Pac Man” cells that attacks body cells. Altered gut flora (called gut dysbiosis) in connection with a leaky gut syndrome contributes to the formation of these aggressive Th17 cells. It is the combination of gliadin with bowel dysbiosis that drives the development of autoimmune diseases. Behind this is the fact that the gut plays a major role in the normal functioning of the immune system. Normally there is a tight connection between the gut cells that form the lining of the gut so that there is no exposure of immune cells from the blood to the contents of the gut flora.

Antibody titer tests

We are fortunate that researchers have developed antibody titer tests for the major food groups and these can be valuable pointers that can be used as a tool during the first two stages of autoimmunity before autoimmune disease causes permanent damage. Using these tests on large population groups researchers have found that common food allergies develop against wheat, dairy products, soy and eggs (as Dr. Pamela Smith remarked and Dr. Thomas Alexander explained in detail). A few blood drops suffice to determine IGG, IGA and IGE antibodies.  The test includes a whole battery of antibodies against common foods. This helps the physician to monitor the development and treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Obesity wave

Back to the leaky gut and obesity. The obesity wave in North America and the rest of the world started when the newly patented Clearfield wheat was introduced. With the higher gliadin in wheat products the balance in the gut was changed, more gliadin entered the body, it bound to the opiate receptors of the appetite center (although it is structurally differently from opium) and caused a hunger for more of the same product. The excess calories –in this case from wheat products- are stored as fat.

Aromatase in fat cells causes estrogen dominance

Fat cells by themselves have their own hormones and inflammatory substances causing various diseases. Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes and even cancer are among these. Add to this that with obesity the enzyme aromatase from fat cells causes elevated estrogen production. This causes estrogen dominance and results in heart disease and breast cancer in females. In males too much estrogen causes heart disease and prostate cancer.

Leaky gut syndrome

The story of the A4M conference 2012 in a nutshell: Wheat products with the increased gliadin (gluten) content caused increased leaky gut syndrome in the population since the 1970’s. This is the cause of the wheat addiction, which was further fueled by the obsession of the regulatory bodies to recommend eating according to the food pyramid (a splendid marketing pyramid for wheat consumption, as one of the recommended products are cereals and wheat). With these findings the cause of the obesity wave can be clearly seen. Along with obesity comes the flood of autoimmune diseases, which have developed from the action of the Pac Man type TH17 immune cells that attack various tissues in the body. The common denominator in the body is a low-grade chronic inflammation that Dr. Vojdani explained in more detail. This causes blood vessel diseases culminating in high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and cancer.

There were many other lectures that I attended. Some dealt with bio-identical hormone replacement. Others discussed telomere health and the effect of fitness on an ongoing basis to achieve longevity. In almost every lecture various speakers discussed the importance of lifestyle issues. This went through the conference lectures like a red thread. Nutrition is not the only factor in longevity. Exercise on a regular basis has a powerful healing effect. It can be instrumental in preventing about 50% of diseases, especially the main killers like heart attacks, strokes and cancer.

More info

More information on celiac disease: http://nethealthbook.com/digestive-system-and-gastrointestinal-disorders/celiac-disease/

Dec
11
2012

What a Wonderful World

By | Anti-aging medicine, Arthritis, Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Men's Health, Nutrition, Prevention, Stroke, Weight loss, Women’s Diseases

Recently I traveled from Palm Springs to the Caribbean and back and I had to think: what a wonderful world! There were connecting flights and there was waiting at various airports. I had lots of time to watch people and to observe what was happening around me.  Louis Armstrong’s song (1967) “What a Wonderful World“ came to mind. I thought that this would be a fitting title for this Blog. Earlier we had come from Canada escaping the winter. The deep blue sky of Southern California and the sight of palm trees (instead of pine trees) is something that makes our hearts beat faster.

The desert is a special place

The desert is a special place. We had friends join us for a week and we had visited Joshua Tree Park with the grotesque looking rock formations. During the flight it was interesting to see the landscape, as we crossed the desert areas of Arizona and New Mexico, seeing what difference people make when large areas are irrigated and the desert transforms into lush, green areas. It is also very visible, where the desert has taken back the land that no longer is irrigated.

Travel to Dallas Fort Worth and Miami

We came to Dallas Fort Worth and the sky was clear. We traveled on to Miami and the sky was showing signs of pollution, although it was a sunny day. After our take-off from Miami we saw the ocean. I have flown over that region many times before, but this time I detected oil slicks on the surface of the ocean of the Gulf of Mexico, leftovers from previous oil spills. So, the Armstrong song of a “wonderful world” came back to me in a different context. I looked at the landscape and what industries can do to it. Erroneously we had just seen several BP commercials while waiting for our plane at the airport where BP was congratulating itself for the role it plays in cleaning up the environment having spent several billion dollars. But there are still oil slicks…

What a Wonderful World

What a Wonderful World

Watching people on the plane

I looked at the people around me in the plane. More than 35% of them were obese; many of their faces looked sagging and prematurely aged, particularly in women. Males, even middle aged ones looked like they were pregnant (abdominal fat) and often their hair was receding, thinning on top and quite a few were bald. All of the texts I had read about anti-aging medicine came back to me. Too bad that people were eating the wrong foods and obviously did nothing to counter their built-in aging clock from depleting hormones as we age.

Menu of the airline

I looked at the menu of the airline. I won’t mention the name of the airline, but I can assure you that 10 different airlines would have almost the same menus. There would only have been one chicken salad that I could have eaten. In the past I tried to order this and I was told that due to popular demand this item was sold out. Instead they wanted to offer me potato chips, cheese and crackers. My wife and I had anticipated this scenario and we had bought a chicken salad and water before we boarded the plane. We also had packed healthy organic energy bars and a trail mix consisting of nuts and raisins to use as snacks during the trip.

Cutting out starchy foods, eating fresh vegetables and lean meat instead

While travelling we stuck to the same principal of cutting out starches, bread, rice, pasta and only eating fresh vegetables, salads and lean meat (chicken, grass fed beef, ribs, lean pork and veal), which we always do since the fall of 2001.  We also avoid all alcoholic beverages and sugar containing sodas. When we returned to Southern California we were delighted to see that our body compositions when measured with the body composition scales were identical to what they were before the trip.

I think we can all contribute to this wonderful world, if we participate in whatever we can do such as these steps.

End wars

End wars because on the long-term they do not lead anywhere to solve conflicts (in my lifetime I am thinking about the Vietnam war, long-winded Ireland crisis, the Korean war and the German reunification at the end of the Cold War). Right now there is the Middle East conflict, which screams for a peaceful solution. As we are conscious about the devastation that is caused by wars, we have to start with ourselves. We have to resolve our own conflicts that may be present in our own lives. Tolerance, acceptance and forgiveness are the tools.

Address pollution 

Pollution needs to be addressed by the US and all of the world’s countries (including Canada where I live most of the time). This means that anti-pollution devices need to be installed in industrial plants and chimneys. Recycling needs to be done on a larger scale. China and India and other emerging market countries need to be taught how these new anti-pollution measures work. This is an ongoing project, but we need more co-operations between government, industry and countries all around the globe. Also we have to start with our own behavior: we can become more aware of reusing and recycling instead of creating more waste in our landfills.

Become better caretakers of our bodies

What can we do to make us part of this wonderful world? We need to become better caretakers of our bodies. Instead of looking at quantity we must look at quality in choosing  natural food wherever possible. Growing up in Germany after the Second World War in the 1960’s and early 1970’s made me witness that high consumption of fat, sugar and starchy foods (potatoes, pasta and bread) caused people to age prematurely and get heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, arthritis, obesity, diabetes and cancer. At that time the “Wirtschaftswunder” (translated into English it means “economic miracle”) had propelled Germany into a nation of  high consumers. During the war they had been poor and often went hungry, they were slim and heart attacks were at an all-time low.

Unhealthy foods and snacks

After the war they made up for times of deprivation and overindulged:  pretzels, buns, bread, butter, French fries, sweets, cakes, cookies, jams, chocolates, pralines-everything was consumed with gusto!  What happened to Germany in the 1960’s and 1970’s is happening again right now in front of our eyes with the obesity wave in the US, Canada and all the other civilized countries around the world. Food companies have been very successful with their advertising through the media. Already kids get hooked to the wrong foods! Hyperinsulinism will ensure that we get hungry every two or three hours. Refined carbs and extra calories are turned into fatty acids by the liver and stored as fat. It shows that we have to resist the wrong food temptation and cut out all refined carbs.

Healthier alternatives

It is healthier to stick to salads and vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and spinach and eat a small piece of lean meat with it. Have probiotics as plain yoghurt (0% to 2% fat). If you need a sweetener, use a small amount of Stevia, which is a natural sweetener that leaves your body chemistry untouched. Have some fruit as a dessert like blueberries, cherries or strawberries. Eat an apple, the occasional grape. Drink lots of purified water or mineral water.

Buy organic food

Buy ORGANIC food whenever possible. Farmers treat most of the vegetables and fruit with insecticides, which contain residuals in them. When these are ingested, they act like estrogenic substances causing breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. The safest in our society is to stick to organic foods. More expensive, but the best insurance against future disease. Question politicians whenever possible to make yourself heard. You want unadulterated food and water. And as I’m writing about water, have a water filter under the kitchen sink with a carbon filter. In addition, it is good to have reverse osmosis to get rid of chloride or fluoride from the city water. This is what you use to cook your food. You may want to take an iodine tablet once or twice a day to counteract the negative effects of chlorine from having a bath or shower (the skin absorbs chlorine). Why? Because chlorine and fluoride can displace the iodine of the thyroid hormones and make you hypothyroid.

Regular exercise

Exercise every day. Nobody gets fit in their muscles from sitting in front of the TV for hours. You also don’t get fit from spending hours and hours of computer work. If you have to, counterbalance this with an exercise program of 1 hour per day. Walk 30 minutes on a treadmill and do 30 minutes of weights or use specific exercise machines in a gym to strengthen your upper and lower extremity muscles.

Replace missing hormones with bioidentical ones

Did I mention hormones? Yes, I did above when I mentioned depleting hormones as we age. We know for some time that each hormone of the body has its own peak in life and then it declines in production as we age. Or should I rather say, we age when these hormones decline? I like the latter way of wording it, because we can measure hormone levels and when one of the hormones is too low, we can replace it with a bio-identical hormone and the person’s energy comes back and whatever function was missing is restored. This is in essence what anti-aging medicine does. Many conservative physicians and clinics do not like to hear this. Big Pharma does not like to hear this when I am talking about replacing hormones in the body with bio-identical hormones. But the patented cheap copies that are mass manufactured and sold at inflated prices are no fit to the hormone receptors in the body and therefore are dangerous. The artificial drugs cause heart attacks, strokes and cancer as the Women’s Health Initiative has shown in 2002.

What people need to do

What did I think the people I watched on the plane should have done? Their physicians should have tested the hormones of many of them. Many of the overweight or obese patients would likely have had high fasting insulin levels. The extra fat does not just sit there; it is a hormone producing factory for inflammatory compounds and estrogen-like substances. This causes heart attacks and strokes in women. It causes prostate cancer and hair loss in males as well as impotence (“erectile dysfunction”). What I said above would help these people that I met. When you lose fat through changes in the diet and when you start an exercise program, the body mass index slowly comes down as fat melts away. The estrogen production comes down, the inflammatory substances abate. The person feels more energetic and may even think straighter. This is when you realize what a wonderful world it is.

Saliva hormone test

One special test is a saliva hormone test that looks at 5 steroid hormones: DHEA-S (storage form of DHEA), testosterone, estradiol, progesterone and cortisol. Every man and every woman needs a certain balance between these hormones and this test should be done when there is a change in energy or appearance (hair loss) somewhere when we are 35 to 40 years. In women it is important that the progesterone level is 200 times fold higher than the estradiol level (progesterone/estradiol ratio) or she is at risk of developing breast cancer and other cancers (ovary, colon etc.). In a man it is important that his testosterone to estradiol ratio is higher than 20 to 1. This protects him from cancer of the prostate or other cancers.

Bioidentical hormone creams

The physician or a knowledgeable naturopath can prescribe whatever hormones are missing. The health care provider needs to be familiar with the use of bio-identical hormone creams. This program can prevent diseases like osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer and arthritis. It also prevents disabilities.

With this I leave 2012 behind and I am looking forward to a new year (2013). I am looking forward to the time when more people can see Louis Armstrong’s vision of a “What a wonderful world”.

More information on:

1. Pollution: https://www.askdrray.com/protecting-yourself-from-environmental-toxins/

2. Obesity: https://www.askdrray.com/stop-obesity/

3. Processed food: https://www.askdrray.com/caution-processed-food-ahead/

Incoming search terms:

Dec
01
2008

Disease Of Peripheral Blood Vessels Occurs With Metabolic Changes

By | Diabetes, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Prevention, Weight loss

Metabolic syndrome has serious health consequences: diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease are just a few conditions that are associated with it. It is also known that diabetic patients are prone to pressure sores and ulcers of their feet and if the leg became gangrenous, the patient would lose it due to the need to amputate. Peripheral artery disease or PAD has recently been studied by Dr. Aruna D. Pradhan, and the prospective study involved 27,000 women. At the beginning of the study the middle aged women were free of cardiovascular disease, but a quarter of them had the hallmarks of metabolic syndrome. Twenty five percent of those with the condition also were diabetic. During the 13 years of follow-up 114 women developed peripheral artery disease and those patients with metabolic syndrome were 62% more likely to develop the disease. The individuals with metabolic syndrome had other features: they were less likely to exercise, more likely to smoke and their weight was higher. But 7,000 women with metabolic syndrome had another important feature in their lab tests: they had markedly higher levels of biomarkers of systemic inflammation, which was manifested in higher levels of C-reactive protein.

Disease Of Peripheral Blood Vessels Occurs With Metabolic Changes

Metabolic syndrome causes peripheral artery disease

 

 

Once all the criteria are stacked up against each other, it becomes obvious that the presence of metabolic syndrome alone is not responsible for the most significant increase in peripheral artery disease. It is not the high cholesterol levels or the high triglyceride readings that are the villains in this condition. The driving force is systemic inflammation, as documented by the high C-reactive protein levels in blood tests.

More information about hardening of arteries: http://nethealthbook.com/cardiovascular-disease/heart-disease/atherosclerosis-the-missing-link-between-strokes-and-heart-attacks/

American Heart Association, New Orleans, Nov. 8 to 12, 2008

Last updated Nov. 6, 2014

Nov
01
2008

Pills For Diabetes Not Always Useful

By | Diabetes, Fitness, Heart Disease, Nutrition, Obesity, Prevention

Oral anti-diabetic drugs have been on the market for decades. They are often prescribed to patients with type 2 diabetes in an effort to control blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes patients, those who suffer from diabetes since childhood, generally require a different therapeutic approach. They receive insulin in the form of injections, or more recently by pump. The usefulness of the oral antidiabetic drugs has been researched by Elizabeth Sevin, PhD,MPH of John Hopkins Blomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. Pooled data analysis found that patients who took one of the older medications, metformin, were at a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular illness. Metformin works by blocking the breakdown of glycogen (a storage form of sugar) in the liver, reduces absorption of sugar from the gut and increases insulin sensitivity thus controlling blood sugar more tightly. This protected the heart from cardiovascular illness. None of the other oral medications for type 2 diabetes was significantly linked to cardiovascular illness, but cardiovascular disease and mortality was higher in the patient group that took the drug rosiglitazone.

Pills For Diabetes Not Always Useful

How metformin works for type 2 diabetes

Due to the controversial reports about this drug, the researchers took a closer look at all the other oral anti-diabetic medications. None of them, not even the newest ones, proved to be superior, and the only one that showed a slight benefit was metformin. The author cautions that the association is too weak to be of significance, and a lot more long-term research would be needed to substantiate the benefits for cardiovascular protection.

More information on Diabetes: http://nethealthbook.com/hormones/diabetes/type-2-diabetes/

Comments on Nov. 18, 2012: I do not see any further benefit for more research on oral anti-diabetic agents. Rather this type of research would indicate that subcutaneous insulin treatment 3 or 4 times per day as originally suggested by Banting and Best is still the best treatment for diabetes coupled with an exercise program and a low fat, low glycemic carbohydrate diet.

Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:2070-2080

Last updated Nov. 6, 2014

Jul
01
2008

Genetic Difference Influences Sweet Tooth

By | Diabetes, Nutrition, Obesity, Weight loss

Environmental factors and ethnic customs can influence us to have certain likes and dislikes of foods, but researcher Ahmed El-Sohemy has found in his studies that there is also a biological and genetic basis for some of our food preferences. Researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered a genetic difference in people who consume extra sugar in their diet. The specific genetic constellation which the researchers have called GLUT2 does not only work in the pancreas, but it also is responsible for turning on satiety signals in the brain. It seems to have an impaired ability to notice high blood sugar levels that ultimately send “stop eating” signals to the brain. The habit to eat more sweets has been researched in persons with diabetes, but Dr. El-Sohemy does not believe that diabetes is directly connected with gene GLUT2. On the other hand he does not suggest that the presence of the gene should be an excuse to overindulge in sugar high foods. He states that food habits in humans are often connected to the availability of foods: if there is a birthday party and birthday cake, the people with a liking of sweets will be the first to get a slice of cake. On the other hand, if there are no sweets available, they will not make an extra trip to the store just for a piece of cake. The most logical approach is to minimize the availability of foods that are high in sugar, which is especially important for individuals who have GLUT2, the ”sweet tooth gene”, so they are not tempted to overindulge.

Genetic Difference Influences Sweet Tooth

Genetic Difference Influences Sweet Tooth

Much was learnt from two separate studies that involved 100 older adults on the one hand who were overweight or obese and 587 healthy younger adults who were mostly lean. Foods and beverages that were consumed were carefully recorded. In both investigations blood was drawn for DNA analysis and the presence or absence of the variation of the GLUT2 gene was compared to the food intake data. The older obese group with the variant gene consumed 112 grams of sugar per day versus 86 Grams per day for the non-variant gene group (normal control). The younger population carrying the variant gene consumed 131 Grams of sugar per day, while the non-variant control of young people consumed 115 Grams of sugar per day. This illustrates how genetic influences have an effect on our eating habits and also that younger people ought to be careful that they do not overuse sugar containing foods.

It also points to the solution of controlling your weight, if you belong to the higher risk group with the GLUT2 gene: you must exercise more to burn up the extra calories you tend to eat. A brisk walk on a treadmill will consume about 300 or 350 Cal in 30 minutes depending on the slope and the miles per hour setting.

Reference: Medical Post Vol 44, No. 16, June 16, 2008: page 19 (based on May issue of Physiological Genomics)

Last edited December 4, 2012

Jul
01
2008

Chronic Kidney Disease Kills

By | Diabetes, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been on the rise for several years and is responsible for premature deaths all over the world. Many different kidney diseases (glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis, diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephropathy etc.) will lead to end stage kidney disease, called chronic kidney disease, and this in turn would require dialysis treatment or a kidney transplant. Often these patients will die prematurely.

Dr. Chi-Pang Wen and collegues from the National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan, have followed a total of 462,293 people with all stages of CKD since 1994. At the end of 2006 there were 14,436 deaths in this population. The two best screening tests to predict deterioration of kidney disease were the flow rate of fluid through the kidneys (medically termed “glomerular filtration rate”) and protein tests of urine. The glomerular filtration rate should stay constant and above a certain cut-off point, and protein should not leak into urine. When the medical researchers started to analyze the results of this study, they found that CKD was affecting about 12% of the general population (the figures are very similar to the US). The patients with CKD had an 83% higher general mortality and had a 100% higher mortality from cardiovascular diseases.

Chronic Kidney Disease Kills

Chronic Kidney Disease Kills

After a 13 year observation period with a median follow-up of 7.5 years 10.3% of the deaths in the entire population were due to CKD. In the low socioeconomic status group this figure was 17.5%. About 40% of the deaths from CKD occurred before the age of 60. Those in the study who had been taking Chinese medicines had a 20% increased risk to develop CKD.

In most countries around the world regular yearly screening of glomerular filtration rates and testing for protein leakage into urine is not done on a large scale. But this is the only way to prevent early kidney disease from developing into chronic kidney disease. Once early kidney disease has been identified, preventative measures like salt restriction, treating diabetes and treating unrecognized high blood pressure etc. can be implemented. In many cases this will prevent the need for dialysis, kidney transplants and death from chronic kidney disease.

More information about pyelonephritis, one of the possible causes of kidney failure: http://nethealthbook.com/infectious-disease/urinary-tract-infection/pyelonephritis/

Reference: Lancet ( 2008), vol. 371, page 2173 to 2182 (June 28, 2008)

Last edited November 4, 2014

Jul
01
2008

High-protein, Low-refined carb diet useful in controlling diabetes

By | Diabetes, Nutrition, Obesity, Weight loss

Diabetes type 2 is often associated with obesity (body mass index higher than 30.0 kg per meter squared). At the 16th European Congress on Obesity in Geneva Dr. Neil Mann presented a study of 99 patients. Half were put on a high protein diet, the other half on a high carbohydrate low glycemic index diet and followed for one year with periodic blood tests and examinations by their family doctors. The study population’s age ranged from 30 to 75 years and their body mass index varied from 27 to 40. The hemoglobin A1C level that is a measure of severity of the diabetic condition ranged from 6.5% to 10%.

The high-protein diet was structured so that 30% of calories came from protein, 40% came from carbohydrates and 30% came from fat. With the high-carbohydrate low glycemic index diet 15% of the calories came from protein, 55% from low glycemic index carbs and 30% from fat. In both groups the total calorie intake per day was restricted to 1500 calories and the carbohydrates were given as low glycemic index carbohydrates (less processed). In both groups the diabetes was better controlled with hemoglobin A1C, triglyceride levels and cholesterol levels normalizing. Both groups also showed an equal amount of weight loss that stayed down as long the patients adhered to the diet. However, the high-protein group was able to reduce diabetes pills (metformin) and insulin achieving the same results as the high-carbohydrate low glycemic index group that could not reduce their medications. The conventional approach is to use a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet along with medication. However, this diet tends to lead to higher triglyceride levels, higher blood sugar levels and a reduction in the good cholesterol (HDL).

High-protein, Low-refined carb diet useful in controlling diabetes

High-protein, Low-refined carb diet useful in controlling diabetes

Dr. Mann who is a professor and head of the department of nutrition and food science at RMIT University, Melbourne, explained the people get confused when they hear the term high-protein diet as they think of the Atkins diet where the protein component was much higher. The diet that was investigated here is a more natural diet consisting of slightly higher protein and less processed carbohydrates. By containing more fat than in the conventional diabetic diet the patient is not getting hungry and finds it easy to stick to the diet, which leads to weight loss and improvement of the metabolism. Many patients can normalize their blood values and often even get off their diabetic medication (under careful supervision by their treating physician). The physician will address the three components of diabetic control (energy balance, glycemic control, and vascular complications) by recommending to the patient this high-protein/low-carb diet. This likely will replace the conventional approach of using a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.

More information about a Mediterranean type diet in firefighter’s, which is very similar to this study: http://nethealthbook.com/news/mediterranean-diet-benefits-us-workers/

Reference: 16th European Congress on Obesity, Geneva June 23, 2008

Last edited November 4, 2014

Jun
01
2008

Diabetes Onset Can be Delayed

By | Diabetes, Fitness, Nutrition, Prevention

Diabetes delayed by diet and exercise

Prevention is the buzzword in healthcare, but often medicine has to embark on the curative avenues. With the onset of a health problem patients are often tempted to throw in the towel: it’s too late now anyways. There is nothing I can do. It’s up to medication, pills or shots to get a handle on my problem. Nothing could be further from the truth, as major clinical trials have shown, when it comes to intervention to prevent the onset of diabetes. There is a stage where lab tests show that a patient has impaired glucose tolerance. He or she is”pre-diabetic”. Without intervention the development of diabetes is more or less imminent. But this does not mean that “it is too late “. It is exactly at that point, where lifestyle intervention can make a difference. How long do these post-intervention studies remain effective? Professor Guangwei Li at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, China and Dr. Ping Zhang from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed up patients 20 years after enrolment. In 1986, 577 adults from 33 clinics in China were randomly assigned to a control group or one of three lifestyle intervention groups (diet, exercise or diet and exercise combined).

Diabetes Onset Can be Delayed

Diabetes Onset Can be Delayed

All of the patients had impaired glucose tolerance. There was an active intervention program until 1992, and in 2006 participants were assessed for the long-term effect of the interventions. The results showed that the combined lifestyle interventions reduced the incidence of diabetes by about half during the active intervention period of 6 years. Over the 20 year duration the reduction was 43 %. At the end of the 20 year period 80% of the intervention group had developed diabetes, whereas 93% of the control group that had not followed a lifestyle intervention program were diabetic. The researchers reported that lifestyle intervention programs for patients with impaired glucose tolerance can indeed make a difference. A six year intervention program can delay the onset of diabetes by 14 years.

More information about diabetes: http://nethealthbook.com/hormones/diabetes/

Reference: Lancet 2008;371:1783-1789; 1731-1733.

Last edited November 3, 2014

May
01
2008

Glucose and Colorectal Cancer Are No Sweet Deal

By | Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Nutrition, Obesity

It has been noted in various publications that insulin resistance carries a host of health risks: aside from type 2 diabetes, there is cardiovascular disease. Also high insulin levels are associated with growth hormone like substances in the body. These substances are contributing to the development of some cancers.

There is other extensive medical literature stating that glucose (=sugar) and refined carbohydrate (cookies, cakes, French fries, doughnuts, bread, rice, potatoes)  intake lead to chronic inflammation in blood vessels throughout the body, but also to a weakening of the immune system. This explains why such varied diseases as high blood pressure, hardening of arteries with resulting strokes and heart attacks, diabetes, asthma and cancer are caused by the same chronic inflammation that in turn is brought on by our eating habits of a refined diet consumed by most industrialized nations. This blog deals only with cancer of the colon and cancer of the rectum as a result of  chronic inflammation.

Researchers from Minnesota and Maryland examined 375 individuals with recurrent polyps (=adenomas) and the identical number without recurrent adenomas. They followed the course of the patients for 4 years. In their study they looked at fasting serum. Patients who were found to have the highest levels of both insulin and glucose in their serum were at an approximately 50% higher risk of colorectal cancer recurrence. The strongest risk factors were elevated glucose levels.

Glucose and Colorectal Cancer Are No Sweet Deal

Glucose and Colorectal Cancer Are No Sweet Deal

The individuals with the highest glucose levels also tended to be slightly older, have a higher waist to hip ratio and a higher body mass index. These results do point out the necessity of keeping a close tab on glycemic control in person with a history of colorectal polyps. It also is evident that consuming foods with a low to medium glycemic index will help to reduce the risk for colonic cancers.

More information about:

1. Colon cancer: http://nethealthbook.com/cancer-overview/colon-cancer/

2. Sugar causes cancer: https://www.askdrray.com/sugar-as-a-cause-of-cancer/

Reference: The Medical Post, April 1, 2008, page 21

Last edited November 3, 2014

Sep
01
2007

Weight Loss Surgery Reduces Mortality

By | Diabetes, Heart Disease, Nutrition, Obesity

Excessive bodyweight contributes to a host of illnesses. Diets and lifestyle changes, physical activity and exercise programs can contribute to successful weight loss, but for a group of patients morbid obesity remains a significant problem. Weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery has been on the increase.

Opinions about the usefulness of bariatric surgery have been divided. Often it was seen as a heroic effort with lots of risks and questionable benefits. In some procedures patients did not show significant weight loss, and there were some doubts whether the risk of surgery was worth taking.

Dr. Lars Sjoestroem of Gothenburg University has a detailed study on 4,047 Swedish patients with obesity, of which 2,010 underwent bariatric surgery, while 2,037 received non-surgical treatment. The two groups were compared for overall mortality after 11 years. The non-surgical control group lost little or no weight. The bariatric surgery patients did better. The most successful group was the one which received gastric bypass surgery with a weight loss of 25%. Vertical-based gastroplasty patients lost 16% of their weight, and those who underwent gastric banding lost 14% of their weight over 10 years.

Weight Loss Surgery Reduces Mortality

Gastric bypass surgery

At follow up the overall mortality was significantly decreased in the group that underwent surgery. Death risk from disease which is associated with obesity, such as coronary artery disease was significantly decreased by 56%. The risk of death from diabetes was decreased by 92% and the risk of death from cancer also showed a reduction of 60%.

US data show similar results of a decrease in long-term mortality in obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery and lost weight.

More information on weight loss: http://nethealthbook.com/womens-health-gynecology-and-obstetrics/weight-loss/

Reference: August 23, 2007 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Last edited November 3, 2014