Study results show that consumption of a diet with a high glycemic load (GL) and index (GI) that is high in starch and low in fiber increases the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.

“Both carbohydrate quantity and quality seem to be important factors in diabetes prevention,” say the researchers.

Ivonne Sluijs (University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands) and colleagues carried out a prospective cohort study of 37,846 individuals participating in the EPIC-NL (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands) study to assess the impact of dietary GL, GI, carbohydrate, and fiber intake on incidence of Type 2 diabetes over a 10-year period.

The participants were aged 21-70 years at baseline and were diabetes free. Dietary intake was measured using a validated food frequency questionnaire.

Overall, 915 new cases of Type 2 diabetes occurred over the study period. GL was significantly associated with diabetes risk, with an increase in risk of 32% per 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in GL.

A similar elevation in GI and carbohydrate intake increased the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes by 8% and 15%, respectively, but this was only of borderline significance for GI.

In contrast, each 1 SD increase in fiber intake significantly reduced the risk for Type 2 diabetes by 8%.

When the researchers looked at carbohydrate subtypes, only starch intake was significantly associated with an increased risk for diabetes, with a relative risk of 25% per 1 SD increase.

The authors note that these associations are likely to be attenuated by a certain degree of energy intake misreporting by the participants.

However, they conclude that “our findings support the view that diets high in GL, GI, and carbohydrate, and low in fiber increase the risk of diabetes.”

The results of this study are reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2010

Free abstract

IMPERCEPTIBLE DOES NOT MEAN HARMLESS

The perceptible type 2 diabetes symptoms are frequently absent, soft or intermittent, causing this disease to go unnoticed, sometimes for years. Nevertheless, serious long-term complications will result from these imperceptible type 2 diabetes symptoms anyway. These complications include vascular disease, coronary artery disease, renal failure due to nephropathy, vision problems due to retinopathy, tingling or loss of sensation, burning feet or feet pain due to neuropathy, heart failure from cardiomyopathy, and liver damage from steatohepatitis, among others.

Type?2 diabetes is habitually treated at the start by just escalating corporal activity and diminishing carbohydrate intake and body weight. These can bring back insulin sensitivity even when the mass loss is modest, for instance around 10 or 15?lb, particularly when it is in abdominal overweight.

It is frequently possible to attain long-term acceptable blood glucose control and lessen the diabetes symptoms with these measures alone. However, the core tendency to insulin resistance is not gone, and so consideration to diet, weight loss and exercise must persist. The customary next step, if required, is treatment with oral antidiabetic medication.

TAKE CONTROL: DO NOT PROCRASTINATE

When the ailment progresses, the inability of insulin secretion worsens too, and therapeutic substitution of insulin frequently becomes indispensable. There are abundant theories as to the precise mechanism in type?2 diabetes and its origin.

Fat located around the waist in relation to abdominal organs, called central obesity, is known to incline individuals to insulin resistance. Abdominal fat is especially vigorous hormonally, secreting a set of hormones called adipokines that may probably damage glucose tolerance.

Obesity is present in more than 50% of patients diagnosed with type?2 diabetes. Other possible causes include aging and family history: almost 20 percent of aged patients in the USA suffer from diabetes, and type?2 is much more widespread in those with relatives who have had it.

Type?2 diabetes has begun to affect more and more children and adolescents in the last 10 years, probably in association with the increased occurrence of childhood obesity seen in some places in recent decades.

Low levels of blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, one of the most dangerous symptoms of diabetes, may lead to seizures or episodes of coma and must be treated immediately, via an emergency high-glucose gel positioned in the patient’s oral cavity, or an injection of glucagon or intravenous dextrose.

Type?2 diabetes mellitus is due to insulin insensitivity or reduced sensitivity, combined with comparatively reduced insulin emission which in some cases becomes complete. The imperfect openness of body tissues to insulin almost unquestionably involves the insulin receptors in the cell membranes. Nevertheless, the exact defects are not known yet.

At the start, insulin production is only somewhat impaired in type?2 diabetes, so oral medication, often prescribed in a variety of combinations, can be taken to improve insulin production, to regulate excessive release of glucose by the liver and to soothe insulin resistance to some extent as well. At the same time, to diminish the symptoms of diabetes. But if you do not act fast, the story can be completely different.

If you have gone to the doctor and are being treated for diabetes, you may have been told that you need to lose weight. Too much body fat is making your cells resistant to insulin. This is turn is not allowing excess sugar to be taken up by your cells for energy. The less energy you have, the harder it is to get enough exercise to take off the excess body fat that you so critically need to take off. On and on the circle goes and it is going in a really bad direction. But don’t give up hope. There is help for you in the form of supplements and correct food choices.

Add more protein to your diet

As an individual with diabetes, it is vitally important that you ingest enough protein on a daily basis. It can supply you with energy even if you have limited your carbohydrate intake. Eat more animal products and cut out the refined starches and junk foods. Skip the diabetic diet foods too. Eating more protein has been proven to help people lose weight. People with diabetes must be very conscious of how many carbohydrates they are eating at any meal. It is best to get balanced meal plans from your medical nutritionist and ask about how to add more proteins to your daily diet.

Protein Supplements

• Casein Supplements - This is a milk protein that can give you a sustained and slow release of amino acids in the blood stream. This type of protein supplement can increase the energy you can get from your meals.
• Whey Supplements - another type of protein that has also been found to reduce high blood pressure. Whey protein has a supply of amino acid called cysteine. It can help control blood sugar levels.

Controlling sugar levels will not only reduce the amount of insulin you need to take artificially, but it will reduce dangerous belly fat. Reducing dangerous and unattractive belly fat will reduce insulin resistance. Reducing insulin resistance reduces belly fat. On and on the circle goes, only now it is going in the right direction.

These two protein supplements can help individuals suffering from diabetes, however, this article is not meant to replace the advice your doctor is giving you. First consult with your doctor before adding any new supplements to your diet.

If you are one of the many people who are affected by any kind of diabetes, you know that you cannot eat just like a normal person does and stay healthy. This doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy great food like everyone else, though!

It is important to consult a doctor or a nutritionist to help you plan out your diet, especially if you have diabetes. There is no “One size fits all” solution, so there is no way you can just read an article and get all the information you need to construct a diet. When you go to a doctor or a nutritionist, they will make you a whole diet, based on your weight, insulin intake, and other requirements. It will be broken down into calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat. This breakdown is called your macros.

Now, there are two main schools of thought about the optimal diet for a person with diabetes. Some say that you should have a diet of about 75% carbohydrates, where others believe that a lower carbohydrate diet, like 40%, will yield better results. The jury is still out on this issue, and no definitive answer has been given. Ask your doctor about what style of diet they recommend.

The other components of the diet are not as important as carbohydrate intake. They still make a difference, but carbohydrates are the main thing that should be taken care of on a diabetic diet.

Eating the right types of foods when you have diabetes is also important. Just because it fits into your macros, that does not mean that it will not effect you. For example, if one of your meals is around 300 calories, and you need 50g of carbohydrates in it (this is just an example), what do you think would be better; A large sweet potato, or a bunch of ice cream. Both may fit into the requirements of your diet, but generally speaking, it would be healthier and make you feel better if you chose the healthier option. But remember, this is not just for the diabetic diet, this pretty much applies to anyone’s diet. If you want to feel good and stay healthy, eat good food.

It is important to also plan the timing of your meals. Now, there are many different theories to how long before or after an insulin shot you should have your meals. This also depends on what kind of insulin your doctor gives you and what the dosage is. Because of this, it is usually a good idea to talk to your doctor about your meal timing. Not only will he or she know about you personally, but they will know what intervals work best with the medicine they have given you.

If you are diabetic, you can still eat great foods. You just have to plan things out a little more. If you visit your doctor, and follow the meal plan that they give you, you will be able to live a long, happy and healthy life.