Your Diet and Type 2 Diabetes continued

What you need to know about Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic Syndrome is a condition characterized by a group of diagnostic test findings, including elevated blood glucose levels, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.

About one in four U.S. adults has metabolic syndrome, according to a report in the October 2004 issue of Diabetes Care. An earlier study of 6,436 men and women, using data from 1988 to 1994, revealed that just over 24% of Americans age 20 and older met the criteria for metabolic syndrome.

In the current study, researchers looked at data collected between 1999 and 2000 on 1,677 people. They found that U.S. adults were growing worse, not better, as the century drew to a close, with more than 27% of Americans diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

Especially high was the number of women with the syndrome, which increased by 24% between the two study periods compared with a 2% rise among men.

Increased waist circumference, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure accounted for much of the increase in women.

Overall, the researchers estimate that 64 million U.S. adults now have metabolic syndrome.

To stop any further rise, the investigators in the study urge “comprehensive approaches for improving nutrition and physical activity habits that target both individuals and the population.”

Type 2 Diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes develops when the pancreas cannot make enough insulin to overcome the body’s resistance to insulin action. Metabolic syndrome is believed to be a form of pre-diabetes.

Diabetes has numerous side effects related to it, ranging from kidney damage (nephropathy), to nerve damage (neuropathy), to blindness (diabetic retinopathy), as well as heart disease and severe circulatory problems that can result in lower limb amputation.

In Diet and Disease Prevention Part 12, you will learn more about the specific dietary recommendations to ward off diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Your Diet and Type 2 Diabetes continued

What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder with abnormally high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) as its most prominent feature.

During intestinal digestion, carbohydrates and proteins are broken down into simple sugars and amino acids, respectively.

The liver converts all of the sugars and some of the amino acids into glucose, a simple sugar that is used for energy by every cell in the body.

Glucose passes from the bloodstream into the cells with the help of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas (a pear-shaped organ located just below the stomach).

By attaching to receptor sites on the surface membrane of a cell, insulin promotes the movement of glucose-transport proteins from the interior of the cell to its surface, where they bind with glucose and carry it into the cell.

In diabetes mellitus, several problems may interfere with this process: pancreatic insulin production may be partially or completely impaired, or body cells may become unable to respond to normal amounts of insulin efficiently.

In Type 2 diabetes mellitus, also once known as adult-onset diabetes, insulin production by the pancreas is only moderately reduced, but your cells are unable to respond efficiently to insulin—a condition referred to as insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is thought to be a forerunner of diabetes.

The onset of type 2 diabetes is usually gradual and tends to affect people over age 40, particularly those who are overweight.

Infrequently, an adult may develop type 1 diabetes. In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas makes  no insulin. It used to be referred to as juvenile diabetes, but now, because we are seeing so many young people with Type 2, it is no longer classified in that manner.

Diet and Disease Prevention Part 11

Your Diet and Type 2 Diabetes continued

Your Diet and Type 2 Diabetes

Diet and diabetes are inextricably linked. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which you stop producing your own insulin, which helps your body utilize the food you eat in a healthy and balanced way.

Type 2 diabetes is when you do produce insulin, but there is something wrong with the whole process of utilization.

This condition is commonly termed insulin resistance, and can be seen as a type of pre-diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome, recently posited by Johns Hopkins, is a cluster of symptoms which can also be a precursor of diabetes.  In this article, we will outline diabetes, both type 1 and type 2.

We will also discuss the latest facts and figures on metabolic syndrome.

Diet and Disease Prevention Part 10
Your Diet and Type 2 Diabetes continued

Osteopenia and osteoporosis continued

• Restrict caffeine consumption in your diet to less than 300 mg per day. Depending on brewing methods, the average cup (8 oz.) of coffee contains between 115 and 175 mg caffeine; the average size (12 oz.) soda contains between 30 and 50 mg caffeine, depending on the brand.

It is thought that both caffeine and soda rob you of bone as you age.

It is believed that the carbonation in soda affects bones in two ways, causing the porousness, and blocking the absorption of calcium due to the chemical phosporous in the soda.

You should have a higher ratio of calcium to phosporous to get maximum absorption.

In addition, the sugar in soda is very unhealthy, and wasted calories compared to the 150 or so calories per glass which you could expend on a baked potato with lowfat cheese, or just about 2 light yogurts.

There is also a growing body of evidence that suggests that artificial sweeteners actually promote weight GAIN, not weight loss.

If you are thirsty and can’t live without coffee or a drink with your meal, why not try more milk instead. Choose skim, and make yourself a latte or iced latte with mainly milk and a bit of coffee. Instead of soda, what about a fruit smoothie. You will not only feel like you are having a treat, you will be building bone and helping prevent overeating.

When looking to your diet for disease prevention, emphasise natural foods, not pre-packaged convenience foods. Try to wean yourself and your family off the soda habit.

In Diet and Disease Prevention Part 9, learn more about diet and how to prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Diet and Disease Prevention Part 7
Prevent Osteopenia and osteoporosis

Continued from Part 6

The following recommendations are a summary of the major research that has been carried out on what you can do to prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis.

• Consume 1,200 to 1,500 mg of calcium each day in the form of loawfat dairy, plus natural sources of calcium such as spinach and sardines.

• Take calcium supplements if the amount of calcium in your diet is low. Not all forms of calcium are absorbed well by the body, and you will also require Vitamin D and magnesium, and Vitamin C to help with absorption. Calcium citrate is the best ratio of absorption to cost and ease of finding the supplement on store shelves.

• Get an adequate amount of vitamin D (400 to 800 IU per day).

• Limit sodium consumption to 2,400 mg per day, no more than 1,500 mg if you also have concerns over high blood pressure.

• Follow a dietary pattern that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

In Diet and Disease Prevention Part 8, learn more about diet and how to prevent osteoporosis

Your Diet and Osteopenia and Osteoporosis

Osteopenia, or early stage osteoporosis, means poverty of bone.

Osteoporosis means porous bone, or bones with holes in it.

Osteoporosis is a disease which starts in middle age, and progressively worsens over time.

With osteopenia and osteoporosis, your bones get more brittle as you age, leaving you at risk for serious injury even from a simple thing like tripping, or stepping down the wrong way.

We think that bone is solid and unchanging, but that is not the case. Bone is a living tissue that breaks down and is built back up all the time. Think of it as a wall made with 100 bricks when you are healthy.

If you have osteopenia, your wall may fall down, and be built back up to the same size and dimensions, but with only 90 bricks.

For osteoporosis, you may have to build that same wall with only 70 or even 60 bricks. Therefore, it would not be as sturdy, right?

Osteoporosis can lead to bone breakage and especially hip fractures in older women. It can also lead to frailty, that thin, sick-like appearance to the limbs of older people.

Exercise, particularly weight bearing exercise such as light weights, can help combat fraility, but the best medicine is a good, healthy diet.

A bone density can tell you if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

In the next section of this series, we will outline the major dietary recommendations to prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis

Continues in Diet and Disease Prevention Part 7
Prevent Osteopenia and osteoporosis

Your Diet and Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

High blood pressure can lead to stroke, which is the #2 cause of long-term disability in the US. It can lead to circulatory issues, and erectile dysfunction.

The following recommendations are a summary of the major research that has been carried out on what you can do to prevent high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke.

• Maintain a desirable weight for your height, build and age.

• Limit daily sodium intake in your diet to 2,400 mg, the equivalent of about 1G teaspoons of table salt (sodium chloride). To achieve a more dramatic reduction in blood pressure, restrict sodium intake to 1,500 mg or less each day, the equivalent of less than half a teaspoon of salt.
Be especially careful with prepared foods, which can be loaded with sodium. Always read the label, and also take into account how many servings are deemed to be in the package, and how much of it you are likely to eat.

• Increase intake of fruits and vegetables to get enough potassium. Aim for eight servings per day. Bananas are a particularly good source which can be incorporated into breakfast, lunch or dinner, as smoothies, as part of a sandwich, or even as dessert, as well as on its own.

• Consume two to four servings of fat-free or low-fat dairy products each day for adequate calcium and protein. Milk can help you feel full at meals so you don’t overeat, or drink soda, and yogurt or cottage can be eaten for breakfast or lunch.

• Include plenty of whole grains, fish, and poultry in your diet.

• Restrict intake of fat, red meat, and sugary foods and drinks. Avoid pre-prepared foods and meals you have not cooked yourself. Avoid hidden salt, such as in soy sauce.

• Limit consumption of alcohol to no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two per day for men. One alcoholic drink equals one 12-oz. beer, one 5-oz. glass of wine, or one shot (1H oz.) of 80-proof spirits. If you don’t drink, then don’t start.

Learn to fight Osteopenia and Osteoporosis in Diet and Disease Prevention Part 6

Heart health guidelines continued

• Opt for fat-free and low-fat dairy products. Also choose lean meats in place of higher-fat cuts. The leanest cuts of meat are loin, flank, and round.

• Get at least 15% of total calories in your diet from monounsaturated fats such as olive oil. Choose unsaturated fats instead of saturated and trans fats.

• Limit cholesterol to 300 mg per day. If you have high blood cholesterol levels, limit your intake to less than 200 mg per day. Try to choose heart healthy fats like olive oil, that can boost your HDL cholesterol to combat your LDL cholesterol.

• Get 20 to 30 g of fiber per day (for adults over age 50); include plenty of soluble fiber. Try to get it from a variety of sources such as wholemeal bread, cereal and fresh fruit.

• Consume at least 400 micrograms (mcg) of folate (folic acid) per day from fruits, vegetables, fortified grains, and/or a supplement.

• Limit intake of refined carbohydrates, such as white flour and sugar.

• Maintain a desirable weight to prevent metabolic syndrome, a major risk factor for heart disease. Metabolic Syndrome is a condition characterized by a group of diagnostic test findings, including elevated blood glucose levels, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, heart attack, and stroke, so watching what you eat is about more than just apperance and heart health.

Learn to prevent High Blood Pressure in Diet and Disease Prevention Part 5

Your Diet and Coronary Heart Disease

Heart disease is the #1 killer of BOTH men and women in the US.  In women, a first heart attack is likely to be fatal, or result in death within the first year, in up to 50% of all cases. Yes, that is up to HALF of all women dying.

Just think of the number of bereaved men and motherless children represented by that statistic, and start taking steps today for maximum heart health.

The following recommendations are a summary of the major research that has been carried out on what you can do to prevent heart attack.

• Limit saturated fat and trans fatty acids in your diet to less than 10% of calories (or less than 7% if you have high blood cholesterol levels). You can accomplish this by restricting your intake of the major sources of saturated fat (fatty meats, poultry skin, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils) and by restricting your intake of hydrogenated fat (found in commercially prepared baked and fried foods and margarines), the major source of trans fatty acids.

• Center your diet around fish, skinless poultry, and plant-based, unprocessed, whole foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes (such as beans), and nuts.

• Eat at least two servings of fish per week, particularly fatty fish such as mackerel, salmon, and albacore tuna. Fatty fish provide a type of fat, called omega-3 fatty acids, that is believed to be heart healthy.

• Include soy foods in your diet—replace foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol with 25 g of soy protein per day. This diet recommendation is particularly important for those with high levels of total and LDL cholesterol.

Learn more about preventing heart disease through nutrition in Diet and Disease Prevention Part 4

How to change your diet to fight disease

The steps for changing your diet outlined in this series of articles are simple and direct. And the best news of all is that many of these recommendations overlap. Following even one or two nutrition recommendations in this series of articles can actually help protect you against several disorders, not just one.

The diet recommendations for preventing coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, and osteoporosis are based on solid, consistent scientific findings.

These diet recommendations also take into account recently revised guidelines for sodium and potassium intake.

Although many of the diet recommendations for cancer prevention are less certain, a growing body of evidence suggests that they are protective.

Experts estimate that about 35% of all cancers are related to your diet, and that a high intake of fruits and vegetables can cut cancer risk by as much as half.

For those of you who already have a genetic pre-disposition to these serious health conditions, the good news is you can take active steps now to prevent heart disease or cancer from striking in the future by being proactive about your heart health today.

Continued in Diet and Disease Prevention Part 3