Sue Marshall blogs about diabetes for Desang

A controversial set of new eating and drinking guidelines from Harvard Medical School explains how food and beverage choices can help people manage and prevent Type 2 diabetes, according to a recently published article from Diabetes News.

The study found that people who regularly ate whole grains were 40% less likely to develop diabetes. Cereals, breads and grains were the most beneficial from that group. These foods are digested slower, making people feel full longer and giving the body more time to manage the sugar intake. This helps both the blood sugar and weight control.

Additionally, the study found that women who ate peanut butter at least five times a week were 20-30% less likely to develop diabetes.

On the flip side, those who drank two or more sugary sodas or soft drinks per month were 24% more likely to develop diabetes than those who drank just one or fewer soft drinks. Drinking “fruit drinks” containing little actual fruit juice is also bad for your health. Those drinking two of them per day were 31% more likely to develop diabetes.

Here are some of the other key findings:

* Eating too much red meat can increase diabetes risk. Woman who ate one serving of red meat per day held a 20% higher risk for the disease than those eating just one per week.

* Processed meats can also be troublesome. Men that ate such meats five times a week were approximately twice as likely to develop diabetes than those eating processed meats just two times a month.

* Drinking coffee can help ward off diabetes. One cup a day can cut the risk by 13%, while drinking two can lower it by 42%.

* Alcohol can help prevent diabetes. One rink per day cut the risk of the disease by 43%.

* A separate article from Private MD notes that pistachios can help fight hunger and diabetes. Eating the nuts when also eating sugary foods can help reduce spikes in blood sugar levels.

For the Harvard study, participants reported their food and beverage intake. The researchers did note that their findings are limited.

http://diabetesnewshound.com/?p=731#more-731

From Diabetes Health: For most of us, the biggest problem with losing lots of weight is the demoralizing process of watching ourselves gain it all back. But some people who lose weight manage to keep it off for good. How do they do it? Researchers from the Miriam Hospital recently examined their brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging and actually saw their restraint in action.

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2009/09/25/6373/watching-the-brain-reveals-willpower-in-action/

‘SOUND DOCTOR’ ON CALL FOR LOCAL PEOPLE

NHS Barking and Dagenham has launched a ground breaking audio website designed to help local people with long term health problems to cope with their illnesses.

The Sound Doctor, which went live this week at www.bdsounddoctor.nhs.uk, is a new website that features more than 60 medical specialists speaking about various long-term health conditions. At the click of a mouse people can access expert information and advice on a range of illnesses including: cardiovascular disease, coronary obstructive pulmonary disease (chronic emphysema or bronchitis, known as COPD), weight management, cholesterol and hypertension, quitting smoking and recovering from a fall. For those without internet access the information is available on CD on request.

The Sound Doctor is specifically designed for the ill and their families to allow them to access information about managing their condition without having to leave the comfort of home. This is particularly important for people whose condition may make leaving the house a strenuous or stressful experience.

NHS Barking and Dagenham Director of Health Improvement, Matthew Cole, said: “The Sound Doctor lets patients get expert answers to many of the questions they might have about their condition from the comfort of their own home. The website features more than 60 specialists from the borough talking in detail about what it means to be diagnosed with a particular illness. They also talk about what patients and carers can do to aid treatment. The service is designed to enhance the superb one-on-one treatment already offered by our specialists and we really hope that local people make full use of the website and CDs we’ve made available.”

Local resident and cardiac patient Tony Roth was involved in creating the site. He says it is an excellent resource: “When patients hear a diagnosis, they may miss what’s been said to them, especially if the information comes as a shock. This website gives them the opportunity to take the time to listen, really understand what a condition means for them, and hear from other people’s experiences.”

Campaign Co-ordinator, Sam Woodhouse, said: “We are delighted with the look and manageability of the site. This is a really comprehensive and groundbreaking way of delivering information and so far the feedback has been excellent. We are very pleased to be at the forefront of using digital platforms to give people effective health information in a flexible way.”

http://bdsounddoctor.nhs.uk/diabetes

Diabetes UK’s short stories competition  gives children and teenagers a chance to write a short story about their experience of living with diabetes and have it published on the ‘My Life’ section within the Diabetes UK website. They can also win a Nintendo DS Lite with Nintendogs game, plus a Nintendog Puppy Playmate. On top of that, two runners-up will each win a fantastic family ticket to Drayton Manor theme park. The deadline for the writing competition is Friday 15 January 2010.

via ‘My life with diabetes’ competitions – your chance to win exciting goodies – Diabetes UK.

I’m usually a big fan of Diabetes Health’s articles but struggle with any that start promoting sugar as OK. It isn’t for me, that’s all I know. Blood test results prove it. “For those with diabetes the holiday season is especially challenging, as carbohydrates, including sugar, have the greatest impact on blood glucose levels. The good news is that sugar is not completely off limits for those with diabetes. Studies have found that blood sugar rises no higher in response to sugar than it does many other carbohydrate-rich foods such as white bread, rice, or potatoes. Thus, the current dietary recommendations set forth by the American Diabetes Association state that it is the total amount of carbohydrates consumed that is most important, not the type.”

via Sugar Plum Dreams – Diabetes Health.