Fasting can
reduce risk of diabetes
Do
you know that 10 to 12 hours of fasting triggers body to begin scavenging for
other sources of energy to sustain itself? The body pulls LDL (bad)
cholesterol from the fat cells and uses it as energy. This natural
biological process can help pre-diabetes combat risk for developing diabetes, a
study says.
‘Fasting
has the potential to become an important diabetes intervention,’ said lead
researcher Benjamin Horne from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute
in Murray, Utah. Researchers analysed participants with pre-diabetics,
including men and women, between ages 30 and 69.
‘During
actual fasting days, cholesterol went up slightly among them. But over a
six-week period, cholesterol levels decreased by about 12 percent in addition
to weight loss,’ researchers added. Cholesterol was used for energy during
the fasting episodes and likely came from fat cells. The fat cells
themselves are a major contributor to insulin resistance which can lead to
diabetes.
‘Because fasting may help eliminate
and break down fat cells, insulin resistance may be frustrated by fasting,’
Horne said. Prior research done by Horne and his team focused on healthy
people during one day of fasting and showed that routine, water-only fasting
was associated with lower glucose levels and weight loss.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
16.06.2014
Diet changes
can prevent type 2 diabetes
A
new study suggests that improving the overall quality of one’s diet helps to
prevent type 2 diabetes.The study by researchers at the Harvard School of
Public Health, found that those who improved their diet quality index scores by
10 percent over four years – by eating more whole grains, fruits and
vegetables, and less sweetened beverages and saturated fats, for example –
reduced their risk for type 2 diabetes by about 20 percent, compared to those
who made no changes to their diets. Dietary quality was measured using the
110-point Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010.
The
study also examined whether improved diet was a marker of other lifestyle
changes, such as weight loss or increased physical activity, or if it could
independently reduce a person’s risk for developing type 2 diabetes. ‘We found
that diet was indeed associated with diabetes independent of weight loss and
increased physical activity,’ lead researcher Sylvia Ley, PhD, a post-doctoral
fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health said.
‘If
you improve other lifestyle factors you reduce your risk for type 2
diabetes even more, but improving diet quality alone has significant
benefits. This is important because it is often difficult for people to
maintain a calorie-restricted diet for a long time. We want them to know if
they can improve the overall quality of what they eat – consume less red meat
and sugar-sweetened beverages, and more fruits, vegetables and whole grains –
they are going to improve their health and reduce their risk
for diabetes,’ she said.
The
study also showed that it didn’t matter how good or poor a
person’s diet was when they started out, she said. The study was
presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 74th Scientific
Sessions.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
16.06.2014
When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I
feel bad, and that is my religion
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