10 March, 2015

Losing 30 minutes of sleep daily triggers weight gain

Losing as little as half an hour of sleep per day on weekdays can have long-term consequences for body weight and metabolism, new research has found.

The findings suggest that people who accumulate sleep debt during weekdays and make up for lost sleep over the weekend may risk metabolic disruption, which may promote the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

"While previous studies have shown that short sleep duration is associated with obesity and diabetes, we found that as little as 30 minutes a day sleep debt can have significant effects on obesity and insulin resistance at follow up," said lead study author Shahrad Taheri, professor of medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Doha.

"This reinforces earlier observations that sleep loss is additive and can have metabolic consequences," Taheri noted.

The researchers recruited 522 patients with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Early Activity in Diabetes trial and randomised them into one of three groups: usual care, physical activity intervention, or diet and physical activity intervention. Participants completed seven-day sleep diaries and calculated their weekday sleep debt.

At baseline, compared with participants who had no weekday sleep debt, those who had weekday sleep debt were 72% more likely to be obese, and by the six-month mark, weekday sleep debt was significantly associated with obesity and insulin resistance. At 12 months, for every 30 minutes of weekday sleep debt at baseline, the risk of obesity and insulin resistance was significantly increased by 17% and 39%, respectively.

The results were presented at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

10.03.2015

Onion extract lowers high blood sugar, cholesterol

Combined with the antidiabetic drug metformin, an onion extract can help lower high blood glucose (sugar) and total cholesterol levels among diabetics, says a study. 

The onion extract used for the experiment in rats was a crude preparation from onion bulb. 

"We need to investigate the mechanism by which onion brought about the blood glucose reduction," said lead investigator Anthony Ojieh from the Delta State University in Abraka, Nigeria. 

"We do not yet have an explanation," Ojieh noted. 

To rats with medically induced diabetes, the researchers gave metformin and varying doses of onion extract -- 200, 400 and 600 milligrams per kilograms of body weight daily (mg/kg/day) -- to see if it would enhance the drug's effects. 

Two doses of onion extract, 400 and 600 mg/kg/day, strongly reduced fasting blood sugar levels in diabetic rats by 50 percent and 35 percent, respectively, compared with "baseline" levels at the start of the study before the rodents received onion extract, Ojieh reported. 

It reportedly lowered the total cholesterol level in diabetic rats, with the two larger doses again having the greatest effects. 

Onion extract led to an increase in average weight among nondiabetic rats but not diabetic rats. 

"Onion is not high in calories. However, it seems to increase the metabolic rate and, with that, to increase the appetite, leading to an increase in feeding," Ojieh said. 

The findings were presented at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego, California. 

Source: www.timesofindia.com

10.03.2015

Choose being kind over being right and you will be right every time

Richard Carlson