Showing posts with label dairy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dairy. Show all posts

Monday, June 04, 2012

Eat a gluten-free diet for type 2 diabetes and celiac disease

New research finds that almost one in four adolescents in the United States have diabetes or pre-diabetes, according to The New York Times. These are not children with juvenile diabetes but full-on type 2 diabetes. More than 25 million adults already have diabetes and 79 million may have prediabetes, yet few people consider a diabetes diet. There is a definite correlation between diet and diabetes symptoms. Studies suggest that eating a gluten-free diet without dairy could be good for diabetes and celiac disease, a condition characterized by an allergy to gluten.

Diabetes and celiac

The only treatment for celiac disease is following a gluten-free diet. Gluten is a protein found in most grains, including wheat, barely and rye. Adopting a gluten-free diet relieves symptoms in people with celiac and those who are sensitive to gluten, yet a study published in Diabetologia journal reports that diabetics should consider a gluten-free diet too.

The study observed people with type 2 diabetes on the Paleo diet versus the Mediterranean diet. The Paleo diet calls for no grains, no dairy, no salt. It recommends fruits, vegetables, nuts, seafood and lean meats. The diet is based on how early man ate and discourages any processed foods. The Mediterranean diet also allows fruits, vegetables, seafood and lean meats. The main difference is that the Mediterranean diet recommends unrefined grains, such as whole grain products. A little dairy is also acceptable on the diet.

The results of this study found that people on the Mediterranean diet had very little, if any, improvement in diabetes symptoms. The group who followed the Paleo diet experienced a reverse in diabetes symptoms, showing a clear correlation between a gluten-free diet and diabetes.

The Mediterranean group experienced a 7 percent lower rise in glucose in response to carbohydrate intake whereas the Paleolithic group saw a 26 percent reduction. The group who ate the gluten-free diet Paleo diet had normal glucose levels at the conclusion of the study.

Diet and diabetes

Only a decade ago the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among children aged 12 to 19 was low. Now it is growing at an alarming rate. Also, experts are finding that diabetes progresses more quickly in children than adults, plus is more difficult to treat.

Adopting a diabetes diet without grains or dairy could help many of the children and adults who are at risk for developing diabetes. It would also benefit people with celiac disease, many of whom have no idea that they have the condition. Experts estimate that around 15 percent of people in the US have some form of gluten sensitivity.

Perhaps the people who could most benefit from a gluten-free diet are people with type 1 diabetes. Experts estimate that around 10 percent of people with type 1 diabetes also have celiac disease. This does not account for how many diabetics may also have a mild to moderate gluten intolerance.

Diabetes diet

Eliminating dairy as part of a diabetes diet is fairly easy. With the exception of whey, casein and a few other ingredients that do not sound like they are dairy-derived, gluten-containing ingredients and products with hidden gluten are much harder to identify. Many salad dressings, broths, candies, condiments, sauces, soy products and mixes have gluten.

Adopting a gluten-free diet comes with the price of time to learn all the possible gluten foods and alternatives. However, a gluten-free diet may be the best thing for someone with diabetes and celiac disease.

Sources for this article include:
http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/
http://www.staffanlindeberg.com/DiabetesStudy.html
http://www.diabetes.org
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com
http://glutenfreenetwork.com
http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics/

About the author:
Sarka-Jonae Miller is a health writer and novelist. She was certified as a personal fitness trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. She also worked as a massage therapist, group exercise instructor and assistant martial arts instructor.
Miller's premiere novel, "Between Boyfriends," was recently published http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006Q6TSCS/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img

Top Ten GMO Foods to Avoid Eating

Be aware and beware...

With that latter thought in mind, we've developed an infographic to highlight the top 10 GMO (genetically modified organism) foods to avoid, in no particular order:

1. Tomatoes: What? Tomatoes? Yes, that's right. It's probably the No. 1 symbol of a GMO food, having been on the market since about 1994. Still, some think modifying them genetically is okay, including those who traditionally shun GMO foods, which is perplexing. The most recent converts are hailing a new technique developed by researchers for extending the shelf life of tomatoes and other crops from the traditional 15 days or so to a full month. This is accomplished by suppressing two enzymes (A-Man, B-hex) which accumulate during the ripening process. Backers say this modification can decrease waste and increase efficiency, but again, it's a process that genetically alters the product, and there have been reports that some animals have died shortly after consuming GMO tomatoes.

2. Cotton: Considered a food item because its oil can be consumed, cotton - in particular, genetically modified Bt cotton, common to India and China - has damaging consequences. According to recent Chinese research, while Bt cotton is capable of killing bollworms without the use of insecticides, its decreased use has increased the presence of other crop-harming pests. Also, Bt cotton production has been linked to drastic depletion of soil nutrients and lower crop yields, as well as much higher water requirements.

3. Canola: This is probably one of the most misunderstood, misguided "healthy" food choices out there right now, but there is little about canola - and similar oils - that is good for you. Extracted from rapeseed, canola oil and others must be chemically removed from the seeds, then deodorized and altered, in order to be utilized in foods. They are among the most chemically altered foods in our diets.

4. Aspartame: An artificial sweetener found in a number of products, aspartame - discovered by accident in 1965 by a chemist testing an anti-ulcer drug - accounts for as many as 75 percent of adverse reactions to food additives reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to some reports. Some seizures and even some deaths have been blamed on aspartame.

5. Dairy: A disturbingly high number - as many as one-fifth - of dairy cows in the U.S. today are given growth hormones to increase milk production, a figure that has been rising since the FDA approved a genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone known as rbGH or rbST for use in dairy cows in 1993. While said to boost production by 5-15 percent, scientists have expressed concern that the increased levels of IGF-1 (insulin growth factors-1) from hormone-treated cows may boost the risks of colon and breast cancer. Since 2008, Hiland Dairy has stopped using milk from dairy farmers who inject their cows with growth hormone.

6. Corn: Modified now to create its own insecticide, as many as half of all U.S. farms growing corn for Monsanto are using genetically modified corn, with tons of it now being introduced for human consumption, according to the FDA. Doctors at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec recently found Bt toxin from modified corn in the blood of pregnant women and their babies, as well as in non-pregnant women.

7. Papayas: Genetically modified papayas have been grown in Hawaii commercially since 1999, designed to combat the Papaya Ringspot Virus. Approved for sale and consumption in the U.S. and Canada, GM papayas cannot be imported or sold in the European Union.

8. Potatoes: That favorite of American starches, potatoes, especially those that have been genetically modified with Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki Cry 1, have been fed to mice and those mice have been found to have toxins in their systems. Also, according to Dr. Nina V. Fedoroff Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and Evan Pugh Professor at Pennsylvania State University, "rats fed the transgenic potatoes had significantly lower organ weights [...]".

9. Soy: Like other foods, soy, too, has been genetically modified to resist herbicides. Soy is included in soy flour, tofu, soy beverages, soybean oil and scores of other products, especially baked goods and pastries. According to one report, "[a]fter feeding hamsters for two years over three generations, those on the GM diet, and especially the group on the maximum GM soy diet, showed devastating results. By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies. They also suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate among the pups."

10. Rice: One of the most prevalent starches in the Asian and U.S. diets, rice has been modified to contain a high amount of vitamin A. But despite the goal of boosting rice production in countries with high demand, it's not being universally accepted. China, for instance, suspended distribution of genetically modified rice within its commercial food supplies over growing concern about its safety.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.naturalnews.com/Infographic-Top-10-GMO-Foods-to-Avoid-Eating.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/035734_GMOs_foods_dangers.html

http://www.deccanherald.com

http://www.hilanddairy.com/green/no-artificial-growth-hormones

http://www.huffingtonpost.com