You can read the whole study at PLOS. The conclusion:
A simple, individualised, Mediterranean-style diet in pregnancy did not reduce the overall risk of adverse maternal and offspring complications but has the potential to reduce gestational weight gain [but not by much] and the risk of gestational diabetes [by 35%].
PS: Don’t try to lose weight during pregnancy without professional help.
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Wouldn’t be surprised if she had gestational diabetes.
From Newsweek:
Eating a Mediterranean diet while pregnant could prevent women at risk of gestational diabetes from developing the condition, a study has found.
The women who took part in the study followed a Mediterranean-style diet, by eating more nuts, extra virgin olive oil, fish, white meat and pulses; while cutting their levels of red meat, butter, margarine, and cream. Researchers also asked the women to avoid sugary drinks, fast food, and those high in animal fats.
Source: Eating Mediterranean Diet During Pregnancy Could Cut Gestational Diabetes Risk: Study
Steve Parker, M.D.
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HgbA1c (hemoglobin A1c) is a blood test that reflects average blood sugar levels over the previous three months. From a 2018 study:
In this community-based population, we observed a significant trend for cognitive decline over a 10 year period among individuals aged ≥50 years with normoglycaemia, prediabetes or diabetes at baseline. Additionally, HbA1c levels were linearly associated with subsequent cognitive decline in memory and executive function (but not orientation) irrespective of diabetes status at baseline.
Source: HbA1c, diabetes and cognitive decline: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing | SpringerLink
h/t to Jan at The Low-Carb Diabetic
Steve Parker, M.D.
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Now THIS is whole grain
Do you know what a whole grain food is? I thought I did. But I was wrong. Here’s the definition in a 2013 article in Scientific American:
The term “whole grain” might evoke an image of a whole, intact grain—that is, a fiber-rich coating of bran surrounding a starchy endosperm and a small reproductive kernel known as the germ. But in a definition created in 1999 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) International, an organization of food industry professionals and scientists, and adopted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006, “whole grain” refers to any mixture of bran, endosperm and germ in the proportions one would expect to see in an intact grain—yet the grains can be, and usually are, processed so that the three parts are separated and ground before being incorporated into foods. (Refined grains, on the other hand, are grains that have been stripped of their bran and germ.) For a food product to be considered whole grain, the FDA saysit must contain at least 51 percent of whole grains by weight. Compared with intact grains, though, processed whole grains often have lower fiber and nutrient levels.
Many of the scientific studies that support the healthfulness of whole grains, and there aren’t many, considered wheat germ and bran cereals as whole grain foods. But those are only parts of a whole grain. The studies that linked lower heart disease and type 2 diabetes with whole grain consumption were diets high in fiber or bran as a whole grain.
Read the whole article (it’s not long) to find out how modern processing of whole grains can reduce their healthfulness.
Food companies lump ground whole grains, partially processed grains and intact unprocessed grains together under the same broad category of “whole grains,” so it’s difficult for consumers to know which they’re getting.
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Back to the drawing board
NASEM is the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Andy Harris writes that:
The nation’s senior scientific body recently released a new report raising serious questions about the “scientific rigor” of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This report confirms what many in government have suspected for years and is the reason why Congress mandated this report in the first place: our nation’s top nutrition policy is not based on sound science.
Dr. Harris notes that since 1980, when the guidelines were first published, rates of obesity have doubled and diabetes has quadrupled.
Current recommendations to reduce saturated fat consumption and to eat health whole grains do not, after all, reduce rates of cardiovascular disease. That was my conclusion in 2009.
For a mere $68 you can read the NASEM report yourself. Better yet, read Tom Naughton’s thoughts for free.
Steve Parker, M.D.
PS: The diets I’ve designed are contrary to U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
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Posted in Diabetes, Heart Disease, Overweight & Obesity
I enjoy an aspartame-flavored Fresca now and then
LADA is latent autoimmune diabetes in adults.
This new study is out of Sweden. The potential disease-inducing soft drink dose was 400 ml or 13.5 fl oz per day. In the U.S., a typical soda can is 10 fl oz or 355 ml. Surprisingly, artificially-sweetened soft drinks were just as guilty as regular beverages.
From MNT:
“The study included 2,874 Swedish adults, of whom 1,136 had type 2 diabetes, 357 had LADA, and 1,137 were healthy controls.
The team analyzed the self-reported dietary data of each adult, looking specifically at the number of soft drinks consumed up to 1 year before a diabetes diagnosis. Participants’ insulin resistance levels, beta cell function, and autoimmune response were also measured.
The researchers found that adults who reported drinking at least two 200-milliliter servings of soft drinks a day – whether they contained sugar or artificial sweetener – were twice as likely to develop LADA and 2.4 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, compared with those who consumed fewer than two soft drinks daily.
What is more, adults who consumed five 200-milliliter servings of soft drinks daily were found to be at 3.5 times greater risk of LADA and 10.5 times greater risk of type 2 diabetes, regardless of whether the drinks were sugary or artificially sweetened.”
Source: Diabetes risk doubles with more than two soft drinks daily – Medical News Today
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Posted in Diabetes, Sugar Substitutes
Tagged artificial sweeteners
Hop on and ride, ride, ride to prevent diabetes
Even if you have type 2 diabetes already, share this post with someone who has prediabetes or risk of getting T2 diabetes. You could save a life and prevent a lot of hassle.
From MNT:
A new study, published this week in the journal Diabetologia, takes a deeper look at the role of exercise in the development of type 2 diabetes. It is the most in-depth study to examine exercise independent from other influential factors, such as diet. The conclusions from the report are clear: “This research shows that some physical activity is good, but more is better.” (says study co-author Dr. Soren Brage)
Currently, physical activity guidelines in the U.S. and the United Kingdom recommend 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week; this could include cycling, walking, or sports. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fewer than 50 percent of American adults meet these recommendations.
The current study was a result of collaborative work between two institutions – University College London and the University of Cambridge, both of which are based in the U.K. Data from more than 1 million people was collated. In all, the team analyzed 23 studies from the U.S., Asia, Australia, and Europe.
***
According to the analysis, cycling or walking briskly for 150 minutes each week cuts the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 26 percent.
Those who exercise moderately or vigorously for an hour each day reduced their risk by 40 percent. At the other end of the scale, for those who did not manage to reach the 150 minute target, any amount of physical activity they carried out still reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes, but to a lesser extent.
Source: Exercise vs. diabetes: New level of detail uncovered – Medical News Today
Steve Parker, M.D.
PS: If you want to start an exercise program, my books will get you started.
These new research findings are from the Framingham Heart Study’s Offspring Cohort.
Those in the highest quartile of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (I.e., six servings a week) has almost double the odds of developing prediabetes compared to the lowest quartile.
No similar association was found for diet sodas.
The higher risk for prediabetes may be related to insulin resistance.
Source: Sugary Beverages Raise Risk of Prediabetes | Medpage Today
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That’s a dumbbell in her right hand. I work-out with those myself.
I don’t have access to the full scientific report, but I’ve posted part of the abstract below.
The biggest problem with the study at hand is that physical activity apparently was surveyed only at the start of this 14-year study. Results would be much more robust if activity was surveyed every year or two. My overall activity level seems to change every two or three years. How about you?
Moving on.
“Compared to women who reported no strength training, women engaging in any strength training experienced a reduced rate of type 2 diabetes of 30% when controlling for time spent in other activities and other confounders. A risk reduction of 17% was observed for cardiovascular disease among women engaging in strength training. Participation in both strength training and aerobic activity was associated with additional risk reductions for both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease compared to participation in aerobic activity only.
CONCLUSIONS: These data support the inclusion of muscle-strengthening exercises in physical activity regimens for reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, independent of aerobic exercise. Further research is needed to determine the optimum dose and intensity of muscle-strengthening exercises.”
PMID 27580152
Source: Strength Training and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. – PubMed – NCBI
PS: Cardiovascular disease includes heart attack, cardiac death, stroke, coronary angioplasty, and coronary artery bypass grafting.
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Posted in Diabetes, Exercise, Heart Disease, Stroke
Not very pertinent, but a cool picture
Shift work can kill you.
I’ve seen studies associating night shift work with T diabetes in Japanese men, higher breast cancer rates, more metabolic syndrome, and higher heart disease risk in men.
Now we have evidence for higher diabetes rates in women who do shift work”
“Our results suggest that an extended period of rotating night shift work is associated with a modestly increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women, which appears to be partly mediated through body weight. Proper screening and intervention strategies in rotating night shift workers are needed for prevention of diabetes.”
Action Plan: P.D. Mangan has some ideas.
Also, reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes with the Mediterranean diet.
Steve Parker, M.D.
PS: If you get one of my books, stay safe and read it during the day.
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Posted in Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Metabolic Syndrome
Tagged night shift health risks
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Advanced Mediterranean Diet 