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Okay, it's stating the obvious but the evidence hasn't been clear before. As this affects several people who use this site, thought I'd post this link. The interesting thing is that going on a crash diet for a week (600 calories or less per day) apparently cures it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/25/diabetes-epide...
Angharad
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Interesting article. As is
Interesting article.
As is often the case, reading the full contents shows that the headline was chosen more to grab attention than as a way of accurately summarizing the contents.
Also, the bit about a one week 600 calorie a day diet reversing Type-2 diabetes seems to be the result of one study, so it's suggestive rather than conclusive.
Kris (who is not a medical professional, so this is all just slightly informed opinion)
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
To point out
It's probably NOT fast food. It's the damned lifestyle choices that go with fast food.
As for me, I eat fast food almost three meals out of four - it's not really a personal choice, it's because of how I work, which I want to change.
This has been the case for over a decade. I don't have diabetes, I'm only marginally overweight (pot belly), and otherwise I'm in good shape. Why? Because I don't go overboard on sugar, I don't stuff my face when I _do_ eat fast food, etc.
So, I'll chalk this one up with the "Aspartame causes Multiple Sclerosis" horse puckey.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
It's hard to take a story
It's hard to take a story seriously when there is a great big flaw in it.
Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes, accounting for about 85-95% of cases, and is often tied to obesity. It develops when the body fails to produce enough insulin to break down glucose, inflating blood sugar levels.
That is only one of the at least three different causes of Type 2 diabetes. It can also be caused by a flaw in the produced insulin, in this case the body doesn't recognize the insulin, because the insulin is wrong. And another the receptors are flawed, the body is producing the proper amount of insulin, but the cells don't recognize it. At least that is what was explained to me two years ago when I was diagnosed.
True
however, if people lose enough weight, they stop being diabetic as in the article (temporarily at any rate).
The other two causes you mention are quite correct.
Angharad
Angharad
I've seen...
I've seen weight loss PLUS diet revision result in "normal" blood sugar levels... That said, my sample is two... One of them stopped losing the weight (& actually put some more back on) and problems came back. He went onto insulin and his diet went to pieces... *sighs* And, he's let himself get "brainwashed" that sugar free = good... In any quantity... He's got major problems with portion control! *sighs*
The other individual lost 10% of body weight last summer and has dramatically modified her diet... Her morning tests come out in the good range 13 days out of 14... Now, to lose some more weight. :-) (We're both trying to lose the extra put on over the past decade or so. Stress isn't helping!)
I tend to agree with the suggestion that it may not be the fast food itself (though, that may well contribute!) but a lot of the other lifestyle decisions relating to regular consumption of fast food (eating alone, eating fast, etc.)
I also suspect that there's a genetic link... How many of us have known VERY OBESE people that do NOT develop diabetes and others only a little overweight that are diabetic (type II - I know Type I is a different beast). Pure speculation here, but I'd guess it's one of those things that if you have - you MIGHT get diabetes, and if you don't, you can't get it (at least not without a LOT of work.) But, that's speculation.
Thanks for sharing the article! Even when I don't agree with them, I find them worth a read.
As to the CRASH (600 cal) diet... If not done under medical supervision, I've been told that ANY Under 1,000 cal diet (for the average person) can be considered dangerous and that if you go as low as 600, you may trigger the body's "fasting" reaction which isn't what is desired when you're trying to lose weight.
Anne
I'll second that....
... from personal experiance. Even the medical profession consider a way to control type 2 diabetes is by weight-control. That's what my mother-in-law was told years ago and what I was told upon being diagnosed as border-line with a blood-sugar level of 7.0.
Years later, the weight's unfortunately back & so is the type 2 diabetes. At this point, I'm not on a diet per say ... but I am watching my portions and what I eat (ie. brown bread & pasta vs 'regular white' breads & pasta). No considered just longer border-line, I'm now determined to gradually get the weight down and stay off insulin.
PB
Staying of the insulin is not always a good idea
Pre-diabetic stages and a diabetic condition cause the islet cells (the cells that produce insulin) to get stressed and eventually die. Thus insulin before necessary can give those cells a rest and prevent them dying. Used with exercise and diet it can provide a valuable contribution.
In some communities...
...this is old news. American (Red) Indians have, in general, among the highest rates of diabetes in the USA. In some tribes (those of the southern deserts) as many as a third of all adults have diagnosed type 2 diabetes. There have been theories floating around for years to the effect that the tendency toward diabetes is actually protective to individuals in starvation situations, or with little access to high-quality proteins, so is perpetuated in desert populations.
In the American Indian community, it's fairly widely known that eating "white man's food" is unhealthy for Indians -- although dire poverty drives many toward unhealthy "fast" foods -- and returning to something approximating a pre-Contact diet improves health in many ways, not least of which is often curing type 2 diabetes.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Type II Diabetes linked to fast food
Eating HEALTHY also helps.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Weight loss can stop it
A close friend had a Y bypass bariatric surgery. He was in seriously bad condition prior with 8 out of 10 morbidity indicators and six months later his blood was near perfect, today he is in great shape and looking very fine.
Diet
I'm about 90 pounds overweight but do not have diabetes despite Indian ancestry on one side and several diabetics on the other side. I don't drink sugared drinks and I semi-fast (no carbohydrates) from time to time.
Twice in her life, my mom was diagnosed with Type II diabetes and turned the diagnosis around by simply avoiding more than about one piece of bread worth of carbs a day for a month or so. Carbs are basically what cause Type II diabetes, especially the easily digested carbs of processed grains, potatoes and sugar. A high fat diet can stress the body and make it more vulnerable to having too many carbs also.
I lost 60 pounds in 60 days once on a 3000 (3000, yes) calorie a day diet: no carbs except those in veggies, not much fat, no dairy, no potatoes, no caffeine and run two-plus miles a day. Basically, I ate meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, raw if I could get them, and I drank water. Hot water when it was cold outside. I know I can do it, I also lost 50 pounds in 90 days on a less drastic diet with five miles of walking a day. It's the exercise that makes diets like that work. I never went hungry but I couldn't eat in restaurants or even at friend's houses.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Greed causes diabetes.
Burn off more than you eat and you lose weight. Simple arithmetic.
200 /400 miles per week on the bike plus only 2 meals per day amounting to about 1500 calorise loses weight and staves off type 2. Weight loss is from 224 lbs June 2010 to 167 lbs today 27th June 2011. I'm beginning to look like a racing snake and feel pretty good except when I fall off my bike (like today!)
Am I becoming an obssessive? I ask myself.
There's one BIG, BIG problem with all these stupid BMI indicators, THEY DONT HAVE A TABLE FOR TRANSGENDERED 'INBETWEENIES' !!!! They keep asking for the contributor to enter either male or famale!!!
Bev.
Growing old disgracefully.
A Little More Detail
I don't have the more extensive articles explaining the trial in front of me to quote, so this is off the top of my head, but I just read it a few days ago.
The theory behind the cure is that type II diabetes is caused by fat deposits in the pancreas, which interfere with biochemical activity at a cellular level. The crash diet reduces the amount of fat in the pancreas, and the tissue can function again, producing insulin as necessary.
The seven days figure is the point at which blood sugar returns to near normal levels, but that is largely a result of the starvation diet. The full cure requires at least two months on the severe diet, after which the patient can move to a more normal food intake without relapsing.
The diet treatment regimen resulted as an observation of the results of bariatric surgery on obese patients who also had type II (adult onset) diabetes. It was observed that many of those patients stopped being diabetic after a period, and stayed that way.
___________________
Speaking of which, I should probably start watching my own diet.