Fruit juice increases risk of diabetes

There are two types of diabetes, type I and type II. Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease where not enough insulin is produced. While type I diabetes can occur in adult life it is much more common to be born with this condition. Since the pancreas of people with type I diabetes is not able to produce adequate insulin it has to be supplied as a medication.

Type II diabetes is also called adult onset diabetes because it usually occurs later in life, it often does not require the supply of insulin. People with this condition are still able to produce insulin even if they may not be producing as much as they used to. The problem with type II diabetes is what is called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that the receptors on the cells get less responsive (less sensitive) to the insulin. The insulin is for that reason not able to transfer the blood glucose (sugar) into the cells as effectively as it used to. Genetic factors can make somebody more susceptible to this problem, but high glycemic index foods and too little physical activity are major contributors to insulin resistance. High glycemic index foods are foods that are absorbed quickly and elevates the blood glucose high.

An interesting study involving 71, 346 female nurses aged 38-63 years of age was recently published. The researchers investigated the association between fruit, vegetable and fruit juice intake and the development of type 2 diabetes (Bazzano LA, et al, 2008).

Both increased fruit and vegetable consumption was documented to be associated with a lower risk for diabetes while the consumption of fruit juice was associated with an increased risk for diabetes.

This may not be that strange since fruit juice is quite sweet. It takes a lot of fruit to make a glass of juice, you would usually not be able to eat that much fruit at one time.

Reference:

Bazzano LA, et al. Intake of fruit, vegetables, and fruit juices and risk of diabetes in women. Diabetes Care. 2008 Jul;31(7):1311-7.

Sleep, an easy way to improve your health

Getting enough sleep on a regular basis seems to be one of many steps you can take to help stay healthy.

In a recent study the researchers checked the blood of the participants for an important inflammatory factor called NF-kappaB which has shown to be linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer (Irwin M, et al, 2008).

After a night of normal sleep the measurements of NF-kappaB in the participants was compared to samples taken after a night where they had stayed up very late.

After the late night the inflammatory factor in the women, but not in men, had increased significantly. A night of normal sleep restored the levels to normal again.

Most of us realize that too little sleep on a regular basis is not healthy, but that it is as harmful as this research documented is probably surprising.

References:

Irwin MR, et al. Sleep loss activates cellular inflammatory signaling. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Sep 15;64(6):538-40.

Be aware of what you drink

What you drink can affect you in many ways.

High fructose corn syrup, which commonly is added to both food and beverages, favors fat metabolism even more that regular glucose.

When we ingest fructose we get less feedback on when we are full, because fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion or affect leptin production, both of which are key factors in the regulation of food intake. Fructose may for that reason result in over consumption of calories and lead to weight gain (Bray GA, et al. 2004). By drinking sweet beverages, it is extremely easy to consume more calories than we need. A large container of a sweet beverage may even amount to as many calories as in a whole meal.

Sugar sweetened beverages are also a risk factor for type 2 diabetes (Palmer JR, et al, 2008). This was documented in a study including 43,960 women. These types of beverages are often marketed as healthy juices and natural fruit drinks, with the intention of making the product sound healthy to the consumer.

A recent study showed that when fructose was consumed, the lipogenisis which is the conversion of sugar to fat was twice as great as when it was absent, leading to increased triglyceride levels (Parks E.J. et al, 2008)

I have for a long time observed that when patients change their eating habits from eating high glycemic index meals (which means foods that elevate the blood sugar high), to low glycemic index meals (which are foods which rather stabilize the blood sugar at a good level instead of elevating it really high), both triglycerides total cholesterol, and LDL, the bad cholesterol all go down substantially. The good cholesterol HDL, however, usually goes up.

According to the research referenced here, you need to pay close attention to what you drink because beverages can be a big source of sugar elevating your blood sugar and lead to all the negative effects from that. Not only can it make you gain weight, but it is also a risk factor for diabetes, because it can contribute to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance which is caused by high glycemic index food and drinks (sweets), weight gain, and lack of exercise can lead to diabetes and can put you at risk for many chronic diseases. It affects your eyes, heart, and brain, as well as other tissue, because it affects the production of inflammatory chemicals in the body which again is a risk factor for these types of conditions.

References:

1. Bray GA, Nielsen SJ, et al. Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Apr;79(4):537-43.
2. Palmer JR, Boggs DA, et al. Sugar-sweetened beverages and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in African American women. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Jul 28; 168(14): 1487-92.
3. Parks EJ, Skokan LE, et al. Dietary sugars stimulate fatty acid synthesis in adults. J Nutr. 2008 Jun; 138 (6):1039-46