Tag Archives: Type 2 diabetes

Losing Weight with Diabetes Isn’t a Hopeless Case

Diabetes and Weight lossNo matter how heavy you are, if you have diabetes, losing weight will help you in your fight to control it. Experts say that losing even 10 or 15 pounds can bring about health benefits such as: 

  • Lowered blood sugar
  • Reduced blood pressure
  • Improved cholesterol levels
  • Less stress on your hips, knees and ankles

But the issue isn’t losing the weight, it’s maintaining the weight loss in order to sustain the health benefits.

One diabetic expert, Richard Kahn, PhD, who was the chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association for nearly 25 years, is denouncing some weight loss programs as being ineffective in reducing the incidence of Diabetes and helping the patient to keep the weight from coming back. He outlined his theories in his paper that was published in the January edition of Health Affairs. Kahn stated that even though patients in one study lost 4% to 6% of their body weight, they regained 40% by the time the study ended three years later. He goes on the say that “one of the issues that prevents people from keeping the weight off is cheap, widely available, delicious food that we eat again and again.”

Listening to Kahn, one would conclude that it may be hopeless to even attempt weight loss because, in the end, you will just gain it all back and have to start over.

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Posted on January 11, 2024 by Carol

Ad Campaign Links Soda to Amputations

The city Health Department in New York is catching some heat for their latest ad campaign which targets super-sized soda portions. One of the ads in question features an obese man who had his right leg amputated due to type 2 diabetes. The copy on the ad reads “Portions have grown. So has type 2 diabetes, which can lead to amputations.” There is also a visual of three cups of soda showing how the portion sizes have grown through the years.

There are some major complaints about the ads coming from the American Beverage Association that say these ads paint an inaccurate picture of the dangers of soda. Spokesman for the American Beverage Association Stefan Friedman found the campaign needlessly disturbing. “Instead of utilizing scare tactics, the beverage industry is offering real solutions like smaller portioned containers and new calorie labels,” Friedman said.

Despite the complaints, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the ads are needed to warn consumers about the massive portions they are consuming. New York City Mayor Michael Blumberg also defended the ads. “What do you want to do? Do you want to have people lose their legs? Or do you want to show them what happens so they won’t lose their legs? Take your poison. Which do you want?” Bloomberg said.

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Posted on January 11, 2024 by Descygna

Weight Loss for Aretha Franklin Could Add Years to Her Life and Upcoming Marriage

Superstar Aretha Franklin is making news with the announcement that she is engaged to her longtime friend William Wilkerson. The Queen of Soul’s engagement took place over the holidays and the wedding is rumored to take place this coming summer.

This good news for Aretha also brings to light some of the health scares that have kept her in the news in recent years. She bounced back after a health scare and had surgery in December 2024 due to extreme pain in her side. She did say that the surgery she had would add 15 to 20 years to her life. The cause of that pain was never disclosed by Franklin. Although there were some reports that she was suffering from pancreatic cancer, Franklin communicated that she did not have cancer. Franklin does, however, have type 2 diabetes, which brings with a host of health problems.

Additionally, many fans have grown concerned about Franklin’s rapidly rising weight when seeing her at performances and award shows over the past couple of years. Franklin decided to do something about her growing weight when she declared she is “entirely too fat.” She boasted that she has lost 85 pounds and is looking much healthier. Healthy weight loss can reverse type 2 diabetes, and you have to hope that will be the case for Aretha. (more…)

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Descygna

Missouri Nurse Kim Stone Reverses Obesity Legacy on Biggest Loser 13

By Dani M. Stone

Kim Stone is an emotional woman. After losing both her parents to complications resulting from morbid obesity, she’s afraid her slippery slope of weight gain is also going to take her away from her three grown children far too soon. At 48, with a moderate weight (by comparison to her Biggest Loser peers) of 219 pounds, Kim may not be the heaviest contestant at the Biggest Loser 13 ranch, but she’s already experiencing complications from her weight including type 2 diabetes. She and her daughter Megan Stone represent the purple team, one of three parent/child duos on this season.

Kim’s weight gain began after a failed pregnancy and almost immediate successful pregnancy with her daughter. Losing the additional pounds seemed daunting, and like many new mothers, she couldn’t seem to find the time or energy to try and take the weight off. When her father died at 59, her grief led to depression, eating and more pounds. (more…)

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Health Buzz

Short Exercise Lowers Blood Sugar

Good news for people who don’t naturally gravitate to doing exercise: less can sometimes mean more in the way of health benefits. A new study has found that just 30 minutes of weekly high-intensity exercise is enough to lower blood sugar levels for 24 hours and help prevent post-meal blood sugar spikes in people with type 2 diabetes.

“If people are pressed for time – and a lot of people say they don’t have enough time to exercise – our study shows that they can get away with a lower volume of exercise that includes short, intense bursts of activity,” said the study’s senior author, Martin Gibala, professor and chair of the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in Canada.

The current recommendations by the American Diabetes Association are in line with most fitness experts – people with diabetes should get a minimum of 150 minutes of at least moderate exercise each week or about 30 minutes most days of the week. Since people often complain of not having time, the researchers wanted to see if shorter more intense exercise would also do the trick of controlling blood sugar levels. (more…)

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Jason

6 Health Benefits of Running

Why do runners do it? What makes them take a perfectly good day and decide to take an hour to run when you can get great health benefits from walking as well? There must be some reason they do it? There are actually many reasons, here are a few, including some that are a little less known:

Heart Health

The best known benefit to running is the cardiovascular boost runners get. Part of how it improves cardio health is that running lowers your blood pressure and helps maintain elasticity in your arteries. Since heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, do you need any other reason to go buy those new running shoes? (more…)

Posted on December 13, 2023 by Jason

500 Calorie Diet Good for Diabetics

Low-calorie diets have almost always shined bright in research studies, with favorable results for participants. When you start talking about extremely low-calorie diets, some new findings may surprise you.

Most dietitians do not recommend severely restricted calorie intake. So when you see a study that says their diabetic subjects saw improved heart function while on a 500-calorie-a-day regimen, it’s sure to raise eyebrows.

It should be noted upfront that the findings are not an endorsement of long-term extreme calorie restriction. Their positive findings were solely based on a short-term dietary change.

“Our results show that 16 weeks of caloric restriction improved heart function in these patients,” said lead author Dr. Sebastiaan Hammer, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “More importantly, despite regain of weight, these beneficial cardiovascular effects were persistent over the long-term.” (more…)

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Jason

Diabetes is Not a Life Sentence

Mary Hartley, RD, MPH, is the director of nutrition for Calorie Count, providing domain expertise on issues related to nutrition, weight loss and health. She creates original content for weekly blogs and newsletters, for the Calorie Count library, and for her popular daily Question-and-Answer section, Ask Mary. Ms. Hartley also furnishes direction for the site features and for product development.

If you are an American adult, there’s a one in three chance that you have pre-diabetes, and in five to ten years, pre-diabetes will progress to type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a serious metabolic condition that ravages the circulatory system over time, but the long-term damage may begin during the early stages. The good news is that you can reverse pre-diabetes by natural means.

The difference between pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is a matter of degree. When the Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) is 100 – 125 mg, it is called pre-diabetes; when the FBG crosses over 126 mg, the name changes to type 2 diabetes. Diabetes has to do with the way glucose travels from the bloodstream into the cells where it is burned for fuel. In pre-diabetes and most type 2, the pancreas still makes insulin, but that insulin cannot help the cells to uptake glucose. Glucose, called ‘sugar’, builds up in the blood and ruins the little capillaries in every part of the body. One quarter of all new type 2 diabetics already have eye damage at the time of diagnosis.

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Posted on November 28, 2023 by Calorie_Count

Diabetic Meal Replacements: Good Choice or Gimmick?

The life of a diabetic can’t be easy. Tons of doctors appointments, meetings with nutritionists and getting poked with needles cannot be much fun. Plus, there is so much information to learn especially about nutrition and changing your lifestyle to better manage your blood sugar. Diabetes is such an all encompassing disease that there are tons of products marketed specifically for this group of people. The American Diabetes Association estimates that medical expenses are 2.3 times more for diabetics than for non-diabetics, which includes special food products just for diabetics. I spoke with Mary Hartley, RD, MPH to find out if popular products like Glucerna and Boost are useful tools for diabetics or simply a sales ploy.

Mary Hartley, a registered dietian from New York City and newest edition to the Diets In Review team, thinks these products are great for monitoring nutrients. “The consumer knows exactly how much he’s getting in terms of carbohydrate, fiber, fat, protein and anything else that is measured and these products are formulated to minimize spikes in blood sugar,” Mary says. Excellent point and a great start for newly diagnosed patients or diabetics that lead an active lifestyle and want to throw a shake or bar in their gym bag. I recommend having a small snack on hand at all times to help avoid low blood sugar. Mary adds that this is another perk as these products are extremely portable and convenient.

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Posted on November 23, 2023 by Sarah

4 Reasons to Lose Weight

Whether you have just a few pounds to lose or you are fighting a the battle against obesity, we all know the basic reasons being a healthy weight. We’re not going to talk about how if you lose weight, you will be thin and probably live longer. Those are both great reasons, but let’s take a look at some of the lesser known benefits of losing weight.

1. A Better State of Mind

While improving your self-esteem is certainly an amazing aspect of losing weight, it goes beyond that. If you find yourself in a bit of a slump or may even depressed, you could go to your family doctor and they may prescribe you an antidepressant. Or, if you exercise on a regular basis, the endorphins released may just do the trick naturally. If you are feeling depressed, this is not an endorsement of avoiding your doctor, so always contact a health professional if you feel it’s serious enough… you just may find the solution without a prescription. (more…)

Posted on November 17, 2023 by Jason

The New African Heritage Diet Pyramid Combines Health and Food Traditions

Although the newly released MyPlate icon is a great tool for many, it’s not specific for any single population. For individuals who are looking for more in depth and culturally specific food recommendations, useful tools similar to the MyPlate icon are becoming available.

The most recent addition is the New African Heritage Diet Pyramid. The pyramid better resembles the traditional food pyramid that has recently been replaced by the plate, but no matter its appearance, it’s a helpful tool to better plan a well-balanced diet.

Individuals of African American decent may find this pyramid particularly useful. As diabetes, obesity, and heart disease are not true components of African American heritage, Oldways and a team of experts have developed this new pyramid to appropriately identify ways to incorporate foods from traditional diets of the African Dispora in a way that promotes nutritious eating and healthy living.

 

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Posted on November 9, 2023 by Kati