Thursday, May 31, 2012

Liquorice Root Found to Contain Anti-T2 Diabetes Substance

Liquorice Root Found to Contain Anti-T2 Diabetes Substance

Used as a tea since ancient times to promote healing, researchers are investigating licorice root as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. Licorice root contains amorfrutins that can may be useful in the treatment of metabolic disorders, according to Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics research. In studies involving mice, the researchers found that amorfrutins appear to reduce blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and prevent fat from being deposited in the liver. “The health-beneficial effects are based on the fact that the amorfrutin molecules dock directly onto a receptor in the nucleus called PPARy,” explains lead researcher Sascha Sauer. Because PPARy is instrumental in fat and glucose metabolism of cells, amorfrutin appears to influence the expression various genes that reduce blood levels of sugar and some fatty acids. However, because licorice tea or candy do not have a high enough concentration of amorfrutin to have an effect on blood sugar and inflammation, the researchers are working on extracting amorfrutins from the plant for possible future use as a nutritional supplement that would help prevent and treat metabolic disorders. Once they have succeeded in creating amorfrutin extracts, they plan to conduct clinical studies to test its effectiveness on patients who have type 2 diabetes.

Treating Diabetes Naturally - Cure Diabetes in Weeks


Treating diabetes naturally is often a 'touchy' subject. On one hand, the ADA (American diabetes Association) has yet to announce a cure for diabetes. On another hand, there are thousands of diabetesreviewwozaonlinecoza">diabetics who claim they have been cured of diabetes and all of its symptoms.

Who is right? By the end of this article, you will be able to decide for yourself if there is a cure for this disease and you will also learn some simple remedies that many diabetesreviewwozaonlinecoza">diabetics are using to reverse diabetes.

Get ready to write some information down because you could cure diabetes in weeks.

How to Cure diabetes in Weeks?

In America alone, about 1 in 10 people are considered diabetic or borderline diabetic. Yet, in some countries diabetes are only a small percentage of the population.

Obviously, we are doing something wrong in America. Our diets and lifestyles are becoming more and more conducive to diabetes. Fortunately, the human body is still one of the miraculous things we do not fully understand.

By the time you read this sentence, your body will have generated 60, 000 new cells. If you are diabetic, most of those cells are pre-diabetic cells. However , if you learn how to control your blood sugar and live healthier, your body will begin to make healthier cells which accept insulin.

Here are some remedies you may wish to try to control your blood sugar and treat diabetes naturally.

Treating diabetes Naturally

Here are 3 common remedies you may wish to try to begin your natural treatment.

1 . Many of our customers have tried a remedy using apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar has often been touted as a miracle remedy and it could prove true for diabetes. It has been shown that the compounds in a quality batch of apple cider vinegar help control the rise of blood sugar levels when you eat a meal.

Before your next meal, take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and add a pinch of salt. Mix with a warm glass of water and drink up. You can do this before any meal.

2 . Repairing and making healthier cells is extremely important to cure diabetes. And this flaxseed oil remedy has been shown to repair cellular membranes which will eventually accept insulin again.

All you need to do is combine 4 ounces of cottage cheese with 1 . 5 ounces of flaxseed oil and 1 ounce of milk into a blender. You can add your favorite fruits for a sweeter taste. Consume this shake daily.

3. Lastly, you should also try a remedy using alfalfa. Alfalfa is a common remedy for an assortment of diseases and you can also use it for diabetes. Because alfalfa is rich in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, Alfalfa has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels.

All you need to do is take one teaspoon of alfalfa seeds and sprinkle them on every meal you eat. You can also take alfalfa capsules which are very convenient.

Cure diabetes in 4 Weeks

Imagine knowing everything there is to know about treating diabetes naturally according to researched natural health. Learn why a 100% satisfaction guaranteed remedy report may be just what you are looking for.

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Diabetic Fat Loss Fast; The Magic Bullet

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

What Is Pre-Diabetes?

Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they usually have pre-diabetes. This is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but are not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes.
 
In addition to diabetes, people with pre-diabetes are at risk for developing heart attacks and strokes. Studies suggest that weight loss and increased physical activity can prevent or delay diabetes.
 

Forms of Pre-Diabetes

There are two forms of pre-diabetes:

  • Impaired fasting glucose
  • Impaired glucose tolerance.
     
Impaired Fasting Glucose
A person has impaired fasting glucose (IFG) when fasting plasma glucose is 100 to 125 mg/dL. This level is higher than normal but less than the level indicating a diagnosis of diabetes.
 
Impaired Glucose Tolerance
Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) means that blood glucose during the oral glucose tolerance test is higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. IGT is diagnosed when the glucose level is 140 to 199 mg/dL two hours after a person drinks a liquid containing 75 grams of glucose.
 
There are a number of pre-diabetes risk factors, including:
 
  • Age. People over 45 are at an increased risk for pre-diabetes.
     
  • Abnormal lipid levels. Men with an HDL cholesterol of less than 40 mg/dL and women with an HDL cholesterol of less than 50 mg/dL are at increased risk for pre-diabetes; people with triglyceride levels of 250 mg/dL or more are also at an increased risk.
     
  • Overweight. People who are overweight, which is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 25 (23 if Asian American; 26 if a Pacific Islander), are at an increased risk of developing pre-diabetes. (see Diabetes Risk Factors for more information about diabetes and BMI.)
     
  • Blood pressure. People with blood pressure readings higher than 140/90 mm/Hg are at increased risk for pre-diabetes.
     
    • Family history. People with a parent or sibling with pre-diabetes have a higher-than-normal risk of getting the disease.
       
    • Ethnicity. Statistics show that people of African American, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Island heritage have an increased risk of developing diabetes.
       
    • Inactive lifestyle. People who exercise fewer than three times per week may be at an increased risk of developing pre-diabetes.
       
    • History of gestational diabetes. Women who have previously had gestational diabetes or given birth to at least one baby weighing nine pounds or more are at increased risk for pre-diabetes.
       
      There is a lot that people with pre-diabetes can do to lower their chances of getting diabetes. You can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by:
       
      • Exercising regularly
      • Reducing fat and calorie intake
      • Losing weight.
         
      Lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure also helps you stay healthy.
       
      According to a recent study, lifestyle modifications that resulted in a 5 percent to 7 percent weight loss could delay and possibly prevent type 2 diabetes. Lifestyle modifications consisted of:
       
      • Exercising about 30 minutes a day, five days a week (usually by walking)
      • Lowering intake of fat and calories.
         
      Lifestyle modifications were even more effective in those 60 and older. They reduced their risk by 71 percent.
       

      Statistics on Pre-Diabetes

      About 35 million people ages 40 to 74 have impaired fasting glucose, and 16 million have impaired glucose tolerance. Because some people have both conditions, the total number of U.S. adults ages 40 to 74 with pre-diabetes comes to about 41 million.
       

       
 

Diabetes and Diet


What Is a Diabetic Diet?

Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes -- what, when, and how much you eat affect your blood glucose. Blood glucose is the main sugar found in the blood and the body's main source of energy.
 
If you have diabetes (or pre-diabetes), eating too much can make your blood glucose too high. If your blood glucose goes too high, you can get sick. Your blood glucose can also go too high or drop too low if you don't take the right amount of diabetes medicine. If your blood glucose stays high too much of the time, you can develop:
 
  • Heart disease
  • Eye problems
  • Foot problems
  • Kidney disease
  • Other problems.
     
You can also have problems if your blood glucose gets too low (this condition is called hypoglycemia).
 
Because of all these reasons, keeping your blood glucose at a healthy level will prevent or slow down diabetes problems. One way of controlling your blood glucose level is by maintaining a diabetic diet. This diabetic diet begins by understanding the Diabetes Food Pyramid.
 

The Diabetes Food Pyramid

The Diabetes Food Pyramid is a general guide of what and how much to eat each day as part of your diabetic diet. It is similar to the Food Pyramid you see on many food packages. The Diabetes Food Pyramid is divided into six groups. You should eat more foods from the largest group at the base of the pyramid and less from the smaller groups at the top of the pyramid.
 
The number of servings needed every day is not the same for everyone, so for a diabetic diet, a range of servings is given to ensure you get the foods you need for good health.
 
The food groups and suggested servings per day as part of this diabetic diet include:
 
  • Grains, beans, and starchy vegetables: These are good source of B vitamins and fiber -- 6 or more servings per day.
     
  • Fruits: These contain vitamins C and A, potassium, folate, and fiber -- 3 to 4 servings per day.
     
  • Vegetables: These provide vitamins A and C, folate, and fiber -- 3 to 5 servings per day.
     
  • Milk: This is a source of calcium, protein, and vitamins A and D -- 2 to 3 servings per day.
     
  • Meats and meat substitutes: These are a source of iron, zinc, B vitamins, and protein -- 2 to 3 servings per day.
     
  • Fats, sweets, and alcohol: The foods at the tip of the pyramid should be eaten in small amounts. Fats and oils should be limited because they are high in calories. Sweets are high in sugar and should only be eaten once in a while.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Diabetes and the junk food industry


           
(NaturalNews) The U.S. industrial food and farming system, dominated by fast food restaurants and processed, chemical-laden food, has precipitated a public health crisis. Although nutritionists recommend that consumers avoid eating unhealthy junk foods, every day 75 million Americans "supersize" themselves and damage their health by eating at McDonald's or other fast food restaurants. Forty percent of American meals are now purchased and consumed outside the home, typically consisting of high-calorie, low-nutrition items such as soft drinks, French fries, and low-grade meat, laced with fat, cheap sweeteners, pesticide residues, chemical additives, and salt. We have become a Fast Food Nation of bulging waistlines and high blood pressure.

Recent studies link pesticide residues and chemical additives like MSG in processed foods and restaurant fare to hormone disruption and obesity. No wonder 60% percent of Americans are either overweight or obese. One in every three children born since the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Diet-related obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are now the nation's number one public health problem, generating an estimated $150 billion in health care costs every year. Millions of youth and adults have literally become addicted to the chemically enhanced junk food served in fast food restaurants, school lunchrooms, and institutional cafeterias. In 1972, U.S. consumers spent three billion dollars a year on fast food - today we spend more than $110 billion.

The junk food industry, now under attack by public health advocates and parents, finds itself in a similar position to where the tobacco industry was in the 1990s. After decades of lies and industry propaganda, the truth is finally coming out: junk food kills.

Indeed, despite individual efforts by some states to tax soda pop, require healthier school lunches, or mandate calorie information in chain restaurants, obesity rates in the United States are growing. It is time for the federal government to stop subsiding, with billions of dollars of public tax money, the factory-farmed crops and animal products (corn, soybeans, cotton, dairy, and meat) that create the artificially low prices that prop up the nation's junk food industry.

We need to subsidize healthy organic food, not junk food, and promote sustainable food and farming practices, instead of subsidizing factory farms and chemical-intensive farming and food processing. We need to provide physical education, cooking, nutrition and gardening classes in our schools, and ban or restrict the advertising of junk foods in the mass media. We need to teach children and adults alike to eat less meat and fatty foods and instead to increase their consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and home-cooked meals.

It is time to put a Surgeon General's warning on junk foods. It's time to come to grips with the fact that we have allowed the junk food industry and the mass media to brainwash our youth and turn them into fast food addicts.

Studies have shown that school organic gardens, salad bars, and healthy lunches improve the health and academic performance of young people. Healthy eating habits and gardening skills nurtured and developed at an early age most often have a lifetime impact.

So yes, let's slap a heavy tax on junk food served at fast food restaurants and in school cafeterias. A 100% tax on junk food and beverages would help pay for the collateral damages of this industry: the 150 billion dollars in diet-related disease and health care costs now incurred by the public and taxpayers for obesity and diabetes.

But of course we shouldn't hold our breath for Washington's indentured politicians, who receive millions of dollars in campaign donations from Big Food Inc., to take action. We're going to have to organize at the grassroots and local level and fight for public health, every step of the way, just like we've done with the tobacco industry.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Why is Finding a Cure for Diabetes so Difficult?

Why is Finding a Cure for Diabetes so Difficult?

With more than 27 million diabetics in the U.S. – the majority of them with Type 2 – and an estimated 57 million pre diabetics, why is it taking so long to find a cure? Christoph Westphal, a biotech entrepreneur, recently penned a guest column in the Boston Globe on the barriers to finding cures for many chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
While the biggest obstacle is the science behind actually finding a cure, cost is a major factor. Developing a new drug in the U.S. costs more than $1 billion and usually takes more than 10 years to gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) if it is approved. Westphal says that less than 1% of drug leads ever come to market.
Wall Street investors are not nearly as interested in large pharmaceutical companies as they were a decade ago and this is taking its toll. In fact, the price-to-earnings ratio of large pharmaceutical firms is about a third of what it was 10 years ago. The price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E ratio, is a statistic that measures the price paid for a share of stock of a company relative to that company’s annual profits. A higher P/E means investors are willing to pay more for the company compared to its actual earnings. Pharmaceutical firms are merging, cutting research and development spending, and diversifying away from drug discovery. Other biotech firms are cutting staff or shutting down altogether.
Westphal argues that easing regulatory restrictions on the drug market could yield some significant developments toward better treatments and possible cures for diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other chronic illnesses. For example, the FDA typically asks drug companies to undertake several studies involving large groups of patients over extended periods to ensure the drug’s safety and effectiveness. This is a costly, lengthy and slow process. Easing the restrictions could help bring important new drugs to market more quickly, he says, pointing to the way regulators sped up the clinical trial timelines and approval process for AIDS treatments.
Westphal also says increasing public support for drug discovery, as well as outsourcing some of the costly initial steps in the drug development process to India and China, may aid in the development of important future drugs.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Diabetes is now The Fastest Growing Disease on the Planet



Diabetes Mellitus has now officially been recognized as an epidemic and it seems that it is just getting worse. Science and medicine have proved that you need chromosome D4 as well as D3 in order to get diabetes in the first place.

When you put any doctor in a corner to ask them about the reason why you are a diabetic they will say you have an over reactive auto-immune system which basically means stress. But doctors have been saying that the increase in cancer is also stress related. Biochemists and medical experts can actually prove that it is stress, so we need to accept that the reason we are diabetics is because we have a body that cannot adequately deal with stress. But there is a way that you can give your body an advantage to dealing with this stress.

There is no doubt about it that the most effective way to “cure” diabetes is to eat correctly. Being overweight does not cause diabetes but it certainly helps if you have the D3 and the D4 chromosome in your genetic structure. Correct nutrition is the answer and always has been. “You are what you eat” is something that we have all heard before and most of us will agree with it but the fact remains that obesity levels in the world show that most people do not take this seriously. It is only the lucky few that can continue to get fat and not land up as a diabetic. Losing weight permanently will not come from going on some fancy new diet. The simple reason is that as soon as you stop that diet and go back to your “normal” eating habits that put the weight on in the first place you will get fat again.

The ONLY way to get control of your diabetes is by changing your eating habits PERMANENTLY. There are very specific foods that you should eat and you also need to eat at the very least five small meals a day. Drinking at least 8 glasses of water will help as well. The ultimate objective is to get control of your diabetes and finally get off the tablets and have a chance of living a long life. But it all starts with speeding up your BMR (basic metabolic rate) otherwise known as your metabolism.

Because the diabetes pandemic has grown so much over the last few years there is now constant research being done. There is a website which is updated on a regular basis that summarizes these studies and puts them on a blog. Which is attached to http://diabetesreview.wozaonline.co.za/

Thursday, May 24, 2012



Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions
 The fastest growing disease in the world today is not an infectious disease. Three million people die a year from this disease and 6 million people a year get this disease for the first time. It has increased in the last twenty years by 767% and continues to rise.

Diabetes Mellitus is without a doubt the fastest growing disease in the world and it can be stopped but not by some fancy vaccination yet. Half of all the people in the world who have diabetes don’t even know it.  When left untreated, the effects of this disease include blindness, amputated limbs, and heart disease.

Experts say that it is because of over-eating and incorrect carbohydrate consumption which usually causes type II diabetes. But they also say that it is because of inactivity as people generally are leading more sedentary lifestyles.
   
Obviously genetics has an important role to play in the chances of you becoming diabetic. Science says that in order to become diabetic you need to have inherited chromosomes D3 and D4 from your parents. But having these genes and knowing that you have these genes does not stop you getting diabetes.

New scientific research has revealed the possibility of the little known substance called leptin which plays a significant if not primary role in heart disease, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases, reproductive disorders, and perhaps the rate of aging itself.

High leptin levels affect the way that your body responds to inflammation, and leptin also helps to mediate the manufacture of other very potent inflammatory chemicals from fat cells that also play a significant role in the progression of heart disease and diabetes.

There are a few basics that are needed in order to directly affect the production of Leptin in your body. Making sure that you eat correctly is the first step because research has now conclusively shown that the best way to avoid getting diabetes is to stop processed foods and eat whole foods.

The result of eating highly processed foods leads to many degenerative diseases like as arthritis, diabetes, and weak immune system. So the answer is to not only eat correctly but to also exercise a bit every day. It does not have to be hours and can be as little as 15 minutes a day.

If you are a diabetic or you have someone in your family that has been diagnosed with diabetes then you should do yourself a favor and keep up to date with the latest research. There are many studies currently being done and they are always looking for new methods of dealing and even curing this disease.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Glycemic Load And Fiber, Why Is It Important And How Does It Affect Diabetes

If you watch much TV, read magazines, newspapers, tabloids, you will notice that more and more we are hearing the word dietary fiber and the importance of fiber in the diet: Fiber helps reduce weight. Fiber helps you think more clearly. Fiber helps reduce cancer. Fiber helps improve bowel activity, but what is it and how does it do that, and are there different types of fiber or is there only one type of fiber? Fiber, as it relates to our diet, is a carbohydrate.
All of the parts of a plant that digestive enzymes cannot break down in our body is considered fiber. When you eat a food high in fiber, it tends to slow down the release of sugars in food. As a side note, it also slows down the release of certain fats in food to be absorbed by our body. As far as weight is concerned and weight control is concerned this is good news, so fiber is our friend.
High fiber diets are definitely recommended for a variety of general health reasons. It is typically recommended that most human beings consume 25 to 50 g of fiber per day with an average being 35 g. People who eat more fiber do not usually suffer from constipation. They have a lower risk of getting bowel cancer, diabetes, and other types of bowel disease. Fiber is a natural constituent of fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, lentils, and whole grains, and if you eat plenty of these foods adding fiber to your diet is not necessary.
However, many of us eat processed foods, fast foods which actually contain very little fiber. In that case, it is important to add fiber to one's diet. Fiber is calorie-free and it is a natural filler. Eating more fiber in your diet makes you feel full, less hungry.
Foods that are high in fiber are more satisfying because they absorb more water, so they become bulkier in our gut. Wheat fiber as in bran is not a very absorbant fiber compared to some vegetable fibers. Placed in water it can swell to 10 times its original volume. Glucomannan on the other hand, the fiber from Japanese Konjac plant, however, swells to 100 times its original volume. Glucomannan is given to diabetics in Japan because it helps stabilize blood sugar level by slowly releasing carbohydrates into the blood stream, consequently having a less drastic effect on blood sugar elevation.
There are two primary kinds of fiber in our diet or fiber in our foods: Soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Many foods contain both insoluble fibers and soluble fibers.
Insoluble fiber bulks up fecal content. It almost acts like broom. It cleanses the intestine, prevents constipation, and produces better stools.
Soluble fibers are different. They actually dissolve in the gut and form an actual gelatinous-like type substance. This kind of fiber slows down the release of glucose in the blood stream, so it is very beneficial for blood glucose management. It also slows the release of fat into our blood stream which also helps control blood fats.
Whole grains contain both kinds of fiber and slow down glucose release whereas ground fiber, the type you might find in bread, has very little effect in this way.
Fruit and vegetable juices that do not have fiber have a very adverse effect on blood sugar level because of a lack of fiber. It does not slow the digestive process. Sugars are released into the blood stream very rapidly, consequently, elevation of blood sugar level results in elevation of blood insulin levels. The soluble fibers found in beans, lentils, and oats are particularly effective at slowing down the digestion of food and thus blood sugar response.
Insoluble fibers make you feel full immediately after eating while soluble fiber reduces appetite up to 10 hours later and this could be because of the effect on blood glucose in the blood stream. You do not have the sharp spike and elevation of blood glucose and finally the sudden drop in blood glucose level, leaving you feeling hungry. There are quite a few different kinds of fibers in both these categories, but it is important to eat unprocessed whole foods to get the most fiber you possibly can. Of all the fibers, oat fiber is probably the best in terms of controlling blood sugar level which helps in controlling weight.
Some sources of soluble fiber used therapeutically to help with digestion, diabetes, and weight loss are even better. Psyllium and glucomannan, which I have previously mentioned, are soluble fibers that I have found to be the most effective in controlling blood sugar level, so for diabetics, people who are wishing to lose weight, these are the choices to make.

Monday, May 21, 2012


Protein Principles for Diabetes

Dietary considerations can present a Hobson’s choice in diabetes. Even when the intake is nutritious, assimilating it can be another matter. Then there is the problem of progression of diabetic complications if one ends up with excess glucose or fat in the system. Excess carbohydrates in a meal, and the resulting uncontrolled blood sugar levels can be detrimental to any number of tissues, from the lens of the eye, to the neurons, small blood vessels and the kidneys. Fat is also a problem with increase incidences of atherosclerosis, large vessel disease and cardiac complications. What, then is the appropriate macronutrient for the diabetic population? Enough medical literature exists to suggest that in diabetes, proteins are probably the best bet.

Proteins are the natural choice of the body when faced with diabetes. In uncontrolled diabetes, muscle protein is broken down into amino acids to be converted into glucose by the liver. If left to fend for itself, this can create a commotion within the body. Since proteins have to supply enough energy to substitute for carbohydrates, proteins are broken down faster than they are made. The body ends up with a protein deficit, a situation with subtle, yet far-reaching effects on normal body functions. Importantly, for diabetics, a protein deficit has been shown to impair resistance to infections (Ganong WF). Replenishing the depleting protein stores is a vital requirement of all diabetic diets.

Importance of proteins in a diabetic has been well documented. The American Associations of Clinical Endocrinologists have made it clear that not much evidence exists to indicate that the patients with diabetes need to reduce their intake of dietary proteins. The AACE recommends that 10-20% of the calorie intake in diabetes should come from proteins (AACE diabetes Guidelines). It is in fact believed that this is one nutrient that does not increase blood glucose levels in both diabetics and healthy subjects (Gannon et al).

Nutrition therapy for diabetes has progressed from prevention of obesity or weight gain to improving insulin’s effectiveness and contributing to improved metabolic control (Franz MJ). In this new role, a high protein diet (30% of total food energy) forms a very pertinent part of nutrition therapy. One of the most important causes for type II diabetes is obesity. Excess body fat raises insulin resistance and higher levels of insulin are required to bring down blood sugars as the weight increases (Ganong WF). Another problem with excess fat is the clogging of arteries with atherosclerotic plaques that is responsible for a wide range of diabetic complications. Any mechanism that reduces body fat decreases insulin resistance and improves blood glucose control. Parker et al have also shown that a high protein diet decreased abdominal and total fat mass in women with type II diabetes. Other studies by Gannon et al. and Nuttall et al have verified that blood glucose levels and glycosylated hemoglobin (a marker of long term diabetic control) reduce after 5 weeks on a diet containing 30% of the total food energy in the form of proteins and low carbohydrate content. It is speculated that a high protein diet has a favorable effect in diabetes due to the ability of proteins and amino acids to stimulate insulin release from the pancreas. Thus, a high protein diet is not only safe in diabetes, but can also be therapeutic, resulting in improved glycemic control, and decreased risk of complications related to diabetes.

The benefits of a high protein diet do not end here. Individual protein components of such a diet, when aptly chosen, can have other advantages as well. Dietary supplements containing proteins like whey and casein come highly recommended. Casein is a milk protein and has the ability to form a gel or clot in the stomach. The ability to form this clot makes it very efficient in nutrient supply. The clot is able to provide a sustained, slow release of amino acids into the blood stream, sometimes lasting for several hours (Boirie et al. 1997). A slow sustained release of nutrients matches well with the limited amount of insulin that can be produced by the pancreas in diabetes. A protein supplement containing casein can thus increase the amount of energy assimilated from every meal and, at the same time, reduce the need for pharmacological interventions to control blood sugar.

Whey proteins and caseins also contain “casokinins” and “lactokinins’, (FitzGerald) which have been found to decrease both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive humans (Seppo). In addition , whey protein forms bioactive amine in the gut that promotes immunity. Whey protein contains an ample supply of the amino acid cysteine. Cysteine appears to enhance glutathione levels, which has been shown to have strong antioxidant properties -- antioxidants mop up free radicals that induce cell death and play a role in aging.

Thus, development of a protein supplement containing casein and whey can provide an apt high protein diet and its health benefits to individuals suffering from diabetes, obesity and hypercholesterolemia.

REFERENCES

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Medical guidelines for the management of diabetes. AACE diabetes Guidelines, Endocr Pract. 2002; 8(Suppl 1).

Boirie, Y., Dangin, M., Gachon, P., Vasson, M. P., Maubois, J. L. and Beaufrere, B. (1997) Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proclamations of National Academy of Sciences 94, 14930-14935.

Counous, G. Whey protein concentrates (WPC) and glutathione modulation in cancer treatment. Anticancer Research 2000; 20, 4785-4792

FitzGerald RJ, Murray BA, Walsh D J. Hypotensive Peptides from Milk Proteins. J. Nutr. 134: 980S–988S, 2004.

Franz MJ. Prioritizing diabetes nutrition recommendations based on evidence. Minerva Med. 2004; 95(2): 115-23.

Gannon et al An increase in dietary protein improves the blood glucose response in persons with type 2 diabetes. Am J Clin Nutr 2003; 78: 734– 41.

Gannon MC, Nuttall J A, Damberg G. Effect of protein ingestion on the glucose appearance rate in people with type II diabetes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 86: 1040–1047, 2001

Ganong W F. Review of Medical Physiology, 21st Ed. Lange Publications 2003

Ha, E. and Zemel, M. B. Functional properties of whey, whey components, and essential amino acids: mechanisms underlying health benefits for active people. Journal of nutritional Biochemistry 2003; 14, 251-258.

Kent KD, Harper WJ, Bomser JA. Effect of whey protein isolate on intracellular glutathione and oxidant-induced cell death in human prostate epithelial cells. Toxicol in Vitro. 2003; 17(1): 27-33.

Nuttall et al. The Metabolic Response of Subjects with Type II diabetes to a High-Protein, Weight-Maintenance. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 88: 3577–3583, 2003

Parker et al. Effect of a High-Protein, High–Monounsaturated Fat Weight Loss Diet on glycemic control and Lipid Levels in Type 2 diabetes. diabetes Care 25: 425–430, 2002.

Seppo, L., Jauhiainen, T., Poussa, T.