I thought this worth passing on. Of my four sisters, three have/had husbands with diabetes.

Study Links Diet With Adult Diabetes

By David Morgan Reuters

PHILADELPHIA (Feb. 4) - Men whose diets are rich in red meat, high-fat dairy products and baked goods made from refined flour are 60 percent more likely to develop diabetes after the age of 40, a new Harvard study suggested on Monday.

In one of the most wide-ranging studies to date on possible links between adult onset diabetes and diet, researchers also found that men who ate a ''prudent'' diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and poultry had a type-2 diabetes risk at levels 20 percent below the norm.

''This is the first study to look at the big picture of diet and diabetes. Until now, the focus has been on isolated nutrients and specific foods,'' said Dr. Frank Hu, a co-author of the study and assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard University School of Public Health.

The study, which appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine, examined 42,504 male health professionals aged 40 to 75, who answered questionnaires on diet, exercise and weight as part of the national Health Professionals Follow-up Study. It covered 12 years from 1986 to 1998, during which time just over 1,300 participants developed type-2, or adult onset, diabetes.

Type-2 diabetes accounts for 90 percent of the estimated 16 million diabetes cases in the United States. It usually occurs after the age of 40 among people whose bodies either do not produce enough insulin or cannot use insulin effectively.

Health experts have said the United States could see the number of diabetes cases swell to 29 million over the next 50 years as a population fond of junk food and prone to obesity grows increasingly older.

Hu suggested that low-fat diets advocated by public health officials may offer little protection against type-2 diabetes. He pointed to evidence that total fat intake had less to do with disease risk than a lack of cereal fibers and magnesium that are contained in whole grains, but not the refined grains used to make white bread and cookies.

GRAINS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND FISH

''This is important because when people move to low-fat diets, they start loading up on bagels and white bread, which is actually more detrimental than total fat,'' Hu said.

''To substantially decrease the chances of getting type-2 diabetes and developing potentially serious complications like blindness, kidney failure and heart disease, men should change their eating patterns and increase their intake of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fish.''

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association. But association officials were reluctant to give more weight to diet than more established risk factors such as age, obesity, cholesterol and heredity.

''The study is important as evidence that the type of food one eats could have some importance in the risk of developing type-2 diabetes,'' said Dr. Nathaniel Clark, the American Diabetes Association's national vice president of clinical affairs. ''But while the whole dietary pattern may be important, it is dwarfed by the importance of obesity as a risk factor.''

Researchers said that among obese men who also ate the so-called ''Western'' diet, the risk of disease was 10 times higher than normal.

Researchers at Harvard analyzed the dietary habits of men as conveyed by a 131-item food questionnaire that asked study subjects to describe their intake of specified foods during the preceding year. Follow-ups occurred every four years.

The men, who were mostly white and employed as health professionals, included physicians, dentists, pharmacists, veterinarians and podiatrists. They were free of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease when the study began in 1986.

Their responses about eating habits were compared with answers to separate follow-up questionnaires dealing with weight, smoking and physical activity. That data enabled researchers to assign metabolic ratings to participants.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 05, 2002

Answers

From the article: Dr. Nathaniel Clark, the American Diabetes Association's national vice president of clinical affairs. ''But while the whole dietary pattern may be important, it is dwarfed by the importance of obesity as a risk factor.''

Dr. Hu, cited in the above article made the following comments, concerning diet and its effect on diabetes risks:

Frank Hu, M.D., an assistant professor of nutrition at the public health school, says he and his colleagues were surprised that only a few factors could explain so many cases of diabetes.This means that "moderate lifestyle modification can dramatically reduce diabetes risk," Dr. Hu says. "That's very encouraging news."

For Women, Small Changes Result In A Big Drop In The Risk Of Diabetes

September 14, 2001 By Lisa Ellis,InteliHealth News Service

Healthy life habits can reduce a woman's risk of developing diabetes by more than 90 percent, Harvard University researchers have concluded.The researchers found that being overweight, the single biggest risk factor for diabetes, caused about six out of 10 cases of adult-onset (type 2) diabetes. They analyzed the habits of nearly 85,000 women in the long-term Nurses Health Study, conducted by Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.Results are published in the Sept. 13, 2001, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.Frank Hu, M.D., an assistant professor of nutrition at the public health school, says he and his colleagues were surprised that only a few factors could explain so many cases of diabetes.This means that "moderate lifestyle modification can dramatically reduce diabetes risk," Dr. Hu says. "That's very encouraging news."

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), February 05, 2002.

This kind of study really bothers me, and it's commonly done: the meat diet is lumped together with the refined carbohydrate diet, so we are told, "There, see, this diet is bad for you," then they lump fish and unrefined carbs together and say,"This diet is good." So meat ends up getting tarred by the brush of sugar and white flour. The article does say, don't do the breads and refined flour, but never do they say carbohydrates are the whole cause of insulin problems in the first place. 58% of protein makes its way to glucose in the body, but 100% of digestible (non fiberous) carbohydrate does. Doesn't matter if it's fruit, lettuce, or whole wheat bread, it will affect your blood sugar much more than meat will. If you want the best book for diabetes control, read Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution : A Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars, by Dr. Richard Bernstein.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), February 05, 2002.

Yep, what you eat is one of the three main risk factors, the other two are being overweight and lack of regular exercise. I have yet to find a type II diabetic who is of normal weight and exercises daily, despite what they eat!!!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), February 05, 2002.

Does anyone know the current weight standards for male and female for height and age? What is the standard for being considered to be obese?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 05, 2002.

I'm with Annie, every one I know that is a diabetic is overweight. Most people that I know that have a diet of vegtables, whole grains, fruit and prudent use of meat are not overweight. It's the white sugar, white flour, high fat that does it, IMHO. Ken, I called our local clinic for that same info and they were so evasive that I never did get a straight answer. I hope someone answers your question. However,I recently saw a book advertised by a Dr. Julian Whitaker called Reversing Diabetes. I would be interested to know her take on it.

-- Marie in Central WA (Mamafila@aol.com), February 05, 2002.

The USDA did some research where the mere adding of whole wheat flour to white bread had a very leveling effect on blood glucose levels,prevented the spikes assocated with plain white flour bread.

Perhaps these links will provide a couple of views on acceptable weights for height: MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS FOR DIABETES, http://www.hc- sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/publicat/diabet99/d09_e.html Not Overweight = Body Mass Index [weight (kg)/squared height (m2)]< 27; includes categories some excess weight, acceptable weight, and insufficient weight. Diabetes, height and weight are self-reported. Overweight = Body Mass Index [weight (kg)/squared height (m)] > 27.

Maximum Acceptable Weight in Pounds as Related to Age and Height, http://oep.osophs.dhhs.gov/ccrf/Height/weight.htm, The tables below are excerpted from the Guiding Medical Standards for the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service CCPM Pamphlet No. 46 February 1997. They indicate the "Maximum Acceptable Weight in Pounds as Related to Age and Height."

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), February 05, 2002.

As a newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic, I can tell you that there are as many differing opinions on what a good diet constitutes as there are studies and books. Even my doctor refused to give a specific "diet", rather giving me a general guideline about complex carbs, proteins and fats. Books that were published even 5 years ago differ with more recent books. Bottom line, we type 2's are alone in our quest to get ourselves educated.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), February 05, 2002.

I don't have a degree in nutrition, but as a diabetic who sticks herself often to test her blood sugar I have a MOST EXCELLENT idea of which foods are very hard on my body and which foods I can handle easily.

Fish is a most excellent meat. I don't like it as well as red meat, but I can eat very generous portions and my blood sugar will stay stable. It doesn't matter if it is lobster tail, clams, or catfish, it keeps me VERY stable for several hours. Next in value is chicken breast, then dark meat chicken and eye of round. I rarely eat the more fatty meats, maybe a couple of times a month.

In the carbohydrate group, beans work the best. Grain is next best, but believe it or not I have to be JUST AS CAREFUL WITH THE WHOLE WHEAT AS THE WONDER BREAD! I can't explain it, but there it is. The blood tests I do don't lie. Rice is a little harder on my system than wheat, especially short grain rice like they serve in chinese restaurants, so my portion size is slightly smaller than if I were eating bread with my meal. If I am physically active, I tolerate 4 slices of bread in a meal, or 1 cup of long grain rice in a meal, or about 3/4 of a cup or short grain rice in a meal.

Fruit, root vegetables, and milk all are VERY quick to hit my system, and so I eat them - in SMALL quantities, near the END of a meal, so that they mix in with the food I have already eaten and are absorbed slowly into my system. One small apple on an empty stomach will push my blood sugar well over my target goal, but at the end of a meal it will do nothing at all.

Leafy vegetables do nothing to my blood sugar at all, so I can eat as much as I want.

Here is the tricky part, and here is where I part company with the medical establishment. As far as I can tell, Being overweight is the EFFECT of the diabetes, and not the CAUSE of the diabetes!!!!!!!!!!!IT usually takes several YEARS before diabetes is diagnosed (medical fact!), AND DURING THAT TIME THE PATIENT GAINS WEIGHT!!! Here is why

A person sits down for a meal. When diabetes is setting in, insulin resistance (or LACK of insulin-take your pick! Either can occur at the onset of diabetes type 2!) results in a delay in the food reaching the cells of the body. As a result, the body's cells continue to put out hunger signals, and the person with diabetes eats longer than the person without diabetes, and therefor eats too much! This makes the blood sugar go up, but as the hours go by what insulin there is eventually takes care of the problem, the blood sugar drops into normal ranges, and those excess calories have been stored in fat cells and as triglycerides. Also, if your blood sugar goes over 180 or so the sugar molecules get large and are hard to absorb, so the cells of the body send out hunger signals AGAIN (This last part is not my theory-it's medical fact!) I find that I am just as hungry when my blood sugar is 200 as I am when my blood sugar is 70.

By the time the patient is diagnosed (remember-most people have had diabetes for YEARS before being diagnosed-this is ALSO medical fact!) the years of overeating have led to too much weight and high triglycerides, possibly compounded by a low fat diet! The recommended breakfast with fruit and cereal with skim milk has FAR TOO MANY carbohydrate exchanges for ANY diabetic that I have known!!!!!!!! In my case, the low fat diet made my triglycerides shoot up to 577 before anyone even THOUGHT to look for diabetes! At my age, less than 150 is normal!

Since I have been diagnosed and my diet has been changed, I no longer get so hungry that my hands shake. I don't get nearly as hungry at all, in fact. I am not trying to loose weight, but I am because with a slow, steady amount of food for my body to burn I am just not very hungry anymore. I am down to 150 and I am loosing about 1 pound a month: I have been since I was diagnosed and I was put on the diabetic diet instead of a low fat diet. I realize that much of what I have said is NOT what the doctors say, but for me, at least, this is the gospel truth. On the low-fat diet much admired right now I put on 15 pounds in 1 year, felt DREADFUL, got the shakes and had no energy. On a higher-fat diabetic diet I feel MUCH better, have more energy, loose weight without trying to, have blood readings in the normal rate, triglycerides are fine, and my blood pressure is dropping. Again, this is NOT what currant medical wisdom says, but I STILL think that diabetic type 2 patients are getting a bum rap; that the disease is CAUSING the weight, not the weight causing the disease, it CERTAINLY worked that way for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), February 05, 2002.

Remember reading someplace the average life expectancy of a medical doctor is 60 years old. Half die before then, half afterwards. If this is indeed the case, makes one wonder about the advice they give.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 05, 2002.

Terri,

All that you said above is true for me too. Our family was actually vegetarians when I started the weight gain and could never seem to lose any. We ate no meat but had milk, cheese and eggs, lots of fruits and vegetables and fresh made juices, all grains including pasta types were whole wheat and we had lugumes.

The way I have begun to lose weight is by eating all my carbs at one meal - supper seems to be the best. The breakfast meal is all protein and lunch will be protein with salad fixings. This is keeping my blood sugar levels where they should be.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), February 05, 2002.

I want to add that stress and illness raises the blood sugar levels too when you have insulan resistance or type II diabetes.

A very good book, with easy to understand explantions of all of this, is "Protein Power" by Michael R. Eades, M.D. and mary Dan Eades, M.D.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), February 05, 2002.

Interesting stuff, especially from Terri! I have one question though. I've always wondered why a few diabetics are really really skinny, like Mary Tyler Moore, who is a life-long diabetic. Anyone have any ideas?

Oh, and my info tells me that the average lifespan of American physicians is 56.

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), February 05, 2002.

Terry, I also avoid too many carbs at breakfast: one carb exchange first thing in the morning is about all I can tolerate, and it has to be a grain product, too. Personally, I get the best control if I split the meat portion throughout the day, but I suppose not everyone has the same body!

Earthmamma, I have NO idea why some type 2 diabetics are skinny, perhaps because she has been carefull for a long time? Remember, I am still loosing weight, who knows where I will end up? Also, as an actress, she has a LOT of motivation to remain skinny!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), February 05, 2002.

Open question: Does anyone know a long-time vegetarian or vegan with either type of diabetes?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 06, 2002.

My husband is diabetic. What are the results of prolonged diabetes?

-- Narita (hsnrs@att.net), February 06, 2002.

Narita, I was told that it depended on whether you took care of yourself or not. My own doctor told me that with the new medications and the good control possible now that there were no statistics available: the diabetes may NEVER affect me more than the need to medicate, watch my diet, etc. I DO know that my great-grandmother with a mild case of diabetes watched her diet and died of a heart attack in her mid eighties, which was a ripe old age in those days. This sounds good to me: I intend to live to my mid-nineties like my GRANDFATHERS generation did!

On the other hand, in a nursing home that I once worked at, I met a lady who was so afraid of doctors, hospitals, and needles that she refused to see a doctor even though she knew what she had and had started passing out. Eventually she passed out on a public street and was taken to the hospital with a blood sugar of over 500 (below 140 is normal). She eventually died of what looked to me to be a dead ringer for old age, even though she was younger than 60. By neglecting her body so severely, she wore it out at a VERY early age!

The lady who died at such a young age was the exception though. MOST of our elderly diabetics had given their bodies at least SOME care, and were in their 80's or 90's. Whether we are diabetic or not, our health is usually in our own hands, we can choose to smoke, drink, drug or not: we can give ourselves SOME care (like most Americans), or give ourselves EXCELLENT care, like a very few do. Most of us have our fate in our own hands.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), February 06, 2002.

Some people get diabetes, Type II, just for being in Vietnam, a chemical exposure link: Vietnam veterans with Type-II diabetes will now be eligible for disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) based on their presumed exposure to Agent Orange or other herbicides.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), February 06, 2002.

I may be mistaken but I believe Mary Tyler Moore has type I diabetes. I only personally know three people with Type I and they are all thin.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), February 06, 2002.

Mary Tyler Moore is a Type I diabetic, as is my 14 year old son. He was overweight all his life until he became diabetic, in fact that's how we found out, he lost 25 lbs in one month. He's been diabetic for 2 years now, and is still underweight. Type I's have a harder time keeping their blood sugars under control, since their bodies produce no insulin naturally. When blood sugars are too high, the body goes into ketosis, and burns fat...not too mention body organs.

-- CJ (cjtinkle@getgoin.net), February 06, 2002.

What a Type 2 diabetic should eat to get a BG test that goes way up and takes a long time to go down : deep-dish pizza or spaghetti with a sauce containing a lot of American cheese. I've known that stuff to blow BGs out of the desirable range for 18 hours or more.

Pizza crust or pasta with refined flours, tomato sauces,possibly with sugar and some cheeses make some diabetics BG go bonkers for an extended period. My mother, a Type I diabetic, always had trouble with those foods as do many Type IIs.

-- Sara in IN (urthmomma@aol.com), February 06, 2002.

I read in the papwer the other day that one of the symptoms of having Diabities is that you go to the loo alot and are drink alot of fluids, as a result of this I have asked for a doctors appointment in order to clarifie if I have this thing or not.

What do y think my chances are ?....

-- Steven Macarthur (userS8966@aol.com), April 04, 2002.