Diabetes: Breast-feeding May Help Babies and Women Against Diabetes

Babies and women may be protected against developing diabetes disease through breast feeding, according to new research. This current study states that the longer women nursed, the lower their risks of developing diabetes.

Diabetes as a medical disorder characterized by varying or persistent elevated blood sugar levels, especially due to eating, is a serious disease which symptoms are very similar for all types of diabetes.

Breast feeding is when a woman feeds a baby or a young child with milk produced from her breasts. The best thing for feeding a baby is breast milk, as experts say, if the mother does not have transmissible infections.

Although study findings are not conclusive, researchers explain that breast-feeding may change metabolism of mothers which may help keep blood sugar levels stable and make the body more sensitive to the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin.

This theory is based on some evidence that show that in rats and humans that are breast-feeding, mothers have lower blood-sugar levels than those who did not breast-feed.

According to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, women who breast-fed for at least one year were about 15 per cent less likely to develop diabetes type 2 than those who never breast-fed. For each additional year of breast-feeding, there was an additional 15 per cent decreased risk.

A total of 157,000 nurses participated in the new study. They answered periodic health questionnaires and were followed for at least 12 years. During the study, 6,277 participants developed type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes: Alzheimer’s and Diabetes Could Be Linked Diseases I

According to a new study, diabetes and Alzheimer’s diseases are more related than everybody thought. Some researchers believe that Alzheimer’s could be a form of diabetes, because findings show that insulin production in the brain declines as Alzheimer’s disease advances.

Through a series of experiments, a group of researchers discovered that the brain produces insulin and that this substance produced by brains of patients with Alzheimer’s illness tends to fall below normal levels.

For the neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and professor of pathology at Brown University Medical School, Suzanne M. de la Monte, “insulin disappears early and dramatically in Alzheimer’s disease and many of the unexplained features of Alzheimer’s, such as cell death and tangles in the brain, appear to be linked to abnormalities in insulin signaling. This demonstrates that the disease is most likely a neuroendocrine disorder, or another type of diabetes”.

During the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, brain levels of insulin and its related cellular receptors fall precipitously, as her group of researchers explained. They believe that Alzheimer’s might be a new form of diabetes since the evidence shows insulin levels continue to drop progressively as the Alzheimer’s disease becomes more severe.

The team led by de la Monte also found that low levels of acetylcholine are directly linked to this loss of insulin and insulin-like growth factor function in the brain. Acetylcholine is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers team autopsied the brain tissue of 45 patients diagnosed with different degrees of Alzheimer’s called “Braak Stages” and compared those tissues to samples taken from individuals with no history of the disease.

Could You Have Diabetes And Not Even Know It?

Almost one third of all people with diabetes don’t know they have it. The symptoms seem so harmless, like symptoms of just getting older. This article goes into the different types of diabetes and some of the common symptoms of each to help you understand diabetes a little better.

In this article we’ll go over the three main types of diabetes. They are Type 1, Type 2, Gestational diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes

This type of diabetes has also been called insulin-dependent and immune-mediated diabetes. It occurs when your body can’t produce insulin. The immune system attacks insulin producing cells in the pancreas. This type of diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes increases the risk of other serious complications such as heart disease, nerve damage, blindness, and kidney damage.

Some of the symptoms include increased thirst, increased urination, weight loss even with increased appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, and absence of menstruation

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type that fails to be diagnosed. It progress slowly and causes symptoms such as skin infections, poor healing, kidney problems, and vision problems. It is ordinary that neither these complications nor the diabetes is diagnosed after years of mild symptoms.

The problem is usually that people have no severe symptoms and do not seek medical care at all. They just think of the symptoms as simply getting older. For this reason it is important to get regularly tested for diabetes in the most common age group (over 40’s). Less commonly a doctor may treat other diseases, without realizing to test for diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes occurs during a woman’s pregnancy. Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but have high blood sugar levels during pregnancy are said to have it. It affects 4 percent of all women during pregnancy.

Symptoms include Increased thirst Increased urination Weight loss in spite of increased appetite Fatigue Nausea and vomiting Frequent infections including those of the bladder, vagina, and skin Blurred vision.

Gestational diabetes can be missed in pregnancy. It usually starts with mild symptoms that often can be attributed to other things. It’s important to get tested during pregnancy because the high blood sugars from gestational diabetes can do harm to the baby and sometimes lead to other complications.

Even if you’re not pregnant, you should make it a priority to get tested. Many women have gestational diabetes and think about their symptoms as being usual during pregnancy. You never know, maybe it is, but it’s always a good idea to get tested.

If you’re having any of the symptoms for diabetes, it’s important to see your doctor. Even if you think it’s absolutely nothing. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

5 Tips To Reduce Stress

Stress has always been a part of our lives. In this hectic time, people lead an increasingly stressful life. Experts state that a little stress can be good; it keeps you sharp and ready to move forward, and is sometimes vital for achieving optimum performance. However, medical research has determined that prolonged stress is very bad for the body, and can block the body’s natural ability to repair, regenerate and protect itself. Over 90% of disease is caused by stress. Stress is both a physical and psychological response. It can lead to chronic disease, obesity, insomnia, deteriorating relationships, depression, and more.

Stress is such a powerful and harmful force that it is vital that you learn effective stress management techniques to live a successful, happy, and healthy life. We must remember that we will always come across inevitable factors that cause pressure and anxiety on us. What we do not know is that it is not really the problems that are difficult to deal with, but our attitude towards them. So basically, the cause of stress is your attitude toward these things. What, then, is an effective way to deal with stressors?

Below are 5 great tips to handle stress.

1. Identify what makes you stressful and uneasy. Making a list of your stressful experiences is useful. Immediately deal with the issues that you can change, for instance waking up earlier for work in the morning, not leaving things till the last minute, and delegating tasks in case you are taking responsibility for everything. Forget about the issues that you cannot influence like being stuck in a traffic jam or not getting into the elevator because there is no room for you.

2. Calm down. A few minutes break would do you good. Wash your face, breath slowly and deeply, and notice if there is tension in any part of your body and release it. You can also listen to relaxing music, or call a friend. Releasing your inner feelings to a friend is healthy option.

3. It will pass and it will be over before you know it. Remind yourself that the stressful event will end sooner or later can make you see the positive sides of things. At the same time, calm down your emotions and think of what is the best thing to do rather than take your energy away from what needs to be done.

4. Know yourself. Ask yourself: What triggers your anxiety? If for example it is your job, then maybe itís time for you to reconsider whether it would be best to find a less stressful job. You can also make your job more tolerable by allowing yourself to get that needed vacation or leave.

5. Learn to use your relaxation response. Just as we all have within us the stress response, we also have an opposite response, which is the relaxation response. A person should elicit that on a regular basis. The relaxation response involves two steps. Repetition, the repetition can be a word, a sound, an expression, or a repetitive movement. The second step is to ignore other thoughts that come to your mind while you’re doing the repetition, and come back to the repetition. The technique should be used once or twice a day for about 15 minutes. Sit quietly and choose a suitable repetition, like a prayer, the sound Om, or the word love, or calm. Or you can do a repetitive exercise, for instance yoga, jogging, Reiki. Additional repetitive activities are knitting or handicraft. When you incorporate this into your everyday life, you become calmer and better able to handle the stressors. Practice makes perfect and the more you practice relax your mind, the easier it gets.
The true causes of stress are not the problems or negative experiences that you encounter in your life; but your attitude toward them. So, the trick is to change your attitude and to develop a relaxed state, because you cannot be stressed and relaxed at the same time. It is important to understand that what we focus on, we energize. The more you continue to think about the factors that cause your stress, the more energy you give it. So it is vital to let go and focus on relaxation instead. Consequently, you’re less likely to be upset by a stressor, and thus less likely to have its harmful effect occur. Eventually, it is your choice. You could either continue to react in the same stressful way, or you could choose to improve your life by changing your attitude and becoming relaxed. Thereís no other way around it.

What Can a Type 2 Diabetic Have for Breakfast?

The answer to this question depends on where you are in the process of reversing your type 2 diabetes.

Here at Barton Publishing we offer a three-phase plan called the Diabetes Solution Kit to help you on your way to reversing type 2 diabetes. You can do this primarily through diet, accompanied by physical activity and natural supplements.[1]

Let’s start with those who are just beginning Phase One of our plan. In this phase, we recommend drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake to just 20 grams of low glycemic carbs per day. This is a short-term phase with the goal of jump-starting your reversal.

The cells of a type 2 diabetic are loaded with sugar rendering them insulin resistant. By dramatically reducing your carb intake for a few weeks, you will purge your cells of sugar enabling them to receive sugar from your bloodstream again. This will lower your blood sugar levels and set you on the path to normal levels.[2]

In Phase One, you’ll want to limit your carbs at breakfast to about four or five grams. Some of the best options for doing this include: eggs, cheese, bacon, ham, breakfast sausage, steak, and a wide variety of low carb vegetables. Adding any combination of tomatoes, greens, basil, onions, mushrooms, and peppers to eggs can create a delicious omelet or breakfast medley.

One additional tip in Phase One that is huge: avoid any and all sweetened drinks! Coffee or teas are fine, but without any kind of sweetener. Artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes—even though some claim no carbs and no calories—do impact your blood sugar significantly. The same goes for any kind of juice during this first Phase.[3]

You’ll know when your cells have been purged of sugar by testing your fasting blood glucose level and obtaining normal readings of 99 mg/dl or less. We recommend that you engage in this program under the supervision of your doctor. If you are already on type 2 diabetes medications, your doctor will most likely take you off your meds once you reach normal blood sugar levels.[4]

In Phase Two of our program, you begin adding back many of your favorite carbs into your diet. You do this while continuing to monitor your blood sugar levels to ensure that you are maintaining normal readings. In particular, the fasting blood sugar level is most telling.

In this second Phase, your options for breakfast include everything listed in Phase One, plus additional tasty delights. In Phase Two try introducing: cereals based on oats, barley and bran. You really have to be careful with cereals because the more processed they are, the more sugar they usually contain.

Also introduce: breads with whole grains, stone-ground flour, or sourdough. For breakfast, this opens up choices like toast, and whole grain bagels and English muffins. You can also add all other fruits and vegetables that you might normally eat for breakfast. Grapefruit, oranges, and all types of berries are especially good.

For breakfast try unsweetened yogurt mixed with your favorite berries, or cottage cheese with peach slices. Or how about a whole grain English muffin with peanut butter and unsweetened jam?

Juices and other sweetened drinks will often be a person’s downfall. If you watch everything else, but drink sweetened beverages, those alone may prevent your diabetes reversal and spike your blood sugar levels.[5]

Every person is unique—not only in our likes and dislikes, but also in how various carbs impact our blood sugar. Get to know your body’s reaction to all the various carbs. Create a broad and varied list of all the foods that you can eat and focus on these. (this list of the worst fruits for type 2 diabetics will help you get started) Bon appetit!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT REVERSING YOUR TYPE 2 DIABETES

What Is the Difference Between Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load?

This is a great question and the answer can be quite confusing, so please bear with me and get ready to expand your mind!

Let’s begin by defining glycemic index and glycemic load. Glycemic index (GI) ranks carbohydrates on a scale from zero to 100 based on the degree to which they affect your blood sugar levels. A GI of 1 to 55 is considered low, 56 to 69 is medium, and 70 to 100 is high.

The lower the GI, the less impact that carb will have on raising your blood sugar. Think of GI in terms of ranking the quality of carbohydrates.[1]

Glycemic load (GL) adds the element of quantity to the equation by showing the relationship between GI and serving size. Therefore, “Glycemic load measures the blood-sugar-raising power per serving of food.”[2]

The formula for computing GL is to multiply the GI of a food times the amount of net carbs in a given serving size. (Net carbs equals the grams of carbohydrates in that serving size minus the grams of fiber.) Then you divide that product by 100 to yield the GL score.[3]

A glycemic load of 10 or less is considered low, 11 to 19 is medium, and 20 or more is high.[4]

Having said all that, it would seem that glycemic load is the value we would want to use and follow for planning our meals as a type 2 diabetic, right? However, two significant problems enter in.

First, glycemic index is a measure obtained through actual testing with humans and the rate at which certain foods actually elevate blood sugar levels.[5] Glycemic load is merely a mathematical computation based on GI and net carbohydrates found in a specific serving size. For some reason, however, there are discrepancies in GL values listed on nutritional data information for foods.

Here’s just one example: 100g of raw watermelon has a GI of 72 (high),[6] and net carbs of 8. Watermelon’s GL = 72 x 8 = 576/100 = 5.76 GL. But Nutrition Data lists the GL of the same serving size of watermelon at 2 GL.[7] Now, both of these GL ratings are considered low, but there’s quite a discrepancy between the two numbers.

Let’s look at 100g of raw pear, with a GI of 38 (low),[8] net carbs of 12. A pear’s GL = 38 x 12 = 456/100 = 4.56 GL. This time Nutrition Data lists the GL for the same serving size of pear at 3 GL.[9] Again, there’s a significant difference between GL numbers for the pear. And according to Nutrition Data, a 100g serving of watermelon has a lower GL than a 100g serving of pear, though both are ranked low.

This brings up the second problem with GL. In Australia an extensive study was conducted regarding the relationship between GI and GL, in which 36,000 adults were followed and tested over a four-year period. The study revealed that consuming a relatively high carbohydrate diet consisting of low GI carbs led to a lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Conversely, those individuals who consumed high GI carbs increased their risk for developing type 2 diabetes.[10]

The study also exposed an important fact regarding GL. Namely, it is possible for two different foods to have the same GL, but one food has a high GI and the other a low GI.[11] This is the case with the examples above with watermelon and pears. Watermelon has a high GI and pears have a low GI, even though their GL appears to be about equal for the same serving size.

The problem is that the high GI of watermelon will generally spike blood sugar, whereas the low GI of a pear should not. But going merely by GL, one would never know that. Based on the findings from that study, it appears that glycemic index is more crucial in preventing and managing type 2 diabetes than glycemic load. Portion control is always an important factor as well.

At Barton Publishing we encourage type 2 diabetics to eat carbs with a low GI and to practice portion control.[12] We do this through what we call the Healthy Food Plate. Here is a chart for GI values for a variety of foods as well.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO REVERSE YOUR DIABETES NATURALLY, CLICK HERE

What Fruits Are Best For Diabetics And Which Should I Avoid?

Fruits provide a great source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and carbohydrates that our bodies need in order to function well.[1] This is equally true for diabetics. Let’s look at the following issues related to fruit:

  • The glycemic index of fruits
  • How the fruit is prepared
  • What quantities of fruit to eat
  • Know how your body reacts to various fruits

A key factor to take into consideration regarding fruits is their glycemic index (GI). This is a measure of the extent to which a food impacts blood sugar levels.[2] Glycemic index is shown as a score between zero and 100. The higher the higher the GI, the more likely that food will raise your blood sugar levels. A low GI is 0-55, medium GI is 56-69, and high GI is any food 70 or above.[3]

The following fruits fall into the low GI category: apples, bananas, blueberries, cranberries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, limes, oranges, pears, plums, prunes, raspberries, and strawberries.[4] These fruits are in the medium GI range: apricots, cantaloupe, figs, kiwifruit, papaya, raisins and pineapple. Watermelon is ranked high on the glycemic index at 72.

For the diabetic, those fruits in the low GI range will typically be best, impacting your blood sugar least. But the fruit itself is not always the determining factor. How the fruit is prepared is also very important. The American Diabetes Association recommends that it is best to eat fruits fresh, frozen, or canned without added sugars.[5]

Fruit juices are not the same as eating the whole fruit and will generally raise your blood sugar levels rapidly. The reason for this is that juice no longer has the fiber that the fresh fruit naturally contains, so the body digests juice very quickly. Similarly, fruit canned with added sugar will have a higher GI because of the sugary syrup in which the fruit is packed.

Dried fruits in general also have a higher GI. Because the water has been removed from the fruit, the concentration of sugars is higher.[6] A diabetic can eat dried fruit, but in small quantities. The problem with dried fruit is often our perception. Dried fruit is smaller, so we tend to eat more of it, not accounting for the higher sugar content.

For instance, let’s say that we determine a half-cup of grapes (about 15 grapes) is a serving size. And 15 grapes can be satisfying. But would we limit ourselves to just fifteen raisins (dried grapes) as a portion? Nobody eats just 15 raisins! A half-cup of raisins contains over eight times the number of carbs as the same portion of grapes.[7]

That brings us to the next factor: what quantities of fruits to eat. Dr. Scott Saunders, MD, tells about a 22-year-old woman with prediabetes who could not lose weight on a 1000 calorie-per-day diet. He had her write down everything she ate for a week to determine the cause. It was fruit! She was eating lots of watermelon, cantaloupe and grapes that were raising her blood sugar levels and preventing her from losing weight.[8]

In addition to watching the GI of foods for maintaining a healthy diabetic diet, portion control is also very important. Too much of any carb will raise your blood sugar levels.

The final factor to consider is how your own body reacts. How do YOU respond to certain foods, their quantity, frequency, or combination with other foods? Everybody is different. I talked to one type 2 diabetic who has found that she cannot eat bananas, pineapple, or grapes without those fruits spiking her blood sugar levels. Other type 2 diabetics may be able to eat those fruits without experiencing such a rise in blood sugar.

For this reason, it’s very important to keep track of what you eat, when you eat it, and how it impacts your blood sugar levels. While the other three factors I’ve mentioned are important and provide general guidelines, this last factor is one that only you can monitor and control.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT REVERSING YOUR TYPE 2 DIABETES

For you pudding lovers…

My wife and I love to watch political debates.

The verbal sparring is fascinating.

Some words are always off-limits for politicians.

They don’t say certain words or phrases because they’re either controversial or offensive or  otherwise inappropriate.

I want you to imagine you’re a politician from today onwards.

I want you to add a word to your own ‘off-limits’ list:

Diabetic.

You need to stop calling yourself A diabetic.

Stop using the word altogether.

You are NOT a diabetic.

As soon as you call yourself an diabetic, you’re admitting defeat.

When you think of yourself as someone who control your blood sugar you become someone who can’t control their blood sugar.

You were not born with type-2 diabetes so there is no reason why you should live with diabetes.

The mind is hugely powerful.

Write down this phrase: 

“If I don’t have perfect blood sugar today it’s no big deal. I’ll just relax and an do better tomorrow.”

Put it next to your bed and read it to yourself every night before going to bed.

It’s time to stop putting pressure on yourself to be perfect.

This tasty treat (which is low-carb if you can believe it) will help:

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It’s time to stop convincing yourself that you are incapable of controlling your blood sugar.

Here’s a test that will prove my theory:

Don’t think of a purple elephant. 

I’ll wrap this up tomorrow – along with the most popular dessert of the year.

 Can you guess what the link between diabetes and riding a bicycle is?

 – Joe ‘Political Junkie’ Barton

P.S. What is the BEST breakfast?
Take a look at our article ->  here.

Pass the chocolate! (picture inside)

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Trust me and give this a try!

There are lots of other mouth watering desserts on the way too.

I’ll cover them in a future posts, so keep reading!

Tomorrow I want to reveal one dessert everyone will think is PACKED with sugar.

But you could eat it nearly every day and still lose weight and never get your blood sugar out of control.

I’ll speak to you then.

– Joe “give me CHOCOLATE” Barton

P.S.  Check out how another tasty treat
can make a SERIOUS positive impact
on your health… even diabetes