How Diabetes can break your Heart

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Diabetes is a chronic illness and can cause fear once slapped with the diagnosis. Fear of complications like kidney, eye and limb damage. What is less well known is that diabetes also raises the risk of heart disease by four to five times compared with people without the disease. The treatment goals for people with diabetes are more strict than those for people without diabetes. In a study, out of 20,000 Indian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, 60% had coronary artery disease .
Even when glucose levels are under control it greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. That’s because people with diabetes may have the following conditions that contribute to their risk for developing cardiovascular disease.
• High blood pressure
When patients have both hypertension and diabetes, which is a common combination, their risk for cardiovascular disease doubles.
• Abnormal cholesterol and high triglycerides
Patients with diabetes often have unhealthy cholesterol levels including high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and high triglycerides.
• Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has been strongly associated with insulin resistance. Obesity and insulin resistance also have been associated with other risk factors, including high blood pressure.
• Lack of physical activity is another major risk factor for insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. For overall cardiovascular health, the American Heart Association recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity at least 5 days per week for a total of 150 min/week.
• Poorly controlled blood sugars (too high) or out of normal range
Diabetes can cause blood sugar to rise to dangerous levels.
• Smoking puts individuals, diabetic or not, at higher risk for heart disease and stroke.

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The ABC’s of diabetes control
Having diabetes increases your risk for cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke. If you have diabetes, you should pay close attention to the factors which can increase your risk for heart trouble. These are often referred to as the “ABC’s:”
• hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) blood sugar test
• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol.
“ABC” Goals
HbA1c Less than 5.5%
Blood pressure Less than 130/80 mm Hg
LDL (bad) cholesterol Less than 100 mg/dL
Triglycerides Less than 100 mg/dL
HDL (good) cholesterol More than 50 mg/dL in men and 60 mg/dL in women
And also
Fasting Serum Insulin 2 – 5 IU/ml

HbA1C above 6% indicates higher risk of Kidney Failure. Above 4.6%, risk of CVD doubles for every 1% rise in HbA1C, which measures blood sugar control over the preceding 3 months. In a French study, people with Diabetic Retinopathy averaged an FBS of 130mg% and HbA1c OF 6.4% over a period of 9 years. While those without eye damage averaged an FBS of 108mg% and an HbA1C of 5.7%.

An Integrative medicine approach will help not just control your diabetes but actually reverse it, so that you are healthy Again. No more diabetes! No more drugs, no more doctors!

How to Reverse Type 2 diabetes

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Diabetes rates are skyrocketing. Complications lead to heart attacks, strokes, amputations, blindness, kidney failure, and memory loss. The #1 cause of death for people with diabetes is from cardiovascular disease.

Almost 20% of people over age 65 have type 2 diabetes. Diabetics have a lifestyle that doesn’t match their genetic needs; change their lifestyle and their diabetes problem usually goes away.

I offer programs that have helped patients bring their blood sugar levels back to normal. Even patients on insulin, with advanced diabetic complications have become medication-free and achieved normal blood sugar control.

So What Changes Have Helped Reverse Type 2 Diabetes?

There is no single choice and no magic bullet to correct this problem. But the combination of three activities is remarkably helpful:

  1. Add activity daily
  2. Avoid refined carbs and sugars
  3. Eat more smart foods

Activity

Daily activity is essential. You may wonder, why I start with activity instead of food. Let’s start with what causes this problem in the first place.

When you eat food, the food energy is absorbed as sugar (glucose). This becomes stored in your muscle cells as glycogen, available as energy for your next work out. The problem is that if you keep eating, but you don’t burn it, the muscle cells become overloaded with glycogen. Insulin pushes this glucose into muscle cells. When muscle cells shut their doors and don’t respond, your tissues become resistant to insulin’s message to store energy. The energy next travels to your liver and is stored as liver fat, plus converted into artery clogging triglycerides. At some point, blood sugar levels jump into the “high blood sugar zone”, and your body becomes ineffective at lowering blood sugar after you eat. High blood sugar levels accelerate every aspect of aging—your brain shrinks, your arteries grow plaque, your cancer risk grows and your health falls apart.

So if the first step to insulin resistance is excessive glycogen storage in muscle cells, then removing glycogen through exercise is an incredibly effective way to bring blood sugar regulation and your health back to normal. Most people need at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity every day to deplete sugar stored in muscle tissue.

Avoid Refined Carbs and Sugar

The second treatment is to decrease blood sugar from entering the blood stream. The simple way to do this is to avoid high glycemic load foods. Glycemic load refers to the amount of sugar that reaches your blood stream from one serving of a specific food. The simple way to avoid a jump in blood sugar levels is to eliminate all sugar, grains, and anything made with flour from your eating plan. A few other high glycemic load foods that should be avoided are: potatoes, bananas, dried fruit, and fruit juice.

Eat More Smart Foods

So what should you eat? The focus is to eat every day at least:

  • Five servings of smart fat (avocado, nuts, olive or nut oil, coconut products, dark chocolate, cold water fatty fish)
  • Five servings of clean protein (grass-fed beef, cage-free and organic-fed poultry and eggs, wild fish, beans, organic soy products, and organic yogurt.
  • And ten servings of low-glycemic fiber (from vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and dark chocolate)
  • Plus, add extra spices and herbs for flavor and to lower inflammation.

The reality is that you can prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes and also help your heart, brain, and waistline by adding smart foods and following these simple concepts every day.

Monk Fruit Sweetener

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With many people now avoiding sugar, natural alternative sweeteners have become important. One popular sweetener is monk fruit extract. It is natural, contains zero calories and is 100–250 times sweeter than sugar. It is also thought to have antioxidant properties.

Monk fruit, also known as “luo han guo” or the “Buddha fruit”,is a small, round fruit grown in Southeast Asia. Monk fruit has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, but the FDA didn’t approve its use as a sweetener until 2010.

Monk fruit sweetener is created by removing the seeds and skin of the fruit, crushing it and collecting the juice, which is then dried and turned into a concentrated powder.

This is what monk fruit looks like:

Monk Fruit on Mat

 

Monk fruit extract actually gets its intense sweetness from unique antioxidants called mogrosides. During processing, mogrosides are separated from the fresh-pressed juice of the monk fruit. Therefore, monk fruit sweetener does not contain fructose or glucose.

Depending on the amount of mogrosides present, monk fruit extract can provide a level of sweetness around 100–250 times greater than table sugar. In fact, many manufacturers mix monk fruit sweetener with other natural products such as inulin or erythritol to reduce the intensity of the sweetness.

Monk fruit extract is now used as a stand-alone sweetener, as an ingredient in foods or drinks, as a flavor enhancer or as a component of other sweetener blends.

Monk Fruit Sweetener could aid in Weight Management.

Some studies have shown that the mogrosides have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which are likely to contribute to other health benefits, including the prevention of cancer and complications in diabetes.

Is Monk Fruit Sweetener Safe?

There aren’t many studies available on monk fruit sweetener in humans. However, it is generally recognized as safe.It has been used as a food for hundreds of years, and there have been no reported negative side effects from consuming monk fruit sweetener.

Take Home Message

Although more research is needed, monk fruit sweetener appears to be a safe and healthy sweetener. It is a natural, calorie-free alternative to sugar and other sweeteners, and may even provide health benefits.

There are always simple, natural ways to avoid sugar and help in the fight against diabetes.

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Seaweed and sea vegetables have many benefits.

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but, like the vacation we talked about is like what you said?

 

Are you fond of eating seaweed? Or maybe you’re never tried it. Aside from being an anti-cancer fighting food, these nutritional benefits may persuade you to become an advocate of eating ocean vegetables:

  • Seaweed has an alkalizing effect. Much of what is eaten today is acidic in nature and that’s definitely not beneficial for health. In order to help restore your body’s pH level, you need to eat more alkaline foods such as seaweed.
  • It may be better than milk. Seaweed is ten times richer in calcium than your favorite milk!
  • It helps purify our blood. The chemical composition of these ocean vegetables is similar to that of blood plasma; hence, eating seaweed is a great way to keep your blood free from toxins.
  • It is rich in chlorophyll, especially the green seaweed. Chlorophyll is the green pigment coloration that makes sea vegetables green. Chlorophyll is a natural and powerful detoxifying agent that helps eliminate toxins and other waste pollutants from your body.
  • It can help you achieve a shaped body. Since seaweed is naturally rich in iodine, it helps your thyroid gland to maintain a healthy metabolism which is needed in regulating your body weight. Eating ocean vegetables can help you lose weight because it breaks the chemical bonds of fat cells.
  • It can support you in stressful times. Seaweed contains magnesium, pantothenic acid, and riboflavin which are necessary for producing enough energy to face the stressful and tough day ahead.

Eat healthy to Stay healthy.

What is BPA and Why is it Bad for You?

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Woman Inspecting Oil Bottle With Magnifying GlassBPA is an industrial chemical that is added to many products.

These days, BPA-containing plastics are commonly used in food containers, baby bottles and other things.

BPA is also used to make epoxy resins, which are put on the inner lining of canned food containers to keep the metal from corroding and breaking.

 

Canned FoodsCommon products that may contain BPA include:

  • Items packaged in plastic containers.
  • Canned foods.
  • Toiletries.
  • Feminine hygiene products.
  • Thermal printer receipts.
  • CDs and DVDs.
  • Household electronics.
  • Eyeglass lenses.
  • Sports equipment.
  • Dental filling sealants.

Many manufacturers have now switched to BPA-free products, in which BPA has been replaced by bisphenol-S (BPS) or bisphenol-F (BPF),but these may disrupt the function of your cells in a way similar to BPA. Thus, BPA-free bottles may not be the solution.

The main source of BPA exposure is through your diet.

Another study had participants eat one serving of either fresh or canned soup daily for 5 days. Urine levels of BPA were 1,221% higher in those who consumed the canned soup.

Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that BPA levels in breastfed babies were up to 8 times lower than those measured in babies fed liquid formula from BPA-containing bottles.

Scientist Holding Plastic Water Bottle

BPA’s Biological Mechanisms

1. BPA has a similar structure as the hormone estrogen. It may bind to estrogen receptors and affect the function of your body.

2. Several studies have shown that BPA can negatively affect many aspects of both male and female fertility.

3. BPA exposure during early life may influence birth weight, hormonal development, behavior and cancer risk in later life.

4. Higher BPA levels seem to be linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

5. BPA May Raise Your Risk of Obesity

6. BPA May Cause Other Health Problems

  • Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
  • Premature delivery
  • Asthma: Early childhood exposure to BPA was linked to wheezing in later childhood.
  • Liver function: Higher BPA levels were linked to a 29% higher risk of abnormal liver enzyme levels.
  • Immune function: BPA levels may be linked to worse immune function.
  • Thyroid function: Higher BPA levels were linked to abnormal levels of thyroid hormones.
  • Brain function: African green monkeys exposed to BPA levels judged safe by the EPA showed loss of connections between brain cells.
How to Minimize Your Exposure to BPA

Glass Bottles

  • Avoid packaged foods: Eat mostly fresh, whole foods. Stay away from canned foods or foods packaged in plastic containers, especially if labeled with recycling numbers 3, 7 or the letters “PC.”
  • Drink from glass  or metal bottles and use glass baby bottles instead of plastic ones.
  • Stay away from BPA products: As much as possible, limit your contact with receipts, and do not use plastic wrap to store or transport food.
  • Don’t microwave plastic: Microwave and store food in glass rather than plastic.
  • Be careful when washing plastics: Avoid using harsh detergents when washing plastic containers, and do not wash them in the dishwasher.
  • Don’t buy plastic baby toys: Opt for toys made from natural materials rather than plastic, especially for toys that your little one is likely to suck or chew on.
  • Buy powdered infant formula: Some recommend powders over liquids from BPA containers, as liquid is likely to absorb more BPA from the container.
  • Switch to organic toiletries: These include organic shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant and cosmetics. EWG’s Skin Deep database is a good resource to help you find products free of BPA or other dangerous chemicals.
  • Purchase safe hygiene products: Replace conventional tampons and sanitary pads with safer alternatives, such as the organic ones from Natracare.

Adapted from Alina Petre, MS, RD

Be Informed, Stay Healthy.