An up-and-coming theory to explain type 2 diabetes suggests that abnormal lipid metabolism, not glucose/sugar metabolism, is the primary metabolic defect. Roger H. Unger, M.D., wrote about this in the March 12, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Early in the writing of this blog entry, I realized it is much [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Overweight and Obesity’
June 18, 2010
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Bane of Mankind?
Over the last 30 years in the U.S., consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has increased from3.9% of total calories to 9.2% (in 2001). In that same time span, the percentage of overweight American adults increased from 47% to 66%. The obesity percentage rose from15 to 33% of adults. [Did the beverages cause the weight gain, or [...]
April 29, 2010
Nuts Are Not Fattening
Dietitian Melanie Thomassian at her Dietriffic blog April 27, 2010, notes that nuts are not fattening, contrary to popular belief. This is in a guest post by Matthew Denos. Most of his references refer to almonds, so I’m not sure other nuts would be equally non-fattening. We’re talking about one or two ounces (up to 60 grams) a day. Could someone [...]
April 9, 2010
Prediabetes Ignored Way Too Often
Only half of Americans with prediabetes take steps to avoid progression to diabetes, according to a recent report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Prediabetes is defined as: fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125 mg/dl (5.56–6.94 mmol/l) or blood sugar level 140–199 mg/dl (7.78–11.06 mmol/l) two hours after drinking 75 grams of glucose Prediabetes [...]
March 26, 2010
Vinegar and Weight Loss: Didn’t Work For Me
Last November I started another self-experiment to see if vinegar consumption would lead to any weight loss in me. I quit after nine weeks instead of sticking it out for the entire 12-week trial. I just got tired of it and hadn’t seen any weight loss. And I ran out of apple cider vinegar. Results? No [...]
January 10, 2010
Diabetes + Overweight and Obesity = Diabesity
Mark Hyman, M.D., blogged about diabesity at the Huffington Post December 24, 2009. He defines diabesity as a problem with glucose regulation associated with overweight and obesity. The glucose physiology problem ranges from metabolic syndrome to prediabetes to full-blown type 2 diabetes. “Diabesity” has been in circulation for a few years, but hasn’t caught on [...]
January 2, 2010
Legumes and Cereal Grains: Any Role in Weight Management?
Researchers at the University of Wollongong (Australia) reviewed the scientific literature on the role for cereal grains and legumes in weight management. In this context, ”cereal” refers to “a grass such as wheat, oats, or corn, the starchy grains of which are used as food” (American Heritage Dictionary). Here’s their summary: There is strong evidence that [...]
December 28, 2009
Mea Culpa: Average Holiday Weight Gain Not as High as I Thought
Travis Saunders at the Obesity Panacea blog notes that average weight gain in adults over the Thanksgiving (U.S.)–Christmas–New Years’ season seems to be on the order of 0.8 pounds or 0.37 kg. Data are from a 2000 article in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers weighed 195 Americans throughout the year. My quick search at PubMed.gov found no better or [...]
December 9, 2009
Book Review: Good Calories, Bad Calories
Here’s my review of good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease, by Gary Taubes, 2007. I give it five stars on Amazon.com’s five-star system (“I love it”). ♦ ♦ ♦ This brilliant book deserves much wider currency among physicians, dietitians, nutritionists, and obesity researchers. The epidemic of overweight and [...]
