Steve Parker, M.D.

Researchers compared the effects of a Paleo and a modern diabetic diet in 13 type 2 diabetic adults (10 men) with average hemoglobin A1c’s of 6.6% (under good control, then).  Most were on diabetic pills; none were on insulin.  So this was a small, exploratory, pilot study.  Each of the diabetics followed both diets for three months.

How Did the Diets Differ?

Compared to the diabetic diet, the Paleo diet was mainly lower in cereals and dairy products, higher in fruits and vegetables, meat, and eggs.  The Paleo diet was lower in carbohydrates, glycemic load, and glycemic index.  Paleo vegetables were primarily leafy and cruciferous.  Root vegetables were allowed; up to 1 medium potato daily.  The Paleo diet also featured lean meats [why lean?], fish, eggs, and nuts, while forbidding refined fats, sugars, and beans.  Up to one glass of wine daily was allowed.

See the actual report for details of the diabetic diet, which seems to me to be similar to the diabetic diet recommended by most U.S. dietitians.

What Did the Researchers Find?

Compared to the diabetic diet, the Paleo diet yielded lower hemoglobin A1c’s (0.4% lower—absolute difference), lower trigylcerides, lower diastolic blood pressure, lower weight, lower body mass index, lower waist circumference, lower total energy (caloric) intake, and higher HDL cholesterol.  Glucose tolerance was the same for both diets.  Fasting blood sugars tended to decrease more on the Paleo diet, but did not reach statistical significance (p=0.08).

So What?

The greater improvement in multiple cardiovascular risk factors seen here suggests that the Paleo diet has potential to reduce the higher cardiovascular disease rates we see in diabetics.  Larger studies—more participants—are needed for confirmation.  Ultimately, we need data on hard clinical endpoints such as heart attacks, strokes, and death.

These diabetics had their blood sugars under fairly good control at baseline.  I wouldn’t be surprised if diabetics under poor control—hemoglobin A1c of 9%, for example—would see even greater improvements in risk factors as well as glucose levels while eating Paleo.

I see a fair amount of overlap between this version of the Paleo diet and Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution diet and the Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet. 

Steve Parker, M.D.

Reference:  Jönsson, T., Granfeldt, Y., Ahrén, B., Branell, U., Pålsson, G., Hansson, A., Söderström, M., & Lindeberg, S. (2009). Beneficial effects of a Paleolithic diet on cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: a randomized cross-over pilot study Cardiovascular Diabetology, 8 (1) DOI: 10.1186/1475-2840-8-35

They would spend less on diabetic drugs if more diabetics adhered to low-carb eating or the Mediterranean diet.  Better yet, combine both eating styles as in the Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet.

Steve Parker, M.D.

The book is available now from a new printer that also handles distribution, CreateSpace.  As always, you can also get the book from Amazon.com.

Steve Parker, M.D.

• relatively high consumption of salad dressing, nuts, fish, tomatoes, fruits, dark green leafy vegetables, and cruciferous  vegetables
• relatively low consumption of poultry, red meat, butter, and high-fat dairy

About the same time, a National Institutes of Health expert panel pooh-poohed the possibility that diet had any effect one way or the other on Alzheimer’s. 

Why does this matter?  Five million U.S. adults have Alzheimer dementia already, and it’s going to get much worse over the coming decades.

A June, 2010, issue of Journal of the American Medical Association has a commentary by two doctors (Martha Morris, Sc.D., and Christine Tangney, Ph.D.), experts in the field of nutrition.  Here’s their explanation of the NIH panel’s negative findings:

Many of the inconsistencies among studies of dietary factors can be attributed to the complexity of nutrition science and the omission of nutrition expertise in the design and analysis of both epidemiological and randomized controlled trials.

Morris and Tangney think the findings of Gu et al are valid, confirming prior studies showing benefit to diets high in vitamin E (from food) and low in saturated fat from animals.  They point out that the animal foods may simply be displacing beneficial nutrients in other foods, rather than directly causing harm.

Until we have further data, anyone at risk for Alzhiemer’s may be better off following the dietary pattern above, or the Mediterranean diet.  The two are similar.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Disclaimer:  All matters regarding your health require supervision by a personal physician or other appropriate health professional familiar with your current health status.  Always consult your personal physican before making any dietary or exercise changes. 

Reference: Morris, M., & Tangney, C.  Diet and Prevention of Alzheimer Disease.  The Journal of the American Medical Association, 303 (2010): 2,519-2,520.    doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.844

Sold in the U.S. as Avandia, rosiglitazone is a drug used to control type 2 diabetes either alone or in combination with insulin, metformin, or a sulfonylurea.  It has only one competitor in its class: pioglitazone (sold as Actos).

Both drugs in the thiazolidinedione class (aka TZDs or glitazones) increase the risk of heart failure.  Prior studies had suggested that rosiglitazone increases the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and death.  Research suggested that pioglitazone actually reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.

A study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association directly compared clinical use of rosiglitazone and pioglitazone.  Investigators looked at Medicare data involving over 227,000 patients, average age 74, average follow-up of 105 days.

Rosiglitazone comes out the loser: users had significantly higher risk of stroke, heart failure, and death.  Risk of heart attack trended a bit higher in the rosi users but did not reach statistical significance. 

The researchers also calculated the composite risk of suffering either a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or death:  rosiglitazone risk was about 18% higher compared to pioglitazone. 

What do these numbers mean from a practical viewpoint?  The researchers calculated a “number needed to harm.” Treat 60 patients with rosi and 60 with pio for one year; the rosi group will have one extra event—heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or death—compared with the pio users.

Why put up with that risk?  There’s no good reason.  Especially when pioglitazone is available.

Implications

If you take rosiglitazone, ask your doctor to find an alternative or switch you to pioglitazone.  Soon.

Clearly, we don’t know all of the adverse effects of many of the drugs doctors prescribe, whether for diabetes or other illnesses.  We balance the good with the bad, and that equation changes over time. 

Rosiglitazone’s manufacturer may pull the drug off the market voluntarily.  If not, the FDA will do it.  Cardiovascular disease—e.g., heart attacks, strokes, heart failure—kills 68% of diabetics.  The last thing we need is a drug that increases that risk.

Within a month, you’ll see ads on U.S. television from trial lawyers asking if you or a loved one has been hurt by rosiglitazone.  “If so, call this toll-free number now…”

Steve Parker, M.D.

Reference: Graham, D., Ouellet-Hellstrom, R., MaCurdy, T., Ali, F., Sholley, C., Worrall, C., & Kelman, J. (2010). Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction, Stroke, Heart Failure, and Death in Elderly Medicare Patients Treated With Rosiglitazone or Pioglitazone JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association DOI: 10.1001/jama.2010.920

Our tissues normally contain free radicals and reactive oxygen species, which are intrinsic to cell metabolism.  They serve useful purposes.  In excessive amounts, however, many believe they cause ”oxidative damage” and thereby contribute to chronic degenerative conditions such as atherosclerosis, aging, dementia, and cancer.

Antioxidants are thought to neutralize free radicals and reactive oxygen species, which may lead to better health.

The PREDIMED study is an ongoing Spanish project testing the heart-protective effects of the Mediterranean diet in high-risk people over the course of four years.  The three intervention groups are 1) Medi diet plus supplemental virgin olive oil, 2) Medi diet plus extra tree nuts, and 3) low-fat American Heart Association diet.

After three years of follow-up, the researchers measured “total antioxidant capacity” in the bloodstream of a subset of the PREDIMED participants.

They found that the two Mediterranean diet groups had significantly greater total antioxidant capacity, about 50% more than the low-fat control group.  Within the Medi + olive oil group, the participants with the highest levels of antioxidant capacity actually tended to lose weight, an association not seen in the other groups.

The Researchers’ Conclusions

Mediterranean diet, especially rich in virgin olive oil, is associatied with higher levels of plasma antioxidant capactiy.  Plasma total antioxidant capacity is related to a reduction in body weight after three years of intervention in a high cardiovascular risk population with a Mediterranean-style diet rich in virgin olive oil.

In other words, the Mediterranean diet with virgin olive oil may help you keep your weight under control, and the antioxidant capacity may contribute to the well-documented health benefits of the diet.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS:  It’s impossible to tell from this report just how much weight loss was seen in the high-TAC Medi+olive oil subjects.  I doubt it was much.  Baseline body mass index for all participants was around 29, so they were overweight and just a shade under obese.

PPS:  Both the Ketogenic Mediterranean and Diabetic Mediterranean Diets mandate minimal amounts of olive oil consumption, with no upper limit.

Reference: Razquin, C., et al. A 3 year follow-up of a Mediterranean diet rich in virgin olive oil is associated with high plasma antioxidant capacity and reduced body weight gain.  European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 63 (2009): 1,387-1,393.  doi 10.1038/ejcn.2009.106

That’s about all we know for sure, according to a report from an expert panel convened by the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society and published recently in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

The report is focused on type 2 diabetes simply because 95% of all worldwide cases of diabetes are type 2; we have much more data.  [Type 1 diabetes, you may recall, has onset much earlier  in life and is fatal if not treated with insulin injections.  The type 1 pancreas produces no insulin.]

This report is a good summary of all we know about the cancer/diabetes connection in 2010.  What we don’t know far outweighs what we do know.

Does optimal treatment of diabetes reduce cancer risk?  Do particular diabetic medications raise or lower the risk of cancer?  If an overweight diabetic loses excess weight, does the risk of cancer diminish?  Sorry, we don’t know.

In men, 25% of all invasive cancers in the U.S. will be prostate cancer.  In women, breast cancer is the leader, comprising 26% of all cancers.  [Common skin cancers are rarely invasive or fatal and are not included in these statistics.  Melanoma, on the other hand, is invasive.]

The lifetime probability of an individual developing invasive cancer in the U.S. is about 4 in 10 (40%).  A little higher in men (45%), a little lower in women (38%).  The American Cancer Society projected 565,650 deaths from cancer in 2008.  If we look at deaths of people under 85, cancer kills more people than heart disease.

The traditional Mediterranean diet is associated with lower risk of prostate, breast, colon, and uterus cancer.  Three of these, you’ll note, are seen at higher rates in diabetics.

Lack of regular exercise is associated with higher cancer rates. 

If I were a type 2 diabetic wanting to reduce my risk of cancer, I’d be sure to exercise regularly, keep my body mass index under 30 (if not lower), refrain from smoking, consider a Mediterranean-style diet, and ask my doctor to monitor for onset of cancer.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Reference: Giovannucci, E., Harlan, D., Archer, M., Bergenstal, R., Gapstur, S., Habel, L., Pollak, M., Regensteiner, J., & Yee, D. (2010). Diabetes and Cancer: A Consensus Report CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians DOI: 10.3322/caac.20078

You know there’s much misleading information on the Internet regarding health, and most everything else. I appreciate the Health on the Net Foundation for attempting to certify reliable health information resources, such as this website.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Made you look! 

Don’t you just love acronyms?  Lately it seems you gotta have a clever acronym for your scientific study or it won’t get published or remembered. 

Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of clinical traits that are associated with increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease (two-fold increased risk) and type 2 diabetes (six-fold increased risk).  It’squite common—about 47 million in the U.S. have it.  Metabolic syndrome features include insulin resistance, large waist circumference, low HDL cholesterol, elevated fasting blood sugar, high triglycerides, and elevated blood pressure. 

For optimal health, you want to avoid metabolic syndrome.

Boston-based researchers reported in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last December that followers of the the Mediterranean diet had less risk of developing metabolic syndrome; not by much, but it was statistically significant.  The study population was the Framingham (Massachusetts) Heart Study Offspring Cohort.

Several thousand men and women were studied via food frequency questionnaires, lab work, and physical exams.  Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was measured via a calculated score ranging from zero to 100.  No diabetics were enrolled.  Average age was 54.  Follow-up time averaged seven years.

They found that those adhering closely to the Mediterranean diet had fewer metabolic syndrome traits at baseline: less insulin resistance, lower waist size,  lower fasting blood sugar, lower triglycerides, and higher HDL cholesterol levels.

Not only that, the Mediterranean dieters developed less metabolic syndrome over time.  Over seven years, 38% of the folks with least compliance to the Mediterranean diet developed metabolic syndrome.  Of those with highest adherence, only 30% developed it.

This is the first study to show a prospective association between the Mediterranean diet and improved insulin resistance.  Avoiding insulin resistance is a good thing, and may help explain the Spanish study that found lower incidence of type 2 diabetes in Mediterranean diet followers.

Why didn’t the investigators report on the incidence of diabetes that developed over the course of the study?  Surely some of these folks developed diabetes.  Are they saving that for another report?  “Publish or perish,” you know.

You can start to see why the Mediterranean diet has a reputation as one of the healthiest around. 

It would be interesting to score these study participants with a very low-carb diet score (VLCDS—yeah, baby!).  Such diets are associated with lower blood pressure, lower blood sugars, lower triglycerides, and higher HDL cholesterol.  Like Mediterranean diet followers, I bet low-carbers would demonstrate lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome at baseline and lower incidence over time. 

Reference: Rumawas, M., Meigs, J., Dwyer, J., McKeown, N., & Jacques, P. (2009). Mediterranean-style dietary pattern, reduced risk of metabolic syndrome traits, and incidence in the Framingham Offspring Cohort American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 90 (6), 1608-1614 DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.27908