ScienceDaily has the report. This is exciting. But don’t hold your breath; human trials are years away.
Man’s Best Friend was also instrumental in the discovery of insulin.
h/t David Fisher RD
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Gene Therapy Cure of Type 1 Diabetes: Dogs First, Then Humans?
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Extra Virginity: On Olive Oil and the Olive Oil Industry
Olives, olive oil, and vinegar: classic Mediterranean foods
EcoSalon has an interview with Tom Mueller, author of a new book on olive oil, Extra Virginity. Regarding olive oil…
Consumption is rising swiftly, quality olive oil shops are springing up nationwide. BUT, there’s zero government control of olive oil quality (the FDA has openly abdicated its legal role), and ignorance of what quality olive oil means is still rampant. Lots of bad oil, sometimes adulterated, is being sold as ” extra virgin olive oil” throughout America.
Here are Tom’s top three tips for choosing an olive oil:
1) Harvest date: must be fresh (within the current harvest year).
2) Who made this, and where? Specific producer and specific location of trees as well as oil-bottling.
3) Mention of specific cultivars (though by no means a guarantee of quality, I’ve found mention of specific olive varieties on the label tends to indicate a more professional/serious oil-maker.
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Does Diet Affect Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
“Dr. Parker, what can I do about these belly cramps?”
Four weeks of fermentable carbohydrate restriction reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, according to UK and Australian researchers.
Here’s the theory of how it works. Our intestines—colon, mostly—are loaded with bacteria. The food you feed your bacteria—fermentable carbohydrates, for example—may have an effect on the bacteria. Changes in bacterial populations in response to feeding, in turn, may lead to changes in irritable bowel syndrome and other aspects of health. This “gut microbiome” is a hot area of research and speculation.
I don’t have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but did notice a major decrease in gastrointestinal gas production when I reduced my digestible carbohydrate consumption to less than 50 g/day. That alone has at least potential to reduce IBS symptoms.
IBS is extremely common, affecting 10–15% of individuals in the developed world. Only 15% of those bother to seek medical attention. Of all referrals to gastroenterologists (stomach specialists), at least 25% are for IBS. There are few reliable treatments and cures. In some cases it mysteriously resolves on its own.
So I got excited when I ran across the study I reference above. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it because I’ve already spent too much trudging through the article, and I don’t have much to show for it.
The way the investigators wrote their report gave me some heartburn:
- They never bothered to define “fermentable.” In this context it probably refers to digestion or breakdown of food by gut bacteria rather than by human hosts.
- They never bother to spell out exactly what foods the experimental subjects were eating as they restricted fermentable carbohydrate consumption.
- The intervention group (n=19) was instructed to restrict foods “high in fructans (e.g., wheat products, onions), galacto-oligosaccharide (e.g., legumes), polyols (e.g., pear, sugar-free gums), lactose (e.g., mammalian milk), and excess fructose (e.g., honey).” Does “restrict” mean “cut back a little” or “avoid entirely upon penalty of death”? Your guess is as good as mine. (It’s a joke—I know they wouldn’t kill’em.)
Have you heard of FODMAPs? That seems to be the intervention diet that restricted fermentable carbohydrates. FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.
You need a break. Enjoy.
Let me summarize their results simply by saying they found changes in gut bacteria and a reduction in irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, as compared with control subjects. The particularly responsive symptoms were bloating, borborygmi, and the urge to defecate. Abdominal pain strongly tended to improve but didn’t quite reach statistical significance. Diarrhea wasn’t affected. Also note that the IBS patients allowed into the study were not the type with constipation as a major issue.
So What?
If you want to try a FODMAP diet for your IBS, you won’t be able to figure out what to eat based on this report. Consult your own physician about it. I wonder whether many of them have even heard of FODMAP. Barbara Bolen, Ph.D., at About.com says the diet should be undertaken only with the supervision of a qualified nutritionist.
Reference: Staudacher, Heidi, et al. Fermentable Carbohydrate Restriction Reduces Luminal Bifidobacteria and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Journal of Nutrition, 142: 1520-1518 (2012)
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Good News: Death Rates in Diabetics Are Falling
Although the incidence of diabetes has doubled in the U.K. and Canada, death rates in diabetics have fallen significantly over the last decade. This story is mostly about type 2 diabetes. An article at MedPageToday suggests explanations for the trend:
“Although caution should be exercised in identifying a trend-shift in the prognosis of patients with diabetes, more aggressive treatment during recent decades may be applicable to the present results,” Lind and colleagues observed.
Factors that may have contributed include the greater emphasis placed on glycemic control, lowering blood pressure, and use of statins.
However, the decrease in excess mortality also may relate to shorter duration of disease, the researchers pointed out.
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Hemoglobin A1c Test May Miss Many Cases of Diabetes
…according to a report at MedPageToday. If there’s any doubt about a new case of diabetes, consider a fasting blood sugar test or glucose tolerance test.
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A Walk After Meals Helps With Blood Sugar Control
No surprise here. But some researchers got a paper out of it.
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David Mendosa Shares His Weight Management Expertise
Maybe his method works only for him, but I doubt it. David has diabetes, by the way. See his 2012 article at HealthCentral for details. Here’s a bit:
One cornerstone of this new way to lose weight and maintain weight loss is a twist on a standard dieting recommendation. But instead of weighing myself once a week, I weigh myself every morning.
Supposedly people get discouraged from daily weigh-ins because our weight seems to fluctuate up or down a couple of pounds every day for no good reason, or for at least for no reason that we can figure out. The fluctuations are certainly true in my experience. But, of course, the same fluctuations happen when we make our weigh-ins once a week, and that would be even more misleading.
Then, when the scales tell me that my weight is up that morning from the previous morning, I make an immediate course correction, which we know is easier in the long run than to wait until things get totally out of hand. My immediate course correction is simple. I skip dinner that day.
Note well, however, that skipping dinner could lead to major hypoglycemia if you’re taking certain diabetes drugs. Work with your personal healthcare provider on drug dose adjustments.
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Joslin Diabetes Blog Summarizes Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Guidelines
…of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. A quote:
For newly diagnosed patients, the algorithm lays out treatment decisions based on starting A1C levels. Medication management is recommended for all patients in addition to lifestyle modification. Metformin, incretins, DPP4-inhibitors and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors are the drugs of choice, in the order listed, for initial therapy.
Sulfonylureas and thiazoladinediones are not first-line drugs.
A New York Times opinion piece by a doctor injects a note of caution. Were the guidelines unduly influenced by Big Pharma?
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Panel Says Tight Control of Blood Sugar In Intensive Care Isn’t Needed, May Be Harmful
The biggest risk is hypoglycemia.
A decade ago some early studies convinced us that tight blood sugar control (e.g., glucose under 120 mg/dl or 6.7 mmol/l) lead to better outcomes in ICU patients, particularly in coronary bypass surgical cases. The American College of Physicians says 140 to 200 mg/dl is good enough (7.8 to 11.1 mmol/l). The article at MedPageToday didn’t mention open heart surgery specifically, however.
Science marches forward!
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Can Prediabetes Be Cured?
Nurse Jean Jeffers writes about one person’s cure for prediabetes. Much of it makes sense to me and is consistent with the scientific literature. Ms. Jeffers is a bit too alarmist about prediabetes complications, so don’t let that scare you. But this is scary: half of Americans over 65 have prediabetes. An edited quote:
Some of Dot’s very doable ways to help with prediabetes include:
1. Experiment with a variety of new fruits in your diet.
2. Experiment with new vegetables. Try one new one every week or so.
6. Make the five-percent resolution: Resolve to lose five percent of your body weight. You’ll be surprised at the benefits. Then lose another five percent.
8. Walk for fun, with friends, or in solitude. Some individuals meditate while walking.
10. Go light on carbohydrates in your meals. Eat dessert maybe only one time per week.
The bit about losing 5% of you body weight usually only applies if you have excess fat to begin with.
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Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 