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Riittävä määrä kevyttä liikuntaa taas vähentää kohonneen insuliinin ja insuliiniresistenssin riskiä

Dunoon study: Nutrition education key to combating diabetes

12 Apr 2024
One in nine South Africans are affected by diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

Diets high in sugar and carbohydrates are a key cause of diabetes, especially in low-income communities where processed foods are more accessible and affordable.

Non-profit organisation, The Noakes Foundation, has conducted a study in Dunoon, an informal settlement in the Western Cape, to highlight how nutrition education initiatives in under-resourced areas can address the health challenges and social stigma associated with diabetes.

“Diabetes is often viewed as a death sentence in low-income communities because there is a lack of understanding about how to manage it. Our research explored the best ways to inform, engage and support people in these communities when it comes to healthy nutrition, and the benefits of a low-carb, high-fat diet in managing diabetes,” says Jayne Bullen, chief operating officer at The Noakes Foundation, which aims to challenge mainstream scientific thinking around the link between nutrition and chronic diseases.


In partnership with Eat Better South Africa (EBSA), a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting local public healthcare systems by establishing individual and family-focused food-security networks, the study assessed the impact of EBSA's nutrition-education programme by examining behaviour and metabolic health changes in type 2 diabetes patients.

The programme aimed to reduce consumption of refined sugars and carbohydrates, while promoting accessible, nutrient-dense alternatives.

Diabetes support in communities

As part of the study, participants shared details about their lived experiences through focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews – offering insights into how diabetes patients in under-resourced communities need to be supported.

“Participants often felt a sense of isolation, because they don’t want to be a burden to loved ones. They found it difficult to maintain a different diet than the rest of their household. Often, people around them were not supportive of their lifestyle changes and holistic approach to their diabetes diagnosis. The support group aspect of the programme provided that sense of community and made their journeys to better nutrition easier,” explains Bullen.

Participants highlighted a lack of support from healthcare professionals about dietary interventions as a treatment for diabetes. “When participants initially received their diagnosis, most of them weren’t aware that diabetes is a disease they could manage with a healthy lifestyle,” says Bullen.

Holistic diabetes management outcomes

The participants’ blood markers, blood pressure and body measurements were recorded throughout the programme. Baseline test results indicated high levels of blood glucose (sugar) levels.

Following the programme, significant reductions in weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure were recorded for women. The study also found that the programme had a positive effect on participants’ dietary habits, resulting in them consuming more animal proteins and less refined carbohydrates and sweets.

“Based on the outcomes, it is clear that when people are empowered with knowledge and support, they are more likely to actively manage their diabetes through dietary changes.

"We are proud to be conducting research that shows the positive impact of holistic diabetes management to address the medical, social and emotional needs of people in under-resourced communities,” she adds.

Both conditions have been independently linked to various health problems, but when they coexist, their combined impact on the brain can be particularly concerning.

What Does Research Say?

Studies have shown that people with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia. The high blood sugar levels characteristic of diabetes can damage blood vessels throughout the body, including those in the brain.

This vascular damage can lead to decreased blood flow to the brain, impairing its function and structure over time.

Additionally, insulin resistance, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes, has been linked to the accumulation of abnormal protein deposits in the brain, further contributing to cognitive issues.

Obesity adds another layer of risk. Excess body fat, particularly around the waist, is associated with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress—conditions that can also damage brain cells and lead to cognitive decline.

Furthermore, obesity has been linked to changes in brain structure, including reduced volume in certain areas of the brain involved in memory and decision-making.

When obesity and type 2 diabetes occur together, their negative effects on the brain can compound.

Research indicates that individuals with both conditions may experience more significant cognitive deficits and brain abnormalities than those with only one or neither condition.

For example, a study found that people with both obesity and type 2 diabetes had greater reductions in brain volume and more extensive abnormalities in white matter (the brain’s communication networks) compared to their healthier counterparts.

These findings are particularly concerning because they suggest a vicious cycle: the brain changes associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes may impair individuals’ ability to make healthy lifestyle choices, further exacerbating their conditions and the associated brain damage.

Breaking the Cycle

The good news is that lifestyle interventions that address both obesity and type 2 diabetes can also benefit brain health.

Research has demonstrated that weight loss, improved diet, and increased physical activity can not only help manage diabetes and reduce obesity but also improve cognitive function and potentially reverse some of the brain changes associated with these conditions.

I'm delighted to share new work from my lab in collaboration with @PaulReynoldsPhD.

Fat cells are fascinating and the factors that regulate their growth are complicated. While the majority of the focus on fat cell dynamics centers on calories and insulin (appropriately), there are both non-caloric and non-endocrine variables that are relevant.

This work shows that diesel exhaust particles promoted an almost 2X growth in fat cells. Future work will help us better understand the specific cellular pathway/events that goes from diesel particle to stimulating fat cell growth.

The Guardian Dares to Say Low-Carb Outloud

For years, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has been a scandal hiding in plain sight: on a mission to end diabetes yet promoting advice that seems to do the exact opposite. Maybe a national conversation will be sparked by two blockbuster articles published this week in the Guardian’s new series, “Death by Diabetes: America’s Preventable Epidemic.”

The author is Neil Barsky, a journalist, former hedge fund manager, and founder of the Marshall Project who himself had type 2 diabetes until he read books by Gary Taubes and adopted a low-carbohydrate diet. A self-avowed innocent in the world of food politics, he couldn’t fathom why this diet was not recommended for all diabetics, a problem he lays out in his first piece: “Low-carb diets work. Why does the American Diabetes Association push insulin instead?”

The main answer, Barsky suggests, lies in the ADA’s ties with the food and pharmaceutical industries, including $134 million in donations from 2017 to 2024. The nature of the apparent grift is described in Barsky’s second article, about a recent lawsuit filed by a nutrition expert who says she was fired by the ADA for resisting pressure to publish recipes laden with Splenda products after the artificial sweetener company gave the ADA more than $1 million in 2022. She found it unethical to recommend pouring 1/3 cup of Splenda into a cucumber-and-onion salad, and so, like seven other ADA nutrition professionals in just three years, was soon out the door.

These pieces in the Guardian (US version) stand out against a dearth of US media coverage on the low-carbohydrate diet and type 2 diabetes, which is an ongoing, open scandal. The existence of a safe, natural solution for a diabetes epidemic affecting 128 million Americans and costing nearly $1 trillion a year has been a bizarrely taboo topic for US news outlets for years. A friend who contributed regularly to the Washington Post told me how her editor responded a few years ago to a low-carb/diabetes story pitch: ‘We aren’t interested in that line of thinking’ was the reply. And the New York Times has barely run an item on the subject since a 2016 op-ed by the late Dr. Sarah Hallberg, then medical director of a weight loss program at Indiana University Health Arnett, and Dr. Osama Hamdy, a medical director at the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School. This piece so incensed the Times’ senior science writer, Gina Kolata, that she retaliated days later in an attack piece, opening with a quote from a retired ADA medical officer: “When you look at the literature, whoa is it weak. It is so weak.”

Why is the media so hostile to low-carb? The explanation could fill a book, but for many years the answer was mainly institutional bias mixed with—perhaps—pressure on publications from food and pharma advertisers. Now, fears of climate change and the animal-rights agenda stand in the way of recommending a diet higher in animal foods, as low-carb tends to be. All the more reason to read and share these Guardian pieces, since clicks will encourage the Guardian editors to keep publishing this good work.

Recent findings from Northwestern University have raised concerns about the safety of some of these second-line drugs, particularly in relation to heart health.

In the study, researchers looked at six common medications used after metformin. They found that two of these drugs, sulfonylureas and basal insulin, could significantly increase the risk of heart problems.

The electronic sock contains a sensor that detects whether patients are putting too much pressure on parts of the foot that are at risk of ulcers forming, researchers say.

These ulcers — a complication of diabetes — can turn into infected wounds that become gangrenous. Chronic wounds are one reason why around 40 people undergo partial or total foot amputations a week in England.

Patients identified by the socks as being vulnerable to developing an ulcer could then be taught to change their walking style to ease pressure on that part of the foot.

After an average follow-up of seven years, the researchers observed that chronic exposure—evaluated by repeated data—to the following emulsifiers was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes:

• carrageenans (total carrageenans and E407; 3% increased risk per increment of 100 mg per day)

• tripotassium phosphate (E340; 15% increased risk per increment of 500 mg per day)

• mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E472e; 4% increased risk per increment of 100 mg per day)

• sodium citrate (E331; 4% increased risk per increment of 500 mg per day)

• guar gum (E412; 11% increased risk per increment of 500 mg per day)

• gum arabic (E414; 3% increased risk per increment of 1,000 mg per day)

• xanthan gum (E415; 8% increased risk per increment of 500 mg per day)

”Ketodieetillä sain 10 kiloa painoa alas. Verensokeri, kolesteroli ja verenpaine laskivat täydellisiksi. Olen 183 senttimetriä pitkä ja paino tippui 95 kilogrammasta 85 kiloon. Hiilihydraattien vähentäminen ja korvaaminen rasvalla sekä proteiinilla on toiminut”, kertoo Jaussa.

”Olen laihtunut 91 kilosta 73 kiloon. Ei vaikutusta”, kertoo Jep.

Iltalehdessä muutamia esimerkkitapauksia, joissa tyypin 2 diabetes on saatu remissioon laihduttamalla.

https://www.iltalehti.fi/terveysuutiset ... 6e60a951ba

Ei mainintaa siitä, että tyypin 2 diabeteksen voi saada hiilarirajoituksella remissioon ilman laihdutustakin. Esitellyistä tapauksista pienimmällä painonpidotuksella (10 kiloa) remissioon päässyt noudatti ketogeenista ruokavaliota.