Posts Tagged ‘diet’

Leafy greens foil type 2 diabetes in studies.

Leafy Plants

Researchers from Leicester University in the UK analyzed pooled data from six studies examining links between fruit and vegetable consumption and type 2 diabetes found that the increased intake of green leafy vegetables lowered the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

They said it should be investigated further. They also cautioned that further research is needed before this can be used for giving specific advice to individuals.

Greens 

To recommend a diet high in greens may be dangerous. Not so much to the patient, but to the green paper coming in from the prescription pad.

It amazes me that this needs further study, while drugs are being used on a regular basis. It is either researchers, and doctors are so well educated by the drug companies, that they now have tunnel vision, or they have no understanding of how a body functions.

Diet and Nutrition

Diet and nutrition are the two missing ingredients when talking about chronic health problems in America. This fact is bankrupting the nation while causing undue suffering.

On the other hand it is the pharmaceutical companies and health care that brings in the big bucks. This may have a lot to do with the direction of health care or sick care depending how you look at it.  

ADHD behaviors as seen in children seem to have very little meaning.

ADHD Diagnoses

An ADHD diagnosis seems to be arbitrary. Two published studies seem to say something is wrong with the way ADHD is diagnosed in young children. In the U.S. nearly one million kids may be misdiagnosed just because they are the youngest in their kindergarten class. The youngest in the class is twice as likely to be on stimulant medication.

What was found the youngest children were much more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and be prescribed behavior modifying stimulants such as Ritalin.

Could it be the teacher was just having a bad hair day, and had no patience for an unruly 5 year old?  Since this is such a subjective diagnosis this can be a factor.

Hyperactivity

Hyperactivity in a five year old seems normal to a sedentary adult. This is a perception, not always a reality. It is estimated that the misdiagnosis rate is about 1 in 5, and that 900,000 of the 4.5 million children currently diagnosed with ADHD have been misdiagnosed.

Wow, 4.5 million children diagnosed with ADHD is correct. I don’t buy it. With our diet, and vaccine schedule it is possible that we have fostered a nation of unruly children. This number doesn’t add up. 

Attention Deficit Disorder

Attention deficit disorder is a relatively new term. It use to be called rambunctious, acting out, class clown, energetic, and irascible behavior. With a profit center build around Ritalin, a new term is just what the drug companies ordered.

Legal drugs vs. Street Drugs, the difference profit for big pharma:

Diabetics low-carb it for results; the proof is in the way it lowers insulin resistance and enables weight loss. A low-carb diet restricts the amount of refined carbohydrates, which alone is worth the effort. The best part it leaves you satisfied. Hunger isn’t your constant companion.

Diabetic Study

Obese women with insulin resistance lose more weight after three months on a lower-carbohydrate diet than on a traditional low-fat diet with the same number of calories, according to a new study. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society’s 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

“The typical diet that physicians recommend for weight loss is a low-fat diet,” said the study’s lead author, Raymond Plodkowski, MD, chief of endocrinology, nutrition, and metabolism at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno. “However, as this study shows, not all people have the same response to diets.”

People with insulin resistance, a common precursor for Type 2 diabetes, metabolize carbohydrates, or “carbs,” abnormally, which may affect their rate of weight loss. For them, Plodkowski said, “the lower-carb diet is more effective, at least in the short term.”

Super Booster

This way of eating shouldn’t be thought of as a super booster for accelerated weight loss. For diabetics this would help stabilize and reverse the effects of the condition.

The composition of the low-fat diet was 60 percent calories from carbs, 20 percent from fat and 20 percent from protein. The lower-carb diet also had 20 percent of calories from protein, it had 45 percent from carbs and 35 percent from primarily unsaturated fats, such as nuts. Menus included a minimum of 2 fruits and 3 vegetable servings a day.

The way they did the study was to use a high percent of carbs in the diet. The low-fat diet with 60 percent of the diet in carbohydrates is a study in disaster. Elimination of all refined carbohydrates is really the name of the game. Whole food healthy eating works. A diet high in vegetables and fruit will provide the fiber and some carbohydrates. It is not a matter of low carbohydrates only, it is where are your getting them from.

It is strange how cake, cookies, pie, white bread, white rice, and sugar are called carbohydrates. That would imply that they are food of some sort. This is where the problem  is. A low fat diet consists of low fat dairy high in sugar, and low fat cookies full of sweetners. The truth is it is easier to overeat when presented with these items. They make you hungry and play games with your endocrine, cardiovascular, brain function, and energy level.

Achieving Health

Achieving health the low-carb way is to unleash your internal defenses with plant compounds found in vegetables and fruit, and Omega-3 fatty acids in whole foods such as grass-fed meat.