Men's Health Blog » Diabetes

EXPLOSION OF DIABETES: THE RISK FACTORS WHICH CAN CAUSE IT

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:02:09 +0000

NUTRITION: There has been a tremendous change in our food pattern within the last 2-3 decades. These are, consumption of too much fat in diet with decrease in fibre contents, consumption of fast food, soft drinks, alcohol, smoking and sugar etc. These diet contribute to the development of diabetes in two ways. First quantitatively- those who eat more become obese and cause insulin resistance and impiared glucose tolerance and second qualitatively by effects of specific food (lack of fibre in diet. i.e. refined diet).

Efforts should be made to take a balanced diet and to prevent obesity.

STRESS :The role of stress and constitution as causative factor in diabetes in India has been discussed more in older literature than at present. It is very difficult to assess the stress. It is all the more difficult to assess the contribution of stress in precipitating diabetes in people with genetic susceptibility of the disease.

PARITY & GDM : (Gestational Diabetes Mellitus) : Several studies have suggested repeated pregnancies is related to the risk of developing diabetes. Blood Sugar becomes normal after delivery in women with GDM but they are associated with increased risk of developing diabetes (Type-2) in the subsequent years.

AGE & DIABETES: The prevalence of diabetes increases with age in India as in elsewhere. The maximum incidence of diabetes is in the 4th & 5th decades. Most studies show that prevalence of diabetes doubles if the results of population below 30 years are excluded.

Conclusion : The role of genetic and environmental factors (life-style changes, dietary habits, physical inactivity, obesity etc.) contribute powerfully to the explosion of Type-2 DM or NIDDM. As diabetes is increasing like an epidemic in India, effort should be made for primary prevention and provision of proper health services to reduce diabetic complications.

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THE G.I. FACTOR: ANSWERED QUESTIONS

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:50:12 +0000

Does the area under the curve give a true picture of the blood sugar responses? Why not use just the peak value?

The area under the curve is thought to reflect the sum total of the glycaemic response, not just the one time point given by the peak. Statisticians recommend use of the area under the curve. There is a very close relationship between the area under the curve and the peak response. That is, if one is high, the other is high and vice versa.

What about resistant starch? What effect does it have on the G.I. factor of a food?

Resistant starch is the starch which completely resists digestion in the small intestine. It cannot contribute to the glycaemic effect of the food because it is not absorbed. Resistant starch should not be included in the 50 gram carbohydrate helping which is the standard for G.I. testing because all of this 50 grams should be available carbohydrate, that is available for absorption in the small intestine.

Resistant starch is not viscous like some forms of soluble fibre that delay absorption in the small intestine and flatten the blood glucose curve. Hence the mere presence of resistant starch in the food will not affect the G.I. factor of a food. Bananas and potato salad both have relatively high amounts of resistant starch but the G.L factors of these two foods are very different. Potatoes have a high G.L factor and bananas an intermediate one.

The difficulty that arises in testing is determining the true available carbohydrate content of food which is high in resistant starch. If the amount of resistant starch is underestimated, it will produce a falsely low G.L factor.

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DIABETES: WHAT ARE THE SWEETENING AGENTS?

admin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:00:23 +0000

Sugar is a sweetening agent, and as such has always been used as a food. Whether it is really safe for anybody to have unlimited sugar is not known, though the harmful effects of tooth decay and obesity are well recognized. What is certain, however, is that unlimited sugar is dangerous for persons with diabetes, so that they must either severely limit the sugar they take or find another alternative. There have been several alternative chemical substances used as substitutes for sugar. They taste sweet, are apparently quite safe to take, and do not have any energy food value. The first of these is saccharin, which has been used since the beginning of this century. It is, by weight, 400 times as sweet as sugar, so that very little is needed to give food a sweet taste. Its main disadvantage is that it is destroyed by heat, so it cannot be added to food before cooking. There are no harmful effects from using this substance, it is excreted in the urine so is not used by the body and does not accumulate there. Another sweetening agent is cyclamate. This has been widely used in the USA and elsewhere since 1950 and was used to sweeten a wide variety of foods and drinks. There has never been any evidence that it has harmful effects on humans. There is another sweet substance called sorbitol. This is related chemically to ordinary sugar but is not as sweet. It is absorbed very slowly when it is eaten, so that it enters the bloodstream so slowly that it does not have the same harmful effects as ordinary sugar for a person with diabetes. It is often used in making jams and confectionery. On the other hand it is eventually used in the body as sugar, so that foods containing sorbitol should be taken only in moderation. Taken in excess it can cause diarrhea, but apart from this it has no harmful effects and is a naturally occurring substance.

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