Agave Syrup: Not So Good for You

Why is agave syrup NOT a good idea? It's very high in fructose... but there are other problems with it. Dr. Mercola writes that agave syrup is worse than HFCS.

Well, I haven't tried this syrup and since I have a limited ability to handle sweets, I don't plan to try it. But I am concerned about insulin resistance and I was especially interested in some of the points Mercola makes in the article:

• While fructose does not increase insulin levels, what it does do is radically increase insulin resistance, which is FAR more dangerous because it’s normal for your insulin levels to rise; you just don’t want these insulin levels to remain elevated, which is what insulin resistance causes.
• Fructose is not intrinsically evil -- it is just the MASSIVE DOSES you are exposed to that makes it dangerous. Because it is so cheap and makes foods taste better, it is added to virtually every processed food. People are consuming fructose in quantities that are 400-800 percent higher than they were 100 years ago.
• Fructose is broken down in your liver just like alcohol and produces many of the side effects of chronic alcohol use, right down to the "beer belly."
• Fructose also elevates your uric acid levels, causing chronic, low-level inflammation.
• Fructose activates its own pathways in your body—those metabolic pathways become "upregulated." In other words, the more fructose you eat, the more effective your body is in absorbing it; and the more you absorb, the more damage it can do.
• You become "sensitized" to fructose as time goes by, and more sensitive to its toxic effects as well.
• Exercise can help modulate the negative effects of fructose.

See the article on Mercola.com

Link Explored: Insulin Resistance and Free Radicals

VRP.com has an article explaining how antioxidants are helpful in fighting diabetes.

Managing insulin resistance is not a single-step process. It’s clear that slowing the descent toward full-blown diabetes—not to mention the long list of other complications linked to insulin resistance—requires both superior antioxidant support and blood sugar control.

VRP markets supplements so naturally the article discusses nutrients and herbs that help control blood sugar, including NAC, grape seed extract, rosemary, goat's rue, cinnamon, chromium, quercetin, and vanadyl sulfate.

The Endobarrier May Reverse Diabetes and Obesity

An amazing medical device is being tested and shows great promise as a non-surgical alternative for weight-loss surgery: The Endobarrier Gastrointestinal Liner. Read about it and see what you think.

I'm a bit put-off by the fact that it's inserted through the mouth, but that's much safer than surgery. Also, the photo suggests a lengthy cellophane condom topped by barbed wire... they really need a better illustration!

Some Advice on Diabetes Proves Risky

From the NYTimes:
"For decades, researchers believed that if people with diabetes lowered their blood sugar to normal levels, they would no longer be at high risk of dying from heart disease. But a major federal study of more than 10,000 middle-aged and older people with Type 2 diabetes has found that lowering blood sugar actually increased their risk of death, researchers reported Wednesday.

The researchers announced that they were abruptly halting that part of the study, whose surprising results call into question how the disease, which affects 21 million Americans, should be managed."

Good grief! If you work really hard at controlling blood sugar, you may be risking your life! What to do?

It's important to know that insulin and pills were used to bring the blood sugar down in this study. But it is unclear whether the drugs were what caused the deaths.

Here's the Reuters version of the story: Just how low should blood sugar go?

Feeling a little down

Partly because it's hard to get enough sunshine in February, and partly because my husband has been irritable, I'm feeling a bit down. Husband alternates between feeling tired (napping for hours, not wanting to go anywhere) and being anxious. When he's anxious, he yells a lot - occasionally at me or at the dog, and often at his computer or some other uncooperative object. I wish I could just ignore this behavior, but often it makes me angry.

I don't know whether his diabetes makes him irritable or whether his anxiety is inherited. (His mother was highly anxious.) He says he doesn't feel well, has a headache most of the time. He has lost some of the feeling in his feet and his fingers tingle from the diabetes. Yet he still eats a lot of carbs, although he has started exercising more.

I don't want to be unsympathetic but he makes me upset.

Connection between Diabetes and Prostate Cancer

I came across this on Gabe Mirkin's site:

Your body produces large numbers of cancer cells, and your immunity searches out and kills these cells. Diabetes damages a person's immunity and interferes with a person's ability to kill cancer cells. That's why people with diabetes are at increased risk for certain types of cancers. People who store fat primarily in their bellies are at high risk for diabetes and also prostate cancer. Even if they are not overweight, men who have very little fat in their hips may have high blood insulin levels and are also at increased risk for diabetes and prostate cancer. If you store fat primarily in your belly, cut back of foods that contain flour, such as bakery products and pastas, and foods that have added sugar. You are at increased risk for diabetes and probably prostate cancer.

J Natl Cancer Inst 2003 Jan 1;95(1):67-71. Insulin resistance and prostate cancer risk. Hsing AW, Gao YT, Chua S Jr, Deng J, Stanczyk FZ. A. W. Hsing, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.

Source: http://www.drmirkin.com/men/1706.html

Weight loss surgery helps diabetics

Did you read the article "Obesity surgery helps diabetics"? Patients who had gastric banding surgery lost more weight and researchers believe it was the weight loss that helped improve their diabetic condition. 

"At the end of two years, 73 percent of the diabetics who had surgery no longer had diabetes, compared with 13 percent of those in the diet group. People who got surgery also needed far fewer diabetes medications."

Personally, I don't like unnecessary surgeries. Couldn't the patients lose weight by life-style changes reinforced by hypnosis? (I'm not going to say by dieting... blood sugar instability can make people ravenous!) But certainly this study shows the importance of losing weight.

Wake up call?

We went to a class on diabetes today at a local hospital. My husband was enrolled in it by his doctor, and spouses were welcome so I went, partly to learn and partly to make sure my husband went. It was informative although a bit alarming. Diabetes can cause damage all over your body. It is progressive, and some people find it hard to control.

But it was definitely beneficial for my husband to go. I hope this will be the wake-up call that he needs to start exercising and to plan his food intake better.

Appointments

We had three medical appointments today. My husband had one with his family doctor, who prescribed an additional medication for his diabetes, since he is not responding much to the Metformin. He has an hour-long consultation with the diabetes educator at the hospital and I went along to glean some information and to make sure my husband didn't miss anything important. He is hard-of-hearing and sometimes misunderstands things. Then this afternoon we had an appointment with a counselor because we are under so much stress dealing with the prostate cancer and diabetes at the same time.

In particular I wanted guidance on how to help with dietary changes without becoming a total nag. (My husband is not really following any version of a diabetes diet.) The counselor pretty much said to let him make his own decisions because he is an adult. Unfortunately, when I watch him eat huge amounts of carbs, I get anxious and worried. Won't I be guilty if he loses his sight as a result of eating poorly? Can I just watch him self-destruct?

On a more hopeful note, he has signed up for a class on diabetes care later this week.

A Step towards Diabetes Care

Well, my husband has been prescribed glucophage for his diabetes. And none too soon! The night before his doctor appointment, his blood sugar went up to 600, which is dangerously high. So I'm glad he is doing something about it.

He is aware that diet and exercise are important for diabetes. However, he does not exercise. He makes token efforts toward dieting, but he is still eating hugh amounts of refined carbs.

It's frustrating for me. Sometimes I invite him to go for a walk but he rarely does.

Meanwhile, I see that the American Diabetes Association is starting to accept the value of low-carb eating.

Type 2 Diabetes

My husband is struggling with diabetes. He loves carbs and fast food so he has not been able to follow the dietary guidelines that the nutritionist gave us. Also he not only does not exercise, but spends hours every day in his easy chair. Naturally his blood sugar has gone up.

His physician did not seem concerned about this the last time he went in, but now that his sugar is measuring consistently high, he will go back to the doctor. I'm not sure they can help him without his making some lifestyle changes, though.