Type of vegetarian diet, obesity and diabetes in adult Indian population

…vegetarianism in India is associated with unique characteristics. It is usually a lifelong pattern and adherence crosses multiple generations; it generally comprises high consumption of whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds and dairy with spices and seasonings unique to the Indian diet. Hence, the combination/or the pattern of vegetarian diet may yield different findings than similar studies conducted in the West and it is thus possible to assess dietary associations with chronic diseases which have been difficult in the West due to low frequency. This study uses data from the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3, 2005–06), a survey of 109,041 Indian households which collected information on a wide range of dietary, societal, lifestyle, and environmental determinants of morbidity and chronic ailments including diabetes [16]. The NFHS-3 provides a unique opportunity to examine associations between types of vegetarian diet and diabetes and obesity in a large, nationally representative sample.

In this large, nationally representative sample of Indian adults, lacto-, lacto-ovo and semi-vegetarian diets were associated with a lower likelihood of diabetes. These findings may assist in the development of interventions to address the growing burden of overweight/obesity and diabetes in Indian population. However, prospective studies with better measures of dietary intake and clinical measures of diabetes are needed to clarify this relationship.

Interesting study with limitations as noted by the researchers.  Go here for the full study report.

Vegan Diet Rapidly Improves Type 2 Diabetes Markers in Adults

The 16-week randomized controlled trial in 73 adults showed that participants who ate a diet of vegetables, grains, legumes, and fruits significantly improved their overall metabolic condition, say Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC, and colleagues.

Small RCT study.  Source article here.

5 Classifications of Diabetes Proposed

  1. Severe autoimmune diabetes (formerly type 1 diabetes): affected 6% of patients in the derivation cohort; characteristics include early-onset disease, relatively low BMI, and GADA-positive
  2. Severe insulin-deficient diabetes: 18% of patients; GADA-negative but similar to cluster 1; lowest HOMA2-B scores
  3. Severe insulin-resistant diabetes: 15%; higher HOMA2-IR scores
  4. Mild obesity-related diabetes: 22%; obese, but not insulin resistant
  5. Mild age-related diabetes: 39%; older than other clusters, but largely similar to cluster 4

Quoted from  NEJM Journal Watch.

 

Linking Sucrose to Hyperlipidemia and Cancer

In rats.  But it’s the behavior of the sugar industry rats that is more disturbing.

Read the entire study here.

Our study contributes to a wider body of literature documenting industry manipulation of science. Industries seeking to influence regulation have a history of funding research resulting in industry-favorable interpretations of controversial evidence related to health effects of smoking [15,16], therapeutic effects of pharmaceutical drugs [17,18], the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and weight gain or obesity [5], and the causes of climate change, [19] among other issues. The tobacco industry also has a long history of conducting research on the health effects of its products that is often decades ahead of the general scientific community and not publishing results that do not support its agenda [2023]. This paper provides empirical data suggesting that the sugar industry has a similar history of conducting, but not publishing studies with results that are counter to its commercial interests.

Consumption of antioxidant-rich foods is associated with a lower risk of DM2

A lower risk of type 2 diabetes has been observed among individuals consuming food rich in antioxidants. This effect is largely contributed by fruit, vegetables, tea and other hot beverages, as well as moderate consumption of alcohol, as shown in a recent study from an Inserm research group, published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).

Source article here.

My Wakelet

I’m playing with a new social sharing platform called Wakelet.  Click here for a local news article.

So what is Wakelet? It’s a web application that lets people, businesses and academic institutions organise links to online information into neatly-presented collections called ‘wakes’.

In a world of information overload, big data and real-time streams, search engines work hard to index the ever-growing amount of online information. While search algorithms help us find isolated pieces of information faster, they don’t know which ones are most relevant to us as individuals. Wakelet brings a human touch to this process by giving us the ability to easily collect and organise anything we read, view or listen to in a way that’s useful to us and to others.

Check out my diabetes Wakelet.  I’m toying with the idea of cataloguing the online articles I read rather than link one by one on the blog.  I started my wakes in November 2017 and we’ll see how it goes.  At first blush I don’t see this platform replacing my blogs.  But I think it may be useful for my followers to have one stop shopping for the fruits of my research.  Enjoy.

Eating meat linked to higher risk of diabetes — ScienceDaily

These findings come from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, which recruited 63,257 adults aged 45-74 years between 1993 and 1998, and then followed them up for an average of about 11 years. The study found a positive association between intakes of red meat and poultry, and risk of developing diabetes. Specifically, compared to those in the lowest quartile intake, those in the highest quartile intake of red meat and poultry had a 23 per cent and 15 per cent increase in risk of diabetes, respectively, while the intake of fish/shellfish was not associated with risk of diabetes. The increase in risk associated with red meat/poultry was reduced by substituting them with fish/shellfish.

Source: Eating meat linked to higher risk of diabetes — ScienceDaily

Abdominal Aortic Calcification Among Individuals With and Without Diabetes: The Jackson Heart Study

In the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), we examined the association of diabetes with abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) among African Americans. Among included individuals (n = 1,664), the mean age was 57 (± 11) years, 69% were female, and 18.3% had diabetes (based on fasting blood glucose [FBG], HbA1c, use of glucose-lowering medications, or physician diagnosis). The median AAC and coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores were 904.15 (interquartile range 0–1093.10) and 0 (0–96.19), respectively. The prevalence of any AAC or CAC was 69% and 49%, respectively. Individuals with diabetes were older, had higher BMI, had higher systolic blood pressure and prevalence of hypertension, had lower HDL levels, were less affluent or physically active, had poorer nutritional intake, and had higher levels of hs-CRP.

Source: Diabetes Care