Peaches, Plums, Nectarines Give Obesity, Diabetes Slim Chance

Peaches, plums and nectarines have bioactive compounds that can potentially fight-off obesity-related diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to new studies by Texas AgriLife Research.

The study, which will be presented at the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia next August, showed that the compounds in stone fruits could be a weapon against "metabolic syndrome," in which obesity and inflammation lead to serious health issues, according to Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, AgriLife Research food scientist.

"In recent years obesity has become a major concern in society due to the health problems associated to it," said Cisneros-Zevallos, who also is an associate professor at Texas A&M University. "In the U.S., statistics show that around 30 percent of the population is overweight or obese, and these cases are increasing every year in alarming numbers."

While he acknowledged that lifestyle, genetic predisposition and diet play a major role in one's tendency toward obesity, "the major concern about obesity is the associated disease known as metabolic syndrome.

"Our studies have shown that stone fruits -- peaches, plums and nectarines -- have bioactive compounds that can potentially fight the syndrome," Cisneros-Zevallos said. "Our work indicates that phenolic compounds present in these fruits have anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties in different cell lines and may also reduce the oxidation of bad cholesterol LDL which is associated to cardiovascular disease."

What is unique to these fruits, he said, is that their mixture of the bioactive compounds work simultaneously within the different components of the disease.

"Our work shows that the four major phenolic groups -- anthocyanins, clorogenic acids, quercetin derivatives and catechins -- work on different cells -- fat cells, macrophages and vascular endothelial cells," he explained. "They modulate different expressions of genes and proteins depending on the type of compound.

"However, at the same time, all of them are working simultaneously in different fronts against the components of the disease, including obesity, inflammation, diabetes and cardiovascular disease," he explained.

Cisneros-Zevallos said this is believed to be the first time that "bioactive compounds of a fruit have been shown to potentially work in different fronts against a disease."

"Each of these stone fruits contain similar phenolic groups but in differing proportions so all of them are a good source of health promoting compounds and may complement each other," he said, adding that his team plans to continue studying the role of each type of compound on the molecular mechanisms and confirm the work with mice studies.

The studies on the health benefits of stone fruit are funded by the California Tree Fruit Agreement, The California Plum Board, the California Grape and Tree Fruit League and the Texas Department of Agriculture. The Cisneros-Zevallos lab team in this study included Freddy Ibanez, Paula Castillo, Paula Simons and Dr. Congmei Cao.

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A Cure for Diabetes–Via Weight Loss Surgery?

It was announced today on ABC News that there is a cure for Type 2 Diabetes, but with an alarming solution, surgery. That is right, doctors are finding that many of their patients after having undergone the weight loss procedure are no longer diabetic. You can see the video here http://news.yahoo.com/video/health-15749655/diabetes-cure-28736401.html 

and here

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eFZNCFzvyI&rel=0]

They are saying it is possibly hormones caused by the surgery that is correcting the diabetes. I am not sure that I would want to undergo surgery to have this corrected as of yet, however maybe in the future after having given myself a true go at losing weight naturally. What are your thoughts on it?

Remember with many weight loss surgeries you not only lose the weight, however, you have to worry about sagging skin. If you were not an active person before the surgery chances are you wont be afterwards, and you will have that problem afterwards. I just seems like a band aide for another problem that most insurances wont cover because they are considered cosmetic.

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A Cure for Diabetes–Via Weight Loss Surgery?

It was announced today on ABC News that there is a cure for Type 2 Diabetes, but with an alarming solution, surgery. That is right, doctors are finding that many of their patients after having undergone the weight loss procedure are no longer diabetic. You can see the video here http://news.yahoo.com/video/health-15749655/diabetes-cure-28736401.html 

and here

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eFZNCFzvyI&rel=0]

They are saying it is possibly hormones caused by the surgery that is correcting the diabetes. I am not sure that I would want to undergo surgery to have this corrected as of yet, however maybe in the future after having given myself a true go at losing weight naturally. What are your thoughts on it?

Remember with many weight loss surgeries you not only lose the weight, however, you have to worry about sagging skin. If you were not an active person before the surgery chances are you wont be afterwards, and you will have that problem afterwards. I just seems like a band aide for another problem that most insurances wont cover because they are considered cosmetic.

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Scientists Reassess Weight Loss Surgery For Type 2 Diabetes

Weight loss surgery is not a cure for type 2 diabetes, but it can improve blood sugar control, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Surgery. Whereas some previous studies have claimed that up to 80 per cent of diabetes patients have been cured following gastric bypass surgery, researchers at Imperial College London found that only 41 per cent of patients achieve remission using more stringent criteria.
The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre awarded to Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London.
Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Worldwide, 80 per cent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese at the time of diagnosis. Diabetes is normally treated by using insulin injections and drugs to control blood sugar. However, many diabetic patients who had stomach surgery to lose weight found that their diabetes improved, even before they had lost any weight.
Recently the American Diabetes Association pulled together a group of experts to agree on standards by which to assess whether a patient has achieved remission of diabetes. They defined complete remission as returning to normal measures of glucose metabolism without taking diabetes medication at least one year after surgery.
The new study revisited previous data on 209 patients with type 2 diabetes to evaluate the effectiveness of three types of weight loss surgery using the new criteria. They found that the remission rate was 41 per cent for gastric bypass, the most effective type of surgery.
"Using the new criteria, we don't get such eye-catching figures as some that have been quoted in recent years," said Dr Carel le Roux, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, who led the study. "But it's clear that weight loss surgery, particularly gastric bypass, has a significant beneficial effect on glucose control.
"Diabetes is a chronic, multisystem disease. Stomach surgery may not mean that patients can stop taking diabetes medication, but surgery and medication together achieve better results than either treatment on its own."
Gastric bypass involves stapling the stomach to create a small pouch at the top, which is then connected directly to the small intestine, bypassing most of the stomach and the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). Sleeve gastrectomy, which involves surgically removing a portion of the stomach, and gastric banding, in which a band is placed around part of the stomach, achieved remission rates of 26 per cent and 7 per cent respectively, although these figures are based on smaller numbers of patients

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Cutting carbs just 2 days a week can spur weight loss

Dieters who can’t stomach the idea of going hungry seven days a week just got good news: You might be able to drop more weight if you cut back on carbs just two days a week.

British researchers found that women who essentially gave up carbs for two days and ate normally the rest of the time dropped about 9 pounds on average, as compared to the 5 pounds lost by women who cut back to around 1,500 calories every day, according to a report presented at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

“We came up with the idea of an intermittent low-carb diet because it enables people to still have foods that are very satiating,” said the study’s lead author Michelle Harvie, a research dietician at the Genesis Prevention Center at the University Hospital in South Manchester, England. “Also, there’s a lot of evidence from other studies showing that restricting carbohydrates has the same effect as restricting energy.”

Harvie and her colleagues were spurred to find a diet that would be easier for women to follow because research has shown that obesity and the changes it causes in the body increase the risk for breast cancer. “We know from our research in animal models that losing weight has the potential for reducing breast cancer risk,” Harvie said.

The researchers followed 88 women for four months. All the women were at high risk for breast cancer based on their family histories.

One third of the women were put on a Mediterranean-type diet that restricted calories to about 1,500 per day. A second group was told to eat normally most of the time, but two days a week to cut carbs and also calories to about 650 on those two days. The third group was also to cut carbs two days a week, but there was no calorie restriction on those days.

At the end of four weeks women in both of the intermittent dieting groups had lost more weight — about 9 pounds — than the women who ate low calorie meals every day of the week — about 5 pounds.

Women in the intermittent dieting groups also had better improvement than daily dieters in the levels of hormones — insulin and leptin — that have been linked with breast cancer risk, Harvie said.

And, yes, this is something you can try at home, Harvie said. You just need to dramatically cut back carbohydrates two days a week and try to eat sensibly the rest of the time, she added.

What that means, Harvie said, is that you can eat protein and healthy fats on the two low carb days, but skip bread, pasta, root vegetables like potatoes, carrots and parsnips to get to the 50g limit. The diet allows for one piece of fruit on the low carb days. Other foods on the menu include: nuts and green, leafy vegetables, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, eggplant and cauliflower.

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Metabolism Boosted By Enzyme, Weight Gain Prevented In Mice

Male and female mice engineered to express the inflammatory enzyme IKKbeta in their fat tissue ate more but gained less weight. They burned sugar and fat more effectively than mice who were left unaltered. The research may shed light on how obesity and inflammation affect insulin resistance and sensitivity.
In a new study, scientists report that they substantially curbed weight gain, improved metabolism, and improved the efficacy of insulin in mice by engineering them to express a specific human enzyme in their fat tissue. Although the obesity prevention came at the significant cost of widespread inflammation, the research offers new clues about the connections among obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and inflammation.
"Turning on this molecule has a very dramatic impact on lipid metabolism," said Haiyan Xu, assistant professor of medicine (research) in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a researcher at Rhode Island Hospital's Hallett Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology. Xu is the corresponding author of a paper describing the research in the January 2012 issue of Endocrinology and released early online.
The relationship between fat, inflammation, and insulin performance is complex. The conventional wisdom is that obesity leads to inflammation which contributes to insulin resistance. In this study, the researchers changed the sequence of events for transgenically engineered mice by inducing inflammation via the enzyme IKKbeta in their fatty tissue before they were obese. The result for metabolism was much more positive than for control mice who were left unaltered but were fed the same diets.
For both male and female mice, the ones who were altered still put on weight but significantly more slowly. All the mice started at the same weight. After about 22 weeks on a high-fat diet, however, altered male mice weighed less than 38 grams while unaltered male mice weighed more than 45 grams. On a less extravagant diet named "chow" the difference was considerably lessened but was still statistically significant. Both trends held for females as well.
The altered mice experienced slower weight gain despite eating much more food. Their increased metabolism allowed them to dispatch the extra calories much more efficiently. After being injected with glucose, for example, altered mice maintained lower blood sugar levels than unaltered mice. The same was true after insulin injections, suggesting that insulin was more effective. In addition, the transgenic mice expended much more energy than their normal counterparts, suggesting that the sugar was indeed metabolized.
The mechanisms by which IKKbeta in fatty tissue increases metabolic performance are not completely clear, but the researchers measured increased expression of genes associated both with fatty acid oxidation and with making mitochondria, a cell part responsible for producing energy.
One possible lesson from the research seems to be that while obesity and inflammation are both promoters of insulin resistance, Xu said, obesity seems to be the worse one.
"Lower body weight is always a beneficial thing for influencing insulin sensitivity," she said. "Reduced adiposity wins over increased inflammation."
Another point is that IKKbeta's ability to aid metabolism may be specific to its activation in fat tissue. In previous studies, scientists had activated it in the liver with no weight-reduction benefits and in the brain's hypothalamus, leading to increased weight gain.

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Blame Does A Body Bad: New Study Links Attitudes To Diabetes Management

Genetics play a critical role in developing diabetes. So do eating properly, exercising and not smoking. According to a new study by an Ithaca College psychology professor and her two colleagues, people with diabetes who see themselves as responsible for their disease onset blame themselves for making poor lifestyle choices and are significantly less likely to monitor their glucose levels, properly inject themselves and make lifestyle choices that would benefit their condition. The new findings have added relevance now, since the American Diabetes Association has designated November as American Diabetes Month.

"A great deal of research targets the biological interventions for diabetes," said Mary Turner DePalma, professor of psychology at Ithaca College. "But far fewer studies examine the psychological factors related to managing the disease. Our study investigated the relationship between judgments of responsibility for disease onset and subsequent health behavior. We hypothesized that increased anger regarding the development of diabetes would be associated with increased self-blame and negative social support and, when coupled with decreased positive social support, would ultimately be associated with the self-report of poorer disease management."

DePalma and her colleagues Julia Rollison, senior analyst at Arlington's MANILA Consulting Group, and Matthew Camporese, clinical psychology doctoral candidate at Adelphi University began the study by placing postcards in a medical and a fitness center to recruit individuals over 18 who had been diagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes to take an Internet survey. The 46 participants, (18 males, 27 females and one who failed specify sex, ranging from 18 to 92 years of age) answered questions about perceptions of responsibility for disease onset, trait anger (anxiety that is chronic not temporary), self-blame, positive and negative social support and disease management.

"We used the word 'perceptions' of responsibility in a very deliberate way," DePalma said. "The accuracy of a person's judgment was not at issue. Rather, we were primarily concerned with an individual's perceptions, which may be true, or they may be false and unfair, but the consequences can be real nonetheless.

Metrics

Responsibility was measured by asking, "How responsible to you perceive yourself to be for the onset of your diabetes?" and then asking the participants to respond on a scale of 0 to 10. (Zero=not at all responsible; ten=entirely responsible).

Self-blame was measured by asking, "How do you generally react when you experience diabetes-related stressful events?" and then responding, on a scale of 1 to 4. (One=I usually don't do this at all; four=I usually do this a lot). Anger was measured by using a subscale of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2.

Social support was measured by the Diabetes Family Behavior Checklist.

The data was analyzed through structural equation modeling, a statistical technique used to test causal models.

"As perceptions of responsibility for disease onset increased, so did trait anger," said DePalma. "Increases in trait anger were associated with increases in self-blame and negative social support, which were associated with the self-report of poorer disease management."

The data showed no relationship between trait anger and positive social support.

"That perceptions of responsibility for diseases onset are associated with health behavior illustrates their importance in the specific context of diabetes," DePalma said. "Our study shows that interventions designed to improve anger management and increase disease acceptance may offer additional mechanisms to improve diet, exercise and perform appropriate blood glucose testing in individuals with diabetes."

Although the investigation was limited to the self-report of health behaviors associated with diabetes, DePalma added that this model could generalize to other diseases in which lifestyle risk factors play a commanding role. Also, since the study participants were male and female Caucasians, additional research is currently being conducted to determine if cultural backgrounds may influence the link between attitudes and disease management.

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System In Brain - Target Of Class Of Diabetes Drugs - Linked To Weight Gain

The study could lead to the modification of existing diabetes therapies and even dietary recommendations to limit the action of this nuclear receptor in the brain.

The research, led by Randy Seeley, PhD, UC professor and Donald C. Harrison Endowed Chair in Medicine, appeared as an advanced online publication May 1, 2011, in the journal Nature Medicine.

PPAR-947; is found in white adipose (fat) tissue where it regulates the production of fat cells. This new research describes an important role for PPAR-947; in the brain.

PPAR-947; is the target of a class of diabetes drugs called TZDs (thiazolidinediones). This class of drugs reduces blood glucose levels but also causes considerable weight gain. That weight gain, Seeley says, makes many patients reluctant to use these therapies particularly since many are already trying to lose weight to improve their diabetes.

Seeley and his team set out to determine whether or not the brain's PPAR-947; system was responsible for the weight gain associated with TZDs. The team also wanted to learn if this system in the brain was activated by a high-fat diet.

To do so, they used animal models to test how the class of drugs interacted with the brain PPAR-947; system. They found that by giving TZD drugs in the same manner that people take them, rats gained weight. This was because the drugs activated PPAR-γ in the brain. Thus, weight gain associated with this class of drugs may not be a result of action of PPAR-947; in fat as had been previously thought, but rather a result of a change in activity in parts of the brain known to regulate appetite.

Seeley's team went on to also show that high-fat diets result in activation of the brain PPAR-947; system. Experiments in which the activity of the brain PPAR-947; system was limited resulted in less weight gain when animals were exposed to a high-fat diet similar to diets of many Americans.

"If you artificially turn on PPAR-947;, you can increase food intake in rats," says Seeley. "If you block these receptors in animals on high-fat diets that make animals obese, animals gain less weight."

In the past, says Seeley, people thought that the production of more fat cells in response to TZD drugs was the cause of the resulting weight gain, but he adds, "Just having more fat cells is not enough to make animals or people fatter. Rather you have to eat more calories than you burn and that is exactly what happens when you turn on the brain PPAR-947; system.

"This work helps us understand the complex relationship between our fat, our appetites and type 2 diabetes."

Fat cells are actually quite protective and act as safe repositories for excess nutrients that cause damage when stored in other tissues like the liver and muscle, says Seeley. "It's when nutrients are stored in these cells that individuals are at increased risk for metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes."

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Kombucha Tea for Diabetes and Health

Kombucha Tea has been used around the world for hundreds of years. Originally formulated  in Eastern China, Kombucha  was drank for its medicinal properties, and probiotic qualities.

Much controversy has been lateen with the consumption of this fermented tea drink. Many rave about its natural homeopathic benefits where as others say its just ‘another diet fad’.  

So what is Kombucha? Kombucha is a Fungus like growth that looks like a mushroom. Although frequently referred to as a mushroom, Kombucha is not a mushroom — it's a colony of bacteria and yeast. Kombucha tea is made by adding the colony to sugar and black or green tea and allowing the mix to ferment. The resulting liquid contains vinegar, B vitamins and a number of other chemical compounds. Kombucha tea is commonly prepared by taking a starter sample from an existing culture and growing a new colony in a fresh jar. Health benefits attributed to Kombucha tea include stimulating the immune system, preventing cancer, and improving digestion and liver function.

It has also been said to help with aiding Diabetics in maintaining their glucose levels. I personally have tried this, and have seen more improvements in my overall well being. Kombucha creates a natural vinegar which like Apple Cider Vinegar, helps in weight loss, and lowering sugar levels.

This is strange because of the amount of sugar that you need to add to the mixture, however, the Kombucha ‘eats’ the sugar, so the content really isn’t all that high. I have found that the best way to get started growing Kombucha is to go on Craigslist.org and ask if anyone has some that they would like to pass on or try Freecycle.org

HEALTH BENEFITS :
* Removes toxicity from the body
* Improves eyesight
* Eases the pain of arthritis
* Boosts Energy
* Improves Digestion
* Strengthens at a Cellular level
* Prevents Acid Reflux
* Assists With Weight Loss
* Improves Sleep
* Relieves Constipation
* Strengthens and restores hair
* Beautifies the skin
* Improves Circulation
The Extraordinary Components of Kombucha:

Enzymes contained in Kombucha:
* Bromelain
* Papaia
Organic Acids :
* Glucuronic Acid
* Hyaluronic Acid
* Lactic Acid
* Malic Acid
* Chondroitin sulfate
* Tannic Acid
* Usnic Acid

B Vitamins found in Kombucha:
* B1 - Thiamine
* B2 - Riboflavin
* B3 - Niacin
* B6 – Pyridoxine
* B9 - Folic Acid
* B12 – Cobalmin

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