Category Archives: Metabolism and Metabolic Disease

Metabolism and Metabolic Disease

Effect of Diet on Type 2 Diabetes Risk Varies Between Ethnicities

There has been a lot of research on the effect of diet on risk of Type 2 diabetes in adults, a topic not unknown to us at The French Paradox (click here for some research we’ve covered). However, to

Photo by Flickr user candyfields29 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/25517428@N05/)
Photo by Flickr user candyfields29 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/25517428@N05/)

date, there has been very little examining possible ethnic differences in terms of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (or similar diets) and risk of Type 2 diabetes development.

As a result of this lack of information, a recent research study aimed to compare different ethnicities in terms of their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes after consuming various diets (including the Mediterranean diet).

Dietary adherence and Type 2 diabetes prevalence was measured for white, Japanese-American, and Native Hawaiian adults.

A total of 89,185 adults were recruited for this study, with 11,217 of them reported to have Type 2 diabetes.

Dietary patterns were assessed via several self-reported questionnaires.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Effect of Diet on Type 2 Diabetes Risk Varies Between Ethnicities →

Cancer, Cardiovascular Health, Metabolism and Metabolic Disease

Eating a Healthy Diet Reduces Risk of Systemic Inflammation in Older Adults

Systemic inflammation is known to be associated with several health problems and diseases, including various types of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancers. It is also known that a poor diet is also linked to these same diseases and more, raising the question of

Photo By Dimitrije Krstic (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Dimitrije Krstic (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
whether diet choice is associated with systemic inflammation, or if these markers for certain diseases are mutually exclusive.

A new research study from Lund University in Sweden focused on a group of 667 older adults between the ages of 63 and 68, to determine if diet quality was associated with the clinical signs of systemic inflammation.

At baseline, the participants answered questions related to socio-demographics. Additionally, height, weight, BMI, hip and waist circumferences, blood pressure, various blood sample measurements, and diet quality indices were collected and analyzed.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Eating a Healthy Diet Reduces Risk of Systemic Inflammation in Older Adults →

Mental Health and Cognition, Metabolism and Metabolic Disease

Mediterranean-like Diets Associated with Lower Risk of Depression in Patients with or without Type 2 Diabetes

With an ever increasing number of obese adults in the west and throughout the westernized world, there is an associated increase in the numbers of adults (and children) with Type 2 diabetes. People are at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes related to lack of exercise, unhealthy dietary choices, and excess weight or obesity.

Often occurring in association with Type 2 diabetes though not

Photo By Sander van der Wel from Netherlands (Depressed Uploaded by russavia) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Sander van der Wel from Netherlands (Depressed Uploaded by russavia) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
exclusively is depression. Since the two diseases often occur together, a group of scientists recently aimed to examine whether or not diet, an important risk factor in developing Type 2 diabetes, had any effect on the prevalence of depression in patients with the disease.

4588 adults over the age of 18 were studied. Depression and diabetes statuses and usage of diabetes medications were determined via self-reported questionnaires. Fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels were also measured. Results were determined after controlling for the following factors: gender, age, marital status, education, race, “food insecurity level”, family income-to-poverty ratio, and serum C-reactive protein.

Diet types were categorizes by: healthy (i.e. Mediterranean-like diets), unhealthy (i.e. western diets), sweets, “Mexican-style”, and breakfast.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Mediterranean-like Diets Associated with Lower Risk of Depression in Patients with or without Type 2 Diabetes →

Metabolism and Metabolic Disease

Eating a Mediterranean Diet Associated with Lower Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes

A recent review performed a meta-analysis on studies within the last year to determine if consuming a Mediterranean-style diet had any influence on type 2 diabetes or not.

The 17 studies included in the review varied in nature in terms of their experimental protocols: 1 was a clinical trial, 9 were prospective studies,

Photo By Tomwsulcer (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Tomwsulcer (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
and 7 were cross-sectional studies. Comparing studies with different experimental designs can be somewhat problematic, but there are ways to compare on a more broad scale.

Primary finding:

  • Sticking to a Mediterranean diet led to a 23% decrease in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
    • Even when controlling for region, general health status, and several other potentially confounding factors, this decrease in risk of developing type 2 diabetes was still seen.

While not a be-all end-all “cure” for type 2 diabetes, according to this meta-analysis, eating and maintaining a Mediterranean-style diet could provide some nutritional benefit to those wishing to prevent development of the disease.

 

Source:

Koloverou, E., Esposito, K., Giugliano, D., and Panagiotakos, D. 2014. The effects of Mediterranean diet on the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A meta-analysis of 10 prospective studies and 136,846 participants. Metabolism 63: 903-911.