Exercise, Foods and Nutrients for Diabetes

Eating food that is high in fiber and that has a low glycemic index may help to prevent diabetes. The glycemic index ranks carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Foods with a high glycemic index are rapidly digested and absorbed and result in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Foods with a low glycemic index, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have proven benefits for health. Diets consisting of foods with a low glycemic index have been shown to improve both glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels in people with diabetes. A low glycemic diet is good for weight control because it helps control appetite and delay hunger. Such a diet will also reduce insulin levels and insulin resistance.
Research appearing in the Archives of Internal Medicine (Vol. 167 No. 21, November 26, 2007) observed a cohort of 64,227 Chinese women with no history of diabetes or other chronic disease at baseline for 4.6 years. The researchers identified 1608 incident cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus in 297,755 person-years of follow-up. Dietary carbohydrate intake and consumption of rice were positively associated with risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. The higher the glycemic load, the more likely for the subjects to develop diabetes.
Other research appearing in the same issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, used data from the Black Women’s Health Study, a prospective cohort study of 59,000 black women in the United States. Once again, eating high glycemic foods increased the risk of developing diabetes. In this study, fiber intake reduced the risk for diabetes. Cereal fiber intake was inversely associated with risk of diabetes, that association being especially strong for women with a low body-mass index (not obese).

A pre-diabetic condition known as insulin resistance syndrome can be prevented by exercise. Insulin resistance is the mechanism that creates type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. Type 1 diabetes is often called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes is a situation where the pancreas does not produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance. Eating sugar and starch forces the body to produce a lot of insulin, over time, the body stops responding to the insulin creating insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is also responsible for something called the metabolic syndrome, also known as syndrome x. In the metabolic syndrome, the individual tends to have high cholesterol with low HDL (the “good” cholesterol) and low LDL (the “bad” cholesterol), and high triglycerides. One of the big problems caused by insulin resistance is obesity. People who are insulin resistant tend to be overweight (especially carrying weight around the abdomen) and may have high blood pressure.

Research appearing in the March 23, 2003 issue of Diabetes Care [26:557-562] followed 18 sedentary men and women for six months. Participants exercised between three and seven days each week by walking  for a half-hour.

At the end of the study, researchers examined insulin sensitivity and levels of blood fats, such as cholesterol. None of the subjects lost weight during the study period, but they did enjoy an increase in insulin sensitivity. The researchers concluded that exercise alone increased insulin sensitivity—even without weight loss. The researchers concluded that even moderate exercise, without weight loss or loss of abdominal fat, can improve indicators of glucose and fat metabolism and lower the risk for developing type-2 diabetes.

The most useful herbs and nutrients for help with insulin resistance are bitter melon vanadium, gymnema sylvestre,chromium and alpha lipoic acid. Please consult your health care professional for the right dosages of these products for your particular situation.