Sugar, Longevity, Uric Acid, Gout and Stones

A March 2020 study by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences and Kiel University said,

• "Just like humans, flies fed a high-sugar diet show many hallmarks of metabolic disease - for instance, they become fat and insulin resistant."

• "Obesity and diabetes are known to increase mortality in humans, and so people always assumed that this was how excess sugar is damaging for survival in flies".

• "Water is vital for our health, yet its importance is often overlooked in metabolic studies. Therefore, we were surprised that flies fed a high-sugar diet did not show a reduced lifespan, simply by providing them with an extra source of water to drink. Unexpectedly, we found that these flies still exhibited the typical metabolic defects associated with high dietary sugar".

The researchers found that the excess sugar is related to a build up of uric acid but that,

• "the sugar-fed flies may live longer when we give them access to water, but they are still unhealthy. And in humans, for instance, obesity increases the risk of heart disease. But our study suggests that disruption of the purine pathway is the limiting factor for survival in high-sugar-fed flies. This means that early death by sugar is not necessarily a direct consequence of obesity itself".

• "Strikingly, just like flies, we found that dietary sugar intake in humans was associated with worse kidney function and higher purine levels in the blood."

• "It will be very interesting to explore how our results from the fly translate to humans, and whether the purine pathway also contributes to regulating human survival."

• "There is substantial evidence that what we eat influences our life expectancy and our risk for age-related diseases. By focusing on the purine pathway, our group hopes to find new therapeutic targets and strategies that promote healthy ageing".

Diabetes, Fasting in Ramadan

A March 2020 study by the University of California of a protocol called “Fasting Algorithm for Singaporeans with Type 2 Diabetes” (FAST) found greater improvements in glycemic control of fasting adults with type 2 diabetes for that “those who managed their condition in collaboration with their health care provider using [the protocol].”

Low carbohydrate diets are also something which should be considered.

Diabetes, Obesity and Bacteria

A March 2020 study by McMaster University, Université Laval, and the Québec Heart and Lung Institute said,

• "Our findings suggest that in people suffering from severe obesity, bacteria or fragments of bacteria are associated with the development of type 2 diabetes,"

• "We know that the intestinal barrier is more permeable in obese patients."

• "Our hypothesis is that living bacteria and bacterial fragments cross this barrier and set off an inflammatory process that ultimately prevents insulin from doing its job, which is to regulate blood glucose levels by acting on metabolic tissues."

• "Location, location location...Beyond knowing the names of bacteria, their location is key to understanding how gut microbes influence host metabolism."

• "Our next objective is to determine if the bacteria found in the liver and fat deposits of people suffering from severe obesity are also present in those who are overweight or moderately obese."

• "We also want to see if certain pathogenic bacteria found in the tissues can trigger type 2 diabetes in an animal model. And lastly, we want to find out if certain beneficial bacteria found in these tissues can be used to prevent the development of the disease. If so, they might lead us to a new family of probiotic bacteria or a source of bacteria-based treatments to help fight diabetes."

Activity, Diabetes, and Blood Pressure

A March 2020 study by the University of Massachusetts said,

• "Walking is a widely accessible form of physical activity, and steps-per-day is an easy measurement and motivator that most people understand and can easily measure given the booming industry of wearable technologies or smartphones."

• "The results of our study add to the growing evidence about the importance of regular physical activity for improving heart health, and that preventive efforts can be effective, even as middle-aged adults move into older adulthood."

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School said,

• "Diabetes and high blood pressure are not inevitable. Healthy lifestyle changes, such as attaining and maintaining a healthy body weight, improving diet and increasing physical activity can help reduce diabetes risk. This study shows that walking is an effective therapy to decrease risk,"

• "For people who find the idea of a daily, extended exercise period and physical activity regimen daunting, shifting the focus to accumulating steps throughout the day may help them become more active … The more steps, the better."

Visceral Fat, Obesity, Heart Disease and Diabetes

A January 2019 study by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute looked at visceral adipose tissue – visceral fat – (VAT).  

One theory, the "VAT prioritization hypothesis", suggests that a fetus that is undernourished makes the decision to store fat (energy) in visceral fat instead of in fat under the skin – subcutaneous fat.  Visceral fat (VAT) is designed to protect from infection. This prioritizing has a major impact on later life obesity, diabetes, blood pressure. VAT is, in part, stored in the omentum (we wrote about that recently).

An increase in visceral fat causes inflammation. This can lead to insulin resistance. A feed-back loop starts: even more visceral fat is stored.

The researchers said,

• “Trying to understand diseases related to obesity without understanding the abdominal structures [the omentum] that become obese is like trying to understand circulatory diseases without knowing the functions of the heart,"

• "The fact that visceral fat tissue evolved to fight visceral infections provides a causal hypothesis for how high fructose sweeteners and saturated fats contribute to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes,"

• "They influence which bacteria grow inside the intestines [called the microbiome], making the intestinal walls more permeable and releasing more toxins into the bloodstream, stimulating the visceral immune system and potentially leading to chronic inflammatory disease."

• "I think the combination of malnutrition early in life coupled with modern diets of saturated and trans-fats and high-fructose foods available on a global scale is leading to a situation that is toxic for individuals in many different cultures."

• "People's body shape--apple versus pear--is based on the way their bodies allocate fat. Even in ancient societies, poor nutrition leading to investment in VAT contributed to apple-shaped bodies, versus more 'beautiful,' voluptuous, pear-shaped bodies associated with SAT fat storage by better-nourished babies. Social upheaval (war, conquest and disease) would have favored flexibility in fat allocation because social rank and food availability would occasionally have changed."

Diabetes, Liver Fibrosis, and Fasting

February 2020 studies by Yale University found a link between diabetes and fasting and liver fibrosis and fasting.   The link concerns two proteins* that are connected to blood glucose production in the liver.

*Tet methylcytosine dioxygenase 3 (TET3) and Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 (HNF4)

Visceral Fat, Cognition and Diabetes

In a February 2020 study it was said, "Preserved cognitive functioning is important in the execution of complex task such as diabetes self-care management. Therefore, assessment of visceral adiposity and interventions that target visceral adiposity may help to prevent cognitive decline in older patients with diabetes and reduce the global burden of dementia in ageing populations,"

Diabetes and Circadian Rhythms

A January 2020 study by the University De Geneve noted that,

• "We had also previously observed that if the clocks of human pancreatic cells were artificially disrupted in the cellular culture in vitro, secretion of the key islet hormones - insulin and glucagon - was compromised …Hence our next step, that we report here, was to unravel whether the circadian rhythms were perturbed in human pancreatic islets in type 2 diabetes, and, if so, how would this perturbation affect the islet function."

• "The verdict is indisputable … hormone secretion is no longer coordinated. Moreover, the defects in temporal coordination of insulin and glucagon secretion observed in patients with type-2 diabetes were comparable to those measured in healthy islet cells with artificially-disrupted circadian clock."

• "Pancreatic cells are also subject to the rhythm of fasting and food intake, and to a tight hormonal regulation …Coordinating all levels of regulation therefore allows the optimization of metabolic functions. Clocks deregulation in pancreatic islet leads to a compromised function: they are not anymore anticipating food-derived signals. Indeed, if you eat the same food but at night rather than during the day, you may gain weight much faster, due to a suboptimal response of your metabolism."

• “By acting on one of the core-clock components, it resets efficiently the amplitude of the oscillations in the human islets … And as soon as we got the clocks back in sync, we also observed an improvement in insulin secretion."

• “This is the first proof of principle that repairing compromised circadian clocks may help improving the function of the pancreatic islet hormone secretion… Our society experiences epidemic growth in metabolic diseases, concomitant with shifted working and eating schedules, and lack of sleep. By re-synchronizing the perturbed molecular clocks, either by personalized eating and exercise schedules or with the help of clock modulator molecules, we hope to ultimately be able to provide an innovative solution to an epidemical metabolic problem affecting an ever-increasing proportion of the world's population."

Glycemic Index - a Resource

We like this resource:

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

Intermittent Fasting for Metabolic Syndrome

A November 2017 study by the University of California, San Diego found that,

“There is a critical window for intervention with metabolic syndrome. Once people become diabetic or are on multiple medications, such as insulin, it's very hard to reverse the disease process.

"Metabolism is closely linked with circadian rhythms, and knowing this, we were able to develop an intervention to help patients with metabolic syndrome without decreasing calories or increasing physical exercise."

"Time-restricted eating is a simple dietary intervention to incorporate, and we found that participants were able to keep the eating schedule,"

"Eating and drinking everything (except water) during a 10-hour window allows your body to rest and restore for 14 hours at night. Your body can also anticipate when you will eat, so it can prepare the body to optimize metabolism."

"Knowing how to optimize circadian rhythms could lead to a new treatment option for metabolic syndrome patients with life-altering diseases."

Exercise to Lower the Risk of Diabetes

More evidence on the benefits of exercise in relation to lowering the risk of diabetes.

A November 2017 study by the University of Copenhagen looked at exercise that may lower the risk of diabetes. They said, "Our study is encouraging as the results suggest that daily activity, even at a relatively low intensity and for a short amount of time such as brisk walking, gardening and playing with grandchildren, could improve appetite and blood glucose regulation."

Coffee and Metabolic Syndrome

The medical term “metabolic syndrome” describes the combination of

• Diabetes,

• High Blood Pressure, and

• Obesity.

 Obesity is defined as having a BMI in the range 30-39.9.

Assistant Professor Giuseppe Grosso of the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) in a November 2019 study and Associate Professor Estefania Toledo reviewing the evidence in the SUN (Seguimiento University of Navarra) cohort study (n=22,000), found, “moderate coffee consumption [defined as drinking one to four cups daily] was associated with reduced risk of [metabolic syndrome] whilst higher intakes were not. This was reported for both regular and decaffeinated coffee.”

Sugary Drinks and Diabetes

A September 2019 study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found,

"Further evidence demonstrating the health benefits associated with decreasing sugary beverage consumption and replacing these drinks with healthier alternatives like water, coffee, or tea,"

"The study results are in line with current recommendations to replace sugary beverages with noncaloric beverages free of artificial sweeteners. Although fruit juices contain some nutrients, their consumption should be moderated,"

Lack of Sleep Combined with Health Issues a risk factor for Cancer

A September 2019 study by the Sleep Research & Treatment Center of the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania found that, “… achieving normal sleep may be protective for some people with [high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke]…"

The researchers said, "Short sleep duration should be included as a useful risk factor to predict the long-term outcomes of people with these health conditions and as a target of primary and specialized clinical practices."

Diabetes Remission Through Weight Loss

A September 2019 study by the University of Cambridge said, “We've known for some time now that it's possible to send diabetes into remission using fairly drastic measures such as intensive weight loss programmes and extreme calorie restriction," .Dr Hajira Dambha-Miller also said, “These interventions can be very challenging to individuals and difficult to achieve. But, our results suggest that it may be possible to get rid of diabetes, for at least five years, with a more modest weight loss of 10%. This will be more motivating and hence more achievable for many people."

Professor Simon Griffin added: "This reinforces the importance of managing one's weight, which can be achieved through changes in diet and increasing physical activity. Type 2 diabetes, while a chronic disease, can lead to significant complications, but as our study shows, can be controlled and even reversed."

Sleep – The Menopause - Diabetes

An August 2019 study by The North American Menopause Society suggests that, “worse sleep-related symptoms in postmenopausal Asian women with type 2 diabetes compared with those without diabetes … sleep problems are common in midlife women. Sleep is an important determinant of health, and women with poor sleep should be seen and evaluated for common and treatable sleep disorders such as insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, and restless legs syndrome.”

Glucose not the Driver for Diabetes and Obesity?

Inflammation mechanisms relating to diabetes type 2 and obesity may be linked to changes (from elevated fat derivatives or defects) in mitochondria and not glucose. Researchers said, "Aggressive blood glucose control to lower the risk of diabetic complications has been the goal for most people with Type 2 Diabetes for decades … Our data provide an explanation for why people with tight glucose control can nonetheless have disease progression."

August 2019 study by University of Kentucky.

Gut Bacteria – Obesity - Diabetes

An August 2019 study by Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and the Department of Pathology at University Health Network found that,

“during obesity, there are lower levels of a type of B cell in the gut that make an antibody called IgA [which] is naturally produced by our bodies and is crucial to regulating the bacteria that live in our gut. It acts as a defense mechanism that helps neutralize potentially dangerous bacteria that take advantage of changes to the environment, such as when we consume an imbalanced or fatty diet …”

“If we can boost these IgA B cells or their products, then we may be able to control the type of bacteria in the gut …”

“Especially the ones that are more likely to be linked to inflammation and ultimately insulin resistance. Going forward, this work could form the basis for new gut immune biomarkers or therapies for obesity and its complications, like insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes."

 

Reduced Carb Intake and Diabetes

A July 2019 study by Bispebjerg Hospital and the University of Copenhagen confirms, “…the assumption that a diet with a reduced carbohydrate content can improve patients' ability to regulate their blood sugar levels - without the patients concurrently losing weight …Our findings are important, because we've removed weight loss from the equation. Previous studies have provided contradictory conclusions, and weight loss has complicated interpretations in a number of these studies."

Plant-based Diets and Type 2 Diabetes

A July 2019 study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that, “People with the highest adherence to overall predominantly plant-based diets had a 23% lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to those with weaker adherence to the diets. They also found that the association was strengthened for those who ate healthful plant-based diets.”