More Proof that Tea can Reduce Risk of Diabetes by 25%

Researchers from Sydney University, Australia, have shown that drinking more than three cups of tea a day reduces the risk of diabetes. This is good news as in the UK, there are currently over 2.3 million people with diabetes and more than half a million people who have diabetes but aren’t aware of it. The incidence of the disease is increasing and this could be a simple way of reducing risk.

In December in the Archives of Internal Medicine the researchers published their findings after looking at seven studies carried out between 1966 and 2009 and involving 286,701 participants. They were looking at assessing the association between tea consumption and diabetes risk when they combined and analyzed the data, they found that people who drank three to four cups per day had an approximately 25 percent lower risk than those who drank between zero and two cups a day. In addition, those who drank more than three to four cups of tea had a one-fifth lower risk than those who drank no tea at all.

This confirms the results of another earlier study published this year and could have significant implications for people at risk of diabetes. It is believed that the protective effect of tea may be due to the antioxidants compounds it contains.

Diabetes can affect bone density

Diabetics can often experience low bone density, which is associated with increased risk of bone fractures and delayed fracture repair. A new study at Boston University School of Medicine suggests that the inflammatory molecule TNF-α may be a contributory factor.

This is an important breakthrough as diabetes affects at least 171 million people worldwide, and it is believed that figure will double by 2030. Long-term complications of diabetes are an expensive health budget item as they can include cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, retinal damage that may lead to blindness, nerve damage, and blood vessel damage, which may cause erectile dysfunction and poor wound healing.

Anything that helps identify a contributory factor that can lead to its elimination is a step forward and in the study it was observed that there were increased levels of inflammatory molecules, including TNF-α , during fracture healing in diabetic conditions. They saw a rapid loss of cartilage in the healing bones, which was due to increased numbers of osteoclasts, cells that remove bone and cartilage, and leave the bone vulnerable to breakage.

Knowing what reduces the healing of the bone is an important factor in helping to prevent it, perhaps by stimulating action by the osteoblasts, the cells that help build bone and which are dependent on progesterone for growth.

Tea fights diabetes

I grew up in a family where several members drank black tea, meaning without milk, but really it just applies to the type of tea. Black tea, long known for its antioxidants, immune boosting and antihypertensive properties, could also help treat diabetes.

Researchers studied the polysaccharide levels of green, oolong and black teas because polysaccharides are a type of carbohydrate that includes starch and cellulose which help retard absorption of glucose.

The researchers found that of the three teas, the polysaccharides in black tea had the most glucose-inhibiting properties and their polysaccharides also showed the highest scavenging effect on free radicals, which are involved in the onset of diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.

In another recent study, participants who drank black tea had significantly reduced plasma glucose concentrations after two hours, compared to those who drank water or caffeine drinks. Drinking black tea also increased insulin levels, compared with the other drinks.

That study linked black tea’s diabetic benefits to polyphenols (naturally occurring antioxidants) and these compounds are thought to work by stimulating your B-cells — pancreatic cells responsible for insulin production — to produce insulin in your body. A growing body of research also suggests that the polyphenols in tea can lower your cholesterol, triglyceride levels and blood pressure, and even help to protect your bones. That study linked black tea’s diabetic benefits to polyphenols (naturally occurring antioxidants), including Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), of which more below!

My Green Tea Comment:

Although black tea was found to contain more glucose inhibiting polysaccharides, green tea may still be the most beneficial tea of them all, including for diabetics. A previous study found that EGCG in green tea worked as well in moderately diabetic mice as the diabetes drug Avandia, for example.

Another study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that green tea-extract also had a positive impact on glucose abnormalities. In that study, daily supplementary intake of green tea-extract lowered the hemoglobin A1c level in individuals with borderline diabetes.

So for my money black tea is not as healthy as green tea as they undergo far more processing. Oxidation is the main deciding factor whether you have green, oolong, or black tea, and black tea undergoes the most amount of oxidation through application of high heat. Good green tea is not oxidized at all and, like the Irish fields, the greener it is the higher the quality.

Fluoride is a common contaminant in many black teas and this toxic substance can have profoundly negative effects on your body. Green tea is the least processed kind of tea, and therefore typically contains the least amount of fluoride and the most EGCG of all tea varieties, which is a very good thing for your health.

I am currently trying a new type of green tea, Matcha, which contains the entire ground tea leaf, and can contain over 100 times the EGCG provided from regular brewed green tea. I will let you know how I get on with it.

Chamomile tea helps diabetics control blood sugar

Chamomile, also known as manzanilla, is believed to contain more antioxidants than nearly any other natural dietary source. It is a long-established herbal remedy for relieving stress and anxiety, improving sleep, and many other common complaints.

Now it seems it may also be able to help diabetics control their blood sugar and prevent serious complication. Just by having a cup of chamomile tea with meals could help prevent the progress of hyperglycemia and diabetic complications is the conclusion of a study jointly undertaken by the University of Toyama in Japan and Aberystwyth University in Wales.

Chamomile appeared to reduce the activity of an enzyme called aldose reductase, which plays an important role in sugar metabolism. Aldose reductase helps turn glucose into sorbitol, a different sugar. In diabetics, the build up of sorbitol has been directly linked to neuropathy and blindness, as this sugar moves across cell membranes less freely than glucose and thus has a tendency to build up in nerve and eye tissue.

Chamomile tea isn’t everyone’s favourite – I can’t stand it myself – but this might be worth a try. Some of the best teas with chamomile are from the American company Celestial Seasonings as they have a depth of flavour that others seem to lack, but experiment and see what you like – adding a squeeze of lemon might help too.

Teenage diabetics choose surgery

Any form of surgery is traumatic to the body, but sometimes it is necessary and unavoidable. My problem is when it’s being sought by the young and vulnerable with no real concept of the consequences. Diabetes is a disease that can be controlled, sometimes easily and sometimes not and the regime of regular medication can be very hard for teenagers – discipline not being a natural characteristic at that age. However a new trend in the USA is for teenage diabetics who are overweight to turn to the surgeon’s knife to help them .

Even more incredible is that this gastric bypass procedure is being suggested by Doctors, despite the fact that the US statistics show that 5 percent of people who have this surgery only survive a year. On the plus side, a study at Cinncinatti Children’s Hospital Medical Center, has shown that in most cases, the teenagers can lose one-third of their weight and come off diabetes medications with remission of their diabetes one year after bypass surgery. It sounds wonderful, but this has not been studied long enough, in my opinion, to suggest it as a viable alternative to diet, medication and lifestyle changes – or is that just me?

Diabetes Updates

With over 2.3 million diabetics in the UK, and a further 750000 people who have the condition but don’t know it, I like to keep you updated and there are two new developments to report this week – both involving everyday food items.

First let’s do the positive and give you yet another reason to eat more fish. A UK study has found that in a study of 517 diabetics those who had fish less than once a week were four times more likely to have albumin in their system, a protein whose presence indicates kidney damage. This is a serious complication of diabetes and the study suggests that eating fish at least twice a week could help protect diabetics from this potential problem. The researchers didn’t single out any particular variety of fish, so help your diabetes, and your heart, by having oily fish like salmon and salt water fish like haddock at least twice a week to get the maximum benefit.

Fish is also of benefit for eye health, so keep reading.

AND A WARNING If you go to work, or play, on an egg then you want to rethink your breakfast options. Over twenty years of research funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute seems to indicate that people who eat eggs every day may substantially increase their risk of type 2 diabetes.

Men who ate seven or more eggs a week were 58% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who did not eat any eggs. However, the problem is potentially greater for women as they are 77% more likely to become diabetic if they ate an egg a day. The research was reported online in the magazine Diabetes Care.

A single egg contains about 200 mg of cholesterol and adds about 1.5 g of saturated fat to the diet, both of which increase diabetes risk, and the exact risk figures are:

Men
9% for less than one egg a week
9% for one egg a week
18% for two to four eggs a week
46% for five to six eggs a week
58% for seven or more eggs a week

Women
% for less than one egg a week
3% for one egg a week
19% for two to four eggs a week
18% for five to six eggs a week
77% for seven or more a week

This does not mean giving up eggs entirely, they are a beneficial food, but it might be wise to limit your intake if you have any other risk factors for diabetes. These include being overweight, not taking any exercise, and long term use of drugs such as diuretics and steroids as they can impair insulin secretion from the pancreas.

Another chinese breakthrough in diabetes treatment

Nothing to do with the Olympics, but Chinese medicine is known to be a very rich source for finding new therapies for diseases and for over 500 years have used bitter melon as a treatment for diabetes. However, anecdotal evidence – that is when you have seen hundreds of years with thousands of people taking some natural remedy that is effective – is anathema to the scientific and medical community. Herbal medicine has stepped up to the challenge to ‘prove’ their remedies work and, in a collaboration with an Australian research institute, the scientists have isolated four compounds in bitter melon that may account for why this treatment is so effective.

In addition to relieving the symptoms of diabetes, bitter melon is used in traditional Chinese medicine to promote digestion, brighten the eyes and cool the body. A spokesman for the Australian Chinese Medicine Association further claims that it helps people keep slim, lose weight and regulate cholesterol levels.

The researchers identified four compounds that appeared to stimulate the activity of a chemical known as AMPK, which is known to help regulate blood sugar levels.

In people with diabetes, the body is not able to move enough sugar from the blood and into the cells where it can be burned for energy, and exercise is normally prescribed as a part of diabetes treatment. This is because it activates AMPK, which is known to help move glucose transporters to the surface of cells, where they can then grab the sugar out of the blood..

In the current study, if bitter melon was taken before a meal, it helped by more efficiently removing glucose from the blood and had the same effect on AMPK as exercise.

As type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in the world, with an estimated 171 million people currently so diagnosed, then anything that can help stem this could be invaluable and the researchers are planning on full scale trials on people next year.

The researchers want to develop new drugs based on these compounds, but if you want to stay with the natural route – and there isn’t much bitter melon in my local supermarket – then talk it over with your doctor if you already are on diabetes medication, then either consult a traditional Chinese herbalist, or consider taking it in supplement form as several companies now market it in this way.

OJ – Not for women?

This is OJ as in juice, not as in Simpson, because starting the day with a glass of orange juice is seen as healthy habit, high in vitamin C and good for you. However, there are some reasons you might want to switch to another juice in the mornings – particularly if you are a woman. Recent research suggests that drinking orange juice frequently may put women at an increased risk of developing type two diabetes – a serious and debilitating disease that becomes progressively more common with age and obesity.

This is yet another study from the US, the home of OJ as they refer to their juice, and was done at Tulane University School of Public Health, in New Orleans. Over 70,000 women enrolled in the study, and dietary and medical records were analysed with these results:

Diabetes risk is LOWERED by 18% if the subjects added three daily servings of whole fruit because this slows down the rapid absorption of the natural sugars found in fruit as the fibres take longer for the stomach to digest. If you add in just one additional serving of leafy green vegetables then the risk was LOWERED AGAIN by 9%

Diabetes risk is INCREASED by 18% if one additional daily serving of orange juice is taken. This is because the natural sugars in juice are absorbed too rapidly in the stomach, causing a surge in blood sugar levels. Since the research was carried out only on women, it is not yet known whether men are at the same risk of getting diabetes if they drink orange juice. BUT, drinking large quantities of neat juice is not something to recommend as you are getting a large sugar load in one hit comes and because it comes in a liquid form it is absorbed rapidly into the body. People are not always aware either, that many types of fruit juices like orange, grapefruit and grape, contain as much sugar per serving as many fizzy drinks. That amount of sugar will help you put on weight, and that is another factor in promoting diabetes.

A couple of suggestions are either to cut your juice with water about 50/50 or switch to apple juice and cranberry juices – real juice, with bits and no added sugar because they have a much better sugar/nutrients ratio than citrus and grape- based juices.

Could diabetics and others benefit from grape skins?

A recently published paper in the science journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism has reported on new research carried out by scientists at the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England, which has found that resveratrol, a compound present naturally in grape skin, can protect against the cellular damage to blood vessels caused by high production of glucose in diabetes.

Patients with diabetes have elevated levels of glucose that circulate in the blood and which cause both micro- and macro- vascular complications by damaging the mitochondria. These are the tiny power plants within cells responsible for generating energy and when they are damaged they can leak electrons and make highly damaging ‘free radicals’. Serious complications can arise when this happens, including kidney disease, heart disease and retinopathy – which if left untreated can lead to blindness.

Resveratrol stops the damage by helping cells make protective enzymes to prevent the leakage of electrons and the production of the toxic ‘free radicals’. By including grapes in your diet, and other sources such as seeds, peanuts and red wine you could be helping prevent vascular damage caused by hyperglycemia in the future.

Other Health Benefits

You know how you take grapes to patients in hospitals? Well if you take them red grapes the resveratrol in the skin has also been shown to help with other health issues. For instance, if you have the flu, then resveratrol has been shown to prevent the continued reproduction of the flu virus if taken within six hours of the first infection. It has been shown to be anticarcinogenic, and there is also growing evidence that it can also protect the heart. It does this in several ways: inhibits platelet aggregation, the proliferation of smooth-muscle cells, and the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol. So don’t ask ‘Beulah, peel me a grape’, as Mae West famously said, but insist she keeps the skins on!

Tape Measure Predictor

Identifying children most likely to have an early form of metabolic syndrome needs only a scale and a tape measure, researchers at the University of Verona in Italy have recently discovered during a long study of just under 1500 Italian children. Metabolic syndrome is the term they used to describe the combination of excess weight, hypertension, and high cholesterol and plasma glucose found in children and adolescents.

We know that childhood obesity is a growing problem, but if parents were to monitor the waist-to-height ratio of those aged 5-15 they could help prevent their child developing serious conditions later in life that are linked to obesity such as cardiovascular disease and risk of diabetes.

The significant figure is when a child has a waist-to-height ratio greater than 0.5 and may seem overweight, but not obese so that warning signals are not raised in time. Such children were found to have a 95% chance of meeting the criteria for metabolic syndrome. As with adults, having a high waist measurement is a red flag, although of course there are more high-tech tools available to assess the risk in such children.

The chief researcher, Dr. Maffeis, says that waist-to-height ratio is easier for parents to monitor and interpret before the stage of intervention may be required.

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