The best diet for optimal blood sugar control & health
CrossFit is a website which you may enjoy visiting.
In one site you can find detailed exercise advice, often in the form of videos, for strength training, recipes, and research findings related to health and dietary composition.
There is information on the low carb diet, which is particularly helpful for those with diabetes, who wish to lose body fat, or who wish to reduce their cardiovascular risk.
Lectures by a wide variety of speakers are also included.
Adapted from BMJ Sept 19 Promoting physical activity to patients by Christine Haseler et al.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has described walking as a miracle cure. Despite this many of us are not as active as we should be and inactivity is thought to result in as many deaths as smoking. More than a quarter of UK adults do less than 30 minutes physical activity a week.
Quantified, these are the benefits of just plain walking:
30% lower all cause mortality, even 10 minutes a day is worthwhile.
20-30% lower risk of dementia.
Better relief from back pain than back exercises
30% lower risk of colon cancer
30% reduction in falls for older adults
22-83% reduction in osteoarthritis
even lower body fat than playing sports
20-35% lower risk of cardiovascular disease
20% lower risk of breast cancer
30-40% lower risk of metabolic syndrome or type two diabetes
The people who need to see their GP before undertaking exercise are few but include people with unstable angina, aortic stenosis or uncontrolled severe hypertension.
In pregnancy the sort of activities that need to stop are: impact activities, lying on the back for long periods, high altitude activities and underwater activities.
From Pernicova I et al. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 25 Feb 2020
Long-term glucocorticoids, most often prednisolone, are prescribed for about 3% of European adults. The long term exposure can raise metabolic, infectious and cardiovascular risks.
This was a trial of 53 adults who had inflammatory disease treated with prednisolone but did not have diabetes, who were given either 12 weeks of metformin or a placebo.
The dose of prednisolone was 20mg or more for the first month and then 10mg or more for the next 12 weeks. The dose of metformin given was up to 850mg three times a day.
What improved:
Facial fatness was in seen in 52% of the placebo group but only 10% in the metformin group.
Increased blood sugar was seen in 33% of the placebo group and none of the metformin group.
There was improvement in insulin resistance, beta cell function, liver function, fibrinolysis, carotid intima media thickness, inflammatory parameters and disease activity severity markers in the metformin group.
There were fewer cases of pneumonia, moderate to severe infections and all causes of hospitalisation for adverse events in the metformin group.
What got worse:
Diarrhea was worse in the metformin group.
What didn’t get better:
Visceral to subcutaneous fat ratio was unchanged between the groups.
My comment: Looks like a clear winner for adding metformin to long term prednisolone treatments.
From BMJ 18 Jan 2020
An Australian study looked at how 1,000 community living Australians aged between 70 and 90 got on with memory and cognition tests over a six year period.
It found no differences between people who took statins and those who had never taken them. If anything, statin use reduced decline in memory especially in those with heart disease or who were carriers of apolipoprotein E4.
Magnetic resonance imaging of some of the group detected no effects of statins on total brain volume or on hippocampal or para-hippocampal volumes.
BMJ 2020; 368:m52
From Allergy and Autoimmune Disease for Healthcare Professionals October 9 2019
Apparently 70% of people who have coeliac have yet to be tested for it.
Who may have it?
4.7% of those with irritable bowel syndrome.
20% of those with mouth ulcers.
8% of infertile couples.
16% of type one diabetics.
7.5% of first degree relatives of people with coeliac.
About 50% of people who are diagnosed have iron deficiency diagnosis at the time of coeliac diagnosis.
Other people who need to be tested may have:
Pancreatic insufficiency
Early onset osteoporosis or osteopenia
vitamin and mineral deficiencies
gall bladder malfunction
secondary lactose intolerance
peripheral and central nervous system disorders
Turner’s syndrome
Down’s syndrome
Dental enamel defects
persistent raised liver enzymes of unknown cause
peripheral neuropathy or ataxia
metabolic bone disorders
autoimmune thyroid disease
unexplained iron, vitamin D or folate deficiency
unexpected weight loss
prolonged fatigue
faltering growth
second degree relative with coeliac disease
My comment: I had years of the mouth ulcers, iron deficiency anaemia and irritable bowel symptoms which all resolved completely on a wheat free diet. The problem is that if I did want tested I would need to go back on wheat for a minimum of six weeks to give my antibodies a chance to build up sufficiently to test positive. Thus, best to get a test BEFORE you go on a wheat free diet.
Diabetes Diet 