More Friday News Tidbits

Excellent study for healthy adults, but it has little or no value for anyone with type 2 diabetes. Even the small size of the study makes one have to ask if there is any value in studies like these. Of course, it is a preliminary study for determining the value for additional studies.

There is two pieces of information that I can take from this study. It explains why some people are able to eat more starchy foods than others. It also reinforces the abuse people are receiving in the one-size-fits-all approach that the American Diabetes Association, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association), and the American Association of Diabetes Educators have as their mantra.

This second study is surprising from many aspects. A news organization (CNN) reporting something potentially this important and the leading medical news feeds completely ignoring the story. There have been other articles (see this ABC news article) like this in the past, but this is the most recent and seems the most promising.

I will echo the warning from the ABC news article – “The doctors expressed concern that news of this research could lead transplant patients to stop taking their immunosuppressants, which almost guarantees that they will experience organ rejection and loss of the transplant.”

So far, this has only been done for patients with kidney transplants and other organs may well be on the way for this procedure, but to date have not been openly attempted. The study was published March 7, 2012 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The study describes the eight kidney transplant patients who each received a stem cell therapy that allowed donor and recipient immune cells to coexist in the same body thus eliminating the need for daily immunosuppressants.

The third article is about promoting breakfast that has foods with a low glycemic index that may help level out blood glucose throughout the morning and after the next meal. The researchers presented their findings at the Institute of Food Technologists' Wellness 12 meeting.

Researchers emphasized that the low glycemic index breakfast foods can increase the feelings of satiety and fullness and this may help people be less likely to overeat during the day. Even though they are emphasizing low glycemic index foods, they make no nutritional recommendations. They only state that these foods produce a gradual rise in blood glucose and insulin levels, which is considered healthier for people with diabetes.

The researchers did say the ideal breakfast has these attributes:

• Savory
• Portable
• Pleasing texture
• Fills you up for extended periods of time
• Satiates quickly so less is consumed
• Affordable for the whole family to eat every day
• Non-fried
• Delicious without making you feeling guilty

They then listed low-and non-glycemic foods that do promote satiety (feeling of fullness):

• Rolled oats and groats (hulled and crushed grain, usually oats)
• Pulses
• Whole grains
• Nuts and seeds
• Sweet potato
• Barley B-glucan
• Yam flour
• Glucomannan
• Durum pasta
• Vegetable flours
• Chia / flax seed
• Resistant starch

The researchers stated it may present challenges for food manufacturers, but it is well worth it to develop these products because of the prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes in the United States and beyond. It is estimated that by 2030, more than 16 percent of the global population will have a blood glucose problem.