diabetorati

Bone density important for diabetics - men as much as women

Bone density is important for men as well as women and for diabetics its doubly important because:

1. Diabetes (Type 2) tends to onset as we grow older which simultaneously is when bone density starts to drop more rapidly;
2. Controlling diabetes requires attention to an exercise program; and
3. Exercise requires a fit and sound body to start, including sufficient bone strength and no danger of bone fractures or damage.

Luckily, once exercise starts it improves both diabetes and bone density - so that's a double win.

Contrary to general opinion bone density problems severely effect men as a group, as well as women.  It's just that it effects women earlier - most men don't suffer until they are older than 65.

However about 20% of men 50 years and older will suffer a trauma related to "thin bones".  For example in the US there are 2 million men suffers of osteoporosis and 12 million "at risk". And just to underline the point that men need to take this as seriously as women - medical records show that hip fractures have more alarming consequences for older men than women, with one-year mortality rate of up to 37.5%.

For both men and women bone density peaks at about 20 years old and starts a decline at about 35, accelerated by menopause in women and more slowly by loss of testosterone in men.  The decline is about the same for both at about 65 years old and beyond.  The bone density drops in the hard outer layer and even more in the soft spongy inner layer.

The loss of density means loss of support strength, and this can lead to fractures and injury.

Exercise, and in particular resistance exercise, has been found to improve bone density, or at least slow down the rate of loss.  That's why exercise is doubly important for diabetics, and perhaps even more important for men diabetics as they will tend to be more overweight to start, and less conscious of their risk from loss of bone density.

Vitamin D is important, along with calcium, although it appears that vitamin D is the most important as it controls the absorption of calcium from the small intestine into the blood stream and then into the bones.

During exercise, and especially resistance exercise, we should be ensuring adequate levels of calcium and magnesium as these are also important for muscle function and growth.  If sufficient calcium is not available active muscles will deplete some of the calcium which may have been used by the bone regeneration mechanism.

Therefore, as diabetics, we should be mindful to:

1. Exercise to improve our diabetic condition and slow bone density loss;
2. Ensure adequate calcium and vitamin D to supply bones AND muscle activity.

These two steps will minimize risks from bone density loss.

There is however some relatively bad news, not so good to finish up with, that 80% of bone density variations in young men is explained by genetic variation, and then comes age - neither of which are controllable.  But you can respond in the same way as suggested, as there is no other sensible response unless you know and measure your bone density and know that you are not at risk.

Do I take any extra steps, besides exercise?  Yes, I do take cod liver oil in various forms, and also calcium-magnesium balanced tablets in response to my exercise program - which has some strong and regular resistance exercises.

Remember, if you allow your bone density to decline through neglect then you will eventually be unable to exercise without unacceptable risk, and from that point your diabetic problems can only get worse. That's why I pay attention to bone density issues as I get older.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

Bitter and other melons that can help diabetics

We've posted before about bitter melon and the potential benefits it has for diabetics, mainly because of its effect in slowing digestion and helping indigestion problems, and this is how it has been used in native medicine and widely throughout Asia.

A study of tribes in Pakistan, prompted because the older people who know all the herbal and native medicines are dying out and the young are not taking on the knowledge, found a type of melon from the bitter melon family in use.

In particular, the people and surrounds of the village of Dhibbia Karsal, a village in the south west of the Punjab Province of Pakistan were studied.  The area has a population of about 1 million people, average maximum temperature per annum of 47-degrees Celsius, and a strong tradition of herbal medicine and natural healing - through "hakims" or local healers.

Locally known as Tumba the older folk used the seeds, fruit and roots for stomach disorders, and it was also effective for constipation.   One of its active ingredients is momordicin, an this is the ingredient in bitter melon thought to be most useful for diabetic support because it is thought to slow digestion.

It brought to my attention that there is a wide variety of these melons - much broader than just bitter melon.  The family is the Curcurbitaceae (commonly referred to as the cucumber, gourd, melon, or pumpkin family) and it includes:

Major domesticated species (food plants): Citrullus lanatus (watermelon), Cucumis sativus (cucumber), Cucumis melo (melon), Cucumis anguria (bur gherkin), Cucurbita (five species of squash & pumpkin), Momordica charantia (bitter melon), Sechium edule (chayote), Luffa (two species of loofah), Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd), Benincasa hispida (wax gourd), Trichosanthes (two species of snake gourd), Telfairia (two species of oyster nut), Sicana odorifera (casabanana), Coccinia grandis (ivy gourd), Praecitrullus fistulosus (tinda), Cyclanthera pedata (slipper gourd), and Cucumeropsis mannii (white-seeded melon).

Medicinals: Bryonia (two species of bryony), Citrullus colocynthis (colocynth), Coccinia grandis (ivy gourd), Cucurbira foetidissima (buffalo gourd), Ecballium elaterium (squirting cucumber), Fevillea cordifolia (antidote vine), Gynostemma pentaphyllum (jiaogulan), Hemsleya amabilis (luo guo di), Momordica (a number of species including bitter melon), Sechium (two species including chayote), Sicana odorifera (casabanana), Siraitia grosvenorii (luo han guo), Trichosanthes kirilowii (Chinese snake gourd).

Number of these varieties aren't medicinal but the list gives you a clue where to start looking and experimenting with natural products which could help in relation to digestion and blood sugar uptake - that is, to slow down your blood sugar uptake by making one or more these part of your regular food plan.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) lagging indicator of diabetes

Various studies have correlated Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) with type 2 diabetes and even further it had been suggested that RBP4 was a link between all three of adiposity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes.

If this was the case then there was some hope that measuring RBP4 would be a predictor of type 2 diabetes, that is a leading indicator, and also that by adjusting its level it may reduce the potential for development of type 2.

However researchers from Germany just found evidence that kidney function but not Type 2 diabetes determines RBP4 blood serum levels.

What they found in their tests between type 2 diabetic and non-diabetic subjects was that degeneration of the kidney was most strongly associated with RBP4 levels and not diabetes.  (They measured the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) which shows how well a kidney is functioning and compared that to RBP4 across all subjects.)

Diabetes often leads to impairment of the kidneys, but the researchers are suggesting that RBP4 levels increase after impairment and not as a result of having diabetes.  That is, it is a lagging indicator and not a leading indicator as previously thought.

If this research is substantiated further then RPB4 may not be a fruitful research topic for the potential amelioration or delay of onset of type 2 diabetes.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

Chromium and diabetes - benefits and sources

In a previous post I explained my 10 underlying mechanisms of diabetes, and mentioned that chromium is know to assist in the binding of insulin to cell membranes.

The transfer of glucose from the blood is achieved when insulin successfully binds with an insulin receptors on cell membranes which then facilitates the flow of glucose and also the transfer of insulin itself thus dropping the levels of both in the blood.

This is how chromium availability helps to relieve impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes.

Sources of chromium

So what are the sources of chromium and can it be dangerous if mis-used?

It turns out that not a lot is known because there is a lack of accurate tests, in volume and accuracy, for chromium status - its not usually something tested in blood tests for example.

What's known is that its deficiency may be a contributing factor in impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes.  It's food sources are also known, although there again data is limited:

• whole grain products;
• broccoli;
• green beans;
• grape juice; and,
• spices.

What do diabetics need to know?

Important things for diabetics to know are these:

• heavy exercise may increase the amount of chromium needed;
• foods high in sucrose and fructose increase chromium loss (which makes you wonder about cause and effect with regard to Type 2 diabetes - since high fructose/sucrose diets often lead to diabetes); and,
• Vitamin C in amounts of 100mg or more can increase the absorption of chromium.

Those are quite important points, because I do exercise quite heavily as part of my diabetic control regime, and also perhaps I should be taking a regular vitamin C tablet in conjunction with any chromium supplements.

With regard to supplements, chromium picolate is the form used in much of the research on the health effects of chromium.  It is said to have high bioavailability, and so does chromium nicotinate, whereas hexavalent chromium is highly toxic.  The former forms of chromium are trivalent forms, but even there people with kidney or liver disease are cautioned to take lower doses.  Certain nutritional yeast products are fortified with chromium and have high bioavailabilty (often known as chromium yeast in which the yeast combines the chromium into its fermenting products as it ferments).

For me the keys are to make broccoli a very regular vegetable choice, to check supplements for chromium since I need to keep up levels due to my exercise regime, and consider a nightly Vitamin C tablet.

On the other hand

On the other hand, a very recent 2007 study published in Diabetes Care found that "there is no evidence that chromium in the form of chromium yeast is effective in improving. glycemic control in western patients with type 2 diabetes" - so don't go to any extremes.

However, chromium is the most widely studied supplement for diabetes and the aggregate study results are inconclusive - neither positive nor negative.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

What makes us diabetic - understanding the 10 key mechanisms

Have you read medical explanations of diabetes and found them a little hard to understand, yet you wouldn't mind knowing "what's going on inside" but can't find the right level of explanation?

I've read many explanations, many times, and if you Google around you'll find lots.  But I thought that what's needed is something simple as possible, but no simpler, which includes explanations of some of the fundamentals.

So here is my attempt which is a step-by-step functional flow intermingled with explanatory statements:

1. The body secretes insulin in response to rising levels of blood sugar - after we eat.
2. The purpose of the sugar going into the blood is to be taken to other places, where it can be used.
3. The blood itself does not need sugar and in fact if it is not removed it becomes harmful - which is of course one of the harmful effects of diabetes.
4. The body pumps the insulin into the blood, sensing the rising blood sugar, in order to tell the blood to get rid of that sugar by delivering it to where it is needed.
5. The insulin binds to the surfaces of cell membranes to stimulate the cells to take in more blood sugar and hence to remove it from the blood.
6. So the insulin has a double effect, it helps the cell to pump in more glucose (blood sugar) for its necessary functioning, and as a consequence lowers the level of glucose in the blood.
7. There is other "stuff" which assists insulin in stimulating the cells and pumping the glucose from the blood and these are called glucose tolerance factors - a "factor" here used in a classic sense of the word meaning "an agent" (see Wikipedia GTF).
8. Insulin does other work such as helping shift fatty acids from the blood into cells, which is essential for the functioning of muscles for example.
9. Cell membranes have insulin receptors - these receptors are welcoming committees for insulin and grab the insulin in as it circulates in the blood - think of the sprukers on the footpath in front of some restaurants - waving in the insulin.
10. When the insulin "shakes hands", or binds, with these receptors then the combination of the two creates an active gate for the flow of glucose and other materials into the cell, that is the binding of the insulin "activates" the receptor and gets the transfer process going.

They are the 10 key things that a normally functioning system does.

Here are the basic three things that go wrong for us diabetics:

1. We don't produce insulin - that's a "Type 1" problem which requires insulin replacement and injections on a strict regime.
2. We produce enough insulin but the cell receptors no longer want to shake hands and engage with our insulin to activate the transfer of glucose from the blood - this is "Type 2" insulin resistance.
3. We produce insulin but not enough and also we become resistant - this is also Type 2.

Knowing this allows us to understand the rationale behind various ideas and suggestions and treatment strategies, for example:

1. We might want to try reducing the blood sugar levels so as to not overload any insulin that remains - or slow down the release of glucose through dietary selection - this works when you still have insulin but not enough to clear the blood of harmful quantities.
2. We might want to try treatments which can stimulate or help activate the cell receptors and raise their interest in grabbing hold the existing insulin - think of this as "Viagra" for diabetes - for example chromium binds to the insulin receptor and enhances its activity and this is how chromium availability can help relieve impaired glucose tolerance and Type 2 diabetes. (Chromium sources include whole grain products, broccoli, green beans, and spices).

I think that understanding this basic underlying mechanism is helpful in understanding what various treatments, supplements, and other advice is trying to effect - to get the insulin working again to transport blood glucose out of the blood and into cells.

Knowing this also makes clear where some of the terms come from, such as "glucose intolerance" which is when the action in point 7 above doesn't work and "tolerance" becomes "intolerance".

It gets a lot more complex, because for one thing the walls of the blood vessels themselves get damaged by the excess blood glucose (seen high levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein or interleukin-6 - markers of systemic inflammation), which then becomes a vicious closed loop because it makes things even harder for the insulin to work. And then, Vitamin E has been found in mice to reduce these protein markers of inflammation - etc etc etc it gets too complicated; so that's why I've kept the focus on the clear 10 points of what makes us diabetic.

And also bear in mind that some easy comments in my description, such as the help chromium gives, are not yet understood medically, meaning for example that how chromium serves as a "cofactor" for insulin action is yet to be fully understood. That's all for another time.

Given the direct mention of chromium above, I'll discuss more about that in another post.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

Eating higher fatty acid content foods decreases appetite

Recent results from a study by UC Irvine pharmacologists showed that eating "fatty foods" curbed hunger.

Not your "normal" fatty foods of the junk food variety, but those rich in unsaturated fats such as avocados, nuts and olive oil (actually mono-unsaturated fatty acids MUFA) "have been found to play a pivotal role in sending a message to the brain that a person is full and to stop eating".

How's it work?

1. The researchers studied how a fat-derived compound (called oleoylethanolamide - OEA) regulates hunger and body weight.
2. They found that an unsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid stimulates production of OEA, which in turn decreases appetite.
3. Oleic acid is transformed into OEA by cells in the upper region of the small intestine.
4. OEA then finds its way to nerve endings that carry the hunger-curbing message to the brain.
5. There, it activates a brain circuit that increases feelings of fullness, researchers said.

In previous studies, researchers said they found that increasing OEA levels can reduce appetite, produce weight loss and lower blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. 

That's all fantastic news for adult diabetics as improving all three of those factors seriously reduces our overall risk profile, and they are what we have to achieve as the basic goals when first setting out to control our diabetes.

How can this finding be used practically, by combining it with the MUFA foods such as avocado and also nuts for example which we've posted about many times.  It makes me feel good about my long-standing practice of eating a half-avocado each morning, which I always felt had had a positive effect on my blood cholesterol and triglyceride readings. (Protein plays in important role in limiting hunger as well, but by different means.)

Sorry, back to you - if you are setting out to lose weight as part of your diabetic management program, and let's say a 10% reduction in body weight, then start to introduce more MUFA foods - replacing other foods and hopefully those you take out have more calories - and this should start to make you feel full more easily.

Also, after exercise eat these MUFA foods as otherwise the exercise can stimulate your appetite and it doesn't take much to eat back on the calories you're just burnt off.

Just a note about the "correct" fatty foods - please don't mistake this feeling of fullness with being similar to the feeling from gorging on fast foods as diets high in processed foods that are riddled with saturated fats might throw a wrench into this system of metabolic control, the researchers said. What they are saying is that the fat in fatty fast foods actually stops the message to the brain and you keep eating until you are physically full - perhaps at that stage it is a message from the poor overstretched stomach?

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

When your words matter in diabetes management

The NY Times published a fascinating article about James Pennebaker's work in the study of words and people who talked about their traumatic injuries or medical conditions.

Dr Pennebaker is a professor of pyschology at University of Texas, and has spent a lifetime looking and and counting the words people use.

He found that people who speak and write more objectively and from a popint of view of looking at causes improve more than those who don't.

Here's a snippet:

There are social words (talk, they), biological words (cheek, hands, spit), “insight” words (think, know, consider) and dozens of other groupings...Dr. Pennebaker, a pioneer in the field of therapeutic writing, asked a group of people recovering from serious illness or other trauma to engage in a series of writing exercises.

The word tallies showed that those whose health was improving tended to decrease their use of first-person pronouns through the course of the study.

Health improvements were also seen among people whose use of causal words — because, cause, effect — increased. Simply ruminating about an experience without trying to understand the causes is less likely to lead to psychological growth, he explained; the subjects who used causal words “were changing the way they were thinking about things".

So take that in.  It means that changing the way you think about, and express words about, your diabetic condition can help improve your condition.  That's good news for all of us.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

Fitness reduces diabetic risks in cardio-vascular

It's in the "inflammation" of blood vessels and the blood vessel walls that one part of the damage from diabetes is caused, and which then leads to complications caused by the damaged cardio-vascular system.

A few months ago it was reported in MedPageToday's medical news that British researchers had found that fitness had "an inverse association with total white blood cell count and white cell subfraction concentrations" whereas higher BMI (not good) had an positive correlation.

An elevated white-cell count is an independent predictor of coronary morbidity and mortality. The total white count comprises subfractions of neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, basophils, and eosinophils, the authors noted.

In a model adjusted for age and BMI or MET, fitness and fatness maintained their associations with total white cell count.  That that jargon means is that for example even taking into account that younger people might be more fit and older people more fat that amongst those groups fitness was always better and fatness always worse in terms of the risks being studied.

The authors suggested that the inverse association between fitness and neutrophils might be the key might explain the benefits of increased physical fitness with respect to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

It's thought that neutrophils may inflict endothelial damage by releasing free oxygen radicals and other cytotoxic substances, and that's where the potential connection to diabetes and the damage by diabetes to the blood vessel walls, and the increased risk of atherosclerosis, lies

There is a kind of similar "inflammation" which is caused by diabetes, although the exact causes are not fully know.

The main point is that fitness - as measured by this test - reduced the risk of cardio-vascular problems, and diabetes exacerbates those same problems, so by being fit and at the best BMI we as diabetics reduce our overall risk profile of likely cardio-vascular complications.

"It is reasonable to hypothesize that any mechanism that reduces the availability of neutrophils may retard the atherosclerotic process," the authors said. BMI also correlates directly with neutrophil concentrations, and weight loss has been shown to reduce levels of neutrophils and leukocytes, they added.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

Three key things diabetics should know about adding muscle

As readers know I am a big fan of adding muscle mass as part of a combined approach to managing diabetes, especially for older diabetics like me (60 years old), as although I can't explain all the reasons I have an intuition that having more and fitter lean muscle is more important than we currently understand.

There are a few known reasons, such as the fact that intense muscle activity - what we might call resistance training - which leads to increased muscle mass which burns calories while we sleep and helps us lose internal fat if we control our calorie input, and aerobic effect from that activity helps to undo some of the damage to blood vessel linings done by high glucose levels.

(In fact I burn about 10% more calories per day than an equivalent person my age and size because of the extra muscle.)

If you are also interested in skeletal muscle development as part of your diabetes management program then you will find this blog post interesting as it explains the factors that you need to consider if you wish to add muscle:

1. Eating - when and what to eat to support muscle growth
2. Training - what type of training
3. Sleeping - why it is important for muscle development.

While exercising muscles don't build, they do the opposite - they tear and need to repair.  Its in the repairing that they can grow bigger if properly nourished.

What they need to eat is protein, combined with carbohydrates "so that your body has something to burn for fuel other then the protein in your muscles and the calories you consume". As far as timing goes it is recommended that you eat carbs with protein right after your exercise and first thing in the morning in order to prevent your body "eating" away at your muscles for energy. 

If you always remember the key mantra "calories in, calories out" then you know that you have to consume enough to maintain your weight and energy levels but no more, and a little less if you are wanting to lose weight.

Training, is given only a little coverage in the post I referred to above, but the key thing to know here is that in order to build and to continue building skeletal muscle we need to keep covering all our muscle groups in our training routines. For exampel, build the weaker muscles by starting your routine with those muscles; don't overtrain because you'll end up decreasing your muscles (because they don't get a chance to regrow/repair); and, if doing weights take a days break in between.

Sleeping is important because "the majority of muscle growth will occur while you're sleeping".

Those that want explosive muscle growth will drink a glass of milk and a bowl of cottage cheese before they go to bed. Casein is found in both milk and ccottage cheese and is ideal for building muscle when you're sleeping.

As diabetics we need to measure the impact of that food mixture on our blood sugar but at first glance it should be fine - is that how you see it?  It may be more of an advantage for us to drink soy milk and get the added benefits of soy for diabetics.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner

Long-term planning for successful diabetic weight loss

Ignoring a balanced diet and simply reducing food intake to lose weight can lead to a decline in muscle and bone. This may result in weight loss but not in the reduction of fat levels. This is a danger of medically-induced weight loss or "diet plates" which have no accompanying exercise program.

Furthermore, when you eat less for an extended period of time, your body will slowly reduce your metabolic rate until it has matched your reduced caloric intake.

So even though your weight goes down, your resting metabolism is reduced making the body more prone to putting on fat. Repeated dieting and regaining weight leads to increased visceral fat levels It is easy to regain weight after sudden diets.

This regained weight tends to appear as visceral fat rather than subcutaneous fat. Increased visceral fat levels are thought to increase the likelihood of common diseases. Repeated dieting and subsequent regaining of weight leads to increased visceral fat levels (subcutaneous is fat 'beneath skin' and visceral is fat buried in your body's tissues).

A starvation-like diet produces rapid loss of weight but disrupts body mass and lean muscle, whereas a healthy weight-reduction food plan, even with little exercise, will mostly reduce body fat and little lean muscle.  With exercise, and an appropriate food plan including plenty of protein, muscle mass can be increased even as total body weight drops through fat reduction.

The key idea for fat loss is to concentrate on the "calories out" side of the equation not the "calories in", by boosting your metabolic rate and burning far more calories than usual.

I'm asked about losing belly fat and reducing waistlines and the age-old question: "Can I lose belly fat building abs?"  The answer is no, as in food plans and other parts of a balanced approach to managing diabetes, you need a holistic approach to exercise, and focusing on abs to reduce belly fat and waistline won't get you there. 

You must combine full body exercises into a workout that maximizes your metabolism. If you wish a certain amount of exercise can be directly targeted at the abs and more particulary the core, but these should only be a small part of your workout as your time is better spent focusing on the full body exercises that stimulate the greatest hormonal and metabolic changes within the body. This is particularly important for diabetics.

The most important factor for losing belly fat - to see your abs or at least your flat stomach - is actually in the nutrition arena, your food plan. There is no alternative but to combine your hard workouts with a healthy food plan, and again even more so for diabetics.

No matter how hard you workout, if your diet has too many unhealthy foods, or just plain too much food, then your abdominals will be covered with fat.

A diet high in lean protein sources coupled with lots of nutrient rich fruits and vegetables will help you retain muscle and lose body fat in the early stages of your exercise program.  The diabetic difference is to pick the right proteins and the best combinations of fruit and vegetables which will not adversely effect your blood glucose, which you can best decide by measuring yourself against your preferred combinations.

Nutrition is without a doubt the number one priority for gaining control of your waistline, and ultimately showing some abs if that's a motivation for you. Keep in mind that your abs are probably the least important of your core muscle group, and for older diabetics rebuilding the core muscles provides lots of lifestyle advantages irrespective of visible abs.

To build those core muscles don't waste so much of your time focusing on all the usual abs exercises such as sit-ups, crunches, etc.etc. These won't develop the other more important core muscles. Instead focus on high intensity full body lifts using combination multi-joint exercises (compound movements) all strategically combined into highly effective fat-loss, core muscle-strengthening, metabolic-stimulating workouts.

You can keep a few simple strategies in mind to get the best out of your gym exercises: aim for compound movements; do as much pulling as pushing; get form right before weight; change your program every 6 weeks to beat muscle adaption; vary the types of repetitions you do; and warm up.

Coming back now to the theme of this post - a food plan - you have to plan your post-workout nutrition. The basics are to get some protein into your body as soon as possible after the workout, and even as a diabetic you'll need some carbs as otherwise your muscles deplete more than they gain.

Your muscles have to rebuild, and without the proper protein and carbohydrate raw materials, this rebuilding can't take place. As your post-workout feeding should be designed to promote the most rapid delivery of carbohydrates and protein to your depleted muscles, fats should be avoided during this time.

So what's the best diabetic post-workout nutrition?

Generally speaking you don't need and shouldn't take the blast of sweeteners, such as dextrose, that the body builders use. Here's the kind of idea that you can build on for a post-workout shake:

• 1/3 cup plain organic yogurt;
• 1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese;
• 1/2 banana;
• 1/2 cup fruit (blueberries, peaches, cherries, or strawberries);
• 1/2 scoop protein isolate;
• Tbsp flaxseed meal;
• Add water to make correct thickness, or add soy milk.

Then, its said, that for best results eat a full food meal between 1.5 and 3 hours of your workout, which again should include a good balance of protein as mentioned above.

The above seems to relate mainly to resistance exercises - how about if you are focused on aerobic exercise at the moment.  Well that's a good question and it brings into focus that you need to balance your nutrition including any post-workout nutrition with your whole food plan and exercise plan.

If you are in a maintenance-mode food plan with mainly aerobic exercises you may only need to keep up lots of water pre and post exercise.  If you are doing intense aerobic/endurance you may need more specific muscle-recovery post-workout nutrition.  If you are just starting out and still unable to bring your calorie consumption down to where you need then you also need to carefully balance your post-workout nutrition calorie uptake with your overall food plan.

Everything has to be kept in balance with what you're consuming, and what you're expending, and the type of things you are eating and the type of energy you are expending.

The focus of this post is about maintaining muscle while losing fat through dieting and exercise. 

The aim is to develop a sustainable and enjoyable food plan and in combination with a well-balanced exercise program and then you'll soon be depleting visceral fat, rebuilding muscle, and heading towards control of your diabetes. If you're just starting out, aim for a 5% reduction in body weight through a combined food plan and exercise program.

Is there a adult diabetes item that you think we should feature?  Email tips@diabetorati.com. Thanks!

Visit our customized Amazon shopping mall for diabetic books, food, and fun !

Subscribe to diabetorati

Sponsored Links & Partner Sites: > TWITTER diabetorati : Follow @diabetorati, be a Friend at Twitter > diabetorati Google Custom Search Engine: contribute to this customized diabetic Google search engine > Glycemic Index Books: Amazon books about the Glycemic Index > Subscribe to diabetorati by Email: Delivered by FeedBurner