Too Many Animal Proteins Linked To Diabetes?

According to a new study of European adults, those who eat the most protein, especially from animal sources, are more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The new study compared the diets of those who developed diabetes and those who did not have the disease. Better results may have been gathered by randomly assigning participants to eat varying amounts of protein.
The findings however do coincide with previous studies.
"Several previous studies have found that higher intake of total protein, especially animal protein, as associated with long-term risk of developing diabetes," said Dr. Frank Hu of of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Hu was not associated with the new study, which researched prevention of diabetes through diet and lifestyle.
Researchers examined data from a large study comprising eight European countries over 12 years. The study included information such as diet, physical activity, height, weight, and waist circumference. Researchers followed that data to see who developed diabetes.
The research team was led by Monique van Nielen of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, who selected 11,000 people with diabetes and 15,000 people without diabetes.
Typically study participants ate 90 grams of protein per day. Those ate more animal proteins had a higher weight-to-height ratio and ate more fiber and cholesterol than those who ate less.
For every additional 10 grams of protein participants ate every day was linked to a six percent increased risk for developing diabetes.
Participants were divided into five groups based on the amount of protein they ate each day and researchers found that those who ate the most protein per day, 111 grams, were 17 percent more likely to develop diabetes than the group that ate the less, 72 grams.
Those who ate the most animal protein, 78 grams per day, had a 22 percent greater chance of developing diabetes than those who ate the least, 36 grams.
This association was the highest among obese women. Plant proteins however, were not linked to diabetes.
"In other studies, plant protein sources such as nuts, legumes, and whole grains have been associated with lower risk of diabetes," Hu said. "Therefore, replacing red meat and processed meat with plant sources of protein is important for diabetes prevention."
However, it's just as important to pay attention to quantity as it is the type of protein.
"Pay attention to both quantity and food sources of protein," Hu said. Those with a family history of diabetes should limit red meat consumption and replace it instead with nuts, legumes, or whole grains.
Reference: Reuter
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Poor Air Quality Raises Diabetes Risk In Children

Bad news for those who live in areas with air pollution: exposure to air pollution raises the risk of resistance to insulin in children, according to a new study in Diabetolgia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
A study of about 400 10 year old German children found that insulin resistance increased 17 percent for every 10.6 micrograms per cubic meter increase in ambient nitrogen dioxide and by 19 percent for every 6 micrograms per cubic meter increase in particular matter.
Previous research indicated a link between traffic-related air pollution and the development of diabetes in adults. These studies show that exposure to fine pollution particles that get into the respiratory system, heart, and vessels increases inflammation, which can be linked to insulin resistance, says study author Joachim Heinrich, of the German Research Center for Environmental Health.
"Given the ubiquitous nature of air pollution and the high incidence of insulin resistance in the general population, the associations examined here may have potentially important public health effects," said Heinrich in the paper.
Blood samples were collected from 397 children who were included in two German birth cohort studies. Exposure to air pollutants at their addresses was estimated by analyzing emissions from road traffic, population density, and land use. Measurements of blood insulin levels and air pollutants were taken at various times so the findings "should be regarded with caution," says Jon Ayres, a professor of environmental and respiratory medicine at the University of Birmingham in England. Ayres said in the statement that a larger study should be done to confirm the link.
Study participants will be tested again at age 15 to see how the findings evolve during and after puberty and the effect of moving to a different location.
Reference: Business Week.
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Diabetics: Stay Away From Soft Drinks!

If you like drinking soft drinks, be careful: drinking one or more cans of sugary soft drinks each day has been linked to an increased risk for diabetes later in life.
Europeans scientists have found that having just one can a day raises your risk by 20 percent, compared to someone who has one can or less a month.
This new research was carried out by scientists in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Sweden, France, and the Netherlands. The findings were published in the journal Diabetologia and mirrors previous US research.
More than 350,000 people participated in the study, which involved questions about their diet and was part of a larger European study on links between diet and cancer.
"The consumption of sugar sweetened soft drinks increases your risk of diabetes- so for every can of soft drinks that you drink per day, the risk is higher," said leader researcher Dora Romaguera from Imperial College London.
Romaguera called for better public health information on the effects of soft drinks. "Given the increase in sweet beverage consumption in Europe, clearer messages on its deleterious effect on health should be given to the population," said Romaguera and colleagues in their paper.
However, fruit juice consumption was not linked to an increased risk for diabetes later in life.
Dr. Matthew Hobbs, head of research at Diabetes UK, said the link between sugary drinks and Type 2 diabetes exists when you add in body mass index. The risk, therefore, is not due to the extra calories.
"Even so, it is not definitive evidence that sugar-sweetened soft drinks increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, other than through their effect on body weight," Dr. Hobbs said.
"We do, though, already recommend limiting consumption of sugary foods and drinks as these are usually high in calories and so can lead to weight gain if you have too many of them. This is important for Type 2 diabetes because we know that maintaining a healthy weight is the single most important thing you can do to prevent it," Hobbs added.
Professor Patrick Wolfe from University College London, a statistic expert, said that just 4 percent of the UK population has Type 1 diabetes. "In and of themselves, sugary soft drinks are only part of the picture- they're just one of the potential risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. But since they are one we can easily eliminate- by switching to diet soft drinks or, even better, cutting them out of our diets altogether- it makes good sense to do so," said Wolfe.
Reference: Codewit World News
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New Research Provides Insight In Diabetes Gene

Diabetes researchers at Lund University in Sweden have been able to reveal more of the genetic complexity behind Type 2 diabetes.
The new research findings were achieved through access to human insulin-producing cells from deceased donors and by not only studying one gene variant, but many genes. New methods were used to see how these genes influence the level of the gene in pancreatic islets and their effect on insulin secretion and glucose supply.
"With this approach, we can explain 25 percent of variations in blood sugar levels. Previously, the best studies have explained less than 3 percent," says Leif Groop from Lund University Diabetes Centre, the principal author of the study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The results of the study provide greater insights into why, in cases of Type 2 diabetes, beta cells cease to perform their function of producing sufficient insulin to keep blood sugar levels under control.
"We have linked different gene variants to their effects on donated human beta cells and have compared cells from non-diabetic and diabetics," said Professor Groop.
The starting point for researchers was the 47 known gene variants that have a link to diabetes. "We used them as 'bait' to find new signal paths and chain of events where the 47 variants work together with other genes. We have to map patterns because a single gene rarely acts on its own," continued Groop.
To pick out the 20 strongest gene variants, criteria included a difference between beta cells from healthy individuals and diabetics and a link to insulin secretion and blood sugar levels. The goal of the study was to understand the relationship between gene variants and diabetes.
"By taking a new and more holistic approach, we have gone a step further than previous projects and succeeded in linking together gene variants and their signal paths in human beta cells that cause reduced insulin secretion. The next step is to look in more detail at the way in which the strongest genes affect insulin secretion," said Groop.
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