Being active
Did you know? Getting up and moving around more is just as beneficial as quitting smoking.
In a 12-year follow-up study of 6,000 older men, it was found that those who stayed physically active for 30 minutes, six days a week, during the study period were 40% less likely to die from disease than those participants who exercised less. This is the same reduction in risk of death that people experience when they quit smoking.
Sugar intake
Fructose drinks are high-calorie, low-nutritional-value drinks. These drinks can also predispose people to unhealthy food choices.
In one study, some subjects drank fructose drinks and others drank drinks containing glucose. The subjects then had their brains scanned while looking at pictures of high-calorie foods, and these pictures stimulated the brains of fructose drinkers more than glucose drinkers.
In addition, when the researchers asked the subjects whether they would choose the high-calorie food now or the cash reward later, the fructose group was more likely to choose the food.
Being a vegan
A vegan diet – a vegetarian way of eating that doesn’t include any animal products – may sound extreme, but there are some benefits for people with diabetes. In one study, patients with diabetic neuropathy (usually painful nerve damage in the legs and feet) went vegan for 5 months. Those who stuck to a healthy diet lost an average of 12.6 pounds and reported a lot of pain relief from the neuropathy. The researchers say that practicing a vegan diet improves weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar control, while also leading to pain relief.
Blood test
Have you ever wondered if the pinprick finger blood test to control blood sugar is worth it?
A recent study gave the answer: 1800 veterans with type 2 diabetes reduced their risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and amputation by 17% by keeping their glycosylated hemoglobin levels at 7% to 8% over a 10-year period.
Losing weight
If you want to lose excess weight, is it important to reduce caloric intake or increase exercise, or both?
Researchers divided a group of inactive, overweight subjects into 3 groups. One group lost 7% of their body weight by reducing caloric intake alone, another group lost 7% by exercise alone, and a third group lost both.
Each group achieved their goals. But the diet-plus-exercise group gained more. Their bodies were 2 times more able to control their blood sugar compared to the other group.