Diabetes News

I continue to be dumbfounded at the profusion of research studies, which reveal, time and time again, the far-reaching, life-shortening dangers of consuming too much sugar and refined carbs -- something most Americans do.

Get ready to be astounded by these results.

Brent Tetri, M.D., professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University Liver Center and a leading researcher in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease -- which can lead to cirrhosis and, ultimately, death -- examined the effects on mice of eating foods with about 40% fat and high in high fructose corn syrup. (For those of you who've read my book SUGAR SHOCK!, you know that HFCS is pervasive in our food supply, from sodas to fruit drinks to frozen foods.)

The results of the study, according to the Saint Louis University press release, surprised even the researchers.

A mere four weeks into what was designed as a 16-week experiment, the mice -- who were deliberately kept sedentary (like many Americans, of course) -- showed signs of serious liver problems, as well as glucose intolerance.

Dr. Tetri confesses: "We had a feeling we'd see evidence of fatty liver disease by the end of the study," he notes. "But we were surprised to find how severe the damage was and how quickly it occurred. It took only four weeks for liver enzymes to increase and for glucose intolerance -- the beginning of type II diabetes -- to begin."

It's important to note that in feeding the mice, the researchers sought "to mirror the kind of diet many Americans subsist on, so the high fat content is about the same you'd find in a typical McDonald's meal, and the high fructose corn syrup translates to about eight cans of soda a day in a human diet, which is not far off from what some people consume," Dr. Tetri said in a statement. "But we were also keeping the mice sedentary, with a very limited amount of activity."

Another interesting aspect of the study is that the mice were allowed to eat whenever they wanted. And sure enough, they went at it. Dr. Tetri suggests that fructose actually suppresses your feeling of fullness so that you consume more. (FYI, other scientists have suggested as much -- in fact, this is a theory that I explore in my book SUGAR SHOCK!)

So what does Dr. Tetri's study mean for humans? That the typical American diet -- high in HFCS and fat -- could -- along with a sedentary lifestyle -- be quite dangerous to your liver and could even lead to glucose intolerance, which could turn into type 2 diabetes. 

But remember folks, there is hope even if you're one of out eight children who have fatty liver disease.

Dr. Tetri points out: "The good news is that it is somewhat reversible -- but for some it will take major changes in diet and lifestyle."

Folks, I do hope you take to heart the lessons to be learned from this study. The transitory taste of soda and other sugary, fatty foods just isn't worth the potential health hazards. But, rest assured. You can learn to enjoy healthy, nutritious foods and to live a happier, healthier life. For some tips to kick sugar, I invite you to check out my book SUGAR SHOCK!

Special thanks to my researcher Jennifer Moore and to Medical News Today for alerting me to this study.

Note from Connie: Thank goodness I now have blog researcher/writer Jennifer Moore, because there's a lot of shocking sugar news. Too much for one person to handle unless that's all I do! So here's another entry from Jennifer.

Complications caused by type 2 diabetes -- including kidney disease, high blood pressure, eye disease, and unhealthy blood fat levels -- may progress more quickly in children and adolescents who suffer from type 2 diabetes than in youngsters with type 1 diabetes, according to an article by Drs. Orit Pinhas-Hamiel and Philip Zeitler in The Lancet.

Thanks to Steven Reinberg of Health Day for the heads-up on this study, which reveals that kids with type 2 diabetes may already have these problems at the time of their diagnosis, but they rarely show up in children who have type 1 diabetes.

I wonder: Does this mean that the long-term prognosis for children with type 2 diabetes is actually worse than that for kids with type 1 diabetes?

Dr. Pinhas-Hamiel believes that we need to attack this problem aggressively, so she says teens who have type 2 diabetes should be screened for complications as soon as they've been diagnosed. She also recommends that strong protocols for treating high blood pressure and blood fat levels must be developed.

It could be a matter of life and death for these kids, because "type 2 diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents is associated with significant morbidity and mortality," Dr. Pinhas-Hamiel says, according to Reinberg's story. 

I agree that we need to aggressively treat children with type 2 diabetes. What I'd really like to see, however, is for adults to take strong measures to keep our kids from developing type 2 diabetes in the first place.

You see, type 1 diabetes is not dependent on your diet or exercise habits. As the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, part of the National Institutes of Health, explains, a person with type 1 diabetes simply can't produce insulin because his or her immune system has destroyed the cells in the pancreas that make it.

But in the case of type 2 diabetes, health organizations like the American Diabetes Association and the federally funded National Diabetes Education Program point out that the disease can largely be prevented by healthy lifestyle choices -- eating nutritious foods, getting adequate exercise, and maintaining a reasonable weight.

It's pretty shocking to think that so many kids today don't do any of those things, or more to the point, that parents, school administrators, and government officials don't make sure they do them.

From Jennifer Moore for SUGAR SHOCK! Blog

Many Americans -- certainly not readers of this blog! -- may think of Memorial Day as a time to laze around, guzzle soda, chomp on chips, grab popsicles and frolic in the sun. But let's remember the real meaning of today: It's about honoring those who've fallen in the service of our country.

So I invite you to do just that. Check out MSNBC's information-packed Honoring the Fallen section. Then, you may want to visit the official Memorial Day site, too. And you also can learn what President Bush said.

For those of you with loved ones who've lost their lives because they fought for our country, my heart goes out to you and I wish you a peaceful Memorial Day.

For the rest of us, if you're not having fun in the sun, please use this day off work to do something healthy or constructive like taking a bike ride or going on a long hike. And after your fun physical activity, then consider tackling a project you've been putting off for a while.

Which is exactly what I'm doing. This Memorial Day weekend, I'm tackling the rather unpleasant task of cleaning my office -- something that I've been successfully procrastinating doing for a while. And, I'm embarrassed to say that this is a massive, massive project! Ugh!

When you write a non-fiction book, especially one as labor-intensive as SUGAR SHOCK!, you tend to gather mounds of research studies, notes from many interviews with health experts, and many news articles about your subject.

Suffice it to say that working on SUGAR SHOCK! wreaked complete havoc on my office. A plethora of papers piled up. We're talking three or four stacks of papers that are three or four feet high. Ugh! And I absolutely must continue to clear through these stacks as I have for the past couple of days.

Yesterday, for instance, I tossed out lots of e-mails in which I coached dozens of sugar addicts. (Don't worry: I'm keeping important stuff.) Today, at long last, I'm battling the stack of papers directly next to me.

By the way, speaking of procrastinating, if you've been putting off getting on my mailing list, I recommend that you do so right away. If you subscribe now to my free, weekly Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Minute, you'll get come on board just in time to get my special before-summer weight loss issue, which will contain:

• A fun article about how you can use procrastination to kick your sugar habit. Seriously!
• Tips to help your kids peel off pounds from renowned children's obesity expert Dr. David Ludwig, author of the wonderful new book, Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World.
• Easy, proven weight-loss pointers created for you, from my buddy, renowned nutritionist Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. (Jonny is even kind enough to give a special gift just to readers of my e-zine.)

So sign up now for your free weekly Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Minute so you, too, can get all my goodies -- sugar-free, of course.