Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
On today’s episode we will discuss things that men do every day that can increase their risk of developing prostate cancer and the lifestyle habits, foods and nutrients that may help to reduce it, based on the results of multiple human studies.
In Episode 2 of Living A Healthy Life with Diabetes, Amanda Williams, MPH breaks down the difference between prediabetes and metabolic syndrome. Plus, essential nutrients to help counteract the impact of the SAD diet.
According to the American Heart Association, metabolic syndrome affects about 23% of adults and places them at higher disk of a number of heart concerns. A new study now says that eating within a certain time window – intermittent fasting – can help tackle that.
Metabolic syndrome is a term used to describe a number of risk factors for serious conditions including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. This condition may be present when individuals have tested positive for three or more of the following risk factors —
According to the American Heart Association, “when a patient presents with these risk factors together, the changes for future cardiovascular problems are greater than any one factor presenting alone.”
The association provides a number of ways to address metabolic syndrome –
But losing weight and getting back on track can prove difficult. For the first time, a new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism has focused on the impact time-restricted eating has on losing weight, managing blood sugar and blood pressure for people with metabolic syndrome.
Could you be at risk for Metabolic Syndrome? 1 our of 3 people are. Here’s what you need to know >>
Co-corresponding study author Dr. Pam Taub of the University of California San Diego School of Medicine reports, “People who have metabolism syndrome/prediabetes are often told to make lifestyle interventions to prevent progression of their risk factors to disease. These people are at a crucial tipping point, where their disease process can be reversed. However, many of these lifestyle chances are difficult to make. We saw there was an unmet need in people with metabolic syndrome to come up with lifestyle strategies that could be easily implemented.”
In a small study of 19 participants, participants could eat what they wanted within 10-hour windows. They decided how much to eat and when they ate as long as they “restricted their eating to a window of 10 hours or less.” In other studies, this time window was proven effective with mice. Most of the study participants had obesity and 84% were taking at least one medication.
According to Dr. Taub and researchers, as they started to follow to this time-frame, participants reported more energy and better sleep. After three months, participants displayed a 3% weight and body mass index reduction (on average) and a 3% loss of abdominal, or visceral, fat. All of these improvements, says Dr. Taub, reduce the participants risk of cardiovascular disease.
Many participants also showed a reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as improvements in fasting glucose.
Dr. Taub recommends that anyone interested in trying time-restricted eating speak to their healthcare provider first, especially if they have metabolic syndrome and are taking medication, as weight loss may mean that medications require adjustment.
Photo by Ursula Spaulding on Unsplash According to scientists from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, obesity can break down our protective blood-brain barrier resulting in problems with learning and memory. This study is published in the Journal of Neuroscience. What is the …
Photo by I Yunmai on Unsplash In a statement released by the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, new data on self-reported adult obesity prevalence for all 50 states for 2017 were reported. This data comes from the Behavioral …
According to data presented in Barcelona at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting, higher levels of belly fat are associated with lower vitamin D levels in obese individuals.
The study reports that vitamin D levels are lower in individuals with higher levels of belly fat, and suggests that individuals – who are particularly overweight with larger waistlines – should have their vitamin D levels checked to avoid any potentially health damaging effects.
Vitamin D, commonly called the ‘sunshine vitamin, is an essential nutrient that plays a major role in many of the body’s functions, including in the skin, hair and bones. Vitamin D has been shown to promote calcium absorption, support healthy cell growth and healthy immune function. Sources of vitamin D include the sun, some foods like fatty-flish and cheese (though small amounts), and supplementation.
Could a Vitamin Deficiency be to Blame for Your Hair Loss?
It has been estimated that approximately 70% of North Americans have Vitamin D deficiencies. This is due to a combination of factors: low levels of sunlight for most of the year, obesity, sun avoidance, and low consumption of foods high in Vitamin D such as fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines). Inadequate Vitamin D in the body often leads to conditions such as rickets and osteomalacia, which bring on symptoms like bone and muscle pain, enlarged joints, and easily fractured bones. Given the high prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency, this could be the most essential of all the conditionally essential vitamins.
Originally tied to only bone health, recent studies have shown low levels of vitamin D to be linked with higher rates of respiratory tract infections, auto-immune diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
In the study, researchers from VU University Medical Center and Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands examined how the amount of total body fat and abdominal fat measured in participants of the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study related to their vitamin D levels. After adjusting for a number of possible influencing factors, including chronic disease, they found that the amounts of both total and abdominal fat were associated with a vitamin D levels in women, although abdominal fat has a greater impact. Lower vitamin D levels were also found in men with both abdominal and liver fat. In all cases, the greater the amount of belly fat, the lower the levels of detected vitamin D.
The researchers now plan to investigate what may underlie this strong association between vitamin D levels and obesity.