Diabetes and Alternative/Complementary Medicine, What You Should Know

It took me quite a time to make one blog. I apologize, has been busy with my 2 new locations and my teaching career.

Remember you can follow me on tweeter and read other articles that I post there. You can find me as arroyosacu

Buying Supplements with a Tight Budget

Here is a suggestion of what supplements you could by to stay healthy and why I suggest this particular protocol.

Fast food 'fuelling Asia diabetes boom'

Many Vietnamese have diabetes but are unaware of it - and the condition is spreading fast in South East Asia, scientists have warned.

A study by Australian and Vietnamese scientists found about 11% of men and 12% of women in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City had undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.
This was in addition to the 4% of people who had been diagnosed.
The scientists, from Australia's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, blamed changing lifestyles and fast food.
"Dietary patterns have been changing dramatically in Vietnam in recent years, particularly in the cities as they become more Westernised," said Professor Tuan Nguyen of the Sydney-based institute.
"There are fast food outlets everywhere," he said, adding that similar studies in Thailand reinforced the link.
"Because of that, we feel very confident that we can extrapolate our findings to other parts of South East Asia including Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Laos," he said.
The study was based on a sample of more than 2,000 people.
The condition is caused by high levels of sugar and fat in the diet and inadequate exercise.
The most common form of diabetes can lead to heart disease, vision loss and kidney failure.


Taken from BBC News   9 July 2010 at 10:20 AM Eastern Standard Time USA

White rice 'raises diabetes risk', say US experts

Replacing white rice with brown rice and wholemeal bread could cut the risk of diabetes by a third, US experts say.

White rice poses a diabetes threat because it causes steep rises in blood sugar, say Harvard researchers in Archives of Internal Medicine.
Brown rice and other wholegrain foods are a healthier option as they release glucose more gradually, they say.
The study is based on questionnaires; some say the data is not robust enough to base firm conclusions on.
It may be that people who eat less white rice tend to live healthier lifestyles, for example.
'Brown is better' In the study of nearly 200,000 US people, white rice consumption was linked to type 2 diabetes.
After adjusting for age and other diabetes risk factors, those who ate five or more 150g servings of white rice per week had a 17% increased risk of diabetes compared with people who consumed less than one serving - about a cup of rice - per month.
Although few people - only 2% - in the study ate this much white rice, the finding was significant.

Yet eating brown rice appeared to have the opposite effect, cutting the risk of type 2 diabetes.
People who ate two or more servings of brown rice per week had an 11% reduced risk of developing the condition compared with those who ate less than one serving a month.
Based on the results, the researchers estimate that replacing 50g or one-third of a typical serving of white rice with the same amount of brown rice would lead to a 16% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
And replacing the white rice with wholegrains, including brown rice and pasta, wholemeal bread and rolled oats, could cut the risk by more than a third.
Food composition Dr Qi Sun and other researchers say the explanation lies in the composition of the food.
Like other wholegrain foods, brown rice is high in fibre and releases its energy slowly.
In contrast, white rice has had all the bran and some of the germ removed during milling.
This gives white rice a higher glycaemic index (GI) - a measure of how much a food raises blood sugar levels compared with the same amount of glucose or white bread.
"From a public health point of view, replacing refined grains such as white rice by whole grains, including brown rice, should be recommended to facilitate the prevention of type 2 diabetes," according to the researchers.
Experts generally recommend that at least half of carbohydrate intake should come from whole grains like brown rice.
More than 70% of the rice consumed in developed countries such as the US and UK is white.
Dr Victoria King of Diabetes UK said that, since the results were from self-reported food diaries and questionnaires, it was not possible to make conclusive recommendations on how much of certain foods, such as brown rice, might protect against type 2 diabetes at this stage.
"The best way to prevent type 2 diabetes is by keeping active and eating a healthy balanced diet that is low in fat, salt and sugar with plenty of fruit and vegetables," she said.



Page last updated at 23:48 GMT, Monday, 14 June 2010 00:48 UK
Retrieved June 15 2010 10:15 AM eastern standard time USA 

Herb of the Week: Chanca Piedra

 What is Chanca Piedra


Chanca Piedra known in English as stone breaker is an herb from the amazons with 4 different varieties: Pyllanthum Niruri, Phyllanthus Amarus, Phyllanthus Sellowianus and Phyllanthus Urinaria.
P. Niruri is the one known in tropical places such as the amazon while P. Amarus and P. Sellowianus is the one that grows in dry tropical regions. The 4 plants are alike and exhibit similar medicinal activities but some of them have stronger effects on certain conditions.

Some Active Constituents


Some active constituents are lignans, flavonoids, alkaloids, ellagitannins and phenylpropanoids and others.. One of my favorite flavonoids is rutin and quercetin which are also present on this interesting plant.

Traditional Medicinal Uses and Preparation

Traditionally the plant has been used to treat kidney stones, gallstones, malaria, colic, jaundice, parasites, fever and pain.
The whole plant is used and is prepared as a decoction. Tincture is not recommended because the alcohol content destroy all the water soluble constituents rendering the plant ineffective.

Research and Chanca Piedra

Research has found that chanca piedra indeed is good for its traditional uses yet it has also found that it lowers blood cholesterol, triglycerides, lowers blood sugar and blood pressure. It has been found to act as an inhibitor of Aldose Reductase the culprit of macular degeneration and diabetic neuropathy. Its inhibition is not limited to Aldose Reductase but it acts as a reverse transcriptase inhibitor which makes it idoneous for HBV, leukemia, sarcoma and HIV.
Has been proven to slow and prevent cancer cell proliferation by inhibiting mutations and breaks on DNA; it also has shown to protect the cells and the liver against carcinogenic substances.
Has been found to be 7 times more effective than aspirin and acetaminophen as pain reliever.

Chanca Piedra and Modern Use
 Chanca Piedra has been widely used in Brazil and you can find it on pharmacies as pills or capsules...it has been used in China, and India also.

The Future and Chanca Piedra  
Because chanca piedra is effective by only using water it can not be developed as a drug and giving the circumstances that chanca piedra's medicinal properties relies on synergetic properties rather than on isolated compounds this makes the herb less "marketable, researchable, and profitable" for companies so expect this herb to be in a dark corner of the closet ...

Risks of Artificial Sweeteners

There are 3 independent studies published in the Circulation Journal and Diabetes Care where they have found a link between diet sodas, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and heart problems. The study found that those people that drink more than 1 diet soda per week has the chances to develop diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Obviously the study was targeting diet sodas but lets not forget that the same study showed that regular soda did not caused diabetes or metabolic syndrome therefore the logic tells us that the problem is the artificial sweeteners and not the drink. If you are concerned with your glycemic index i recommend agave, xylitol and stevia...natural and without side effects. Good health be with you!! Technorati Profile