Health-Diets.NET

From The Nutritional Health Bible by Linda Lazarides (1997). This free database is provided for interest only. Linda's later writings refer to more up-to-date research.

• Nutritional deficiencies, especially chromium, vanadium, magnesium, vitamins C and E
• Sugar consumption.

Kozlovsky AS et al: Effects of diets high in simple sugars on urinary chromium losses. Metabolism 35(6):515-8, 1986. Also Djurhuus MS et al: Magnesiummangel og udviklingen af diabetiske senkomplikationer. Ugeskr Laeger 153(30):2108-10, 1991

Magnesium deficiency results in impaired insulin secretion and reduces tissue sensitivity to insulin - problems associated with diabetes. Subclinical magnesium deficiency is common in diabetics. It causes insulin resistance (reversible on magnesium supplementation) and promotes diabetic complications.Lefebvre PJ et al: Magnesium and glucose metabolism (in French). Therapie 49(1):1-7, 1994.

A study on the tea and coffee drinking habits of 600 newly diagnosed diabetic children and 536 controls revealed that the risk of diabetes is increased in children who consume at least two cups of coffee daily and in those who consume one or more cups of tea daily. Virtanen SM et al: Is children's or parents' coffee or tea consumption associated with the risk for type I diabetes mellitus in children? Eur J Clin Nutr 47(4):279-85, 1994.

944 random men aged 42-60 without diabetes were followed up. Of the 45 who subsequently developed diabetes, a low plasma vitamin E level was associated with a 3.9-fold higher risk of contracting the disease. Salonen JT et al: Increased risk of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus at low plasma vitamin E concentrations: a four year follow up study in men. BMJ 311(7013):1124-7, 1995.

In a study carried out on elderly non-insulin-dependent diabetics and non-diabetics, supplementation with chromium-rich yeast improved glucose tolerance and reduce blood fat levels while chromium-poor yeast did not. Offenbacher EG et al: Beneficial effect of chromium-rich yeast on glucose tolerance and blood lipids in elderly subjects. Diabetes 29:919-925, 1980.

Similar results are reported in: Martinez O et al: Dietary chromium and effect of chromium supplementation on glucose tolerance of elderly Canadian woman. Nutrition Research 5(6):609-620, 1985.

And in: Anderson RA: Chromium metabolism and its role in disease processes in man. Clin Physiol Biochem 4(1):31-34, 1986.

Of 15 controlled studies supplementing chromium compounds to subjects with impaired glucose tolerance, 12 resulted in improvement in the efficiency of insulin or the blood lipid profile. Mertz W: Chromium in human nutrition: a review. J Nutr 123(4):626-33, 1993.

Diabetics who do not respond to chromium supplementation may have inadequate levels of vitamin B3. The use of both nutrients combined are more favourable than for each one separately. Urberg M et al: Evidence for synergism between chromium and nicotinic acid in the control of glucose tolerance in elderly humans. Metabolism 36(9):896-9, 1987.

High doses of vitamin E improved insulin action in non-insulin-dependent diabetics.
Paolisso G et al: Pharmacologic doses of vitamin E improve insulin action in healthy subjects and non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients. Am J Clin Nutr 57:650-6, 1993.

High doses of antioxidant nutrients may lead to a regression of the late complications of diabetes. Kahler W et al: Diabetes mellitus - eine mit Freien Radikalen assoziierte Erkrankung. Resultate einer adjuvanten Antioxidantiensupplementation. Z Gesamte Inn Med 48(5):223-32, 1993.

Of 21 diabetic patients with an average age of 65, 17 obtained complete relief from pain of systemic distal neuropathy, five were able to discontinue hypoglycaemic medication, and half developed reduced insulin requirements after 25 days on a low fat vegan diet consisting of unrefined foods. Crane MG et al: Regression of diabetic neuropathy with total vegetarian (vegan) diet. J Nutr Med 4:431-439, 1994.

Low red-cell magnesium levels were found in 12 elderly diabetics. After magnesium supplementation for 4 weeks in a double-blind trial there was a significant net increase in insulin secretion and action, and decreased red cell membrane viscosity. Paolisso G et al: Daily magnesium supplements improve glucose handling in elderly subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 55(6):1161-7, 1992.

Conditions associated with insulin resistance (a common type of diabetes) such as high blood pressure, are also associated with low cell magnesium levels. Long-term magnesium supplementation can contribute to an improvement in both pancreatic response and insulin action in non-insulin dependent diabetics. Paolisso G et al: Magnesium and glucose homoeostasis. Diabetologia 33(9):511-4, 1990.

111 patients with mild diabetic neuropathy were given either supplements of the fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) or placebo. After one year there were significant improvements in 13 parameters in the GLA-treated patients.Keen H et al: Treatment of diabetic neuropathy with gamma-linolenic acid. The gamma-linolenic acid multicenter trai group. Diabetes Care 16(1):8-15, 1993.

22 patients with diabetic polyneuropathy were given either supplements of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) or placebo for 6 months. The GLA-treated patients showed a significant improvement in symptom scores. Jamal GA et al: The effect of gamma-linolenic acid on human diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Diabet Med 7(4):319-23, 1990.

Higher copper and lower magnesium levels (compared with controls) found in insulin-dependent diabetics may be associated with the development of insulin resistance (lack of effectiveness of insulin). The authors propose that patients may improve if dietary trace elements are supplemented. Isbir T et al: Zinc, copper and magnesium status in insulin-dependent diabetes. Diabetes Res 26(1):41-5, 1994.

High dose vitamin C supplementation was found to have a beneficial effect on blood sugar control and blood lipids, and magnesium supplements reduced blood pressure, among a group of 56 diabetic patients. Eriksson J et al: Magnesium and ascorbic acid supplementation in diabetes mellitus. Ann Nutr Metab 39(4):217-23, 1995.

Long-term vitamin C administration was found to have beneficial effects on glucose and lipid metabolism in a four-month randomized, double-blind study carried out on 40 elderly non-insulin dependent diabetics. Paolisso G et al: Metabolic benefits deriving from chronic vitamin C supplementation in aged non-insulin dependent diabetics. J Am Coll Nutr 14(4):387-92, 1995.