About 550,000 people suffer from diabetes and approximately 300,000 have pre-diabetes in North Carolina. People over age 65 and blacks tend to be more prone to this chronic disease. North Carolina has the 10th highest ratet of diabetes in the U.S. The national average is 7.3 percent and it is 8.5 percent in North Carolina. The main killers of people with this disease are heart attacks and strokes. Diabetes also can cause kidney failure, blindness, depression, amputations, nerve damage and periodontal disease.
Even though diabetes has extensively increased in North Carolina and the U.S. over the last ten years, doctors are just now starting to figure out the mystery behind the intricate cycle of cellular occurrence that trigger the development of this persistent disease. Although a cure is not yet on the horizon, researchers are developing new targets for drug therapies.
Diabetes occurs when the body doesn’t make or successfully use insulin. Insulin is a hormone created in the pancreas which enables cells to convert sugars and starches for energy. People who are overweight have an increased chance of getting diabetes, because eating too much, and not exercising enough can exhaust the body’s capacity to use insulin. But important to mention is that not everyone who is heavy will develop the disease and not everyone with diabetes is overweight.
On April 7, a paper was published revealing that Duke University researchers have a new discovery that suggests that diabetes could be affected by protein and not sugary carbohydrates, which has long been thought of as the main culprit. The Duke researchers found that overweight people actually metabolize protein differently than leaner people, especially when it is part of a high-fat diet.
When too much protein and fat are eaten, the metabolic byproducts can not be totally absorbed, so they surge into the bloodstream. One of those byproducts is an enzyme that affects insulin sensitivity. A diet that is predominantly heavy in fat and protein causes the body to change to a different way of becoming insulin resistant.
Christopher Newgard, the director of the Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center at Duke and lead author of the study, said that protein is usually viewed as a good nutrient and it can be when people exercise and eat in moderation. The problem, she suggests, is the typical U.S. and Western society, where 65 percent are overweight due to a sedentary lifestyle and a diet that is too heavy in fat and protein.
0 Responses to “Too much protein and fat could increase risk for developing diabetes”