Being open about parts of his personal life and health is nothing new to Nick Jonal, as he always wanted to be candid with his fans about his type 1 diabetes since he first received his diagnosis at 13.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
According to a new study published in Nature Medicine, sugary drinks are responsible for more than 2.2 million cases of diabetes and 1.1 million new cases of heart disease a year around the world.
The study highlighted rising health inequalities, citing that Latin America and the Caribbean say sugary drinks contribute to about 24% of new type 2 diabetes cases in 2020.
In sub-Saharan Africa, they had the greatest percentage increase in diabetes cases from 1990 to 2020, and sugary drinks led to 21% of new diabetes cases and 11% of new heart disease cases.
Columbia, Mexico, and South Africa also experienced major rises. Half of new diabetes cases in Columbia were connected to sugary drink consumption. One-third of new diabetes cases in Mexico were also linked with 27.6% of cases in South Africa also being connected.
Part of the science behind this connection has to do with how quickly sugary drinks are digested. The speed causes a spike in blood-sugar levels and provides little nutritional value.
“Sugar-sweetened beverages are heavily marketed and sold in low- and middle-income nations. Not only are these communities consuming harmful products, but they are also often less well equipped to deal with the long-term health consequences,” Dariush Mozaffarian, one of the paper’s authors, said.
Around 830 million people have diabetes around the world. A majority of these individuals live in low to middle income countries. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented, unlike type 1. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death around the world with about 17.9 million people dying from the disease annually.
“We are seeing a rise in the popularity of sugary drinks fuelled by influencer culture online. In urban centres, young people are targeted by social media influencers that are paid to promote branded sugary drinks to them, filling an information gap left by the lack of school-based nutrition education,” Dr Catherine Kanari, a non-communicable diseases specialist for Amref Health Africa in Kenya, said.
“Ultimately, a rise in diabetes cases risks straining our health system to beyond its limits.”
The authors of the study are hoping that their research will spark greater conversations about the measures that can be taken to help prevent this consistent increase in diabetes and heart disease. They’re calling for more public health compaigns as well as greater regulation on sugary drink advertisements.
“Much more needs to be done, especially in countries in Latin America and Africa where consumption is high and the health consequences severe,” said Mozaffarian.
“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
According to a new study recently published in the journal Nature Medicine, consuming too many refined carbohydrates, such as wheat and rice products, as well as a lack of grains is contributing to the global growth rate of type 2 diabetes.
Senior author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, professor of nutrition and medicine at Tufts University said in a statement that the “study suggests poor carbohydrate quality is a leading driver of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes globally.”
The study also stated that the consumption of red, processed meats is also a contributing factor. The main three conclusions the study cited as primary drivers to over 14 million new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2018 were eating too few whole grains, too many processed carbohydrates/grains, and too much red meat.
“These new findings reveal critical areas for national and global focus to improve nutrition and reduce devastating burdens of diabetes.”
The study estimated that 70% of cases of type 2 diabetes around the world in 2018 were linked to habits relating to food consumption.
Dr. Mozaffarian and his team involved in the study developed their research model based on dietary intake from 1990 and 2018, and applied the research to 184 countries. When they compared the numbers from 1990 to 2018, they found that 8.6 million more cases of type 2 diabetes brought on by poor diet choices developed.
For men, urban residents, and younger individuals especially, the researchers found that eating too many unhealthy foods was a larger contributing factor than not enough healthy foods in some cases.
Eating too much refined rice, wheat, potatoes, processed/unprocessed meats, and drinking too much sugar-sweetened beverages account for the main dietary habits attributed with 60% of the total global diet-attributable cases of type 2 diabetes.
On the other end, a lack of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and yogurt attributed to around 39% of cases.
Individuals in Poland, Russia, and other Eastern/Central European countries where diets tend to focus on red/processed meat and potatoes, had the highest percentage of new type 2 diabetes cases.
“Our modeling approach does not prove causation, and our findings should be considered as estimates of risk,” the authors wrote.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
According to a study published in Nature Magazine on Monday, researchers have found links between erythritol, a common low-calorie sugar substitute, and an increased risk for cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.
In the past, medical researchers have raised concerns about the long-term safety of sugar substitutes companies frequently use in products marketed as sugar-free, low-calorie or light. These products often use polyol (sugar alcohol) sweeteners like erythritol as a common component of diet varietals of foods like yogurt, ice cream, puddings and candies.
Many so-called “natural” stevia and monk fruit products also contain erythritol as their primary, weight-based ingredient. Since even a tiny amount of stevia or monk fruit is 200 to 400 times sweeter than sugar, erythritol is often used as a bulking agent to give the product a sugary, crystalline appearance and texture consumers are used to.
Dr. Stanley Hazen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic and an author of the study, told The New York Times that while people opt for these diet meals and drinks to make a positive change, “They may inadvertently be doing harm.”
Researchers analyzed the blood erythritol levels of around 4,000 participants from the United States and Europe. They found that those with the highest sugar substitute concentration in their blood were more likely to have a stroke or heart attack.
“If your blood level of erythritol was in the top 25% compared to the bottom 25%, there was about a twofold higher risk for heart attack and stroke. It’s on par with the strongest of cardiac risk factors, like diabetes.”
When mice were given erythritol as part of the study, they were more likely to suffer from blood clots. Erythritol also induced clotting in human blood and plasma.
The sugar alcohol remained in the blood of eight persons for more than two days after they ingested amounts similar to those found in a pint of keto ice cream or a can of an artificially sweetened beverage.
“Every way we looked at it, it kept showing the same signal,” Dr. Hazen said.
“It has long been believed that used sugar substitutes such as erythritol will reduce calories from carbohydrate intake while still allowing food to taste good,” Dr. Yu-Ming Ni, M.D., a cardiologist at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, told Yahoo News. “However, we have seen in repeated studies that sugar substitutes have side effects that go beyond simply imitating the taste of sugar.”
Dr. Ni notes that this work’s most significant contribution is demonstrating a possible mechanism by which artificial sweeteners can damage blood vessels. Until this correlation is confirmed and replicated by other research, we cannot conclude that erythritol consumption causes an increase in heart disease. Until then, it is unknown whether complete abstinence from all artificial sweeteners is required.
“I often advise my patients to eat food as naturally as possible, as that reduces the risk of exposure to potentially harmful chemicals like artificial sweeteners, and to consider sugar substitutes if it serves as a means to help overweight people with weight loss since overall weight loss has clearer evidence for health improvement.”
Dr. Dariush Mazaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, who was not involved with the study, told The New York Times that not enough studies have been conducted to determine the long-term health effects of sugar substitutes definitively.
“That’s the problem. Regardless of this study, there’s just not been enough evidence that they’re really safe.”
The Calorie Control Council, which represents the low and reduced-calorie food and beverage industry, said in a statement that “The results of this study are contrary to decades of scientific research showing reduced-calorie sweeteners like erythritol are safe, as evidenced by global regulatory permissions for their use in foods and beverages.”
“Erythritol is a proven safe and effective choice for sugar and calorie reduction and, for more than 30 years, has been used in reduced-sugar foods and beverages to provide sweetness, as well as enhance their taste and texture. Along with exercise and a healthy diet, reduced-calorie sweeteners are a critical tool that can help consumers manage body weight and reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease.”
Dr. Mozaffarian notes that there were several caveats to the study. Most of the participants were over the age of 60 and already suffered from cardiovascular disease or were already at high risk for developing it due to conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
The study also did not provide conclusive evidence to suggest erythritol caused heart attacks and strokes, only that it elevated cardiovascular risk.
Dr. Priya M. Freaney, a cardiologist at Northwestern University who was not involved with the study, told The New York Times that she agreed that the study requires further validation. However, “It’s concerning enough that it certainly deserves more investigation.”
Due to their rising popularity over the past decade, sugar substitutes have prompted scientists to research their possible impacts on human health more urgently. New York University emerita professor of nutrition, food studies and public health Dr. Marion Nestle, who was not involved in the study, commented on the large body of literature on artificial sweeteners and its often-contradictory findings.
Past studies examining links between artificial sweeteners and cancer and cardiovascular diseases have concluded that these chemicals may increase the risk of these conditions, but only marginally. They also conclude that more research is needed.
“There are going to be studies that show that it’s good, bad or indifferent. People have been consuming artificial sweeteners for years. It’s really hard to put your finger on any specific problem.”
Dr. Joanne Slavin, professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, told The New York Times that previous research has determined erythritol is a suitable replacement for sugar. However, much of the research was performed on animals. Examining sugar substitutes’ health effects when consumed as part of a larger diet further complicates things.
For example, those who consume high amounts of artificial sweeteners may already be at risk for cardiovascular issues, prompting the switch to sugar substitutes in the first place.
“That’s the really important thing, for people to not say, ‘Hey, this stuff is terrible, it’s giving us heart attacks.’ No. This is another data point that says, ‘Hey, we have to look into this.’”
Moumita Basuroychowdhury is a Contributing Reporter at The National Digest. After earning an economics degree at Cornell University, she moved to NYC to pursue her MFA in creative writing. She enjoys reporting on science, business and culture news. You can reach her at moumita.b@thenationaldigest.com.
According to reports from Reuters, more than 100,000 Americans died from diabetes in 2021, marking the second straight year in which deaths exceeded that number. The new figures have been released as an expert panel continues to urge Congress to overhaul diabetes care and prevention.
The panel is calling for broad policy change such as promoting the consumption of healthier foods, ensuring paid leave from the workplace, increasing taxes on sugary drinks, and expanding access to affordable housing and healthcare.
In 2019, diabetes was the seventh-leading cause of death in America, claiming the lives of about 87,000. The past three years alone reflect a long-running failure to address the disease and how the government can make treatment/prevention easy and affordable for those impacted. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made it harder for individuals to access care.
According to a Reuters analysis of provisional death data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “diabetes-related deaths surged 17% in 2020 and 15% in 2021 compared to the pre pandemic level in 2019. That excluded deaths directly attributed to COVID-19. Additional deaths from 2021 are still being tallied.”
“The large number of diabetes deaths for a second year in a row is certainly a cause for alarm. Type 2 diabetes itself is relatively preventable, so it’s even more tragic that so many deaths are occurring,” said Dr. Paul Hsu, an epidemiologist at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health.
In a new report, the National Clinical Care Commission created by Congress said that the “United States must adopt a more comprehensive approach to prevent more people from developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form, and to help people who are already diagnosed avoid life-threatening complications. About 37 million Americans, or 11% of the population, have diabetes, and one in three Americans will develop the chronic disease in their lifetime if current trends persist,” according to the commission.
“Diabetes in the U.S. cannot simply be viewed as a medical or health care problem, but also must be addressed as a societal problem that cuts across many sectors, including food, housing, commerce, transportation and the environment,” the commission wrote in a report to Congress and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The commission said the “United States should better promote the purchase of fruits and vegetables in food assistance programs and ensure mothers have paid family leave to aid breastfeeding, which can help reduce the risk of diabetes in mothers and is associated with a reduced risk of obesity and diabetes in children.Additionally, imposing taxes on sugary drinks that would raise their shelf price by 10% to 20% and using the revenue to expand access to clean drinking water and fund similar programs.
In a statement, the CDC said the “report’s recommendations offer a detailed roadmap to addressing rising health-care costs attributed to diabetes, and reducing racial, ethnic, and income-related disparities in diabetes outcomes.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
Everyone knows that practicing healthy habits, such as dieting, exercising, and avoiding cigarettes, can extend one’s life span and improve one’s quality of life. However, it can be difficult to conceptualize exactly how much of a benefit these habits offer in one’s life, as it’s easy for these metrics to become somewhat abstract. As such, a study published in the British Medical Journal sought to quantify exactly how much a healthy lifestyle benefits one’s life, and found that practicing a healthy lifestyle can expand one’s disease-free lifespan by an average of ten years.
The study looked at five factors associated with a healthy lifestyle, which included drinking alcohol in moderation, not smoking, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and eating well. The study, which looked at more than 100,000 people, found that people who practiced four of these five traits lived as much as ten years longer without diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, than people who practiced none of these habits. Not only does a healthy lifestyle allow people to live longer lives, but the quality of life increases when people practice healthy lifestyle habits, as the risk of developing diseases decreases dramatically.
Specifically, the study found that women who practiced any four of the five traits in question lived an average of 84 years without disease, whereas women who practiced none of the five habits only lived an average of 74 years without disease. Likewise, men with four out of the five healthy habits lived to 81 years old without disease, whereas men who practiced none of the healthy habits lived to 73 years old without disease. The most unhealthy characteristics a person can have, the study found, were smoking more than 15 cigarettes a day or having a BMI greater than 30, which is defined as obesity.
While the study shows that moderate drinking is far healthier than heavy drinking, it’s important to note that other studies have shown that no amount of alcohol is good for you, despite persistent rumors that suggest that having a glass of wine with dinner can improve one’s health. In fact, using recreational drugs at all is widely considered to have either a neutral or a negative impact on one’s health, and definitely not a positive one. Instead of relying on drugs as a method of reducing stress, doctors recommend other methods that help to both relieve stress and improve health. Regular exercise, for instance, has been shown to improve one’s overall mood, and meditation, a practice whereby people focus on paying attention to their experiences in the present moment, can improve mental health as well. If, like most people, you’re concerned about extending the longevity and quality of your life, it’s not a bad idea to think about the various ways in which your current lifestyle habits might contribute to disease and develop strategies to improve your lifestyle habits.
Tyler Olhorst is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. You can reach him at inquiries@thenationaldigest.com.
The field of nutrition, it seems, is constantly evolving as new studies refute the findings of previous ones and scientists learn more about how the human body processes food. This has led to the emergence of so-called “fad diets,” which prescribe unconventional limitations on eating and promise to help people lose weight and feel better.
One such diet which has exploded in popularity is the ketogenic diet, which emphasizes eliminating the intake of nearly all carbohydrates to put the body into ketosis, which is a different way of processing food. But some nutritionists argue that it’s unhealthy to put the body into this state for an extended period of time, even though ketosis helps with weight loss and can have other positive effects. As research into this form of dieting continues, nutritionists are learning more about how the body reacts to a carbohydrate-free diet and the various health implications of putting your body into ketosis.
Ketosis is a state brought about by the elimination of carbohydrates from one’s diet, and is characterized by the presence of molecules called ketones in a person’s bloodstream. Without carbohydrates, the body is forced to instead rely on burning fat and protein for energy, leading in many cases to weight loss. Many people believe that ketosis lowers one’s risk of developing heart disease and diabetes, and people who are on the ketogenic diet report feeling more energized and motivated.
The ketogenic diet has been shown to offer advantages not present in many other popular diets, as obese people who started the ketogenic diet lost weight rapidly, with few side effects, and kept off the weight so long as they continued the diet. As such, the diet can be particularly useful for people with obesity, as the rapid onset of weight loss it causes, in addition to the ease of incorporating the keto diet into one’s life, can encourage dieters to stick to their weight-loss plan. That being said, the diet is very strict, as the body can be rapidly taken out of ketosis by the introduction of carbohydrates, leading to negative health consequences both in the form of weight gain and fatigue or other conditions.
The keto diet, however, has more than its fair share of critics. Many argue that while the ketogenic diet can be useful to treat obesity or in the short term, it can actually damage the body in the long term. Lisa Cimperman, a clinical dietitian at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, argues that the keto diet causes people to lose muscle and experience fatigue, and actually puts the body into a starvation mode, making it even more difficult to lose weight as time goes on. While not every dietician believes that the ketogenic diet leads to muscle loss, most agree that anyone who is interested in building muscle should not use the keto diet, as ketosis is certainly not optimal for strength training.
Instead of so-called “fad diets” like the keto diet which offer impressive results in the short term but have questionable viability in the long term, most nutritionists advise their patients to consider dieting more as a set of lifestyle choices than as a regimented, temporary program. The most successful diets are the ones that people stick to for extended periods of time, as a lifetime of healthy eating provides the most positive impact. As such, food shouldn’t be thought of in terms of how it should be limited, but rather people should look forward to their meals, as this mindset is better for long-term success. Adopting a mediterranean diet, which emphasizes fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry, and eggs, is widely considered to be a safer and more effective option in the long term. Additionally, conversation about different forms of dieting often excludes discussion about exercise, which is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle, and should be considered in conjunction with choices about what you eat for best results. As such, while the ketogenic diet is tempting for its quick results, people who are serious about living a more healthy life are probably better off avoiding it.
Tyler Olhorst is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. You can reach him at inquiries@thenationaldigest.com.
A study conducted by the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, through its StopDia program, and published by Science Daily showed promising results when it comes to using apps to promote healthy lifestyle changes, particularly in people who are susceptible to developing type-2 diabetes.
Tyler Olhorst is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. You can reach him at inquiries@thenationaldigest.com.