Slashdot Mirror
Fasting Diet 'Regenerates Diabetic Pancreas' (bbc.com)
According to a new study published in the journal Cell, a certain type of fasting diet can trigger the pancreas to regenerate itself. Of course, the researchers advise people not to try this without medical advice. BBC reports: In the experiments, mice were put on a modified form of the "fasting-mimicking diet." It is like the human form of the diet when people spend five days on a low calorie, low protein, low carbohydrate but high unsaturated-fat diet. It resembles a vegan diet with nuts and soups, but with around 800 to 1,100 calories a day. Then they have 25 days eating what they want -- so overall it mimics periods of feast and famine. Previous research has suggested it can slow the pace of aging. But animal experiments showed the diet regenerated a special type of cell in the pancreas called a beta cell. These are the cells that detect sugar in the blood and release the hormone insulin if it gets too high. There were benefits in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the mouse experiments. Type 1 is caused by the immune system destroying beta cells and type 2 is largely caused by lifestyle and the body no longer responding to insulin. Further tests on tissue samples from people with type 1 diabetes produced similar effects.
We already know that the liver will regenerate itself, and no special dietary restriction is necessary (though you do have to be kind to your liver).
If you cut a chunk off of someone's liver, it will grow back. We've learned this from Hepatitis C patients who have Stage 3 fibrosis or even cirrhosis. Cure the Hepatitis C (which is possible now with the new, expensive, drugs) and the liver will come back from the functionally near-dead. It was once believed to be a one-way process, but it turns out it's not.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Unlike other people, attacking the article, just because they have nothing to contribute, yet want to leave their brain droppings on every topic, I have actually something to say, from personal experience as a type-2 diabetic. Beta cell regeneration is fine and dandy and may help a small portion of type-2 diabetics, but in the US most type-2 diabetes sufferers, are not suffering from not enough beta cells. They are suffering from the condition called insulin resistance. Their body generates enough or some time more than enough insulin. But if the insulin receptors in the cells are not opening up to take in this insulin, it goes to waste. And we have the HFCS to thank for this unfortunate condition in our SAD (Standard American Diet) which the politicians dictated to save the corn field plowing people of the midwest in its day. I hope to see a miracle cure for insulin resistance before I die. RIght now the only thing that works, is a very strict diet (calorie and carb controlled) and a very rigorous physical training for a long-long years time, to reprogram the insulin receptors. Unfortunately, nobody with a day job and family responsibilities, can follow such rigorous program in my opinion, let alone eating in the guidelines of this diet (a.k.a. starvation) Tried and failed miserably after few short weeks, of course with no results to show for. Now shooting Insulin 4-5 times every day, in a vicious circle.
__________
The more I know people, the more I love animals
You *chose* to eat a ********CORN-BASED******** diet and then you blame ********EVERYONE ELSE******** when you get diabetes.
Yes you can. For 30 years, we had public institutions telling people that they should eat a diet based on grains and starch. That was finally exposed as bogus nonsense unsupported by evidence. We can't just shove all the blame onto the individuals who followed the advice of the "experts".
And we have the HFCS to thank for this unfortunate condition
The link between HFCS and diabetes is very, very weak. It is more myth than reality. One study found a correlation at the national level between countries that use a lot of HFCS and also have higher levels of type 2 diabeties, but that is a weak link with very few data points that could have a lot of other explanations rather than direct causality. AFAIK, no study has found a causal link between HFCS and diabetes in humans. If the link was really as strong as many corn critics claim, then it would be very easy to show causality, yet that hasn't happened. I am very interested in this topic, so if someone can cite a study, I would be very interested to see it.
Disclaimer: I try to avoid HFCS (and other sugar as well), but I am not a fanatic about it.
Yes we should be lumping it on the sugar industry. Oh wait, all that money they spent to skew nutrtitional advice is "speech".
https://www.drfuhrman.com/shop... ... I feel great and I never had to go on diabetes medication. My physician is now lowering my blood pressure medication, too. Thank you!!!"
"After I was diagnosed with diabetes, my brother recommended I read Dr. Fuhrman's book The End of Diabetes. I started to read it right away and applied what I learned from it to my own life. By the time I was able to see my doctor -- three weeks later -- I had already lost 15 pounds, my blood glucose levels had returned to normal and the doctor said he had planned on putting me on meds but, after reviewing my new numbers, he would hold off for three more months. By that appointment, I had lost a total of 35 pounds, going from 218 to 188 pounds on my 6'1" frame
Also see reviews here:
https://www.amazon.com/End-Dia...
Key idea:
http://web.archive.org/web/201...
"Scientific evidence suggests that the re-sensitization of taste nerves takes between 30 and 90 days of consistent exposure to less stimulating foods. This means that for several weeks, most people attempting this change will experience a reduction in eating pleasure. This is why modern foods present such a devastating trap--as most of our citizens are, in effect, "addicted" to artificially high levels of food stimulation! The 30-to-90-day process of taste re-calibration requires more motivation-- and more self-discipline -- than most people are ever willing to muster.
Tragically, most people are totally unaware that they are only a few weeks of discipline away from being able to comfortably maintain healthful dietary habits--and to keep away from the products that can result in the destruction of their health. Instead, most people think that if they were to eat more healthfully, they would be condemned to a life of greatly reduced gustatory pleasure--thinking that the process of Phase IV will last forever. In our new book, The Pleasure Trap, we explain this extraordinarily deceptive and problematic situation -- and how to master this hidden force that undermines health and happiness."
I feel Dr. Fuhrman is slightly wrong about a few of things, but overall he is very right on the big picture and a good place to start. Good luck nomad63!
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
Furthermore HFCS and cane [table] sugar are essentially the same thing and both are highly processed. In the case of cane sugar the glucose and fructose molecules are bound together creating a crystalline structure whereas with HFCS the molecules do not share a bond and therefore the substance is much more pliable.
Really eating any excessive amounts of any type of sugar is bad a person's health but there is a huge financial incentive for producers of cane sugar to discredit the much cheaper HFCS even though they're both highly processed, plant based and, practically, have identical chemical composition.
You write "RIght now the only thing that works, is a very strict diet (calorie and carb controlled) and a very rigorous physical training for a long-long years time, to reprogram the insulin receptors." Fortunately, that is not completely true.
I could write an entire thesis here about why this is so, but others already have done so extensively. Just google for "Reverse type 2 diabetes" or LCHF and look out for a website called dietdoctor dot com. Enjoy opening a pandora's box of information.
You might not believe this low carb - high fat (LCHF) moderate protein diet for reversing type 2 diabetes, but what's the harm in trying? In the Netherlands, we are already a few steps further, one of the largest healthcare insurance providers is now providing full coverage for LCHFas an effective and cheap treatment for type 2 diabetes. That has to tell you something.
It's a little-known fact that the current dietary guidelines, primarily based on very weak 50-year-old scientific evidence, are actually driving the non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes and fueling the obesity epidemic. This is why you need to go to places like dietdoctor to find your information and you cannot rely on information from webmd or the mayo clinic. The authors Nina Teicholz and Gary Taubes have written great books about this. Again, enjoy opening a pandora's book.
Considering the rise of pancreatic cancer as a cause of death, most folks would gladly have a spare laying around.
Wouldn't more pancreatic cells increase the risk of pancreatic cancer?
First, I sympathize with this your plight. I have insulin resistance and sugar sensitivity, worsening with age. However, I've scaled my life slowly, in fits and (re)starts, to drop most of my sedentary habits and instead convert that time to movement - any movement. So lunches are walking, before and after work is biking, weekends are more of the same. I would offer that if your family knew you'll be dying earlier, after accumulating a massive medical portfolio and insurance rates, they'd make a lot more windows of time open for you to move. Even if you have to watch the kids, treadmills are perhaps a good way to stay moving and still in one place. Jump-rope, seriously, is so freaking exhausting I'm always surprised how little I can do. Anyway, ease into it, and best of luck. I would never scold you for failures, but don't give up on your health. It's quite seriously the only thing keeping you alive. Get into a "scene" of fitness, online and locally. Nothing helps motivation more than having a friend cheer you along.
It is amazing how much healthy practice gets incorporated into religion. Fasting is important for Muslims and Bhuddists. I'd wager it is not a coincidence.
So do observant Muslims and Buddhists (and Jews) on the Standard American Diet have statistically significant lower incidences of diabetes?
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
The answer seems to be no, at least for muslims.
From http://care.diabetesjournals.o...: "The prevalence of diabetes in several countries with large Muslim populations appears to be similar to the rates observed in western countries and increasing by 10% per year as a result of urbanization and socioeconomic development."
I haven't the patience to search for research on other religions. I do know (from Indian colleagues with diabetes) that South-East Asian populations are genetically predisposed towards a greater diabetes incidence.
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
The daily recommendations for caloric intake is 2000 calories. This is for average person who probably doesn't exist. But still it is a good baseline.
1000 calories is a fasting condition for many people as it is usually the amount of calories you burn all day just surviving. If you actually get out of bed and do stuff you will burn more calories. At the gym for an hour work out I can burn about 900-1300 calories.
The thing is you probably eat more then you think. Unless you measure every item you eat and record its calories. You are probably eating more calories then you think due to having bigger portions adding additional sides, that snak you may have during the day. You may still be slim but chances are you are taking in over 1000 calories.
Sure a person can survive for a long time on 1000 calories but the body is on starvation mode so it will try to limit your activity to prevent you from burning good body parts.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
The author is essentially correct. HFCS and sucrose, are so similar in their biological effect, that they are for practical purposes identical. HFCS consists of free glucose and fructose in an approximately 50:50 ratio (there is a some variability, but infrequently enough to be relevant). Sucrose is a molecule with a glucose and fructose group covalently bonded, hence an exactly 50:50 ratio. The time scale for hydrolysis of the glucose-fructose bond in sucrose is as fast, if not faster, than the time scale for the absorption of the glucose and fructose. The bond is weak, and the energy requirement to break it is negligible (far below 0.5%). Hence there is very little difference in the overall physiological effect, in terms of both quantity and rate of absorption of glucose and fructose, and overall energy release.
If all refined sugar consumption is lumped together, then there is a strong correlation between population sugar consumption and population prevalence of T2 diabetes. Additionally, changes in population t2 diabetes prevalence follow and correlate with changes in population sugar consumption.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0057873
While this is not absolute proof of causation, it is nevertheless provides strong evidence that sugar consumption is an independent risk factor for T2 diabetes, even after correction for other known risk factors.
Hell.. 1000 calories is nothing like fasting.. you can easily live on that 365 days a year..
Baseline for zero activity adult patients is 1800 calories per day. This assumes a hospitalized patient in bed all day. 1000 calories is just over half of what you need so it IS "fasting" even if it's not "starvation". You can NOT survive 365 days a year on 1000 calories per day.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
What are you, a smurf? Or perhaps I sense some developing anorexia...
Diabetes type 1 isn't provenly caused by diet.
The article specifically includes diabetes 1.
Also nobody has been blamed here.
Although I wholeheartedly agree with you that the current Standard American Diet is a pile of shit, your comment is heartless towards people with diabetes type 1.
"Trump!!", the new Godwin.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
Appropriate energy intake for critically ill mechanically respirated patients ~1900kcal/day. That is adjusted for the body weights etc.
https://health.gov/dietaryguid...
Shows that 1000kcal is appropriate for a sedentary 3 year old, 2400kcal for an average 18 year male and 2000kcal for average 18 year female. That is for moderately active people, sedentary people need less and those with high activity need more.
Unfortunately, nobody with a day job and family responsibilities, can follow such rigorous program in my opinion, let alone eating in the guidelines of this diet (a.k.a. starvation)
I'm confused... not eating takes too much time...?
I don't respond to AC's.