Tag Archives: diabetes

The faux-low carb mouse and a diatribe

The faux-low carb mouse

Hyperinsulinemia drives diet-induced obesity blah blah blah (Mehran et al., 2012)

The researchers generated a mouse with half as much insulin as normal mice.  Physiological insulin levels remain intact, but hyperinsulinemia is genetically inhibited.  For the sake of simplicity, we’ll call them “InsKO.”

When fed a high fat diet, normal mice become markedly hyperinsulinemic (pink line) whereas InsKO mice maintain relatively normal insulin levels (red line).  Blue lines are chow-fed mice; similar trend but less interesting.

divide and conquer

InsKO mice don’t get fat,

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Up in smoke

I’m not pro-big tobacco or cigarettes, but I am anti-scare tactics.  It is usually the news media or politicians, exaggerating and/or grossly misinterpreting some study findings in order to make a great headline or secure votes.  But in this case, it wasn’t. The predators who were preying on our fear were the scientists.  Smokers of the world, unite!

Myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death in Olmsted County, Minnesota, before and after smoke-free workplace laws  (Hurt et al., 2012)

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“An adult conversation” about the Look AHEAD study

Extra! Extra!    Read all about it!  (after you sign up for the new EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS on the right)

Moderate weight loss alone doesn’t lower heart disease risk in diabetics, study shows
Diabetes study ends early with a surprising result
NIH trial of lifestyle intervention for type 2 diabetes stopped for futility after 11 years

Notice none of the headlines read “Low fat diet is not heart-healthy for diabetics,” but that’s exactly what the latest epic fail demonstrated.  Reminiscent of the Women’s Health Initiative (circa 2006), the Look Ahead study tested a long-term low fat diet in diabetics.  If a protective effect had been shown, this study would’ve gone done in the history books as definitive proof that a low fat diet is superior.  But it wasn’t, and unfortunately that probably won’t count as anything for the opposition.  In brief, the planned 14 year study was stopped after 11.5 years because cardiovascular events weren’t lowered by the low fat diet (and might even have been increased; the manuscript hasn’t been published [yet?]).

The Women’s Health Initiative, which cost taxpayers something in the ballpark of $625,000,000 (six hundred twenty five million dollars > a half billion), showed that reducing dietary fat by 8 percentage points (from 37.8% to 28.8%; a 23.8% reduction) for 8 years had no effect on heart health and was even detrimental for people with CVD at baseline.  I repeat: CVD patients assigned to the low fat dietary intervention experienced more cardiovascular events than those in the control group (you heard it here first).  But for some reason, the Look AHEAD researchers thought they might get a different result if they tried this in diabetics?  A low fat high carb diet in patients with bona fide carbohydrate intolerance?  really?

REALLY?

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skinny is the new fat, Op. 95

I’ve been known to rave about the phenomenon of metabolically obese normal weight (MONW), or fat skinny people.  In brief, this population exhibits insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, hypertension… all things usually associated with obesity… but they’re lean.   In fat skinny people, I wrote about two epidemiological studies on markedly different populations (Americans and Koreans); these two peoples have virtually nothing in common (culture, foods, genetics, etc.).  Despite these differences, there was a strong similarity in the macronutrients associated with metabolic dysregulation in otherwise lean individuals (aka fat skinny people): in the first study, high carb and low protein diets were the major culprits, with a smaller contribution of low fat.  In the second study, high carb and low fat were at fault (protein intake wasn’t analyzed).

A new study that is about to hit the presses didn’t intend to say anything about fat skinny people, but they weren’t counting on ME.

Body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, and short-term mortality: a population-based observational study, 2000-2006 (Jerant and Franks, 2012)

This study included over 50,000 people aged 18-90.  Between the years 2000 and 2005 about 3% died, which was statistically just enough to ask “why?”  In brief, they compared body weight, blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes with mortality risk.  

In each BMI category, the square is higher than the circle.  DM = diabetes (the squares).  Diabetes increases mortality risk independent of BMI.  Now just focusing on the squares; as you move from left to right, body weight is increasing but mortality risk in diabetics is decreasing.  A 150 pound diabetic has a higher mortality risk than a 200 pound diabetic, who has a higher mortality risk than a 250 pound diabetic.  Huh?

Perhaps the lean diabetics are fat skinny people, the elusive MONW?  If so, according to the research discussed HERE, their diet might have made them that way.  The lean diabetics (aka fat skinny people aka MONW aka NOD [non-obese diabetics]) eat less protein, more carbs, and less fat.  This might be a reach, but collectively (1 + 2 + 3) these data imply a poor diet might be worse than obesity for diabetics.

disclaimer: this is not true in most circumstances, i.e., skinny people can usually whatever they want.  There are skinny diabetics, but they are significantly rarer than obese diabetics.  In other words, most type II diabetics are obese, the lean ones just eat a crappier diet. You might be wondering: “how are they skinny if they eat so poorly?”  My guess is that they just haven’t eaten enough of it [yet]; it’s rare to stay lean on a “crappier diet.”

So is skinny the new fat?  Being lean with type II diabetes is an indicator of EMPTY CALORIES; it could be riskier for all-cause mortality than obesity in diabetics.

“Attention endocrinologists, diabetologists, and general practitioners: don’t assume diet is not a problem in your skinny diabetics because they are skinny.  Indeed, diet might be THE problem.”

And no, if you’re a skinny diabetic, this DOESN’T mean gaining weight will make you live longer.  it just doesn’t.

 

it just doesn’t.

calories proper