Researchers at Indiana University have reported that they are working on a new drug that much like weight loss surgery will control both obesity and diabetes. On Monday July 14, 2009 the university released their study in the online journal Nature Chemical Biology. According to ABC News, the study reported that two natural hormones combined into a single drug suppressed appetite and increased metabolism in rodents. Within one week of the injection fat mass was reduced by 42 percent and body weight by 25 percent. Let me remind you that this study was on mice and not humans.

While the Super Shot may offer some real hope that obesity and diabetes can be controlled this easy do not expect any thing soon! A lot more testing needs to be done before the drug will be ready for humans. Do not expect this to be available next week or even next year in fact don’t expect to see the Super Shot on the market for about another ten years.

While some day we may have a magic weight loss Super Shot I certainly would encourage you to not wait for it. Control your weight now by diet and exercise and if that is not working it may be time to discuss weight loss surgery with your physician.

At the most general level there are three basic kinds of nutrients – proteins, carbohydrates and fats. While proteins and fats are digested relatively slowly, carbohydrates digest and are absorbed quickly, releasing a surge of glucose into the bloodstream. This sudden rise in blood sugar causes triggers the release of the hormone insulin, whose job it is to lower the blood sugar level. The insulin works to lower blood sugar by removing it from the bloodstream and storing it as body fat. The resulting drop in blood sugar can trigger feelings of hunger, sleepiness or low energy, which many people respond to by consuming more carbohydrates. Which the body turns into more body fat. And so continues the vicious cycle that is almost guaranteed to contribute to weight gain.

All carbohydrates are converted to glucose in the body. And while a small amount of glucose in the bloodstream is essential for healthy brain functioning and energy, eating a diet high in carbohydrates can easily push the blood glucose over the limit, thus triggering the insulin response which ultimately converts that excess glucose into body fat. But this doesn’t automatically mean that all carbohydrates are bad. While there are definitely some “bad” carbohydrates that don’t offer much in the way of nutritional benefits, there are other carbohydrates that contain many nutrients and fiber that’s essential for good health.

What Is The Glycemic Index

The glycemic index measures how much your blood glucose rises after eating a particular food and ranks these foods from 0 to 100 based on the results. You can find a listing of foods and their glycemic index in the database at http://www.glycemicindex.com.

Foods with a glycemic value of 70 or above have a high GI (glycemic index), these foods will cause a rapid increase in blood glucose and insulin levels. Foods that fall between 56 and 69 have a medium GI, and will cause a moderate rise in blood glucose and insulin levels. Anything with a GI of 55 or less will produce only a small rise in blood glucose and insulin, so these are the foods you want to strive to eat more of, while reducing your intake of high GI foods.

How Can A Low GI Diet Help?

A low GI diet can help to control your weight by controlling your hunger. Remember, it’s the sudden rise and fall of blood sugar that makes you crave more carbohydrates. If you can interrupt that cycle, many of your food cravings will disappear.

Processed foods, like white flour, pasta, white rice, and processed cereals rank high on the glycemic index. Since most of the nutrition and fiber have been processed out of these foods they contribute little in the way of nutritional benefits, and the high glucose hit they provide will be turned into body fat, so they are best avoided.

There are however, some high or medium GI foods that are healthy and contain important nutrients essential to a healthy diet. The trick here is to moderate your intake of these foods as well as combine them with low GI foods so that the overall result is on the lower end of the scale. As well as listing the GI of individual foods, the database at http://www.glycemicindex.com also includes some common combinations of foods. If you look up the individual components to see what GI they have and compare that to the combined GI, you’ll start to get a feel for how different foods can influence the total GI of a meal.

However, some health professionals and experts do believe that a low-glycemic load diet, coupled with multivitamin, chromium and cinnamon, plus moderate amount of exercise usually can reverse this condition.

This strategy does not seem to be accepted by many qualified dietitians. They argue that, for the management of diabetes, there is no clear evidence to support the benefits from vitamin or mineral supplementation in people without any underlying nutrient deficiencies.

So, whom should we listen to?

The diabetes experts, Dr Fedon Lindberg also recommends the aforesaid strategy. His vast experience with Type 2 diabetes patients is that a balanced low-glycemic load diet coupled with a healthy lifestyle can reverse the disease.

His many patients who came for injecting as many as 200 units of insulin daily manage to quit insulin and medication for blood pressure and other conditions. These patients have achieved perfect, non-diabetic, long-term blood sugar values (HBA1c) and normal blood pressure, cholesterol and lipid levels merely through diet and lifestyle improvement.

His book, The Greek Doctor’s Diet, give very clear instructions as to how to achieve this.

A diabetic patient weighing 140 kg, whose blood sugar was 19.2 and had to take Metformin, was asked by his doctor to follow Dr Lindberg’s recommended diet for 4 weeks. His blood sugar is down to between 5.8 and 6.0 and he had lost 12 kg.

There are research reports that support the use of cinnamon and chromium on better managing of blood sugar, and essential fatty acids for diabetes and cardiovascular protection.

For example, a study conducted in China proved that doses of chromium up to 1000 mcg per day was highly effective in relieving many of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Another study on the effect of cinnamon on diabetics showed that 1, 3 or 6 g of cinnamon daily (up to 1 teaspoon daily), lowered the sugar levels by up to 29 percent. Other markers such as triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol also improved.

Nonetheless, what works for others may not be suitable for you! So, diabetics should not take the risk of arbitrarily replacing their medication with supplements or herbs without consulting their doctors. Do your research!

Remember, some supplements especially herbal preparations may interact with the medications prescribed by doctors.

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I don’t think that anybody would dispute the fact we need to take some regular exercise, but only about 30% of people in the United States are currently getting the recommended level of thirty minutes exercise a day and it is frightening to discover that 25% of Americans today take very little or no exercise at all.

So what does this have to do with type 2 diabetes?

In recent years, in large part as a result of lower levels of activity, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people who are overweight in the United States and indeed obesity in America has now reached epidemic proportions. One major side-effect of this is that, as weight rises, so does insulin resistance and the onset of type 2 diabetes.

If you are skeptical about the connection between weight and diabetes then you only need to look at the latest statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Services which show that a staggering 80% of people suffering from type 2 diabetes are also classed as being clinically overweight.

If we are to reverse the rising trend in the number of people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes then we must attack one of its root causes which is increasing weight. In turn, this means looking carefully at our diet but, just as importantly, looking at the amount of exercise we take to burn off the calories we are eating.

Perhaps the biggest problem whenever anyone mentions exercise is that it conjures up a picture of having to put on a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt and jog around the local park or join those fitness fanatics down at the local gym. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Of course you can go jogging if you want to, or join your local gym, but there are numerous other options open to you.

The secret is simply to add activity into your daily routine which stretches you physically. Not to the point at which you feel you are about to collapse, but simply to the point at which you are aware of making your body do a bit of extra work.

So what sort of things are we talking about?

Well, if you live in an apartment on the fifth floor, use the stairs instead of taking the lift. If you ride the bus to work, get off a couple of stops early and walk the last part of your journey. If your garden is in need of attention, get out once or twice a week and push the mower around, do some weeding or dig over the vegetable patch.

This list of exercise opportunities is virtually endless and it doesn’t really matter how you get your exercise. What is important is that you look carefully at your lifestyle and, in particular, at your daily routine and try to work in at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. Combine this with taking a close look at your eating habits and both your weight and the problems associated with type 2 diabetes will begin to fall.

High cholesterol and blood pressure, for example, are common symptoms among obese children. This is a dangerous sign, as both can be difficult to treat and may follow suit for years to come. Heart disease, for instance, is just one result of having high cholesterol. For this reason, starting your child off on the wrong foot can be extremely damaging. It is important that you feed them a healthy portion of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Also try nuts and anything with soy – these are great for you and also are known to lower cholesterol. If your child is picky, I would suggest making up a batch of trail mix, including both nuts and even oats with a little flavor. In addition, try chocolate or strawberry soy milk. Healthy foods that will naturally lower cholesterol is already one step ahead.

Diabetes is another disease that tends to target obese children. Though there are several different kinds, Type II is most prevalent among young adolescents. This means that your body produces very low levels of insulin. As a result, it cannot be broken down and converted into energy. This leaves children feeling weak, tired and unable to find the energy to live an active lifestyle. Even more, it can create additional symptoms such as blurred vision or the need to urinate frequently. While this illness is serious and can be fatal, it does have room for improvement. With the right diet and exercise, you can normalize your child’s blood sugar and get rid of Diabetes entirely.

Obesity can also increase the risk of cancer, sleep apnea and strokes. Though children rarely are victims of these illnesses at such an early age, it is still possible and does happen. If they continue to battle morbid obesity as they get older, these illnesses become even more realistic. Therefore, it is critical that you limit your child’s junk food intake and promote a healthy well being as early as you can. Encourage activities such as swimming, playing baseball or even ice skating. Many parents do not realize how imperative it is to watch such factors closely. The dangers of obesity are severe and can lead to death – thus, it is never too early to make sure health is a top priority. It could save a life.