The Sweet Truth About Diabetes

Plus: why we age, and why we don't have to

Author

The 10almonds Team
April 28, 2023

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⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

  • Tasty superfoods that can help you stay active and charged throughout the day include spirulina, maca root, chia seeds, quinoa, goji berries, and, in the category of under-rated foods… lentils! See today’s video for more details of how each of these do their thing.

  • Diabetes is not caused by sugar consumption (although it can be an indirectly contributing factor for type 2 diabetes risk)

    • People with diabetes can indeed have sugar

      • Some fruits are beneficial

      • Some artificial sweeteners are harmful

    • Exercise is not always the answer

  • DASH, Mediterranean, and vegetarian eating plans best align with AHA dietary guidance

  • Aging is a genetic disease, and diseases can be cured. No disease has magical properties, even if sometimes it can seem for a while like they do, until we understand them better. Today’s book explains how we’re doing on that one!

Read on to learn about these things and more…

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

6 Tasty Superfoods To Help You Stay Active And Charged Throughout The Day

We’ll not keep them a mystery; they are…

(we do recommend watching the video to best understand their use!)

🩸 MAIN FEATURE

There’s A Lot Of Confusion About Diabetes!

For those readers who are not diabetic, nor have a loved one who is diabetic, nor any other pressing reason to know these things, first a quick 101 rundown of some things to understand the rest of today’s main feature:

  • Blood sugar levels: how much sugar is in the blood, measured in mg/dL or mmol/L

  • Hyperglycemia or "hyper" for short: too much sugar in the blood

  • Hypoglycemia or "hypo" for short: too little sugar in the blood

  • Insulin: a hormone that acts as a gatekeeper to allow sugar to pass, or not pass, into various parts of the body

  • Type 1 diabetes (sometimes capitalized, and/or abbreviated to "T1D") is an autoimmune disorder that prevents the pancreas from being able to supply the body with insulin. This means that taking insulin consistently is necessary for life.

  • Type 2 diabetes is a matter of insulin resistance. The pancreas produces plenty of insulin, but the body has become desensitized to it, so it doesn't work properly. Taking extra insulin may sometimes be necessary, but for many people, it can be controlled by means of a careful diet and other lifestyle factors.

With that in mind, on to some very popular myths…

Diabetes is caused by having too much sugar

While sugar is not exactly a health food, it's not the villain of this story either.

  • Type 1 diabetes has a genetic basis, triggered by epigenetic factors unrelated to sugar.

  • Type 2 diabetes comes from a cluster of risk factors which, together, can cause a person to go through pre-diabetes and acquire type 2 diabetes.

    • Those risk factors include:

      • A genetic predisposition

      • A large waist circumference

        • (this is more relevant than BMI or body fat percentage)

      • High blood pressure

      • A sedentary lifestyle

      • Age (the risk starts rising at 35, rises sharply at 45, and continues upwards with increasing age)

Diabetics can't have sugar

While it's true that diabetics must be careful about sugar (and carbs in general), it's not to say that they can't have them... just: be mindful and intentional about it.

  • Type 1 diabetics will need to carb-count in order to take the appropriate insulin bolus. Otherwise, too little insulin will result in hyperglycemia, or too much insulin will result in hypoglycemia.

  • Type 2 diabetics will often be able to manage their blood sugar levels with diet alone, and slow-release carbs will make this easier.

In either case, having quick release sugars will increase blood sugar levels (what a surprise), and sometimes (such as when experiencing a hypo), that's what's needed.

Also, when it comes to sugar, a word on fruit:

Not all fruits are equal, and some fruits can help maintain stable blood sugar levels! Read all about it:

Artificial sweeteners are must-haves for diabetics

Whereas sugar is a known quantity to the careful diabetic, some artificial sweeteners can impact insulin sensitivity, causing blood sugars to behave in unexpected ways. See for example:

If a diabetic person is hyper, they should exercise to bring their blood sugar levels down

Be careful with this!

  • In the case of type 2 diabetes, it may (or may not) help, as the extra sugar may be used up.

  • Type 1 diabetes, however, has a crucial difference. Because the pancreas isn't making insulin, a hyper (above a certain level, anyway) means more insulin is needed. Exercising could do more harm than good, as unlike in type 2 diabetes, the body has no way to use that extra sugar, without the insulin to facilitate it. Exercising will just pump the syrupy hyperglycemic blood around the body, potentially causing damage as it goes (all without actually being able to use it).

There are other ways this can be managed that are outside of the scope of this newsletter, but "be careful" is rarely a bad approach.

Read more, from the American Diabetes Association:

🌍 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Lifespan: Why We Age—And Why We Don't Have To - by Dr. David Sinclair

Some books on longevity are science-heavy and heavy-going; others are glorified manifestos with much philosophy but little practical.

This one's a sciencey-book written for a lay reader. It's heavily referenced, but not a challenging read.

This book is divided into three parts:

  1. What we know (the past)

  2. What we're learning (the present)

  3. Where we're going (the future)

Let us quickly mention: the last part is principally sociology and economics, which are not the author’s wheelhouse. Some readers may enjoy his thoughts regardless, but we’re going to concentrate on where we found the real value of the book to be: in the first and second parts, where he brings his expertise to bear.

The first part lays the foundational knowledge that's critical for understanding why the second part is so important.

Basically: aging is a genetic disease, and diseases can be cured. No disease has magical properties, even if sometimes it can seem for a while like they do, until we understand them better.

The second part covers a lot of recent and contemporary research into aging. We learn about such things as NAD-agonists that make elderly mice biologically young again, and the Greenland shark that easily lives for 500 years or so (currently the record-holder for vertebrates). And of course, biologically immortal jellyfish.

It's not all animal studies though...

We learn of how NAD-agonists such as NMN have been promising in human studies too, along with resveratrol and the humble diabetes drug, metformin. These things alone may have the power to extend healthy life by 20%

Other recommendations pertain to lifestyle; the usual five things (diet, exercise, sleep, no alcohol, no smoking), as well as intermittent fasting and cryotherapy (cold showers/baths).

Bottom line: this book is informative and inspiring, and if you've been looking for an "in" to understanding the world of biogerontology and/or anti-aging research, this is it.

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Wishing you a wonderful end to the week,

The 10almonds Team