There are daily updates in the news about diabetes and its treatment. Read on to find out new trending topics in the field of diabetes. Understand how to help yourself.
1. Which foods/beverages are known to cause anxiety or make your anxiety worse?
Over 40 million people in the US suffer with anxiety or have anxiety disorders. When you eat certain foods, cortisol levels increase which raises blood sugars. Cortisol is the primary hormone in our body that “increases stress and anxiety.”
Some of the common foods and beverages which may worsen anxiety include:
Alcohol. You may think that alcohol relaxes you, but it may enhance your anxiety level. It changes levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, increasing anxiety. “Drinking alcohol dumps a flood of dopamine into the pleasure center of the brain. The chemical only lasts a short time.” The dopamine level drops, and the anxiety begins to increase.
There is also an elevation of GABA, another neurotransmitter. GABA creates relaxation. When the alcohol is metabolized by your body, your anxiety level can elevate even more and creates a never-ending cycle. The body demands alcohol as a crutch to end anxiety, yet it is causing it.
Drinking alcohol also disrupts quality sleep, making you feel even more anxious. Turn to healthier alternatives to “take the edge off” such as exercise, deep-breathing, acupuncture or meditation.
Instead of drinking alcohol drink sparkling water in a fancy glass and add a splash of cranberry juice, ice cubes and a slice of lime. This will help you feel like you are drinking a cocktail. Drink non-alcoholic beer or wine as it offers the taste without the alcohol or side-effects.
Caffeine. Caffeine is not “bad for you” but it may cause anxiety levels to rise in certain people. According to the FDA, it’s best for most individuals to “not exceed 2-3 cups of a caffeinated beverage or 400 milligrams a day.” A 2020 study found that students who consumed more than 400mg of caffeine a day “reported spells of terror or panic, headaches and extreme worry.”
Remember, caffeine is not just in a cup of coffee. Caffeine is found in regular tea, especially black tea, energy drinks, energy bars, certain headache medications, cocoa and chocolate. Switch to herbal tea in refreshing flavors such as mint, lavender or lemon balm. These teas are both tasty and soothing.
Added sugars. When you have diabetes, you already know “eating added sugars is not encouraged since it will raise your sugar levels.” Added sugars do not only raise blood sugars quickly, but they also may add to anxiety levels. A “sugar rush” is tough on anyone but even worse if you have diabetes.
Added sugars can make you feel worried, distraught, overwhelmed, irritated, sad and anxious. Added sugars are not just found in desserts. Think of condiments such as ketchup, BBQ sauce, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, bottled salad dressings, breakfast cereals and breakfast bars.
Try to eat fresh fruits, vegetables, low-fat cheese, unsalted nuts and seeds. Natural sugars found in sweet potatoes and fruit will not provoke anxiety.
Refined carbohydrates/Processed foods. When you have diabetes, refined carbs are generally off limits since they are stripped of fiber and nutrients. Refined carbohydrates are also associated with symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression. Refined carbs include both refined sugars and refined grains.
“Refined sugar is made from sugar cane or sugar beets and are processed a specific way to obtain the sugar. Included would be white pasta, white bread and white rice. Also included are pastries, pies, cookies, ready to eat meals, sodas, bagged and boxed foods. Try to eat multigrain, sour dough, whole grain or sprouted bread to keep anxiety levels in check. Use brown rice, wild rice, barley or couscous.
Saturated fats. Red meats, fatty meats, bacon and other processed meats and fried foods are known to increase anxiety levels.
As with diabetes, eating whole fruits and vegetables, low fat dairy, legumes, beans, whole grains, skinless poultry and fish with plenty of calorie-free beverages will help your hormones and anxiety levels come down.
2. Why can sitting for long periods of time be extremely dangerous?
Health care providers now refer to it as “sitting disease”, an accepted term for the negative effects of being too inactive. Sitting deconditions your body. It weakens your core muscles, changes your posture, decreases your spine flexibility, adds to hip pain, ankle pain, shoulder pain, back pain and osteoporosis (thinning of the bones).
Too much sitting can lead to high blood pressure, swollen feet, high blood sugar, changes in blood flow, excess fat production, metabolic syndrome, blood clot formation, is bad for your mental health and even may cause certain cancers. Sedentary lifestyle has become too common for both the young and old.
“Sitting is the new smoking” is also a common term used to prove the negative implications of this kind of lifestyle. Studies done have shown “discomfort in the body rose after just 2 hours of sitting.” It does not matter if the sitting is in a car, a train, a plane or at a desk. Most people do not realize how much they sit in a day.
“On average, 11-12 hours a day of sitting is a common American practice.” This does not include sleeping. People 65 years of age or older “watch about 6.5 hours of television a day.” Between mealtime, TV time, phone time, reading, working, doing paperwork and computer time, the hours just continue to add up.
According to The World Health Organization (WHO) “Insufficient physical activity is the 4th leading risk factor for death.” It accounts for 3.2 million worldwide deaths a year. According to research done at The University College of London “sitting lowers your brain power. Sitting more than 10 hours a day increases your chance of eventually developing dementia.”
Over 13 studies reviewed in 2016 “found sitting for 8 hours a day (a typical workday) puts you at similar risk of dying from smoking and obesity.” A study of over 8000 adults in the US showed an association between “sitting and risk of early death from any cause.”
Common guidelines of sitting include:
- Low risk = sitting for less than 4 hours a day
- Medium risk = sitting for 4-8 hours a day
- High risk = sitting for 8-11 hours a day
- Very high risk = sitting for more than 11 hours a day
What is the answer?
Doing 30 minutes of exercise a day is helpful but not the answer. Moving around while you are sitting is better than sitting in one place. Moving for 5 minutes every 30 minutes is best. Call it an exercise snack. Fidget in place. Make arm circles at your desk. Stand up and sit down several times. March in place, tap your toes, do ankle rolls or leg lifts.
Use a “sit to stand desk”. Keep 1-2 pound weights at your desk and use them often. Do jumping jacks, jump rope or do squats during TV commercials. Walk to the mailbox before and after every meal. Go up and down the stairs after reading 20 pages in your book. Take fitness breaks even after washing up in the morning or evening or brushing your hair.
Pair socializing with moving. Join a pickleball league, start a walking club, plant in a community garden. Put a lumbar roll at the small of your back to correct poor posture and alignment while you sit. Check arm placement on your desk, look for 90-degree angles. Do not hunch over. Make sure your feet rest comfortably on the ground.
Put a box under your feet if they do not touch the floor. Standing burns twice the number of calories compared to sitting. Look into a gym membership. Find a friend to go with you. See if your health insurance offers Silver Sneakers or any other group discount program.
“Movement is medicine.” Get your physician to write you a prescription if you think it might help.
3. Adults with type 2 diabetes improve A1C values with proper medication use – using a pharmacist referral
When patients with type 2 diabetes “consulted with a clinical pharmacist after a written referral their A1C declined by 1.9 %”. Patients with diabetes do benefit from diabetes education and adding a session with a clinical pharmacist to individually discuss your medications is considered a new part of the interdisciplinary team.
The clinical pharmacist was also able to help improve the outcomes of cardiovascular disease, as well as the outcomes of chronic kidney disease. These are both the biggest complications seen with diabetes. Over 650 patients were studied. Working with the clinical pharmacist “allowed these diabetes patients to reach their A1C goals by the end of the study.” These findings were recently presented at The Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists annual meeting in August 2024.
4. Type 2 diabetes increased by almost 20% in the US between 2012 -2022
A new study showed the increased amounts of type 2 diabetes with evidence “that the numbers are growing day by day in the US and will increase even more in the coming years.” Factors considered are age, race, income level, obesity and lack of exercise, which all play a part in the development of diabetes. The current cost is “about 412 billion a year for both medical costs and indirect costs.”
Over 400,00 people were studied by the CDC. The South and Midwest experienced the largest jumps in diabetes rates. Included were Arkansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, Minnesota, Illinois, West Virginia, Delaware and Massachusetts. Policy makers and public health officials will hopefully focus on this region to help people make progress on “preventing a huge diabetes surge.”
This study was published in the journal “Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.” The things you can modify should be modified such as your weight, your activity level, and your diet. Do not dwell on your age, genetics or race since these factors are not modifiable.
There is always new information available which can help you live your life better when you have diabetes.
References:
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/08/22/new-coronavirus-vaccine-covid
- https://www.bannerhealth.com/healthcareblog/better-me/can-certain-foods-increase-stress-and-anxiety
- https://www.everydayhealth.com/coronavirus/updated-covid-vaccines-for-2024-2025-gets-fda-approval/
- https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/medicare/111523?xid
- https://www.farxiga.com/faq/questions
- https://www.medlineplus.gov/druginformation.html
- https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/surprising-foods-trigger-anxiety
- https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/sitting-health-risks
- https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20240814/adults-with-type-2-diabetes-improve-hba1c-medication-use-with-pharmacist-referral
- https://www.everydayhealth.com/obesity/zepbound-reduces-diabetes-risk-in-overweight-people-at-high-risk/
- https://www.medicinenet.com/diabetes_mellitus/article.htm
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/health/diabetes-januvia-cancer.html
- https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-145704/januvia-oral/details
- https://diatribe.org/diabetes-medications/top-diabetes-drugs-get-lower-medicare-pricing
- https://www.henryford.com/blog/2019/03/hangxiety-link-between-anxiety-alcohol
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/sitting-down-all-day
- AARP-Journal Magazine- August/sept.2024- Stand Up Against Sitting Disease
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