Olive Oil Anyone?
Written by Asinus Asinum Fricat on June 8, 2008 – 7:02 am -Consuming a traditional Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit, vegetables, olive oil and fish, may reduce the risk of developing diabetes by a whopping 83 per cent, says a new study. Interestingly, people who adhered strictly to the diet were also found to have the highest prevalence of risk factors for diabetes such as older age, a family history of diabetes, and a higher proportion of ex-smokers. Despite being expected to have the higher incidence of diabetes, but this was not the case.
The Med diet, rich in cereals, fruits, legumes and whole grains, fish and olive oil, has been linked to longer life, less heart disease, and protection against some cancers. The diet’s main nutritional components include beta-carotene, vitamin C, tocopherols, polyphenols, and essential minerals. I know all about this diet because I’m a typical Mediterranean, and use olive oil like there’s no tomorrow.
“The findings are consistent with our previous report of an inverse association between a Mediterranean diet and the metabolic syndrome,” wrote the authors. “The metabolic syndrome is closely associated with a generalised metabolic disorder of insulin resistance, which is one of the underlying causes of type 2 diabetes. Therefore a high biological plausibility exists to support the causality of our findings,” they added.
According to FEND, a website run by European nurses association, an estimated 19 million people are affected by diabetes in the EU 25, equal to four per cent of the total population. This figure is projected to increase to 26 million by 2030.
In the US, there are over 20 million people with diabetes, equal to seven per cent of the population. The total costs are thought to be as much as $132 billion, with $92 billion being direct costs from medication, according to 2002 American Diabetes Association figures. So, my fellow politicookers, include more olive oil into your life!
Tags: ADA, Community, FEND, Health News, Olive oil
Posted in Diaries |
11 Comments
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I hate the ADA - the general suspicion (coming even from doctors) is that they’re in cahoots with the pharmaceutical industry, as their so-called diet usually leads to even worse diabetes.
Olive oil, however? ZOMG! In fact, if I pass a day w/o olive oil, it just doesn’t feel right. For some months now, I’ve been using that novello oil, the close to “just harvested” stuff with a very strong flavor. Mmmm.
I think all of those diet associations (including the American Heart Association) are giving people very bad advice, all of which seems to be based on the FDA Food Pyramid of the Month. Maybe some people can live on the high-carb, low protein, low fat plans advocated by these groups, but it’s absolutely a killer for other people.
More and more it’s looking like low-glycemic — which the Mediterranean diet just happens to be — is the way to go.
I’ve watched too many people with diabetes who’ve been put on an ADA diet by their doctors progress from Type 2 diabetes controlled thro diet and exercise a la ADA to Type 2 diabetes controlled thro diet and exercise a la ADA and one or two drugs to Type 2 diabetes controlled thro diet and exercise a la ADA and two or three diabetes drugs plus drugs to control high bloods pressure …
… to Type 2 diabetes plus complete failure of the pancreas controlled thro diet and exercise a la ADA and two or three diabetes drugs plus high blood pressure meds plus insulin …
… to Type 2 diabetes which no longer responds to insulin injections.
Which means kidney failure and amputation and blindness and who knows what else are next.
It’s criminal.
I don’t have a great deal of personal experience with Type 2 diabetes, but I can see firsthand what an ADA diet is doing to a Type 1 diabetic. Since he flatly refuses to eat vegetables, the best I can do is get him on Atkins, which helps… but he has the world’s worst sweet tooth and absolutely no self control, which isn’t doing him a bit of good. The diabetes-related problems are beginning to pile up big time.
It’s horrible here. Of course, Native Americans are prime candidates anyway. Add in the complication of being raised on commodity foods - macaroni, white flour, sugar - and the ambiguities of ADA diet, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
I once watched someone, a Choctaw fellow, who adhered so very carefully to the ADA diet, land himself in the emergency room because his blood sugar was already high, thanks to the diet, and he ate a piece of cake, which you can supposedly do every once in a while on ADA. He was only 30 years old, too.
I won’t even get into the horror tales of people with amputated legs, kidney failure, blindness, you name it.
It’s absolutely criminal.
In medical school I got zero hours of education on real-life nutrition. Yes, I learned about intermediary metabolism, the entire digestive process from salivary amylase to large-bowel mucosal fluid reabsorption, but real -life nutrition? Zip. Zero. Zilch.
Of course, back in those Dark Ages, Kenneth Cooper was still working on his studies of cholesterol and aerobic exercise, and the “normal” level of cholesterol in the lab was anything less than 350 mg/dl (today, the desirable level is less than 200 mg/dl) and we did not know about HDL and LDL - yet.
It is difficult to do long-term controlled studies of dietary changes on health, as the number of years needed to show any statistical significance is longer than the ages of most of the researchers!
So that is perhaps why I wasn’t taught much - we did not know anything!
American medicine is, imo, the absolute best to be had, should you accidentally amputate your leg or have a heart attack.
But it’s been woefully neglectful in the preventative aspects of health.
It’s my sense, though, the tide is changing? I could be wrong, but there does seem to be a move toward more preventative healthcare.
I’m also basing this on what I’ve seen from this end - the care of diabetes through Indian health care. Yikes! Even there, tho, there’s been some movement - e.g., commodities thro Cherokee Nation are no longer white flour, sugar and macaroni, but buffalo (which is ideal for diabetics, due to high protein - low fat content), fresh veggies and fresh fruit.
But it’s a top down thing, and until the ADA cuts their nonsense out, the recommendations will remain the same.
“American medicine is, imo, the absolute best to be had, should you accidentally amputate your leg or have a heart attack.”
If anything happened to me, I’d head straight back to France, best health service in the world, plus it’s entirely free.
Hummus every day, with a generous pour of olive oil. I feel better when I eat it, and now that I am making my own, I know exactly what is in it. All the ingredients are good for the body, including the sesame tahini, the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and garbonzo beans.
Hummus is the Med diet! It’s all good.
VM,
You are so right. Hummus and Greek yogurt with cuke and onion and garlic. Yum, some pita and you’re fixed. Olive oil of course to taste.