Return to story

Diabetics: Laugh, try yoga

March 5, 2006 12:50 am

ABOUT ONE IN FIVE Ameri- can adults has diabetes or prediabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

As the diabetes epidemic grows, more people are searching for unconventional therapies such as cinnamon, chromium and even yoga.

Daily exercise, a healthy eating plan and medications are like the legs of a tripod. They are the three proven lines of defense against Type 2 diabetes and its complications, which can include heart disease and kidney failure.

I'm a strong proponent of diabetes self-management programs, where certified diabetes educators and dietitians teach the basics of testing blood sugar. They also teach empowering ways to control the disease and prevent complications.

But in addition to those traditional methods, diabetics might also be helped by things like laughing more, and eating more cinnamon and vinegar.

Getting enough sleep, managing stress and taking supplements with chromium and magnesium also can be beneficial.

Cinnamon, a sweet spice, can reduce blood sugar, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and others in Pakistan.

They found that taking a teaspoon of cinnamon daily for three weeks can reduce blood sugars 23 percent to 30 percent. Lower doses of cinnamon, about a half-teaspoon a day, also are effective. But they take more than a month to work.

So, sprinkle cinnamon on your oatmeal or stir your cup of tea with a cinnamon stick. Cinnamon tastes great, won't hurt you, and might even help, as long as you have it every day.

For unknown reasons, vinegar has been shown to reduce blood sugar after meals, according to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

One study had volunteers eat a meal accompanied by a drink of 4 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with water and saccharine, or plain artificially sweetened water. The vinegar group had blood sugars 55 percent lower.

Drinking vinegar doesn't sound appetizing, but I am willing to choose a vinaigrette salad dressing more often than ranch dressing. Even better, I like to splash a little balsamic vinegar on my salad and drizzle on some extra-virgin olive oil to make a delicious European-style dressing.

Peanuts also seem to buffer blood sugar after meals, according to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. When people ate a bagel with peanut butter their blood sugar rose, but it was still 55 percent lower than those who ate a bagel with butter.

It's OK for diabetics to spread peanut butter on bread. Contrary to popular belief, people with diabetes don't need to give up bread.

Eating whole grains, such as 100 percent whole wheat bread rather than white bread, reduces risks of diabetes by 40 percent, according to Harvard Medical School.

People with diabetes who took a five-part series of stress-management and diabetes classes at Duke University had significantly lower blood sugar levels than those who took classes on diabetes alone.

Some Indian research showed that doing 30 to 40 minutes of yoga a day reduced blood sugar by 50 to 75 points throughout the day.

And a Japanese study showed that six months of "laughter therapy" improved kidney function in people with diabetes. While this doesn't take the place of medicine, it's certainly fun to tell jokes, watch funny movies and read the comics.

Sleep also is important. Pulling all-nighters can cause higher than average blood sugar levels even in healthy adults. And frequently sleeping less than five or six hours nightly has been linked to a greater risk of diabetes, according to research in America, Germany, Finland and Sweden.

The research is mixed but seems to indicate that in some people, taking 400 to 600 micrograms of chromium picolinate a day curbs sugar cravings and reduces blood sugar levels.

People who respond to chromium report changes quickly, so if you try it and nothing happens within a week, then stop. Don't overdose, and if you have liver or kidney problems, ask your doctor before taking any chromium supplements.

Magnesium is a mineral that works with the body's natural hormone, insulin, to keep blood sugar normal. The more magnesium people eat in foods, the lower their risk of diabetes, according to the Nurses Health Study and Iowa Women's Health Study.

You can get magnesium by eating beans, nuts, whole grains and leafy green vegetables, but most Americans don't reach the recommendations for 300 to 400 milligrams daily. Look for a multivitamin with minerals that has at least 100 milligrams of magnesium.

There's no need to go overboard with magnesium, and if you have liver or kidney disease, ask your doctor before taking any supplements.

Also, if you have diabetes or prediabetes, you may wish to avoid extra iron. High levels of iron stored in the blood can predict diabetes and insulin resistance, according to French, Austrian and Japanese studies.

American researchers have found that eating lots of beef, pork, lamb and sausages--all rich in iron--raised the risk of diabetes.

Unless your iron levels are low, there's no need to take a supplement that contains iron. Your doctor can test your iron level.

Multivitamins formulated for seniors or men are least likely to contain iron, but read the label to be sure.

JENNIFER MOTL, a registered dietitian, welcomes reader questions via her Web site, brighteating.com, or mailed to Nutrition, The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401.