Genetics of DiabetesPRINT EMAIL.You’ve probably wondered how you got diabetes. You may worry that your children will get it too.

Unlike some traits, diabetes does not seem to be inherited in a simple pattern. Yet clearly, some people are born more likely to get diabetes than others.

What leads to diabetes?

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different causes. Yet two factors are important in both. First, you must inherit a predisposition to the disease. Second, something in your environment must trigger diabetes.

Genes alone are not enough. One proof of this is identical twins. Identical twins have identical genes. Yet when one twin has type 1 diabetes, the other gets the disease at most only half the time. When one twin has type 2 diabetes, the other’s risk is at most 3 in 4.

Type 1 diabetes

In most cases of type 1 diabetes, people need to inherit risk factors from both parents. We think these factors must be more common in whites because whites have the highest rate of type 1 diabetes. Because most people who are at risk do not get diabetes, researchers want to find out what the environmental triggers are.

One trigger might be related to cold weather. Type 1 diabetes develops more often in winter than summer and is more common in places with cold climates. Another trigger might be viruses. Perhaps a virus that has only mild effects on most people triggers type 1 diabetes in others.

Early diet may also play a role. Type 1 diabetes is less common in people who were breastfed and in those who first ate solid foods at later ages.

In many people, the development of type 1 diabetes seems to take many years. In experiments that followed relatives of people with type 1 diabetes, researchers found that most of those who later got diabetes had certain autoantibodies in their blood for years before.

(Antibodies are proteins that destroy bacteria or viruses. Autoantibodies are antibodies ‘gone bad,’ which attack the body’s own tissues.)

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes has a stronger genetic basis than type 1, yet it also depends more on environmental factors. Sound confusing? What happens is that a family history of type 2 diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for getting the disease but it only seems to matter in people living a Western lifestyle.

Americans and Europeans eat too much fat and too little carbohydrate and fiber, and they get too little exercise. Type 2 diabetes is common in people with these habits. The ethnic groups in the United States with the highest risk are African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Pima Indians.

In contrast, people who live in areas that have not become Westernized tend not to get type 2 diabetes, no matter how high their genetic risk.

Obesity is a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Obesity is most risky for young people and for people who have been obese for a long time.

Gestational diabetes is more of a puzzle. Women who get diabetes while they are pregnant are more likely to have a family history of diabetes, especially on their mothers’ side. But as in other forms of diabetes, nongenetic factors play a role. Older mothers and overweight women are more likely to get gestational diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes: your child’s risk

In general, if you are a man with type 1 diabetes, the odds of your child getting diabetes are 1 in 17. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes and your child was born before you were 25, your child’s risk is 1 in 25; if your child was born after you turned 25, your child’s risk is 1 in 100.

Your child’s risk is doubled if you developed diabetes before age 11. If both you and your partner have type 1 diabetes, the risk is between 1 in 10 and 1 in 4.

There is an exception to these numbers. About 1 in every 7 people with type 1 diabetes has a condition called type 2 polyglandular autoimmune syndrome.

In addition to having diabetes, these people also have thyroid disease and a poorly working adrenal gland. Some also have other immune system disorders. If you have this syndrome, your child’s risk of getting the syndrome including type 1 diabetes is 1 in 2.

Researchers are learning how to predict a person’s odds of getting diabetes. For example, most whites with type 1 diabetes have genes called HLA-DR3 or HLA-DR4.

If you and your child are white and share these genes, your child’s risk is higher. (Suspect genes in other ethnic groups are less well studied. The HLA-DR7 gene may put African Americans at risk, and the HLA-DR9 gene may put Japanese at risk.)

Other tests can also make your child’s risk clearer. A special test that tells how the body responds to glucose can tell which school-aged children are most at risk.

Another more expensive test can be done for children who have siblings with type 1 diabetes. This test measures antibodies to insulin, to islet cells in the pancreas, or to an enzyme called glutamic acid decarboxylase. High levels can indicate that a child has a higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes: your child’s risk

Type 2 diabetes runs in families. In part, this tendency is due to children learning bad habits eating a poor diet, not exercising–from their parents. But there is also a genetic basis.

In general, if you have type 2 diabetes, the risk of your child getting diabetes is 1 in 7 if you were diagnosed before age 50 and 1 in 13 if you were diagnosed after age 50.

Some scientists believe that a child’s risk is greater when the parent with type 2 diabetes is the mother. If both you and your partner have type 2 diabetes, your child’s risk is about 1 in 2.

People with certain rare types of type 2 diabetes have different risks. If you have the rare form called maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), your child has almost a 1-in-2 chance of getting it, too.

*** Article was found at American Diabetes Association ***

The South Beach Diet is the most forgiving diet. On week 2 I am still on track and working hard. But given the lack of items off the menu with the book the correct foods can be made into wonderful dishes that can really have you feeling well. I have not been as diligent as I wanted to be in posting the daily menus but I have been able to add in a little help. There is an app for those of you who have an iphone or an itouch from the wonderful people at www.sparkpeople.com At this site you can register whatever diet plan you are participating in and everyday log food and excercize daily. They have an amazing catalog of foods with complete nutritionals and excercises with calorie burn totals. I cannot say enough about this site at how wll they will keep track of your progress for you. Its nice to have something out there that is free and reliable.
So this is the site that has been my goto lately for tracking my progress and I highly recommend it.
So week 2 was more of a struggle than I thought it would be but I am hanging in there just like I did 2 years ago when my journey began. Sometimes it is difficult because I am such a sweets person. I get it honest. I think that I have gone into before about how I was raised with a wonderful mother that can bake her butt off! So it is tough to make other choices. But it can be done with willpower.
Something to ponder though…when I was back east with my family at Christmas I was having a conversation with my aunt about what I can and cannot eat. She is diabetic. She was explaining to me that if it is in your blood, which it is, to get diabetes, then you will. She explained that there is nothing that can be done. I sort of agreed with her quickly. I thought about my cousin who had been diagnosed with she was young. She was the most active and the thinnest of all of us. She was a speedskater. I was the chubby one that everyone was sure was the next one in the diabetic line. I have yet to be diagnosed. Later though I began to think more about this and thought, well if that is true then how are there cases of diabetics that are cured with diet and excercise. So I dont really know what to think. I dont think that there is really an answer to this. I think that maybe she is right to an extent. If you are ment to get it you will. The reason I think about this is because this became the 2nd reason for me joining the South Beach Diet Plan. I wanted to cut my risk of becoming diabetic because of genetics. We can hope I suppose that I am on the right track.

I just wanted to make something clear. I am only going back to phase 1 because I wanted to get back to the veggie roots I missed. After the holidays and a horrible economy it is time to be strict. Not that I had been eating things I shouldn’t I just wasn’t eating enough of what I should. Tough to O.D. On the bell peppers that I was a year ago. Things are expensive now, even with the 99 cent store. Besides I have been unemployed since september. Things are starting to get creative for me. This is where I really start to rethink and plan the garden we talked about few months ago.
Just gets tough. You start to sacrifice foods you never thought you would. Sucks. But I just thought I would take a moment just to explain myself a bit.
Hope all is going well on your journey!

Well I told you that I would be here daily for you to keep you posted and let you know how things are going on this end getting back on the Phase 1 wagon.
So this morning I wokenup bright and early and took myself to the gym after dropping off the kids. Before I left Made my standard cup of coffee and some eggs. I take breakfast with me since I am in such a rush for time. So I leave home to drop off the kids at school around 7:30. I got to the gym by 7:45.
I ran. I ran for 40 minutes and burned roughly 350cals and ran 3miles.
I have noticed since begining phase 1 again the a remember all the principals. I can see where the eating errors and pitfalls that I had found for myself.
Below is today’s menu:
Breakfast:
Coffee w/ 4 splenda, 2 eggs, 1/8oz of turkey sliced, I piece of string cheese

Snack:
String cheese

Lunch:
1/4 cup prep. Egg salad
2 lrg romaine lettuce leaves
Make 2 egg salad “tacos”
On side: 1 chopped tomato with 1/2 string cheese chopped. Add salt and pepper

Snack: 1 hardboiled egg

Dinner:
1/2 cooked chicken breast, chopped
2 cups chopped romaine
1 chopped tomato
2tbs Italian dressing.
* combine to make salad

Snack:
Vanilla ricotta cheese desert
2 pkg splenda
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cup ricotta
2tbs lite cool whip

Please feel free to let us know what you’re eating too!!

Good luck for tomorrow! I know you can do it!

So for the last week I have been feelin kinda puffy.  I have to be honest and admit that I havent been eating like I should.  Not that I have been eating stuff that I shouldnt, I am just not eating alot of veggies.  Just been stressed out and not feeling much like eating at all.  So who wants to start Phase 1 all over again with me starting tomorrow?  Summer is coming soon.  I know it doesnt seem like it now but it is time to feel better. 

The South Beach Diet is designed to bounce around to phases when you have lost your way.  So who’s in?!  Lets do this.  I will try to make sure to post my progress and foods that I have eaten that day to help you as well.  Please let me know if there are any recipies or anything I can do to help. 

So for now I will say goodnight and tomorrow it is gym time.  We all know that excercise can help boost morale and bust out stress. 

See you tomorrow!

So here we are January 3rd.  Christmas is over, New Years is over.  I am hoping and looking forward to things getting back to normal.  Not just around the house but as far as my diet and excercize plan.  I have to admit.  I have not been very diligent with my workout this holiday season.  I notice the change too.  I am tired and unhappy at times.  My diet plan continues but to me that is the easy part.  I am anxious to see Monday actually. 

Not that I didnt enjoy this holiday season, it was actually one of the best I’ve had in a very long time.  My family and I went to St. Louis to enjoy and family Christmas and also beause my little sister was getting married.  It was a beautiful wedding .  She has married, from what I can see a wonderful man.  I will be happy to have him in the family.  But she made the most beautiful bride.  I wish them a truly long and happy marriage together.

Its nice to see family and it has been awhile.  I really enjoyed myself.  I did drink a bit too much but I guess that is the holidays for you.  So now back to the grind and I am honestly happy to go. 

I look forward to providing some new recipies to my followers and to also start the garden this spring that I have been anxious to do. 

Happy New Year To You All!!!!

I’m sure that this looks familiar to all of you.  This So.Cal original “nectar of the gods” burger joint.  Who turns down In-N-Out?  Who turns down the Double Double with Cheese and Fries Animal Style?  Well, South Beach Diet Lettuce Heads do.  I am guilty myself of enjoying this place on occasion.  But over 2 years ago when I begun my new South Beach Diet lifestyle I swore off things like this for good.  It is not even included in the South Beach Dining Guide.  That just shows you that there is nothing healthy about eating here.  So I have avoided.  I feel better without.  But I have to admit I was weak this week about it all.  Once a month the company my husband works for buys Double Doubles for everyone that works for the company.  I always joke with him about how I haven’t had In-N-Out in 5 years and that he is so unhealthy and “gross”  for eating not 1 but 2 of them, 2 Double Doubles!   Who does that?!  Anyway, this week my husband brought me home a Double Double to eat.  I saved it in the refrigerator with anticipation that it wasn’t what I was supposed to have but I would make it as South Beach friendly as I possibly could.  So the next day for lunch I brought it out of the ‘fridge and pulled off both sides of the bun and scraped the special sauce off.  I had so fresh lettuce so I peeled 2 leaves to make my new bun.  I made a delightful side salad trying to pitifully compensate for what I was about to do to myself.  Putting it all on the plate I sat down in front of the TV and began to eat my lettuce wrapped burger.  As I took my first bite I felt let down, “you mean this is it?!”  Either I had forgotten or my taste buds have changed.  It was just a cheeseburger, just a cheeseburger.  There was nothing great about it.  In fact I think that the lettuce wrapped single at Wendy’s is allot better and it is South Beach Diet approved.  After eating I did not feel good at all.  I felt unhealthy.  I felt sick.  I was obviously missing my vegetables. 

My point with this blog entry is that I have been eating this was for a very long time and my body has adjusted.  So when you have a craving and you fill that craving you might just reinforce your original beliefs.  We keep coming back to this but, the grass is never greener in any instance.  I view this whole experience as a good one.  I am actually glad that I did try.  Because now I know that I will never…ever have one again. It is not because I cant have one its because I don’t want one.

146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health

by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D., www.nancyappleton.com, author of Lick The Sugar Habit

In addition to throwing off the body’s homeostasis, excess sugar may result in a number of other significant consequences. The following is a listing of some of sugar’s metabolic consequences from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications.

1 Sugar can suppress the immune system.
Compare Using Your Amuse System to Boost Your Immune System.

2 Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
Compare Minerals.

3 Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.

4 Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.

5 Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).

6 Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat, the more elasticity and function you lose.

7 Sugar reduces high density lipoproteins.

8 Sugar leads to chromium deficiency.

9 Sugar leads to cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, and rectum.
[This statement may need to be qualified and reworded in less absolute terms, also see number 120, 126 &  143.]

10 Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.

11 Sugar causes copper deficiency.

12 Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
Compare book extract.
In addition, sugar needs calcium to be metabolized and reportedly draws the required amounts from teeth and bones if these are not provided via food containing bioavailable calcium.

13 Sugar can weaken eyesight.

14 Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

15 Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.

16 Sugar can produce an acidic digestive tract.

17 Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.

18 Sugar malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease.

19 Sugar can cause premature aging.

20 Sugar can lead to alcoholism.

21 Sugar can cause tooth decay.

22 Sugar contributes to obesity.

23 High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.

24 Sugar can cause changes frequently found in person with gastric or duodenal ulcers.

25 Sugar can cause arthritis.

26 Sugar can cause asthma.

27 Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
Compare note on Candida Albicans in Fungi producing mycotoxins: The Fungal/Mycotoxin Etiology of Human Disease (particularly CANCER).

28 Sugar can cause gallstones.

29 Sugar can cause heart disease.

30 Sugar can cause appendicitis.

31 Sugar can cause multiple sclerosis.

32 Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.

33 Sugar can cause varicose veins.

34 Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.

35 Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.

36 Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.

37 Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.

38 Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.

39 Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E in the blood.

40 Sugar can decrease growth hormone.

41 Sugar can increase cholesterol.

42 Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure.

43 Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.

44 High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs) (sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein).

45 Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.

46 Sugar causes food allergies.

47 Sugar can contribute to diabetes.

48 Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.

49 Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.

50 Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.

51 Sugar can impair the structure of DNA.

52 Sugar can change the structure of protein.

53 Sugar can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen.

54 Sugar can cause cataracts.

55 Sugar can cause emphysema.

56 Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.

57 Sugar can promote an elevation of low density lipoproteins (LDL).

58 High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.

59 Sugar lowers the enzymes’ ability to function.

60 Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease.

61 Sugar can cause a permanent altering [of] the way the proteins act in the body.

62 Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.

63 Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.

64 Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.

65 Sugar can damage the pancreas.

66 Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.

67 Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.

68 Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).

69 Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.

70 Sugar can make the tendons more brittle.

71 Sugar can cause headaches, including migraine.

72 Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.

73 Sugar can adversely affect school children’s grades and cause learning disorders.

74 Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves.

75 Sugar can cause depression.

76 Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.

77 Sugar [can] cause dyspepsia (indigestion).

78 Sugar can increase your risk of getting gout.

79 Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates.

80 Sugar can increase the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets.

81 High refined sugar diet reduces learning capacity.

82 Sugar can cause less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin, and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.

83 Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.

84 Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness.

85 Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.

86 Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.

87 Sugar can lead to the hypothalamus becom[ing] highly sensitive to a large variety of stimuli.

88 Sugar can lead to dizziness.

89 Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.

90 High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.

91 High sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer.

92 Sugar feeds cancer.
Compare Sugar and Cancer.

93. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.

94. High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents.

95. Sugar slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.

96. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.

97. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.

98. Sugar combines and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult.

99. Sugar can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer.

100. Sugar is an addictive substance.

101. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.

102. Sugar can exacerbate PMS.

103. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.

104. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.

105. The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.

106. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.

107. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

108. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.

109. Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.

110. Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.

111. IVs (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.

112. High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer.

113. Sugar increases the risk of polio.

114. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.

115. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.

116. In Intensive Care Units, limiting sugar saves lives.

117. Sugar may induce cell death.

118. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.

119. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior.

120. Sugar can lead to prostate cancer.

121. Sugar dehydrates newborns.

122. Sugar increases the estradiol in young men.

123. Sugar can cause low-birth-weight babies.

124. Greater consumption of refined sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia.

125. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the blood stream.

126. Sweet food items increase the risk of breast cancer.

127. Sugar is a risk factor in cancer of the small intestine.

128. Sugar may cause laryngeal cancer.

129. Sugar induces salt and water retention.

130. Sugar may contribute to mild memory loss.

131. As sugar increases in the diet of 10-years-olds, there is a linear decrease in the intake of many essential nutrients.

132. Sugar can increase the total amount of food consumed.

133. Exposing a newborn to sugar results in a heightened preference for sucrose relative to water at 6 months and 2 years of age.

134. Sugar causes constipation.

135. Sugar causes varicose veins.

136. Sugar can cause brain decay in prediabetic and diabetic women.

137. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.

138. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.

139. Sugar ingestion by pregnant women increases neural tube defects in embryos.

140. Sugar can be a factor in asthma.

141. The higher the sugar consumption the more chances of getting irritable bowel syndrome.

142. Sugar could affect central reward systems.

143. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.

144. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.

145. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell carcinoma.

146. Sugar can cause liver tumors.

So this year the only ones attending will be my immediate family. I am not one to cook great amounts of food so this should be perfect. Also, because I get to cook it, it can be done the way that I want it done. I can include the foods that I want. Not that I will alienate those that aren’t following the South Beach Diet Plan but I can be creative with some new and different side items of traditional ones that I have updated and made healthy.
I will be ordering a Honey Baked Ham, which I will personally be cutting that wonderful famous Honey Baked skin. This really makes no difference to me. I never cared either way about sugar crusted skin anyway.
I will make real mashed potatoes for the non participants. I will also be making the South Beach Mashed Potatoes for myself and anyone who wants to step outside the box a bit. I will have green beans, peas, sweet potato fries and salad for the vegetables.
The stuffing which was last years favorite dish I made. This dish was polished off way before the regular white bread stuffing. This will show itself again this year sure to be the winner : Turkey Sausage and Pear Stuffing. I will however omit the pears. Its just never been my thing to include fruit in my stuffing.
Dessert will be another favorite from last year : Pumpkin Pie (Phase 2). This is a great recipe I think for all pies and I think that you can actually taste the flavor of the pie without the overbearing taste of a “bready” crust. My son and I could not leave this thing alone last year. Too good to believe that it is actually “better for you”.
The Appetizers will include a veggie tray with lots of extras for refills and a dozen deviled eggs. My brother will be helping by bringing the rolls the others cannot live without and some Pinor Noir to accompany our meal. I am really looking forward to this Thanksgiving and it will be tough to keep the cost down. I dont think it will be too much of a problem with our neighborhood 99 Cent Store.
Hopefully you will let me know how your Thanksgiving goes with your family as you try to swap out some of your family favorites with some healthful options that can be just as tasty if not more.