It seems like everything that I’ve written about lately has a common thread: melatonin. When I started weaving together all those melatonin threads, a big picture was revealed. You could say it is a… tapestry Read more…
When it comes to chronic diseases, the Big 3 are heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Heart disease is the number one killer in the US, with cancer a close second. Diabetes numbers are increasing Read more…
This one simple change can help you lose weight and prevents diabetes! Ok, enough with the smarmy copywriting hooks… I’m going to depart from my usual format of talking about a specific genetic variant and Read more…
What comes to mind as far as the risk of type 2 diabetes? Usually first up is the mental picture of someone eating donuts and slurping down soft drinks. While diet definitely contributes to diabetes risk, not everyone who eats donuts and slurps soft drinks will get diabetes. Alternatively, not everyone with type 2 diabetes got it through poor dietary choices.
Obviously, the must be more to diabetes than just poor dietary choices. (Don't get me wrong - you should still make good dietary choices...)
Genetics plays a role in diabetes, as anyone who has several diabetics in their family well knows. This is a big, broad topic, though, since there isn't just one gene that causes diabetes or even one way that people can have problems with regulating their blood sugar. (more…)
Type-2 diabetes affects about 9% of the US population and millions of people worldwide. For the over 65 crowd, the statistics are even more startling: one in four has type-2 diabetes. While the overall numbers Read more…
A new study just came out in the FASEB Journal that looked at the interaction between polyunsaturated fat and the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ Coactivator 1-α (PPARGC1A) gene. The study found that those with the minor allele Read more…
Hemochromatosis is a fairly common genetic disease that causes iron to build up in the body. Knowing that you carry the genetic variants for hemochromatosis can literally add years to your life since you can Read more…
The PPARG (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma) gene has been associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and risk for type-2 diabetes. This gene is involved in the regulation of fatty acid storage and in glucose metabolism.
PPAR-gamma is activated by omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and regulates adipocyte differentiation. More specifically, PPARG is a nuclear transcription factor that involved in our natural circadian rhythm, regulating genes involved in storing fat and insulin sensitivity over a 24-hour cycle.[ref] (more…)