Artificial sweeteners and higher risk to diabetes.

This may shed some light on the obesity and high rate of diabetes that we are experiencing. The  diet industry is a huge reason for the over consumption of artificial sweeteners and the biggest scam on our health and wellbeing. Avoiding added sugars in our food would be a much healthier option. I will share this study with you and let you decide what is the best choice!

Artificial Sweeteners Alter Gut Response to Glucose

LISBON, PORTUGAL — Habitual consumption of artificial sweeteners commonly found in diet drinks alters the gut's response to glucose — affecting absorption, glycemic response, and response of gut glucagonlike peptide 1 (GLP-1) — results of a small, first-in-human study in healthy volunteers indicate.

The findings were presented here at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2016 Annual Meeting. 

High levels of artificial-sweetener consumption could therefore predispose people to development of type 2 diabetes, lead researcher Richard Young, MD, from the Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Australia, hypothesized.

"Two-week diet supplementation with artificial sweeteners augments glucose absorption, glycemic response to glucose, and attenuates the GLP-1 response," said Dr Young, reporting the main results of the study.

"This means that, according to the findings from this trial…artificial sweeteners [may] limit the amount of glucose that can access more distal portions of the gut and reduce glucose exposure to distal cells that release GLP-1."

Artificial Sweeteners Compared With Placebo in Healthy Subjects

"The relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and type 2 diabetes has prompted policy changes, including the introduction of taxes on these beverages to try to reduce intake," Dr Young pointed out.

As an alternative, artificial sweeteners are used in so-called "diet" sodas and some foodstuffs, but there is ongoing controversy over whether these cause more harm than good.

Previous work by Dr Young's group has shown that switching from sugar to noncaloric-artificial-sweetened (NAS) beverages does not predict a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

In fact, the association between NAS beverages and type 2 diabetes risk is similar to that seen with sugar-sweetened beverages, even after adjustment for adiposity and energy intake (often those with prediabetes reach for NAS as an alternative to sugar), he said.

Until this study, it was unknown whether NAS alters glucose absorption in humans, and if so, whether this adversely affects postprandial glycemic control.

Healthy volunteers were recruited and the researchers assessed the effects of diet supplementation with combined NAS (such as sucralose and acesulfame-K, often found in diet beverages) for 2 weeks in a double-blind, randomized parallel-group clinical study.

Initially, 60 subjects were screened and those who were high habitual consumers of sweeteners were excluded. Participants had a mean age of 27 years, a body mass index of 24 kg/m², and 14 were men. After an overnight fast, participants underwent an endoscopy incorporating a 30-minute intraduodenal glucose infusion (30 g/150 mL, 3 kcal/min, including 3 g of the glucose analogue 3-omethyl glucose [3-OMG]) and biopsy collection before and immediately after the intervention.

The scientists assessed the effects on glucose absorption, glycemic responses to intraduodenal glucose infusion, insulin production, and gut hormones, including glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and GLP-1 and GLP-2.

Taken in the form of capsules, three times daily before meals, blinded participants received either the combined NAS (n = 17), equivalent to drinking 1.2 to 1.5 L of diet beverage per day or an inactive placebo (n = 16).

Assessments were performed after participants had taken the NAS capsules or placebo for 2 weeks. At this time, subjects had their response to glucose tested, examining glucose absorption, plasma glucose, and levels of insulin and gut peptides.

Glucose Absorption and Glycemic Response Increased With Sweeteners

With respect to glucose absorption, the two groups showed similar absorption patterns at study start in response to enteral glucose.

But "after 2 weeks of NAS supplementation, there was increased glucose absorption that was significant at 90 to 120 minutes [after start of glucose consumption]. We showed that sweeteners do augment the uptake of glucose," reported Dr Young. There was a 20% difference between glucose absorption in the placebo and NAS-supplemented group (P ≤ .05).

The two groups had similar prestudy glycemic responses to enteral glucose, but NAS supplementation increased plasma glucose levels by 24% compared with placebo (P < .05).

For GLP-1, which acts to limit the rise in blood glucose after meals, the two groups were once again well-matched in response to enteral glucose prior to NAS supplementation.

But after the 2 weeks of supplementation, "the subjects who consumed sweeteners had a lower risk of GLP-1 response to enteral glucose," reported Dr Young. "Those individuals who received supplementation showed a 34% attenuated GLP-1 response (P < .05) compared with placebo.

"This response possibly reflects reduced glucose exposure to more distally located L-cells," he added.

The GLP-2, GIP, and insulin responses to enteral glucose were similar between participants on artificial sweeteners and placebo groups, although GLP-2 and insulin were lower 40 and 60 mins after the glucose challenge, respectively, in the NAS group (37% for both vs baseline, P ≤ .05).

Findings Provide Impetus for Larger Studies in This Area

The findings highlight "the potential for these responses in habitual consumers of artificial sweeteners and support the concept that artificial sweeteners could reduce the body's control of blood sugar levels, exaggerating postmeal glucose levels, which could predispose them to developing type 2 diabetes," Dr Young remarked.

He also noted that the results provided an impetus to perform larger studies and look at the mechanisms responsible. "We are doing this by looking at cells collected in this study as well as looking at the microbiome," he said, with a view to the next steps in his work.

Commenting on the results, session attendee Viktor Jörgens, MD, former executive director of EASD, from Dusseldorf, Germany, said it was a "brilliant study."

He remarked, "Because less glucose goes to the L cells, these cells make less GLP-1, and this is the reason these individuals have less insulin and higher glucose. I believe this study has enough power to say that this is indeed the mechanism, and it works this way."

Dr Young has declared no relevant financial relationships. 

European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2016 Annual Meeting. September 14, 2017, Lisbon, Portugal. Abstract 193

Words have power to heal or to hurt...

Our words have the power to heal us or hurt us and others. How we communicate with ourselves can and usually is related to old patterns learned over time and thus we have the power as conscious being to pay attention and shift those vibrations to attract a better healthier life...

Here is an piece by Madison Taylor that once again hits home for me....

Healing Past Hurt

BY MADISYN TAYLOR We can create positive change by choosing not to use these words and phrases as we come across them in our vocabulary. There are many troubling phrases in our language that we use without considering their full meaning simply because they have been accepted into common knowledge. Even as our ideals progress, our language maintains some phrases from our past that no longer serve us, for example: Boys don't cry; good child; boys will be boys; problem child; illegitimate child; and many more. While these phrases may be used without harmful intent, they are inherently negative. Children can be especially sensitive to such phrases, which may stay with them their whole lives, adversely affecting their self-image and wounding their self-esteem. We can create positive change by choosing not to use these words and phrases as we come across them in our vocabulary. It is challenging to examine our habits in terms of the words we use to express ourselves, but it is also exciting. Language is an area where we can exercise our free will, creating positive change in the world around us by simply choosing carefully the words we use. It may seem like a small thing, but our words have a rippling effect, like a stone thrown in a pond. People naturally pick up on the way other people speak, consciously or unconsciously changing the way they speak in response. We don't need to actively try to influence people; it happens without our even thinking about it. All we have to do is choose to be more conscious ourselves, putting to rest words and phrases that are outmoded, insensitive, or harmful. We can also exercise our creativity by creating new phrases that carry positive and loving energy to replace the old ones. You may already have some ideas about phrases you'd like to transition out of your language, and now that you're thinking about it you may come across many more. As you consciously decide not to use these phrases, you may feel lighter and more joyful, knowing that you have chosen to drop baggage that was handed down to you from a less conscious time. As you do so, you elevate the language for future generations who would no doubt thank you if they could.

Sound Healing....

I love this Article by Madison Taylor on sound healing....Everything I wish to say and share in a short succinct manor......ENJOY! Sound Healing

BY MADISYN TAYLOR When the vibrations of our physical and spiritual bodies are out of harmony it can cause disease. Everything in the universe is in a constant state of vibration, including our bodies. Sound is vibration that can be translated by the delicate structures of our inner ear, but it moves more than just those tiny receptors. It is part of the spectrum of energy vibrations that affect us on the mental, physical, and spiritual levels. Long ago shamans recognized the power of sound when they first used chants and drumming to heal people. In ancient Egypt, Greece, and India, the use of sound and music for healing was a highly developed sacred science. Sonic vibration has been one way of experiencing the energy of the universe for much of humanity's history. When the vibrations of our physical and spiritual bodies are out of harmony it can cause disease. Sound healing gently massages the molecules back into the right places, clearing blockages and restoring harmony. Ancient healing systems such as Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurveda associate specific musical notes with subtle-energy systems of the body, such as in yoga where particular notes of music correspond to each of the seven chakras. In Tibet, priests have long used bells and bowls over and around the body to tune and clear the energy centers. Chimes and tuning forks are other tools that have been used to heal not only the body but the energy in a room as well. Knowing that sound has the power to heal, we should also try to remember that sounds from modern life can have a negative affect. Choosing silence over discord may help us maintain a state of equilibrium. As we seek soothing and harmonizing sounds to surround us, we may be doing more than creating a balm for the noise of the world. We may actually be performing an act of self-healing that connects us with one of the most basic vibrations of the universe.

Random acts of kindness

Today I have heard the message of kindness twice...

Kindness to ourselves can and is sometimes the hardest. It is said that loving oneself is selfish even narcissistic but that is not true. Narcissists do not love themselves.
Loving yourself is imperative to be able to love others. Even saying, "Oh, I really love myself when I do that" makes you cringe a little doesn't it. Yet, it is easy to say that about another.

The absence of love is fear and fear wrecks havoc within your life and body. Good health depends on you to start allowing more love in. Allowing more light into your life. Do not fear the darkness, just allow it and then bring in more light. This will dispel the fear/darkness and help you see clearly. It will also raise the frequency within your cells which in turn heals.

I am encouraged by the words of Anita Moorjani and Matt Kahn to do random acts of kindness for others, but most of all to do a random act of kindness for myself. Why? so that I can send a clear message to the Universe that I matter, and that I am just as important as all the others I am kind to.

I will heed the message I have so clearly received and start by performing random acts of kindness every day. And like the little kids do when handing out treats...."one for you and one for me."