Lowering the diabetes risk of some medications

[zee]

Some psychiatric drugs seem to increase the user's risk of developing type 2 diabetes; for example see here. I like the medication I'm on and I want to stay on it for a long, long time so I was glad to find information online about health and lifestyle choices I could make to lower my risk of diabetes.

Here are some links to useful online information I've found: American Diabetes Association on prevention, Canadian Diabetes Association on prevention, UC Berkeley Wellness article, a Newsweek article and some information from Harvard (has a glycemic load table)

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition article "International table of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2002" has a fantastic, extremely comprehensive table of glycemic loads which I've learned a lot from, for example about the glycemic loads of different types of breads. I've found copies online here (university site), here (another university site) and here (some martial arts studio). And at http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm there is a web version of the table, and an Excel spreadsheet version which adds information about glycemic load per gram (or ml or ounce) and also adds glycemic load rankings of foods. These web and Excel versions are said to correct 14 errors in the glycemic load calculations in the original article.

[wifezilla]

GOod info zee...whether your meds up your risk or family history indicates it may be in your future. Did you read up on cinnamon and its effect on resting blood sugar? Good stuff.

http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=1123

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhea.../a/cinnamon.htm

[Libby]

Pre-diabetes is a serious medical condition that can be treated. The good news is that the recently completed Diabetes Prevention Program study conclusively showed that people with pre-diabetes can prevent the development of type 2 diabetes by making changes in their diet and increasing their level of physical activity. They may even be able to return their blood glucose levels to the normal range.

While the DPP also showed that some medications may delay the development of diabetes, diet and exercise worked better. Just 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity, coupled with a 5-10% reduction in body weight, produced a 58% reduction in diabetes.

Wow.