Diabetes

Blowing some cold air on the new tea study

Some studies you take with a grain of salt. Others, with a slice of lemon -- like the new one out of Switzerland that supposedly finds black tea can cut your risk of diabetes.

If it was that easy, the Lipton people would have the world's best-selling "drug" by now.

Of course, it's not that easy -- and in this case, the study itself is about as valuable as the little inspirational sayings you see on teabag labels. Read it, enjoy it, and share it with your friends as you sip some tea... but don't take it too seriously.

That's because this study wasn't a clinical trial. It wasn't a comparison of tea and non-drinkers, either.

All the researchers did here was look at the overall rate of black tea consumption in 50 nations, and found that some of the countries with higher levels of tea consumption -- including Ireland, the UK, and Turkey -- had a lower overall presence of the disease.

And what does that prove? Exactly nothing.

Hey, I've got nothing against tea. It's cheap, safe, and has dozens of other potential benefits. There are even some studies -- more legitimate studies -- that show it could help lower the risk of diabetes a tad.

But if you really want to avoid a lifetime of disease, forget the tea. Eat a diet rich in healthy animal fats and proteins and low in carbohydrates, and your risk will go down to nearly zero.

If you want to take some tea with your steak and eggs, that's up to you -- but it's entirely optional.

P.S. -- Are you sick and tired of the mainstream medicine bull? Want to know the REAL truth behind the bought and paid for "health" headlines? Click here to learn more.

The healing power of meat

Blood tests, insulin shots, drugs with awful side effects -- having diabetes stinks! And none of those things are the worst of it for many of the people battling this disease.

For them, the absolute worst are the wounds that never heal -- constant pain and a semi-permanent infection risk that can lead to gangrene, amputation, and even death.

But there may be an easy way to help close those wounds, and it goes hand-in-hand with the best way to help beat diabetes in the first place: Eat more healthy proteins, including the meats your doctor probably told you to avoid.

In a new study, rats fed a high-protein diet rich in arginine and proline had more new blood vessel growth and fewer markers for inflammation when compared to rats given either normal rat chow or a high-protein diet without the extra arginine and proline.

In plain English, that means the rats given arginine and proline should have had faster-healing wounds. The study only lasted five days, so it's hard to say whether their wounds really would have healed faster -- but all the signs are there: new blood vessels are essential to closing wounds, and inflammation can slow healing.

It's obviously way too soon to say whether this means human diabetics with non-healing wounds should load up on the arginine and proline... but why not? The best sources are the foods all of us -- especially diabetics -- should be eating anyway.

You'll find proline in dairy -- especially cheese, eggs, and milk. Arginine is also in eggs, as well as red meat and seafood.

These are the same foods that can help stimulate weight loss, improve blood sugar levels, and help you avoid diabetes or keep the disease under control without drugs.

Just be sure to avoid the carbs, and you'll be set.