Diabetes – Oxidative Stress and Metabolic Memory Control
For a number of years we now have known that diabetic patients suffer from toxin overload and oxidative stress. New scientific evidence implies that oxidative stress is the underlying cause of the circulation system damage so characteristic of diabetes. The majority of the important complications of diabetes come from diseased blood vessels. High blood pressure, poor circulation, kidney disease and nerve damage are primarily caused by damage to both small and large blood vessels in diabetics.
Studies have shown the damage completed to blood vessels is caused by the act of toxins on the endothelium (or lining) from the arteries.
Even though it is a layer only one cell deep, the endothelium is a very important part of the circulation system. It has many vital functions; it doesn’t only control the dilatation and constriction of blood vessels but it also regulates the discharge of various hormones and also the formation of clots in the arteries. Endothelial dysfunction results in arterial constriction atherosclerosis and irreversible arterial damage thereby increasing the chance of cardiac arrest, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, kidney failure along with other problems.
Hyperglycemia (high sugar) is the reason for free radical overload and, until recently, it had been thought that once the blood sugar was under control the damaging effects of oxidative stress would be halted. However this has been shown to not be along with a mechanism called “metabolic memory” has been described that accounts for this phenomenon. It looks like, throughout the periods when a person’s blood sugar levels are not controlled, proteins are glycated (attached to a glucose molecule). These glycated proteins retain a ‘memory’ which compels them to continue to send stress signals. This stress signaling maintains the production of excess toxins even after treatment has returned the blood sugar levels to normalcy. Unless countered by dietary antioxidants, the persistent discharge of free radicals maintains the unhealthy state of oxidative stress.
A recent clinical trial indicates conclusively that those insulin dependent diabetics who took antioxidants in addition to insulin reduced oxidative stress considerably than others who have been using insulin without an antioxidant.
This along with other studies have also discovered further interesting specifics of the kind of antioxidants accustomed to treat oxidative stress in diabetics. E vitamin ( considered a powerful antioxidant) was discovered to become useless at all in this context and vitamin C, although effective, did not completely control oxidative stress – even just in those diabetics who’s glucose levels were perfectly controlled and did not have any other conditions that might have caused oxidative stress.
This observation should not come as too much of an unexpected whenever we appreciate the truth that there are many different types of toxins which no individual antioxidant can access all parts of the cell or neutralize all toxin species.
The research informs us two important things. Firstly, that diabetics need to ensure that they’re very aggressive to managing their blood sugar levels all the time. Additionally, by far the majority of people are diagnosed with diabetes long afterwards the disease process has started. Which means that they were probably under oxidative stress for months or years just before receiving treatment which the harmful “metabolic memory” is becoming well entrenched in their cellular proteins. Even if the diabetics, once they receive treatment, then go on to achieve effective glucose levels, the metabolic memory continues to stimulate free radical release and sustain the harmful oxidative stress.
Accumulated research up to now tells us that does not only do all diabetics need to take adequate amounts and variety of antioxidants but non-diabetics need to do so too. Aside from having regular check-ups to see whether you have diabetes or not, you are able to protect yourself against arterial damage when you eat a diet high in antioxidant-rich foods. If however you are at risk of diabetes or other disease associated with oxidative stress you should take an antioxidant supplement too.
Spices possess the highest antioxidant activity of recommended food groups (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006) and a spice-based antioxidant supplement provides over 100 effective antioxidant compounds.