Jo's Cafe

Overweight cats who spend more time sleeping on the sofa than chasing mice face a growing risk of developing diabetes, researchers in Scotland said on Tuesday.

Pampered fat cats are three times more likely to develop the potentially fatal condition than cats of a normal weight, according to a study by the University of Edinburgh.

“The lifestyle of cats, just like their owners, is changing,” said Professor Danielle Gunn-Moore, from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
Reuters via Yahoo! News
“Study shows fat cats facing diabetes risk“

Maintaining a healthy weight is a cornerstone of diabetes management. Diets are one thing, but what if you want to eat out? It’s not so easy to control what you eat in a restaurant. Buffet style restaurants are particularly hard to maneuver if you are watching your weight. Who doesn’t love the sight of those never-ending steam tables brimming with everything you never knew you wanted?

Whether it’s a Chinese buffet, a big Texas ranch-style extravaganza, homey comfort food or a fancy hotel breakfast buffet, it’s a very tempting minefield for people who want to watch their weight. It helps to have some tricks up your sleeve before you visit a buffet.

The first tactic is knowing where the enemy lies. There are fatty selections galore in the average buffet line.
About.com: Diabetes
“Navigating the Buffet Line”

The Diabetes Blog has a Michael Moore love fest going with the United States health-care system in this post. Each person has a right to believe what they will and unfortunately if you believe every word out of someone like Michael Moore’s mouth, your opinion is going to be in one direction. Yes there are problems – many of which have nothing to do with being a diabetic. Cost for one thing. But there is no where in the constitution that states anything about “free” or ”medical care” being one of the rights of a citizen. We need to get our fingers out of the doctor’s day and let them be doctors. Medicare destroys a lot of them because for all its suppose to do, it requlates them into the ground so they spend more time with paperwork than with the patient.  The government is not the be-all, end-all to the answer of healthcare.   Additional Reading: “‘Sicko’: Heavily Doctored, By Kurt Loder”

Moderate exercise, such as walking 30 minutes a day, may offer better protection against diabetes and heart disease than a more rigorous workout regimen, concludes a U.S. study that included 240 middle-age, sedentary people.

“On the surface, it seems to make sense that the harder we exercise, the better off we’ll be, and by some measures that’s true,” lead author and exercise physiologist Cris Slentz, of Duke University Medical Center, said in a prepared statement. “But our studies show that a modest amount of moderately intense exercise is the best way to significantly lower the level of a key blood marker linked to higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. More intense exercise doesn’t seem to do that.”
MyHeartCentral.com
“Moderate Exercise Might Be Healthier Than Intense Workouts”

Jo says: Just lost all my excuses for NOT working out. (hrumpf)

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Diabetes – Type 1 Diabetes – Type 2 Diabetes