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 High arsenic levels in drinking water has been linked to diabetes according to research done over the years. It is known that impaired insulin secretion in pancreas cells occurs when those cells are treated with an arsenic compound.

Here's the Bad News: a recent analysis of government data has linked Low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with Type 2 diabetes.

Molly Kile, an environmental health research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health says in an editorial in the journal JAMA. “Urinary arsenic reflects exposures from all routes—air, water, and food—which makes it difficult to track the actual source of arsenic exposure, let alone use the results from this study to establish drinking water standards,” . Kile also said the findings raise a sort of “chicken-and-egg problem,” since it’s unknown whether diabetes changes the way people metabolize arsenic. It is also possible that people with diabetes actually excrete more arsenic.

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A recent study published in Diabetes Care showed that older men who take Vitamin K supplementation for 36 months, at doses that can be achieved through dietary intake, may be able to reduce the progression of insulin resistance.

US researchers from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, report their top 10 Vitamin K food sources:

1. Kale

2. Collards

3. Spinach

4. Turnips greens

5. Beets greens

6. Dandelion Greens

7. Mustard Greens

8. Brussels sprouts

9. Broccoli

10. Spring Onions

Drink your Green Smoothies, eat your salads and stay healthy and strong.

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According to an annual state-by-state survey, adult obesity rates increased in 37 states in the past year ,while Type 2 Diabetes, a weight related disease, increased in 26 states. What's more is that an additional survey showed that whereas not one state in 1991 had an obesity rate at 20%, now every state, except Colorado, has an obese population over 20%.

According to the survey, individuals with a body-mass index of 30 or above, a calculation based on height and weight, are considered obese. For instance, a person who is 5 ft. 8 in. and weighs 200 pounds has a BMI of 30.4.The steady rise in overweight Americans may be attributed  to large serving-sizes in restaurants, the high cost of nutritional food, and more time spent in front of TVs and computer screens according to some experts.

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"I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli.”                                -  Ex-President George H. W. Bush

Little did Mr. Bush know at that time how important broccoli may be to people with diabetes. A compound called sulforaphane has been found in broccoli by researchers at the University of Warwick. This compound seems to have protective benefits for blood vessel damage caused by high glucose levels in people with diabetes. It is believed that sulforaphane causes a protein to become activated which then protects cells and tissues from damage. Damaged blood vessels increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular disease by five fold in people with diabetes

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Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have determined that insulin resistance is likely the reason why gallstones are more common in obese people. Sudha Biddinger, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and a researcher in the Joslin Section on Obesity and Hormone Action, said:

"Obesity is associated with increased secretion of cholesterol into the bile. The excess cholesterol accumulates in the gallbladder which can lead to the formation of painful gallstones. This study shows that insulin resistance is key to this process, as the lack of insulin receptors in the livers (of research mice) was sufficient to promote gallstones".

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