Dashing diabetes with gut-healthy diet

Q: I’m looking for some tips on how to control my Type 2 diabetes. I know about the glycemic index, but what else can I do? — Fern G., Madison, Wisconsin

A: If you have Type 2 diabetes, some new findings will superpower your ability to control glucose levels.

Researchers from Rutgers University found that eating lots and lots of diverse, fiber-rich foods improves glucose control, increases weight loss and improves blood lipid levels.

How It Works

Various types of gut bacteria thrive on a diet of fiber, and that allows them to produce plenty of SCFAS. SCFAS are essential for healthy cells in the gut lining. They also reduce inflammation and help control appetite. Plus, byproducts of Scfa-producing bacteria, butyrate and acetate, produce a mildly acidic gut environment that reduces potentially harmful gut bacteria and increases insulin production. What to Eat

Resistant starches in 100 percent whole-grain cereals, barley, brown rice, beans, green bananas, cooked and cooled potatoes or pasta.

Pectin from apples, apricots, blackberries, carrots and oranges.

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and inulin from Jerusalem artichokes, onions, leeks, asparagus and 100 percent whole wheat and rye.

Arabinoxylan in oats and all bran.

Q: My wife and I regularly get in 10,000 steps a day in New York City. The air can be pretty bad, and over the past few years, ride-hailing services have added more than 55,000 cars to the streets. Add in traffic-strangling bike lanes, and traffic is at a virtual standstill as it cranks out harmful emissions. Should we reduce our walking? — Marty S., New York

A: Yes, air pollution is a gigantic health problem, and its effects on your cardiovascular health are measurable. Researchers recently compared the effects of air pollution on a group of 60-plus-year-olds who were walking for two hours down busy commercial streets in London to the effects of a similar walk in tree-filled Hyde Park.

Following each walk, researchers measured participants’ arterial stiffness and lung function, and found that walking in the park improved lung and arterial function, while walking along polluted streets greatly diminished these functions.

The good news is that the problems caused by walking along a polluted city street can be reversed and even improved by walking later in a healthier environment.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.