Winning formula for diabetes remission

If you want to resolve your Type 2 diabetes and reduce your risk for cardiovascular and kidney complications, a new study in Diabetologia journal provides a road map.

When researching the effect that diabetes remission has on long-term health outcomes, the scientists found that it reduces the risk of chronic kidney disease by 33 percent and cardiovascular disease by 40 percent (even if eventually the diabetes returned). They also identified the most effective ways to KO Type 2 diabetes (and to keep prediabetes from progressing).

The study participants, who had diabetes for a mean of six years and were obese, reduced their daily calorie intake to about 1,200 to 1,800, depending on their weight. (You may decrease your calorie intake as you shed pounds.)

Total fat made up less than 30 percent of their calories; saturated fat was less than 10 percent. They increased physical activity to 175 minutes a week, including brisk walking and moderate-intensity activities — that’s anything that makes your heart beat faster and you breathe harder, but you can still talk. This improved their weight, fitness, and blood sugar and LDL cholesterol levels.

If you’ve been diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes, it’s never too late to get the benefits of improved nutrition and physical activity — to reverse diabetes and to protect you from serious complications.

Soothing shin splints

Shin splints come from overexercising, having too hard a footfall, from having flat feet or high arches, wearing worn-out athletic shoes, being overweight or having an inflexible lower body. They are also a risk for the 35 percent of U.S. adults with a vitamin D deficiency, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

What are shin splints? They’re inflammation, pain and tenderness of muscles, tendons and fascia along, or behind, the tibia — the large bone that extends from your knee to your ankle.

Relief comes from staying off your sore leg, ice packs, doing recommended stretches and exercises, using topical pain relievers containing capsaicin, CBD or anti-inflammatories like diclofenac, and wearing running/walking shoes with a stiff heel and good arch support.

As you find relief and are moving more, go slowly. If you start with walking 2 miles a day, add 10 percent more a week. And start on a well-padded treadmill, not on pavement or an oval track.