DeSimone Functional Medicine

06/09/2025

https://news.byu.edu/intellect/rethinking-sugar-byu-study-shows-food-source-is-key-to-understanding-diabetes-risk

Drinking a sugar-sweetened drink (like sodas and energy drinks) is much more problematic than eating something with sugar in it.
Here is what the study says:
• Every 12 oz sugar‑sweetened drink (like sodas or energy drinks) you drink daily = 25% higher risk for type 2 diabetes .
• Each 8 oz serving of fruit juice = 5% increased risk .
• BUT sugar from whole fruits, dairy, or grains? Surprisingly, it’s either not bad or even slightly protective.
Essentially, when you drink a sugar‑sweetened drink (Fructose), the liver takes up the fructose directly from the duodenum. Fructose is primarily metabolized in the liver, and a lot of times, it cannot handle the fructose load. The liver converts the extra fructose to uric acid.
The health impacts of high uric acid are: Gout, Hypertension, Insulin Resistance, Fatty Liver Disease, and Chronic Kidney Disease.

A recent BYU study shows that not all dietary sugars carry the same risks. In the largest and most comprehensive meta-analysis of its kind, BYU researchers—in collaboration with researchers from Germany-based institutions—found that the type and source of sugar may matter far more than previousl...

05/29/2025

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20250521/Vitamin-D-supplements-help-preserve-telomere-length-in-aging-adults.aspx

Great Study.

"VITAL is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve telomere length. This is of particular interest because VITAL had also shown benefits of vitamin D in reducing inflammation and lowering risks of selected chronic diseases of aging, such as advanced cancer and autoimmune disease."

JoAnn Manson, MD, co-author, principal investigator of VITAL and chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Results from the VITAL randomized controlled trial reveal that vitamin D supplementation helps maintain telomeres, protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten during aging and are linked to the development of certain diseases.

05/17/2025

This is a fascinating 2025 population-based study linking living near golf courses may increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD), likely due to pesticide exposure.
The research, conducted in Minnesota and Wisconsin, showed that individuals within 1-3 miles of a golf course had up to 126% higher odds of developing PD compared to those over 6 miles away. The risk was even higher in areas with golf courses and vulnerable groundwater, suggesting contaminated drinking water as a key exposure route.

This case-control of older US adults examines risk of Parkinson Disease by proximity of residence to a golf course.

05/07/2025

Avoid drinking from plastic water bottles.

The Hidden Heart Risk of Plastics: Phthalate Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(25)00174-4/fulltext

A recent study published in The Lancet reveals a startling connection between phthalate exposure, particularly di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) from plastics, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. In 2018, an estimated 356,238 deaths worldwide—13.5% of CVD deaths among 55-64-year-olds—were linked to DEHP exposure, with 349,113 attributed to plastics. This translates to 10.47 million years of life lost globally.

DEHP, a chemical used to soften plastics, is linked to oxidative stress, metabolic issues, and increased CVD risk. The study highlights significant geographic disparities: South Asia and the Middle East face the highest burden (16.8% of CVD deaths), followed by East Asia and the Pacific, with Asia accounting for 73% of DEHP-related CVD deaths. Countries like India (103,587 deaths) and China (60,937 deaths) bear substantial losses, driven by large populations and high plastic consumption.

These findings underscore the urgent need for global regulatory action, especially as plastic production grows in developing regions. The ongoing negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty could leverage this data to push for reduced phthalate exposure, potentially saving millions of lives.

Plastics pose a significant risk to increased cardiovascular mortality, disproportionately impacting regions which have developing plastic production sectors. The findings underscore the need for urgent global and local regulatory interventions to kerb mortality from DEHP exposure.

05/07/2025

Could Your Diet Be Increasing Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes? The Hidden Role of Food Additives

In our fast-paced world, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become a staple in many diets, offering convenience and long shelf life. From sugary drinks to packaged snacks, these foods often contain a cocktail of food additives designed to enhance taste, texture, and appearance. But what if these additives do more than just make food taste better? A groundbreaking study from the NutriNet-Santé cohort, published in PLOS Medicine, suggests that certain mixtures of food additives may be linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition affecting millions worldwide.

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004570

What the Study Found

The NutriNet-Santé study, involving over 108,000 French adults, is the first to explore how combinations of food additives, rather than individual ones, might impact health. Researchers identified five commonly consumed additive mixtures and examined their association with type 2 diabetes incidence over a 7.7-year follow-up period. Two mixtures stood out with concerning results:

Mixture 2: This mix, found in foods like broth, dairy desserts, and sauces, includes emulsifiers (e.g., modified starches, pectin, guar gum, carrageenan, polyphosphates, xanthan gum), a preservative (potassium sorbate), and a dye (curcumin). The study found an 8% increased risk of type 2 diabetes for every standard deviation increase in exposure to this mixture (HR = 1.08, p = 0.006).

Mixture 5: Common in sugary and artificially sweetened drinks, this mixture contains acidifiers (e.g., citric acid, phosphoric acid), acid regulators (sodium citrates), artificial sweeteners (acesulfame-K, aspartame, sucralose), dyes (sulphite ammonia caramel, anthocyanins, paprika extract), and emulsifiers (arabic gum, pectin, guar gum). It was linked to a 13% higher risk of type 2 diabetes per standard deviation increase (HR = 1.13, p < 0.001).

Interestingly, the other three mixtures—containing additives like sodium carbonates, diphosphates, and magnesium carbonates—showed no significant association with diabetes risk.

04/10/2025

Another reason to avoid sugar-free beverages.

A just-released study in the Journal Nature Metabolism, observed that Sucralose, found in Diet Coke, Pepsi Zero, and multiple other drinks, influences brain activity related to appetite compared to sucrose and water across individuals with varying body weights.

Sucralose-sweetened beverages actually make you hungrier.
While intended to reduce calorie intake, emerging evidence suggests these sweeteners may disrupt brain signals controlling hunger, paradoxically increasing appetite and food consumption.

Explore how sucralose may affect brain activity and appetite regulation compared to regular sugar in this insightful article.

04/04/2025

Here are 2 articles that came out within 24 hours of each other. They essentially discuss the same thing from different perspectives. The physician shortage is real, and it will only get worse.
I did not know that health care workers suffer 5 times more violence than any other industry.

https://www.newsweek.com/doctor-physician-retirement-cliff-health-care-2054258

https://studyfinds.org/doctor-shortages-worsening/

The U.S. faces a physician shortage as more providers reach retirement age. Here's why health care struggles to retain experienced docs—and recruit new ones.

02/21/2025

In this study from the UK biobank population, the longer your BMI is high, the higher the risk of diabeties and cardiovascular events.

02/19/2025

This is a good article on how visceral fat leads to cognitive decline.

Excess belly fat is linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's. This is because abdominal fat, particularly visceral fat, can negatively impact brain function and overall health.
This is a good article on how visceral fat leads to cognitive decline.

A wider waist increases your risk of dementia – but there are simple ways to offset the damage

11/27/2024

Happy Thanksgiving!!
Please be mindful of what you are eating this holiday season.
A new study shows that a quarter of Americans are still carrying the weight they gained during last year’s holiday season, according to new research.
Half of Americans surveyed said they’re less healthy than usual as the end of the year approaches.

Do you still remember how delicious last year's Thanksgiving turkey was? It turns out that's not the only thing you're hanging on to over the last 12 months.

09/18/2024

Moderate caffeine consumption (200-300mg), drinking 2-3 cups of coffee/tea per day lowers your risk of cardiometabolic disease (diabeties, heart disease, or stroke) by up to 48%.

Good news, coffee-lovers.

09/18/2024

Here is a good study showing how Metformin, a very inexpensive drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes, slowing brain and organ aging in male monkeys.

Many functional medicine clinicians take metformin themselves based on prior research and anecdotal evidence suggesting that metformin has some degree of anti-aging component. These previous studies involved giving rodents, flies, and worms metformin found hints of rejuvenation.

Monkeys, biologically, are much closer to humans than flies (obviously).

It is unclear whether its potential anti-ageing effects are achieved by lowering blood sugar or through a separate mechanism.

A team of biologists affiliated with multiple institutions in China, working with a colleague in the U.S., has found that giving cynomolgus monkeys the diabetes drug metformin can reduce aging in multiple organs, including the brain.