As tasty as most incredibly unhealthy foods may be, there is some competition in the taste department from healthier eats. One that I feel is worth mentioning on both TheDiabetesBlog and TheCardioBlog (chiefly because it is germane to both) is the tart cherry; natures way of making healthy eating happy eating.

In a test involving lab rats, researchers from the University of Michigan Health System found tart cherries to lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar, lessen the amount of fat storage in the liver, lower oxidative stress, and increase production of a molecule that assists the body in metabolizing fat and sugar.

Antioxidant compounds known as anthocyanins are found in high amounts in tart cherries. Researchers say that a strong correlation appears to exist between the consumption of tart cherries and the clear changes in metabolic measurements such as those listed above.

Unfortunately, this study still remains at the rodent phase; it will take human clinical trials to determine if tart cherries carry similar benefits for us. FYI: U-M researchers already plan to launch a small clinical trial some time in the near future.

For people living with type 2, managing your weight is often times of great importance. Caloric intake is sometimes measured as closely as glucose levels, with healthy weight loss being the goal. Well, it turns out that part of the solution can be found not on on a running track or inside World Gym, but instead in a soft, warm bed.

Sleep. As midnight nears, I'm already looking forward to it -- laying my head to the pillow and drifting off, only to wake-up tomorrow revived and alert. And, based on a great deal of research, healthier, too. Not only has a lack of sleep been shown to affect the body's ability to properly process glucose, but it has also been linked to weight gain/loss. Scientists from the University of Michigan studied the relationship between sleeping and eating, creating a formula to calculate how many calories a person can cut from their diet by sleeping 8 hours a night instead of 7. It was discovered through the use of their formula that replacing a mere one hour of idle activity with sleep can result in a calorie reduction of 6 percent. Why is this? Because people tend to eat when they are bored, plain and simple. So, if someone's hanging around the house, maybe watching a late-night broadcast of Flash Gordon or An Uzi at the Alamo ;), chances are, they will reach for a bag of this or a bowl of that. By instead putting head to pillow a little earlier, you can save yourself some unwanted calories -- and even burn some more while you sleep.

By the way, I know a 6 percent reduction in calorie consumption may not seem like a lot. But, over year's time, that means losing about 12 pounds!!

The University of Michigan has announced it will provide free diabetes medicines to employees and their families who suffer from that disease. The freebie meds will be distributed for two years. The whole thing is an experiment to see if ensuring diabetics easy access to the medications they need will reduce the incidence of (costly) diabetes-related health complications. These complications include heart, kidney and nerve diseases, eye problems and lower limb amputation. The university estimates the project will cost about $800,000, which has to be weighed against the estimated savings from the university's not having to treat as many diabetes-related health complications. I guess this scheme had some help in getting approved: the  medical director of the university's HMO is also director of the Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.

A new study has found that an astounding forty-three percent of diabetics over fifty-five years of age are not getting beneficial medications that could protect against heart and kidney damage, problems that affect diabetics disproportionately to the rest of the population. Even those people diagnosed with diabetes who are known to have existing heart or kidney problems often miss out. The study was carried out by researchers at the University of Michigan. Results were published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The most interesting question is: why is this happening? Unfortunately, the study does not attempt to tackle that question, but Allison Rosen, one of the researchers, mentioned factors like cost, lack of doctor awareness and lack of patient education on the need for the meds and their effective use.