Live data from Hacker News

Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

uoc.edu

91–100 of 156 posts

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#91
post #41

Sardines are a household favorite for us. My kids love them. The secret is, don't buy cheap ones. Look for brisling or any other small fish packed in olive oil. $3-5/can is a good sweet spot, although you can pay $9 for a can of imported Portuguese sardines no problem. Speaking of Portugal, they do grilled fresh sardines. My 3 year old insisted on eating them daily when we were in Lisbon

So I wonder what the diabetes rate is in Portugal, then

FWIW, According to 2019 data from the International Diabetes Federation, Portugal is ranked 53rd (9.8%) out of 195 countries for prevalence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Kiribati ranked 1st at 22.5% of the population between the ages of 20 and 79 having either type of diabetes and Benin ranked 195th at 1%.

https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SH.STA.DIAB.ZS/r...

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#92
What will cure/prevent type 2 diabetes is a low-carb, high-fat diet.

Sardines are a low-carb, high-fat food. Eating them replaces a big load of the carbs people usually consume, and just like that they reduce the amount of insulin they have to produce, reducing their insulin resistance and so on. Omega-3 fatty acids are just a slight benefit, probably, and not so much for the diabetes.

But "Just eat a can of sardines every now and then" is just a lucky guess. There are a lot of additional, more effective ways to reduce insulin sensitivity.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#93
post #87

If anyone in the US is new to sardines, of the choices available in US grocery stores, Matiz is by far the best. I recommend ordering online, where you’ll find other great choices like La Gondola, Angelo Parodi, Nuri/Pinhais, and Bela. (If you’re in Europe, try Rödel sardines at least once in your life. They’re completely unavailable in North America.)

What do you do with them? I’ve never made or had anything with sardines in my life.

I usually eat them with cheese and homemade bread. Sometimes I'll add a caprese salad on the side, and that's dinner.

Another fantastic recipe is pasta con le sarde. It's a classic Sicilian pasta with sardines, fennel, saffron and nuts.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#94
post #87

If anyone in the US is new to sardines, of the choices available in US grocery stores, Matiz is by far the best. I recommend ordering online, where you’ll find other great choices like La Gondola, Angelo Parodi, Nuri/Pinhais, and Bela. (If you’re in Europe, try Rödel sardines at least once in your life. They’re completely unavailable in North America.)

What do you do with them? I’ve never made or had anything with sardines in my life.

Gently mash them up with some of the olive oil that’s in the tin (usually not all of it, or you’ll mostly be eating olive oil). Use that as a spread on bread, toast, or crackers, or mix with something that doesn’t have a lot of flavor on its own, like farro or another mild grain.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#96
post #2

“Sardines will therefore have a protective element because they are rich in the aforementioned nutrients, whereas nutrients taken in isolation in the form of supplements won’t work to the same extent” : to me this reads as “we found a correlation but we are clueless about the root cause”.

Since supplements have been brought up, what's with the American's obsession over supplements? It's like people are just chomping them down like they're some sort of food stable like bread or rice (or maybe that's just what all the youtube videos want you to think). Its like every bodybuilder on youtube has their own brand of supplements now. Don't even get me started on pre-workout. "Don't feel like working out? Chu…

With bodybuilding most bodybuilders will agree that the only (legal) effective supplement for weightlifting is creatine, with vitamin D, fish oil, and multivitamins generally recognized as also useful for general health. But the most important “supplements” are anabolics which of course can’t be legally advertised. The problem is average Joe doesn’t know that, and bodybuilders need to make money (most make very little if any money from bodybuilding) so they do endorsements and marketing for health brands which are legal even if they may not be effective.

Preworkout is a bit different because it actually is marginally useful for workouts, and I think most actual bodybuilders take some form of it. But it’s super cheap to produce so most of the expense is on marketing. You can make homemade PWO with stimulants and “pump supplements” for super cheap if you buy the raw compounds

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since supplements have been brought up, what's with the American's obsession over supplements? It's like people are just chomping them down like they're some sort of food stable like bread or rice (or maybe that's just what all the youtube videos want you to think). Its like every bodybuilder on youtube has their own brand of supplements now. Don't even get me started on pre-workout. "Don't feel like working out? Chu…

Certain segments of America tend to have poor diets. Especially the young, working class which happens to overlap with the bodybuilding class which makes whey protein a logical choice. Whey protein. It is very cheap; just add mix in a multivitamin and OTC stimulants like caffeine and you have a very marketable product with a 300% markup. The YouTube body building demographic is in the same economic class so capitaliz…

Approximately nobody mixes whey protein with caffeine. Not sure what you’re talking about

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#98

Sardines are a household favorite for us. My kids love them. The secret is, don't buy cheap ones. Look for brisling or any other small fish packed in olive oil. $3-5/can is a good sweet spot, although you can pay $9 for a can of imported Portuguese sardines no problem. Speaking of Portugal, they do grilled fresh sardines. My 3 year old insisted on eating them daily when we were in Lisbon

Have you considered the risk of mercury accumulation?

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#99

Sardines are a household favorite for us. My kids love them. The secret is, don't buy cheap ones. Look for brisling or any other small fish packed in olive oil. $3-5/can is a good sweet spot, although you can pay $9 for a can of imported Portuguese sardines no problem. Speaking of Portugal, they do grilled fresh sardines. My 3 year old insisted on eating them daily when we were in Lisbon

Have you considered the risk of mercury accumulation?

Sardines are fairly low in mercury. You might not want to eat them every day, but a few times a week shouldn't be a problem as long as you're not also eating other fish that are higher in mercury.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#100

Sardines are a household favorite for us. My kids love them. The secret is, don't buy cheap ones. Look for brisling or any other small fish packed in olive oil. $3-5/can is a good sweet spot, although you can pay $9 for a can of imported Portuguese sardines no problem. Speaking of Portugal, they do grilled fresh sardines. My 3 year old insisted on eating them daily when we were in Lisbon

Have you considered the risk of mercury accumulation?

Sardines seem to have the lowest mercury concentration of any fish: https://www.fda.gov/food/metals-and-your-food/mercury-levels...
Post reply on HN