Industry News and Innovations

Enhance Your Practice, Achieve Better Outcomes for Patients: Healthy Humans
Healthy Humans (Wayne, PA) is an evidence-based, doctor-directed portal helping people with diabetes lead healthier lives. By focusing on the underlying physiological and psychological causes of diabetes, users see extraordinary results. Healthy Humans works with certified diabetes educators (CDEs) as an extension of their practice. "We pick up where you leave off, with the goal of helping patients with diabetes create behavior change that leads to better outcomes," stated the company's marketing materials. Healthy Humans is an online portal and tracking system reinforcing and supporting its users. It is a means of providing ongoing self-management support and continuity for users with diabetes.

Healthy Humans offers personalized wellness plans that include aspects such as as diet/nutrition, exercise/movement, mind/body, diagnostics, tracking/tools, regular outreach, support/encouragement, the ability to ask doctors questions, and a personal program book. Let Healthy Humans enhance your practice and help your patients achieve better outcomes. For more information, visit www.healthyhumans.com.

Starch-Free, Gluten-Free, and Sugar-Free Cookies
ReThink Nutrition (Austin, TX) has introduced a delicious cookie with no sugar, starch, or gluten called Yes! To Cookies.

Each cookie has so little digestible carbohydrates that they can be considered to have no starch and no sugar. According to a news release, the cookies are made with all natural ingredients. Yes! To Cookies' patent pending cookie mixes replace high-calorie starch and sugar with healthy no-calorie fiber and no-calorie sweeteners that are not digested. They are made with fiber instead of grain so they are also gluten free. The American Dietetic Association recommends 20 to 35 grams of dietary fiber each day. Every 2- to 3-inch cookie contains about 7 grams of fiber.

Many sugar-free snacks contain high-calorie digestible carbohydrates in the form of quickly or slowly digested starch that becomes sugar when eaten. Most sugar-free treats use sweeteners that are actually slowly digested with lots of carbohydrates and calories, according to a news release. The starch and sugar in Yes! To Cookies have been replaced by healthy, no-gluten fiber and zero-calorie, zero-glycemic-index sweeteners that are not digested. These sweeteners have no laxative effect.

For more information, visit www.yestocookies.com.

Amazing Avocados
Get smart about avocados. The Mexican Hass Importers Association said, "People think they know avocados, but consumer studies indicate that, for the most part, avocados come to mind as a green-skinned fruit that, mashed up with some seasonings, makes a delicious dip. But there is a lot more to avacados than guacamole."

• Great taste. Creamy delicate tasting and simply delicious. With a rich taste that goes well with everything, avocados from Mexico serve up versatile flavor.
• Solid nutrition. One-fifth of an avocado has only 50 calories and 20 vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds. Because they have monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, avocados serve as a healthy substitute for foods that are rich in fat.

Avocados can be a valuable addition to special diets. With only 3 grams of carbohydrates, they are a natural for low-carb diets. They also help satisfy the appetite, giving that feeling of fullness that makes it easier to stop eating.

For more information, visit www.theamazingavocado.com.

MediPeds Footcare Introduces Lotion and Body Wash
MediPeds Foot, Hand & Body Lotion is a nongreasy, fragrance-free lotion with an omega-6 formula that provides soothing relief to severely dry skin. According to the company, it contains natural oils including aloe vera, safflower seed oil, jojoba seed oil, and borage oil.

MediPeds Foot & Body Wash is a gentle, moisturizing cleanser with a mild herbal fragrance. A saturated solution of colloidal oatmeal provides the maximum skin-soothing benefit, according to the company.

For more information, visit www.medipeds.com.

Nevella With Probiotics Introduced at AADE
Designed to boost the immune system and promote health, probiotics are gaining popularity at the grocery, according to a news release. Nevella with Probiotics (Heartland Sweeteners, Indianapolis) is the first and only such sweetener currently on the market.

"We wanted to give the American Association of Diabetes Educators a first look at Nevella with Probiotics, [as] people with diabetes know the importance of maintaining a healthy weight and controlling blood sugar, and no-calorie sweeteners can help with that," said Mike Servie, President of Heartland Sweeteners. "Probiotics also show promise for enhancing the immune system, which is important for those with type 1 diabetes."

Unlike other foods enhanced with probiotics, the Ganeden BC30 probiotic used in Nevella is shelf stable and survives the digestive process to arrive in your gut where you need it. A single sachet of Nevella with Probiotics delivers greater efficacy than most other probiotics, including a cup of yogurt. Ganeden BC30 withstands baking temperatures better than other probiotics, so now consumers can add probiotic benefits to their favorite baked goods.

For more information, visit www.nevella.com.

Isopure Plus Zero Carb Protein Drink for Diabetes Patients
Diabetic patients have a new way to supplement protein in their diets with the launch of pure Isopure Plus Zero Carb Protein Drink (Isopure Plus, Hauppage, NY), according to a news release. Ideal for those with diabetes and prediabetes, this innovative clear, fruit-flavored protein drink is now available through national chain drug stores, nutrition centers and on-line retailers.

Isopure Plus drinks were designed to help people unable to consume carbohydrate-rich foods meet their daily protein and nutrition goals, according to a news release. Isopure Plus Zero delivers 15 grams of high-quality rapidly absorbed, ion-exchange whey protein in a single refreshingly easy-to-drink 8-oz serving. The drinks offer diabetic patients the protein benefits of adult nutrition without having an impact on blood glucose levels. For more information, visit www.isopureplus.com.

SweetLeaf Sweetener Natural Choice
Stevia extract contained in Sweetleaf Sweetener, the only all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener with a zero glycemic index, comes from the leaves of the stevia plant, according to Wisdom Natural Brands. Quality leaves are 30 times sweeter than sugar in their unprocessed form and pure glycosides extracted from stevia are up to 400 times sweeter than sugar.

Sweetleaf Sweetener contains no chemicals like sucralose or aspartame, and it is the only stevia sweetener to acquire an FDA designation for substances determined to be safe in foods by competent scientific research. The sweetener is pure from plant to packet—the process used to concentrate the sweet components uses nothing but purified water—no chemicals, additives, enzymes, or anything artificial.

In the 1500s, the Spanish conquistadors learned about stevia from the Guarani Indians of Paraguay who used the plant's leaves to sweeten tea and medicine. During WWII, England and the United States began researching its potential during the sugar shortages.

For more information, visit www.sweetleaf.com.

New Research on Colesevelam Examines Role of Bile Acids in Type 2 Diabetes
Researchers have recently begun to unravel the role that bile acids play in glucose metabolism. New research has demonstrated that bile acids also function as hormones that bind to nuclear receptors and, through this mechanism, may affect bile acid-activated pathways involved in glucose homeostasis.

Data presented at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) 69th Scientific Sessions explored the role of bile acids in type 2 diabetes and examined how colesevelam HCL (Welchol, Daiichi-Sankyo), a bile acid sequestrant, works to improve glucose control.

Results of a multicenter, randomized, double-blind study of patients with type 2 diabetes investigated potential glucose-lowering mechanisms of colesevelam. The study found that colesevelam increased glucose clearance compared with placebo. Furthermore, endogenous glucose production was stabilized in the colesevelam group. In the placebo group, endogenous glucose production was elevated predominantly due to increased glycogenolysis. Treatment with colesevelam also showed a trend to improved beta-cell response, according to the ADA data.

Additional data from a separate study found that treatment with colesevelam in an insulin-resistant animal model enhanced first-phase insulin release and GLP-1 secretion. Researchers found that in this animal model, colesevelam may reduce glucose levels by improving both insulin resistance and first-phase insulin release. Colesevelam HCL is the only treatment approved by the FDA as an adjunct to diet and exercise to reduce both A1C and LDL-C.