DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #35: Are Blood Glucose and Blood Pressure Connected?

From the first moment I discovered I had been diagnosed with DIABETES, I joined a HUGE “club” that has been rapidly expanding since it stopped being a death sentence in the early 20th Century. Currently, there are about HALF A BILLION PEOPLE who have Type 2 Diabetes. For the past 3500 years – dating back to Ancient Egypt – people have suffered from diabetes. Well, I’m one of them now… Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: Blood glucose and blood pressure…what’s the connection?

There seems to be a pretty simple answer; but no one ever made the connection for me until I had the idea for this blog post. A paper in the JOURNAL OF HYPERTENSION, noted: “Yes, there is a strong connection between blood glucose and blood pressure, as both conditions share risk factors, have common underlying mechanisms, and can worsen each other. High blood sugar can lead to high blood pressure by damaging blood vessels, while the two conditions often coexist due to shared factors like obesity, inflammation, and insulin resistance.”

As well, the website of New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Diabetes Resource Center notes, “Two out of every three people with Type 2 diabetes also have high blood pressure. Both are diseases of lifestyle and aging and share common risk factors. The good news is that diabetes and hypertension can be modified through behavior, including eating a healthful diet, exercise, weight control and, if your doctor prescribes it, medication. Either a T2 diabetic does not have enough/or effective enough insulin to process glucose so that it accumulates in the bloodstream causing widespread damage to the blood vessels and kidneys.”

While this sounds dire – and it IS, the good news is that both can be modified through behavior, including eating a healthful diet, exercise, weight control as well as medication.”

What started me on this is looking at my numbers after I started taking Ozempic-brand semaglutide (what does it do, anyway??? I know it lowers my blood sugars, BUT HOW? “semaglutide works by mimicking a hormone called GLP-1 to help the pancreas release insulin, lower blood sugar, and reduce the amount of sugar released by the liver.”)

Ohhhh! So, that’s what happens?!

But you know what? Shooting myself once a week with semaglutide does NOT work miracles! I can’t eat like a pig, take my shot and then slim down to my high school weight and build! I had to make LOTS of changes in how I ate – fewer in what I DID (During the brief period of “warm Minnesota weather”, I bike somewhere between 4 and 20 miles a week. More difficult is the rest of the year – so this winter, I’ve decided to walk a mile (working up to two, and MAYBE three) every other day. I’ve never done that before. It’s a new adventure.

All that to point out a couple things. First, is that I’m a retired science teacher. I LOVE data. So, when I began my journey in T2, I started to record on a chart EVERY DAY – the date, time, blood pressure, weight, and blood sugars. Starting on February 24, 2023 with a BP of 155/80, weight of 253.8, and blood glucose 189…I pretty much ignored the numbers until my doctor prescribed semaglutide in August of 2025 (yes, only three months ago!). My current (as of yesterday) data is BP = 127/71; weight = 233.8; glucose = 134 (average of last 10 days, 124.86).

I discovered VISCERALLY that when I walk and watch what I eat, my blood pressure comes down as does my blood glucose. So, I can report to you that I KNOW the statement is true: blood pressure and blood sugars ARE intimately connected…

Just so you know.

Links: https://journals.lww.com/jhypertension/fulltext/2025/05002/the_correlation_between_blood_glucose_levels_and.76.aspx 

Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #37: Diabetic Holiday Eating – With Recipes And OTHER Links!

For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two years ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!

I don’t know about you, but when Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve roll around, I imagine that ALL foods served are (in the Spirit of the Season) CALORIE FREE!!!

I think maybe, ATTEMPT to imagine that all foods are calorie free. In fact, I know exactly what I’m eating, have figured out how it will impact my blood sugars and my blood pressure – and then just ignore it!

I’m hoping I’m not the only person to think this way, but even if I am, I’d like to share a couple of recipes we like to do during the holidays that seem to have a minimal effect on our diabetic lifestyle!

PICKLE ROLL UPS

Ingredients
Package of deli-thin-sliced turkey
2 (8 ounce) packages LIGHT cream cheese, softened
1 (16 ounce) jar medium-sized dill pickles

Preparing
Spread cream cheese over a single meat slice to cover
Place a pickle on one end, and roll the meat up. Keep going until ingredients are gone.
Cut into 1 1/2 inch disks/pieces
Chill until ready to serve.

SOMETHING MORE SUBSTANTIAL
Turkey on Crackers with cheese and veggies

Roast a single, small turkey breast
Slice into sizes that will fit the crackers you’ve chosen (or use LIGHT cream cheese)
Diabetic-friendly crackers (Rye Crisp, Nut Thins, Black Bean Rounds, Ritz Thin Veggie, Triscuits, Cauliflower Crackers, Wheat Thins)

Things to stack besides turkey and cheese: Cukes, zukes, tomatoes, sweet potato (THIN), radishes, peppers of various colors and HEAT, mushrooms, green beans, whatever else you want!

Just don’t go crazy with HOW MANY you eat! If I’m at home, I take a glance at the “serving size”. Otherwise – just give yourself a limit

I know I miss stuffing my face with candy, cakes, and all the other treats the Holidays bring. But I’m finally learning to pace myself and eat REASONABLY!

Find a bunch more recipes below. The ones above are meant to be EASY stuff you can try!

LINKS: https://www.tristarhealth.com/healthy-living/thrive/eating-healthy-during-the-holidays-when-you-have-diabetes ; https://www.hcamidwest.com/healthy-living/blog/eating-healthy-during-the-holidays-when-you-have-diabetes ; https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/best-diabetic-friendly-recipes/ ; https://diabetesfoodhub.org/recipes/holidays-entertaining ; https://www.familyhconline.com/diabetic-friendly-holiday-recipes/ Image: https://nycancer.com/media/images/2020/01/08/iStock-1036967058_-small.jpg

DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #34: Type 2 LAME Excuse: Diabetics CAN Be Reversed If You Lose Weight!

From the first moment I discovered I had been diagnosed with DIABETES, I joined a HUGE “club” that has been rapidly expanding since it stopped being a death sentence in the early 20th Century. Currently, there are about HALF A BILLION PEOPLE who have Type 2 Diabetes. For the past 3500 years – dating back to Ancient Egypt – people have suffered from diabetes. Well, I’m one of them now… Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: “Researchers See Type 2 Diabetes Develop for the First Time”

This scientific report – usually written in language I have to translate – spells out this discovery (EDITORIAL COMMENT: “How the…_ _ _ _ is this a “discovery”???”): “We saw that when a person accumulates too much fat, which should be stored under the skin, then it has to go elsewhere,” said Taylor. “The amount that can be stored under the skin varies from person to person.”

“When fat cannot be safely stored under the skin, it’s pushed into the liver and over-spills to the rest of the body including the pancreas, ‘clogging it up’. The clogs switch off the genes which direct how insulin should effectively be produced, and this causes type 2 diabetes.”

The end result of the study seems more a “duh!” moment than a revelation: “Excess calories leads to excess fat in the liver. As a result, the liver responds poorly to insulin and produces too much glucose. Excess fat in the liver is passed on to the pancreas, causing the insulin producing cells to fail. Losing less than 1 gram of fat from the pancreas through diet can re-start the normal production of insulin, reversing Type 2 diabetes. This reversal of diabetes remains possible for at least 10 years after the onset of the condition.”

This graphic sums up their result – though it hardly needs a scientist to either draw it or interpret it:

https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S155041311930662X-fx1.jpg

The end result of this (I don’t know if I was more startled by the results or the idea that someone said, “Let’s make everyone lose weight, then figure out if their blood sugars return to normal.”) is that it does. Rocket science? I think not…

HOWEVER, read my post from last month, here: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2025/10/guys-gotta-talk-abouttype-2-diabetes-36.html

One last thing, and this did come as both a surprise and a vindication to my current condition of having Type 2 Diabetes, “The amount [of body fat] that can be stored under the skin varies from person to person, indicating a ‘personal fat threshold’ above which fat can cause mischief.” So…not EVERYONE, not even everyone in a family will be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

That diagnosis DEPENDS on their “subdural lipid storage capability”.

Link: https://beyondtype1.org/researchers-type-2-diabetes-develop/?lead_source=PPC&lead_source_detail=Google&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_campaign=bt1|general|pmax&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=6188803963&hsa_cam=21858550764&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21868968196&gbraid=0AAAAADgX8fMJFJZJsVOhfeNhUkWEpsSxj&gclid=Cj0KCQjw35bIBhDqARIsAGjd-ca23s834Puk0eXYUcHrrbW9OqM0t3YyB5fCo2IiGMQSPFYQgHQBo4MaAjcdEALw_wcB 

Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg