One of the neat aspects of building a number of websites is that, eventually, you’ll often face the same challenge more than once. This means that you’ll know exactly what to do. That is, if you remember where and when you’d seen the issue before.
How many times have you needed to accomplish something and realized that, yes, you’ve written a piece of code that would be a perfect fit? Then, how often was that same snippet almost impossible to find?
Undoubtedly, this is a common refrain for web designers. That’s why writing some basic project documentation can prove to be beneficial. By putting such a system in place, you’ll have an easy way to go and find that time-saving snippet.
Whether you’re working on a new project or looking through some past ones, here are some tips for documenting what you’ve done.
The Web Designer Toolbox
Unlimited Downloads: 1,000,000+ Web Templates, Themes, Plugins, Design Assets, and much more!
Comment Your Code
This one seems a bit obvious, but it’s no less important. As we write code, it makes sense to add appropriate comments about exactly what it does.
A common practice includes writing a short narrative above each new function, for example, to explain its purpose and relevance to the project. Beyond that, adding notes at other key places within those functions allow us (and others reviewing our code) to gain a better understanding of how everything is put together.
And this practice isn’t just for complex languages like PHP or JavaScript. It’s also perfect for CSS. Pointing out specific styles and where they are being utilized is great for finding exactly what you need.
It often feels like half of the battle is just remembering why each line is there and what it’s supposed to do. Commenting can take a lot of that ambiguity away.
Create a Journal for Each Project
Now, depending on your personality, the mention of the word “journal” may be either dead scary or oddly comforting. And your reaction should probably inform just how you handle this type of task.
In this case, we’re talking about a document that serves as a future resource. Should the website break or require a new feature, this would be a place that you can reference for details on how things were done. Open up a word processing document or go all out and create a Wiki on your local install. It can be as fully detailed (or not) as you like. There are no hard and fast rules here.
For example, our design and development techniques tend to evolve over time. The approach you took a few years ago may not resemble what you’re doing today. Thus, it’s important to put various elements of the process into writing.
Plus, even when using common systems and libraries, each website is its own separate entity. Not sure where to start? Look at what makes this site stand out. Make note of special templates you created, specific code snippets or styles. If you had to do something different with regards to your server, that’s also a great thing to document.
Maintain a Code Snippet Library
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to code. Much of what we write is infinitely reusable. Even if it doesn’t fully fit in with the needs of your new project, the right snippet can serve as a solid starting point for further customization.
Organizing disparate bits of code, however, can be a challenge. You could just copy and paste useful pieces into a document and retrieve them as needed. But for those who write a lot of code, this might get out of hand rather quickly.
A GitHub repository would be a great solution. It would allow you to categorize things and allow for version control. You can even tie a repository in with another service so that you can use or access it in different ways.
Regardless of how you put a snippet library together, you’ll want to develop some sort of system for tagging, categorizing or otherwise labeling each snippet. For instance, you might want to add things like the coding language used, purpose, relevant application (such as WordPress) or library (React, Vue, Bootstrap). This will make searching and finding what you need a much smoother process.
An Encyclopedia of Your Work
Web designers love to build portfolios to show off their work – or at least the final results. But keeping track of projects internally is also a worthwhile endeavor. It can help you troubleshoot and build upon existing websites, while providing solutions for new ones as well.
You can use any or all of the above techniques to get things organized. The best part is that you really can customize it the way you see fit. Whether that’s through voracious notetaking or simple reminders, it will help you better understand the what, where, when and why of your web projects.
The post Techniques for Documenting Your Web Projects appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.
Symfony 4.4.0 is going to be released in a few days. As for any other
Symfony minor release, our backward compatibility promise applies and this means
that you should be able to upgrade easily without changing anything in your
code.
We've already blogged about the great 4.4 new features, but her...
By Dr. Liji Thomas, MDNov 17 2019
Diabetes mellitus is among the fastest-growing conditions in the world, and in Australia, a new case is diagnosed every 5 minutes. Many people with this illness are now taking diet supplements in an attempt to prevent this condition. A new study published in the journal Pharmaceutical Medicine from the University of South Australia shows that many of these so-called nutraceuticals can help treat diabetes and reduce the impact of other factors that increase the risk of developing this condition.
Nutraceuticals
The study defines nutraceuticals as “defined as food products, extracts or food derivatives such as vitamins, herbs, amino acids, minerals and enzymes that can potentially exhibit pharmaceutical benefit in addition to their nutritional value.” Nutraceuticals are important as a possible health intervention, since they are already widely used by the general population in developed countries. In fact, says researcher Evangeline Mantzioris, nutraceuticals are taken by over 40% of the adult population in Australia. Some studies show that they may help in some chronic conditions, either to improve the efficacy of the primary medication or to prevent or counteract the adverse effects.
The perceived advantages of nutraceuticals are their availability over the counter, their supposed low cost in many cases, and their accessibility. However, these very characteristics can be their downside, as well, since all of them are not equally effective. One study shows that actually more money is spent on alternative and complementary medicine than on prescription medicines! The poor regulatory framework with respect to these supplements makes it more difficult for patients to know which one they should actually use. And the huge volume of misinformation floating around the Internet doesn’t help.
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a lifelong condition, in most cases, brought on by the body’s inability to utilize glucose adequately, resulting in high blood sugar levels that serve both as a characteristic marker and the primary reason for poor health outcomes. The reason for the abnormal glucose processing is a functional or physical lack of insulin activity, insulin being the pancreatic hormone that is chiefly responsible for stimulating the uptake of glucose from the blood into the body cells.
There are two types, type I which is present from early childhood and is due to a lack of insulin production because of the destruction of the insulin-producing beta-cells in the pancreas. Type II is a largely preventable condition, in 60% of people, caused by abnormal weight gain, a sedentary lifestyle, and poor eating patterns, which lead to a constant and eventually unmanageable load on the insulin-producing cells. in addition, other metabolic and hormonal abnormalities are often found in these patients, such as insulin resistance in the fat cells, which prevents their proper response to available insulin. Paradoxically, therefore, insulin levels are often higher than normal even as blood sugar levels soar.
There are about 420 million diabetics in the world, and they require about $1 trillion for their health-related expenditure. Diabetics are prone to vascular complications such as blindness, heart disease and amputations.
Obesity
Obesity is linked to higher rates of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and a higher overall mortality. Hypertension itself poses the risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and death. High LDL cholesterol also pushes up cardiovascular mortality.
The study and its findings
The current study was meant to review the available evidence, to show which nutraceuticals among a selected few were most effective in managing diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and chronic inflammatory conditions.
The study showed that cinnamon is not very effective in lowering fasting blood glucose consistently in type II diabetes, while resveratrol has a two-pronged action: it lowers blood glucose and improves insulin resistance, making the peripheral tissues more sensitive to the actions of insulin. Meanwhile, curcumin reduces insulin resistance in both the pre-diabetic and type II diabetic patient and seems to be more effective in preventing diabetes.
However, green tea, green coffee extract, and gamboge (Garcinia cambogia) had no weight-lowering effect that could be detected by the experiment.
Garlic and beetroot juice could be useful in reducing hypertension when taken in conjunction with standard antihypertensives, especially in people with chronic disease who took the supplements over a longer period and at a higher dose.
For cardiovascular disease, they found that phytosterols could cause a small reduction in LDL levels when taken along with statins, while curcumin might reduce statin-associated muscle symptoms.
Fish oil and glucosamine/chondroitin sulfate supplements for inflammatory conditions have not been tested in high-quality randomized controlled trials, which limits the evidence available. Most studies report no difference from placebo. Curcumin did have an anti-inflammatory effect, however.
Conclusion
The researchers say that nutraceuticals can certainly be used for their natural health-promoting benefits, such as reducing the occurrence of high blood sugar levels. However, a healthy diet and lifestyle are the most important things that can reduce the risk of diabetes. Studies on nutraceuticals are hampered by a number of factors which limit their generalizability and make recommendations difficult. High quality studies would be beneficial, in uncovering the diverse mechanisms through which they act, the optimal dosage, and best combinations, for different patient populations.
Mantzioris says, “People should invest in a diet filled with whole foods – vegetables and fruits, cereals, lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, as well as dairy foods. However, if you are considering nutraceuticals to manage or prevent diabetes, we always recommend speaking with your doctor. There is still a lot we need to learn about them.”
Bergamin, A., Mantzioris, E., Cross, G. et al. Nutraceuticals: Reviewing their Role in Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Pharm Med (2019) 33: 291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40290-019-00289-w
Mondays are the perfect day to refresh- get over the weekend extravagance and make up for the lack of physical exercise and burn those extra calories. You can make the big change, set your body into a routine and make new goals for yourself to get back in shape. However, if you have been battling the same Monday blues like us, don’t worry. We have found the perfect inspiration for you to get off the bed and workout!
Ask any gym goer, pull-ups are one of the hardest exercises. If done right, pull-ups guarantee a host of benefits-from targeting muscles in different core areas, balancing your body’s joints, improving posture, strength and even help push your weight loss mission a little faster. That being said, you need to do it right for it to work right. If Instagram is your go-to workout social media, we have the perfect coach insight. Look no further than Virat Kohli!
It is no secret that Virat Kohli apart from being the captain of the Indian cricket team is also one of the fittest sportspersons in the country. As someone who has fought immense weight gain in the past and doesn’t believe in the concept of cheat meals, the cricketer is immensely popular amongst fitness enthusiasts and he has rightly earned the title! Just very recently, the 31-year-old shared a motivating video of himself performing extreme pull-ups which are so enthralling to watch!
We now know the secret behind his washboard abs! Sharing the gym video, he wrote it alongside perhaps his most used caption, “No days off”
Well, we all can surely learn a thing or two from Virat Kohli’s strict regime. Extremely dedicated and focussed, Virat Kohli ensures that no matter what, neither his diet nor his workouts are compromised-even if that means not having a bite of his favourite butter chicken for four years at a length! Even more astonishing, he hasn’t had a single cheat meal in the past two years!
In another interview, Virat shared some insihts into his fitness regime and once again proved that for him-it is everything or nothing. He works out five days a week, four hours at a stretch and takes his training sessions very seriously. He has built up his endurance this way and now he can now perform up to 100 squats in one session!
As they say, work harder, hustle even harder!
Popular Deals
Bakson’s Y-Lax Tablet₹ 324₹ 380
GET THIS
SBL Diaboherb Capsule₹ 319₹ 385GET THIS
1mg Garcinia Cambogia with 65% HCA Capsule₹ 492₹ 895GET THIS
1mg Apple Cider Vinegar Probiotic Plus₹ 354₹ 595GET THIS
HealthVit Mulvit Tablet₹ 250₹ 400GET THIS
Cognicare Syrup₹ 894₹ 1,080GET THIS
– To buy medicines and health products, visit
div > div > a > span{width:100%;float:left;height:130px;float: left;}.BjKKdDO > div:last-child > div > a > span{position:relative;}.BjKKdDO > div > div > a > span > img {width:100%;height: 100%;float:left;}.BjKKdDO > div > div {width:31%;float: left;margin-left:3.5%; text-decoration: none;margin-bottom: 20px;cursor: pointer;position:relative}.BjKKdDO > div > div:first-child,.BjKKdDO > div > div:nth-child(4) { margin-left: 0;}.BjKKdDO > div > div > a > div h3 {width: 100%;height: auto;float: left;max-height: 36px;overflow: hidden;display: -webkit-box;-webkit-line-clamp: 2;-webkit-box-orient: vertical;color: padding: 8px 0 0;text-align: left;line-height: 19px;font-size: 14px !important; min-height: 36px; font-family: proxima-semibold;}.BjKKdDO > div > div > a > div p{width: 100%;float: left;color: padding: 6px 0 0;text-align: left;height: 17px;overflow: hidden;line-height: 18px;font-family: ‘proxima-regular1’;font-size: 12px; text-overflow: ellipsis;white-space: nowrap;}.BjKKdDO > div > div > a > div p:before { content: ” Ad “;padding-right: 3px;}.BjKKdDO h2 {height: auto;display: block;width: 100%; float: left; padding: 0;color: margin-bottom: 7px; text-transform: uppercase;font-weight: bold;line-height: 26px; font: 700 18px/28px proxima-semibod,proximanova,roboto,arial,sans-serif !important;}.BjKKdDO h2::before { content: “”;}.BjKKdDO > div > div > a > div {float: left;width: 100%;min-height: 65px;}.BjKKdDO > div {float: left;}.BjKKdDO > div > div > div{display:none;}.BjKKdDO > div > div:hover > div {position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0;display: block !important; width: 20px; height: 20px;}.BjKKdDO > div > div > div > a > img { height: 15px !important;width:19px !important;}.BjKKdDO > div > div > a > img{left: 7px;top: 7px;border-radius: 50%; position: absolute; content: “”; z-index: 1;}]]>
FROM AROUND THE WEB
Stop disappointing in bed – try this simple trick tonight!
Healthysoulmags
Jennifer Aniston Confirmed the rumor today!
Heatpeak
Michelle Obama drops untold bombshell!
theheatpeak.com
Please help me arrange Rs 15 lakh to save my daughter.
KETTO
Our hearts go out to Angelina Jolie.
glamourmagazine
When you get stumped, your State Farm® agent is here to help
State Farm
div > div > a > span{width:100%;float:left;height:130px;float: left;}.mDimeKRLFD > div:last-child > div > a > span{position:relative;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > a > span > img {width:100%;height: 100%;float:left;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div {width:31%;float: left;margin-left:3.5%; text-decoration: none;margin-bottom: 20px;cursor: pointer;position:relative}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div:first-child,.mDimeKRLFD > div > div:nth-child(4) { margin-left: 0;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > a > div h3 {width: 100%;height: auto;float: left;max-height: 36px;overflow: hidden;display: -webkit-box;-webkit-line-clamp: 2;-webkit-box-orient: vertical;color: padding: 8px 0 0;text-align: left;line-height: 19px;font-size: 14px !important; min-height: 36px; font-family: proxima-semibold;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > a > div p {width: 100%;float: left;color: padding: 6px 0 0;text-align: left;height: 17px;overflow: hidden;line-height: 18px;font-family: ‘proxima-regular1’;font-size: 12px; text-overflow: ellipsis;white-space: nowrap;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > a > div p:before { content: ” Ad “;padding-right: 3px;}.mDimeKRLFD h2 {height: auto;display: block;width: 100%; float: left; padding: 0;color: margin-bottom: 7px; text-transform: uppercase;font-weight: bold;line-height: 26px;font-size: 18px !important;}.mDimeKRLFD h2::before { content: “”;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > a > div {float: left;width: 100%;min-height: 65px;}.mDimeKRLFD > div {float: left;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > div{display:none;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div:hover > div {position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0;display: block !important; width: 20px; height: 20px;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > div > a > img { height: 15px !important;width:19px !important;}@media (max-width:1920px) {.mDimeKRLFD h2{font-size:28px;}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > a > div {height: Auto; }}.mDimeKRLFD > div > div > a > img{left: 7px;top: 7px;border-radius: 50%; position: absolute; content: “”; z-index: 1;}]]>
Homeowners – Claim Your $3,252 Government Stimulus Package ASAP
MyHomeRelief
Got Skin Tags? Here’s the Most Painless Way to Remove Them!
ehealthylifestyledaily
The World’s Most Famous Female Billionaires (#9 is Shocking)
Poplively
See the Best 2019 Suvs Everybody is Talking About
Dental Implants
Unforgettable Sports Moments Caught on Camera
Ready Set Health
Exposed to Asbestos? a Lawyer Can Help | Search Now
AsbestosLawyerInfo
Comments (0)
Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let’s work together to keep the conversation civil.
Article source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/fitness/monday-blues-virat-kohlis-extreme-pull-ups-are-all-the-fitness-motivation-you-need/articleshow/72110348.cms
Latest PEAR Releases:
Overall Typehint Usage
PHP typehints were introduced in PHP 5. Ever since, they have grown in features and usage. Where are we at the moment ? We scanned the Open Source community repositories. 89% of all PHP code source use types hinting, at least a little.ÂÂ
Typehint Coverage
...
I ran across this great video recorded by Dr David Jockers. The video really intrigued me as I an always interested in how I can improve my brain memory, cognition, and especially my ability to be at my best and most creative.
These 10 supplements are very interesting but after watching the video I have my own ideas on how these are helpful as well as other methods to increase your brain ability at any age.
Article source: https://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/top-10-supplements-to-improve-your-brain.html
Designing an effective user interface is not an easy task. However, it becomes much easier when you have the right tools at your disposal.
The first step is to find a tool that you’ll enjoy working with and that has all the features you need in UI design software. Luckily, Figma fits that bill quite nicely.
Once you have the tool, you can quickly get to work and design a beautiful user interface. But, designing an interface from scratch can be time-consuming. Instead, consider using a web or a mobile UI kit to speed up your design process.
By using a premade design kit, you don’t have to spend time creating each UI element from scratch. You can focus on laying out those elements in the most logical and visually appealing way.
We’ve rounded up the best free mobile and web UI kits and templates for Figma, the hugely popular prototyping tool for designers. Check them out below and download them to your computer to save time on your next UI design.
Table of Contents
Related Content
Free Figma Mobile UI Kits
Nucleus is a free UI library of 300 components and over 30 screens. It will give you all of the building blocks you need to rapidly design your next mobile app.
This is a beautiful and dark UI mobile kit for Figma. It has a plethora of elements needed to create rich mobile interfaces, so be sure to add it to your library.
Use this landing page template to quickly bring your company online and showcase what you have to offer. This template is easy to use and customize and includes well-organized layers and artboards.
If you’re working on a ticketing app, this UI kit will come in handy. It works with both Figma and Sketch and includes elements such as ticket buying screens, seat selection, and more.
This kit is based on Google’s Material Design, and it incorporates components such as bars, avatars, badges, expansion panels, and more. The kit is free to use in personal and commercial projects and is fully compatible with React Material-UI library.
Consider this free Figma UI mobile kit when working on a chat dashboard. The kit features a full-screen interface for a chat app, and you can easily customize it to match your project needs.
These finances wireframes for Figma will come in handy whenever you need to create an interface for a payment processor, banking, accounting, or any other finance app. It can be used in personal and commercial projects.
Deca is a beautifully designed UI library of components. With over 150 components, you will find everything you need to complete your next project quickly.
Easily create a mobile wallet login screen with the help of this UI kit. The kit is free for personal projects and can easily be customized with your choice of colors and fonts.
This beautiful and minimal UI kit contains 12 different screens, so you can easily bring your app vision to life. The kit includes various icons, screen elements, and fully vectorized elements.
If you need iOS 10 UI elements, check out this kit. It was designed by the Facebook Design team and includes elements such as search bars, drawers, avatars, badges, and more.
Free Figma Web Layout Templates
Download this 24-page responsive personal portfolio Figma template. It includes both desktop and mobile versions, and it is also compatible with Sketch and Adobe XD.
Calls to action are one of the most important elements of any website or app. With the help of this kit, you will be able to create a high-converting call-to-action block in no time.
Createx is a collection of five Figma web layout templates for eCommerce, education, creative agency, digital marketing, and construction.
This is a simple Figma plugin for quickly creating wireframes, prototypes, or just basic UI structures.
Breakpoints is a new free plugin that allows you to test responsive design layouts within a Figma frame.
Try this Figma kit if you need to make a web dashboard or a stats panel. The template includes a template in light and dark mode with a bunch of components to help you create a powerful and modern dashboard.
Quickly mock up a bookshop website with the help of this Figma template. The template includes an illustrated banner and is free for personal use.
If you’re loving the brutalist trend, this UI kit will be right up your alley. The template includes over 70 screens with sections for testimonials, services, team members, and more. The template is free for personal and commercial projects.
Free Figma Styleguide Templates & Starter Kits
This Figma starter kit contains basic UI elements such as forms, buttons, and basic icons. It comes in light and dark versions and is free for personal and commercial projects.
This simple wireframe kit is a great choice when you need to start prototyping your design quickly. All you have to do is select components you need, drop them on your screen, and start customizing them.
This kit touts itself as the ultimate design kit for Figma. You can easily create high-fidelity wireframes, user interfaces, and style guides for desktop products. It’s fully customizable and free.
This dashboard UI kit is an excellent choice if you need to mock up a web or mobile app dashboard. It comes with fully responsive mobile screens and includes a collection of charts, graphs, onboarding screens, a set of icons, and a detailed style guide.
A free wireframe library that adds much-needed components to Figma’s new online whiteboard.
If you need to create a design system in Figma, this kit has everything you need. The kit contains patterns, typography, color, and other settings needed to create a complete styleguide.
This is a simple and free UI style guide for Figma that you can download, use, and adapt to your needs. The kit is free for personal and commercial projects.
Thanks to this free UI design system, you can quickly and easily create buttons in Figma. The template is free for personal and commercial projects.
A small collection of twelve minimally designed iPhone 12 clay mockup templates for Figma (and Sketch).
Free Figma Icon Sets
This set of Dripicons was explicitly created for Figma and can be downloaded and used in both personal and commercial projects. You can duplicate this file into your own Figma account with a single click.
This beautifully simple collection of 34 icons covers all major social media services, and includes both color and black & white versions.
If you’re working on a cryptocurrency or blockchain project, this is the free icon set for you. Over fifty logos of the most popular services are included in the template.
Use this icon set if you need to create a user interface for a page builder. The set was inspired by the most popular page builders out there and can be downloaded as part of your Envato Elements subscription.
This set contains a total of 460 icons that can be used for any project. The set is free for personal and commercial projects.
This set of icons includes 60 icons which are perfect for an online store, shopping application, or website. The icons have adjustable line width and can be used in Figma as well as Illustrator, Photoshop, and more.
Try this set if you want to add social media icons to your designs. The set contains over 100 icons that are easy to customize and can be used in personal and commercial projects.
Check out these computer and IT icons for Figma if you’re working on an IT project. The kit contains 60 icons and can be downloaded as part of your Envato Elements subscription.
This free collection of icons comes with over 1000 icons that you’ll be able to use in any type of project and prototype. They can be used in commercial and personal projects.
This icon set is based on Font Awesome icons and contains over 1200 unique icons which are neatly categorized. They can be downloaded and used for free in any personal project.
This library of Entypo icons was made specifically for Figma. It comes with 411 free and premium vector icons ready to use for your next UX design project. It can be used for free in personal projects.
Free Figma Flowchart Templates
This set of flowchart templates comes with more than 200 cards to help you quickly create flowchart and sitemap prototypes. The kit is free for personal and commercial projects.
This is another excellent flowchart kit that’s perfect for designing sitemaps and visualizing processes quickly. The kit is free for personal and commercial projects.
This free template has been designed so that you can quickly create professional presentations of your UI creations. It comes with a variety of completely customizable buttons, charts, and text blocks so you can make your presentation your own.
Figma makes it easy to quickly create beautiful prototypes for mobile apps, web apps, dashboards, sitemaps, and any other UI project you need. With the help of these Figma kits, you will be able to prototype your designs more quickly, so be sure to add them to your library today.
The post 50 Free Web & Mobile UI Templates for Figma appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.
Package:
Summary:
Retrieve logger objects using named keys
Groups:
Author:
Description:
This package can retrieve logger objects using named keys...
Read more at https://www.phpclasses.org/package/11424-PHP-Retrieve-logger-objects-using-named-keys.html
By Dr. Liji Thomas, MDNov 17 2019
Diabetes mellitus is among the fastest-growing conditions in the world, and in Australia, a new case is diagnosed every 5 minutes. Many people with this illness are now taking diet supplements in an attempt to prevent this condition. A new study published in the journal Pharmaceutical Medicine from the University of South Australia shows that many of these so-called nutraceuticals can help treat diabetes and reduce the impact of other factors that increase the risk of developing this condition.
Nutraceuticals
The study defines nutraceuticals as “defined as food products, extracts or food derivatives such as vitamins, herbs, amino acids, minerals and enzymes that can potentially exhibit pharmaceutical benefit in addition to their nutritional value.” Nutraceuticals are important as a possible health intervention, since they are already widely used by the general population in developed countries. In fact, says researcher Evangeline Mantzioris, nutraceuticals are taken by over 40% of the adult population in Australia. Some studies show that they may help in some chronic conditions, either to improve the efficacy of the primary medication or to prevent or counteract the adverse effects.
The perceived advantages of nutraceuticals are their availability over the counter, their supposed low cost in many cases, and their accessibility. However, these very characteristics can be their downside, as well, since all of them are not equally effective. One study shows that actually more money is spent on alternative and complementary medicine than on prescription medicines! The poor regulatory framework with respect to these supplements makes it more difficult for patients to know which one they should actually use. And the huge volume of misinformation floating around the Internet doesn’t help.
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a lifelong condition, in most cases, brought on by the body’s inability to utilize glucose adequately, resulting in high blood sugar levels that serve both as a characteristic marker and the primary reason for poor health outcomes. The reason for the abnormal glucose processing is a functional or physical lack of insulin activity, insulin being the pancreatic hormone that is chiefly responsible for stimulating the uptake of glucose from the blood into the body cells.
There are two types, type I which is present from early childhood and is due to a lack of insulin production because of the destruction of the insulin-producing beta-cells in the pancreas. Type II is a largely preventable condition, in 60% of people, caused by abnormal weight gain, a sedentary lifestyle, and poor eating patterns, which lead to a constant and eventually unmanageable load on the insulin-producing cells. in addition, other metabolic and hormonal abnormalities are often found in these patients, such as insulin resistance in the fat cells, which prevents their proper response to available insulin. Paradoxically, therefore, insulin levels are often higher than normal even as blood sugar levels soar.
There are about 420 million diabetics in the world, and they require about $1 trillion for their health-related expenditure. Diabetics are prone to vascular complications such as blindness, heart disease and amputations.
Obesity
Obesity is linked to higher rates of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and a higher overall mortality. Hypertension itself poses the risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and death. High LDL cholesterol also pushes up cardiovascular mortality.
The study and its findings
The current study was meant to review the available evidence, to show which nutraceuticals among a selected few were most effective in managing diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and chronic inflammatory conditions.
The study showed that cinnamon is not very effective in lowering fasting blood glucose consistently in type II diabetes, while resveratrol has a two-pronged action: it lowers blood glucose and improves insulin resistance, making the peripheral tissues more sensitive to the actions of insulin. Meanwhile, curcumin reduces insulin resistance in both the pre-diabetic and type II diabetic patient and seems to be more effective in preventing diabetes.
However, green tea, green coffee extract, and gamboge (Garcinia cambogia) had no weight-lowering effect that could be detected by the experiment.
Garlic and beetroot juice could be useful in reducing hypertension when taken in conjunction with standard antihypertensives, especially in people with chronic disease who took the supplements over a longer period and at a higher dose.
For cardiovascular disease, they found that phytosterols could cause a small reduction in LDL levels when taken along with statins, while curcumin might reduce statin-associated muscle symptoms.
Fish oil and glucosamine/chondroitin sulfate supplements for inflammatory conditions have not been tested in high-quality randomized controlled trials, which limits the evidence available. Most studies report no difference from placebo. Curcumin did have an anti-inflammatory effect, however.
Conclusion
The researchers say that nutraceuticals can certainly be used for their natural health-promoting benefits, such as reducing the occurrence of high blood sugar levels. However, a healthy diet and lifestyle are the most important things that can reduce the risk of diabetes. Studies on nutraceuticals are hampered by a number of factors which limit their generalizability and make recommendations difficult. High quality studies would be beneficial, in uncovering the diverse mechanisms through which they act, the optimal dosage, and best combinations, for different patient populations.
Mantzioris says, “People should invest in a diet filled with whole foods – vegetables and fruits, cereals, lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, as well as dairy foods. However, if you are considering nutraceuticals to manage or prevent diabetes, we always recommend speaking with your doctor. There is still a lot we need to learn about them.”
Bergamin, A., Mantzioris, E., Cross, G. et al. Nutraceuticals: Reviewing their Role in Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Pharm Med (2019) 33: 291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40290-019-00289-w
