The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, and pre-diabetes. It is a network of 565,000 volunteers which includes 20,000 healthcare professionals and administration staff members.[1]
The ADA was formally founded in 1939.[2][3] It was founded by six physicians − including Dr. Herman O. Mosenthal, Dr. Joseph T. Beardwood Jr., Dr. Joseph H. Barach, and Dr. E. S. Dillion − at their annual meeting of the American College of Physicians.[4]
Each year the ADA hosts Scientific Sessions, a meeting for diabetes professionals.[5] The ADA has nearly 20,000 members.
In the early 2000s, the ADA struck a three-year, $1.5 million sponsorship deal with Cadbury-Schweppes, the world's largest confectioner products including Diet-Rite sodas, Snapple unsweetened tea and Mott's Apple Sauce.
According to a 2006 New York Times article,[6] "critics say the A.D.A. affiliation has helped the candy maker pose as a concerned corporate citizen, even as it supplies grocery stores with sugary and fattening foods like Dr Pepper and the Cadbury Creme Egg." The article goes on to say, "The A.D.A. began rethinking how it raises money from companies, especially from those whose primary business is selling foods and beverages that are high in calories, even if they have created some sugar free items. The group has allowed some food company deals to expire and has turned down millions of dollars in new sponsorships."
Accountability
The organization spends significant amounts on telemarketers including a contract with InfoCision, where telemarketers were instructed to lie to prospective donors that more of their donation was going toward the ADA than reality.[7][8][9]
The mostly highly compensated 20 individuals of the ADA received $5.3 million (an average of $266,000 each).
The Charity Navigator previously gave the ADA a 3-star overall rating, a 1-star financial rating and a 4-star accountability and transparency rating. As of August 2024, the rating had been upgraded to four stars, the highest available.[10]
Funded research
The ADA aims to give individuals with diabetes access to the care they need to optimize their health.[11] To work towards achieving this mission, the organization places effort into funding research projects that help minority groups navigate diabetes.[12][13] The ADA works with various colleges, local governments, and companies to promote healthy lifestyles.[14][15] They also fund research looking to control risk factors associated with diabetes, as seen in a recently published article discussing the role of microglia immune cells in diet-induced obesity.[16] 96% of ADA funded researchers remain dedicated to careers in diabetes science, every $1 the ADA invests in diabetes research leads to $12.47 in additional research funding.[citation needed]
Pay-to-play lawsuit
In 2023, Elizabeth Hanna, ex-chief nutritionist of the ADA, filed a whistleblower lawsuit claiming that the organisation accepted corporate money in exchange for recommending recipes that could harm people with diabetes. Hanna alleged that she was fired for refusing to endorse high amounts of Splenda in salads; ADA's scientific journal indicated that artificial sweeteners may raise the risk of type-2 diabetes.[17][18]
↑ "Impact Statement". American Diabetes Association - Stop Diabetes. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
↑ Kaltman S, Serrano A, Talisman N, Magee MF, Cabassa LJ, Pulgar-Vidal O, Peraza D (February 2016). "Type 2 Diabetes and Depression: A Pilot Trial of an Integrated Self-management Intervention for Latino Immigrants". The Diabetes Educator. 42 (1): 87–95. doi:10.1177/0145721715617536. PMID26590385. S2CID3271552.
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener and sugar substitute. As the majority of ingested sucralose is not metabolized by the body, it adds very little food energy. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. It is produced by chlorination of sucrose, selectively replacing three of the hydroxy groups—in the C1 and C6 positions of the fructose portion and the C4 position of the glucose portion—to give a 1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxyfructose–4-chloro-4-deoxygalactose disaccharide. Sucralose is about 600 times sweeter than sucrose, 3 times as sweet as both aspartame and acesulfame potassium, and 2 times as sweet as sodium saccharin.
Splenda is a global brand of sugar substitutes and reduced-calorie food products. While the company is known for its original formulation containing sucralose, it also manufactures items using natural sweeteners such as stevia, monk fruit and allulose. It is owned by the American company Heartland Food Products Group. The high-intensity sweetener ingredient sucralose used in Splenda Original is manufactured by the British company Tate & Lyle.
A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. Sugar substitute products are commercially available in various forms, such as small pills, powders, and packets.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, fatigue and unexplained weight loss. Symptoms may also include increased hunger, having a sensation of pins and needles, and sores (wounds) that do not heal. Often symptoms develop slowly. Long-term complications from high blood sugar include heart disease, stroke, diabetic retinopathy, which can result in blindness, kidney failure, and poor blood flow in the lower-limbs, which may lead to amputations. The sudden onset of hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state may occur; however, ketoacidosis is uncommon.
Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet. Foods high in carbohydrates are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and protein, as well as low carbohydrate foods.
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. They are known for publishing guidelines on cardiovascular disease and prevention, standards on basic life support, advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), pediatric advanced life support (PALS), and in 2014 issued the first guidelines for preventing strokes in women. The American Heart Association is also known for operating a number of highly visible public service campaigns starting in the 1970s, and also operates several fundraising events.
Diet or light beverages are generally sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverages with few or no calories. They are marketed for diabetics and other people who want to reduce their sugar and/or caloric intake.
Hyperinsulinemia is a condition in which there are excess levels of insulin circulating in the blood relative to the level of glucose. While it is often mistaken for diabetes or hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinemia can result from a variety of metabolic diseases and conditions, as well as non-nutritive sugars in the diet. While hyperinsulinemia is often seen in people with early stage type 2 diabetes mellitus, it is not the cause of the condition and is only one symptom of the disease. Type 1 diabetes only occurs when pancreatic beta-cell function is impaired. Hyperinsulinemia can be seen in a variety of conditions including diabetes mellitus type 2, in neonates and in drug-induced hyperinsulinemia. It can also occur in congenital hyperinsulinism, including nesidioblastosis.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar for energy and it helps regulate glucose levels in the bloodstream. It results in high blood sugar levels in the body prior to treatment. The common symptoms of this elevated blood sugar are frequent urination, increased thirst, increased hunger, weight loss, and other serious complications. Additional symptoms may include blurry vision, tiredness, and slow wound healing. Symptoms typically develop over a short period of time, often a matter of weeks if not months.
A diabetic diet is a diet that is used by people with diabetes mellitus or high blood sugar to minimize symptoms and dangerous complications of long-term elevations in blood sugar.
Prediabetes is a component of metabolic syndrome and is characterized by elevated blood sugar levels that fall below the threshold to diagnose diabetes mellitus. It usually does not cause symptoms but people with prediabetes often have obesity, dyslipidemia with high triglycerides and/or low HDL cholesterol, and hypertension. It is also associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Prediabetes is more accurately considered an early stage of diabetes as health complications associated with type 2 diabetes often occur before the diagnosis of diabetes.
The British Nutrition Foundation is a British lobby group mainly funded by the food industry. It has been widely criticised for conflicts of interest, and for downplaying them. It presents itself to journalists, the public, and the government as a independent, impartial, disinterested, and scientifically-rigorous; its industry funders also promote this image.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, also known as GLP-1 analogs, GLP-1DAs or incretin mimetics, are a class of anorectic drugs that reduce blood sugar and energy intake by activating the GLP-1 receptor. They mimic the actions of the endogenous incretin hormone GLP-1 that is released by the gut after eating.
Funding bias, also known as sponsorship bias, funding outcome bias, funding publication bias, and funding effect, refers to the tendency of a scientific study to support the interests of the study's financial sponsor. This phenomenon is recognized sufficiently that researchers undertake studies to examine bias in past published studies. Funding bias has been associated, in particular, with research into chemical toxicity, tobacco, and pharmaceutical drugs. It is an instance of experimenter's bias.
Added sugars or free sugars are sugar carbohydrates added to food and beverages at some point before their consumption. These include added carbohydrates, and more broadly, sugars naturally present in honey, syrup, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. They can take multiple chemical forms, including sucrose, glucose (dextrose), and fructose.
Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are any beverage with added sugar. They have been described as "liquid candy". Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages have been linked to weight gain and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. According to the CDC, consumption of sweetened beverages is also associated with unhealthy behaviors like smoking, not getting enough sleep and exercise, and eating fast food often and not enough fruits regularly.
Frank B. Hu is a Chinese American nutrition and diabetes researcher. He is Chair of the Department of Nutrition and the Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.
The Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) is a medical research organization located in Gopalapuram, Chennai. MDRF was established in 1996 by an eminent diabetologist, Dr. V. Mohan.
St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund(SCF) is a 501(c)(3) charity that assists professional over-the-road semi-truck drivers and their families when an illness or injury has led to an inability to work. The SCF also provides health and wellness programs targeted to these drivers.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are industrially manufactured foods that are designed to be convenient, palatable, and affordable. These foods often contain multiple ingredients and additives such as preservatives, sweeteners, colorings, and emulsifiers, which are not typically found in home kitchens. They tend to be low in fiber and high in calories, salt, added sugar and fat, which are all related to poor health outcomes when eaten excessively. Common examples include packaged snacks, soft drinks, ready meals, and processed meats.
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