The Cure for Diabetes?

A fascinating article. The low carb approach doesn't surprise me, but the high fat approach was unexpected. The low GI or GL approach is recommended by many authors for hypoglycaemia - I would expect a similar approach for diabetes.

I imagine the high fat diet would appeal to a lot of people (possibly more to men than women).

I tend to replace sugars with high fat foods such as almonds, macadamias, avocadoes and pesto sauce.

The Diabetes New Zealand food pyramid is a little different from the ADA but appears to follow similar principles http://www.diabetes.org.nz/food/pyramid.html

I found this on the ADA website:

Eat lots of vegetables and fruits. Try picking from the rainbow of colors available to maximize variety. Eat non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, broccoli or green beans with meals.
Choose whole grain foods over processed grain products. Try brown rice with your stir fry or whole wheat spaghetti with your favorite pasta sauce.
Include dried beans (like kidney or pinto beans) and lentils into your meals.
Include fish in your meals 2-3 times a week.
Choose lean meats like cuts of beef and pork that end in "loin" such as pork loin and sirloin. Remove the skin from chicken and turkey.
Choose non-fat dairy such as skim milk, non-fat yogurt and non-fat cheese.
Choose water and calorie-free "diet" drinks instead of regular soda, fruit punch, sweet tea and other sugar-sweetened drinks.
Choose liquid oils for cooking instead of solid fats that can be high in saturated and trans fats. Remember that fats are high in calories. If you're trying to lose weight, watch your portion sizes of added fats.
Cut back on high calorie snack foods and desserts like chips, cookies, cakes, and full-fat ice cream.
Eating too much of even healthful foods can lead to weight gain. Watch your portion sizes.

I think it is great that mainstream magazines start writing about the diet-health connection, but I do wish the authors would inform themselves a little better and not go with the first nutrition guru they can find.

Regarding diet and nutrition, I think it is worth pointing out that vegan nutrition guru's like Dr McDougall and Dr Fuhrman have great success in reversing diabetes on a high or moderately high carb diet. Fuhrman does restrict grains and certain types of fruits for diabetics, but I found it fascinating that even McDougall's diet, that consists for a huge part of cooked starches, actually can reverse diabetes. See http://www.drmcdougall.com/stars/050308starlogan.html

People have been eating lots of carbs for ages, without getting diabetes or other degenerative diseases. Diabetes is not a result of carbs, it is a result of too many processed carbs combined with lots of fat.

Indeed, diabetes is treatable, and it's not what you think. The story is this: It's the refined carbs and trans fats that are making us sick these days.

Upon diagnosis of the disease, stop all oils at first and consume omega 3 based oils. Such oils are: fish oil, flax oil, krill oil, hempseed oil, and walnut oil. NEVER cook with these oils. Next, in a few months, add back these healthy oils that are rich in monounsaturated fats, like olive oil, high-oleic soybean oil, and grapeseed oil, and put in a moderate amount of the healthy solid trans-free fats like butter, coconut oil, and palm kernal oil. Eat a fiber-rich, protein rich diet that centers on vegtables, fruits, low-fat dairy, and marine and pultery-based protein, with moderate amounts of dark chocolates, eggs, red meat, and nuts.

You can eat cakes, cookies, ice cream, pies, and even pizza and doughnuts in moderation, so long as they arn't cooked or fried in hydrogenated oils. Avoid all fried foods including french fries, chips, potato wedges, deep fried chicken, deep fried fish, or anything other food that's been in the deep frier. If you want to have a hamburger, grill the patty, and put it on a whole grain bun. Instead of french fries, have celery and carrots and dip it in peanut butter (Assuming that the peanut butter is free of trans fats).

And here's some facts:
1) Red meat wards off the risk of developing iron-deficient anemia, but too much causes cancer.
2) Butter may be saturated fat laden, but they are highly nutrious and some saturated fats absorbs some vitamins that the unsaturated fats can't. So don't go below 8 grams of it a day, In fact, right now, worry more about the trans fats than saturated fats, and better yet, make sure your trans fat (hydrogenated fats) consumption is as 0 as possible.
3) You need some carbs for energy. Don't go to the extreme, and eat the healthy carbs.
4) Diabetics are omega 3 deficient. Increase your intake on fish and other omega 3-based foods like walnuts and flaxseeds.
5) Avoid vegetarian diets. You may feel fine for a while, but health problems will occur later on. Once again. Think "A Little bit of each on the dining room table." The next time when you are on thankgiving, take a little of everything, but get more of the vegtables, and the turkey. Use whole grain rolls, and instead of butter, put mashed potatoes in. Stay away from buscuits and pies that contain hydrogenated oils. if you make your own, use the saturated fats instead of trans fats. Also, instead of cranberry sauce, try eating fresh whole cranberries. Cranberry sauce is loaded with sugar.
6) Try eating some dark chocolates. They protect your heart, and new research shows that a piece of dark chocolate a day could ward off complications like retinopathy, amputations, and nephropathy and tingling, as well as delaying heart attacks.

The diet of a diabetic patient is the same as non-diabetics: Everything in moderation, except for fried foods and hydrogenated oils. Remember, a diabetic can now eat a good piece of pie now and then, so you can still go ahead and indulge, but only do it on that thanksgiving day. Indulge a whole lot over several days, then you will have health problems.

For anyone who is interested Dr Vernon has a blog. Essentially she appears to advocate the Atkins diet. And before you moan and groan it has been very successful for people with ankylosing spondylitis and IBS who have trouble tolerating starches. Some people with fibromyalgia have also reported success with the Atkins diet. However like most solutions, it is not for everyone.

You can visit Dr Vernon's blog here http://rjr10036.typepad.com/askdrvernon/
She doesn't appear to post very often, but if you email a question perhaps you can get some clarification.

Men's Health article is thick on conspiracy theory and thin on useful information. Pointing to the metformin profits as the motivation for the the ADA recommendations, while tempting, is short sighted. The article applies the same nutritional principles that may work for the average healthy person to diabetics. Insulin resistance in type II diabetics leads to problems with metabolism of glucose as well as fats and to some extent amino acids. Too much fat consumption can lead to production of ketones, tissue damage, as well as detremental effects on the cardiovascular systems, the number one killer of diabetics (as mentioned in the articles). So while high fat/low carb diets is recommended by a handfull of doctors, it IS difficult to say what the long term effects may be. Citing studies from healthy populations and applying them to diabetics would be irresponsible, and blaming everything on greedy doctors is perfunctory.

As for the ADA pyramid, while it visually is carb heavy, in reality their portions are based on the same amount of carbs among groups. I.e. the amount of carbs from their recommended vegetable portion is the same as the carb from their grains portion. They recommend 6-11 grains portion and 3-5 vege portions, so when you consider the actual amounts, the pyramid is not that carb heavy. Their main recommendations was outlined by an earlier post.

So can we trust the authorities? I don't think it's wise to apply the same guidelines to everyone, and therefore, all the recommnedations should be scrutinzied and the reason behind them should be understood. To distrust the health authorities on the basis of alterior motives, need to feed their ego or pockets, and other conspiracy theories is just childish.

Nabuli: I always believed in treating the cause of an illness, not the symptoms. Drugs should only be used as the very, very last resort, and they should only be used for a short amount of time. Anytime you put someone on drugs for the rest of their lives, you can be almost sure that they're only treating the symptoms. Drugs can be just as dangerous as the diseases they address. They're unnatural chemicals that don't belong in your body. Anything that can be done to avoid them is preferable.

I grew up with a doctor as a father. Doctors don't research and choose their drugs. Drug companies come and court the doctors. It's a process that involves little talk of the dangers or side effects of the drug and more wining and dining. It's a process that stinks of corruption.

So, to me, it's not a "conspiracy" thing so much as a "where have you been?" thing.

If the authorities really aren't out to fill their pockets and just want to help, they are immensely stupid and ineffective. But remember, you're much more profitable sick.

This is not to say drugs and doctors don't have a place. When I had food poisoning, I needed thenagrine for 2 days to keep me from tossing everything I ate or drank, which my dad wisely prescribed to me. And, if I have a broken bone, am suffering from trauma, need an appendix removed or someone's baby delivered, I'll go to a doctor. That's what they're there for. But our dependance on chronic medication has to stop.

Grains are not a natural food for humans. Agriculture is only 10,000 years old. Thats 500 generations. Eat food that is obtainable from nature directly and diabetes along with many many other illness disappear, as if by magic.

Bad news!! Physicians cannot cure very many diseases! Treating the symptoms is often the only choice. That is why prevention is so important for all of us!
Surgeons, on the other hand, may have the opportunity to separate you from your 'disease'. :-)

Dr. J: Some might argue that diseases like diabetes and heart disease fall outside what a doctor should have their fingers in (unless it comes to surgery), and that the job is suited more towards someone educated thoroughly in nutrition. They also argue that there are very little actual diseases, only nutritional deficiencies/failures. I'm still deciding for myself how true this is. However, nutritional supplements and change of diet would be much less profitable than drugs.

Ryan! You might like to know that my cousin who is pushing into the 90's has been the longest lived patient of Dr. Dean Ornish. Dr. Ornish is known for his reversal of heart disease with lifestyle changes! (You probably knew that.) My cousin had two heart attacks in his 60's and couldn't cross a street without beng short of breath. It's remarkable what someone can do with sincere commitment.

The cure for diabetes? said:
Again, I ask, can you really trust health authorities?

No.

Or rather, rarely...because they are lobby/money oriented and interested in symptomatic treatment only (as frequently mentioned here) and keeping permanent clients/consumers of their drug based solutions.

Ryan - you made some excellent points. ;>)

*Sigh*

It's a good try by Men's magazine, but it won't be enough to seep into all the thick heads!

I have stopped diabetes in it's track by my low carb diet.

But all you vegans and vegetarians don't wanna hear that.

Can't we all get along?

:P

For years Johns Hopkins advocated a high fat diet they developed for seizures/epilepsy that worked fantastically. I wonder if there is any documentation in their studies as to how it affected their patients that had diabetes also? I would be interested to know.

The problem comes when people hear that carbs are bad and then do "crazy" things like cut it out of their diet almost completely. It's the whole mob mentality. When we heard egg yolks were high in cholesterol, people freaked out and cut them out of their diet. Now we find out that eating egg yolks not only doesn't raise your cholesterol, it can actually lower it. The list goes on and on. Carbs are a necessity for our bodies to operate properly and efficiently. I'm diabetic and I was able to control my disease by eating much smaller meals more often. I watch my carb intake per meal and make sure my exercise and activity level is appropriate to what I take in. This is the reason why many people develop Type II Diabetes. They eat too many carbs in a meal (or food for that matter) and don't exercise enough to burn them off. It's also why people have high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Food needs to be utilized somehow or you will have a big problem! We are still eating portion sizes like we walk to work every day, when most of us drive. Just to give a reference. I had an A1c of 10.0 when I was first diagnosed. Now it is 5.5. I eat 180g of carbs a day. Carbs are not evil! Large portion sizes, lack of exercise and unhealthy food choices are the problem for diabetics and nondiabetics alike.

Michelle said:
Carbs are a necessity for our bodies to operate properly and efficiently.[...]

Really? Look at the Inuit.

I think that in a society where very few people are physically active, carbs are not a necessity for most adults at all. 2 pieces of fruit a day would be enough to keep sedentary people out of ketosis.

Ryan said:
Really? Look at the Inuit.[...]

Are you saying you have the same lifestyle and genetics? I think this proves my point very well. The majority of people in the world were not made for such inactive lifestyles and we are not burning off the food we are taking in. There are diabetics that think they can have all the protein they want because it won't raise their bg levels. The sad thing is that they are overworking their kidneys. Carbs are not a bad thing, protein is not a bad thing, fat is not a bad thing, cholesterol is not a bad thing, salt is not a bad thing. It's all about moderation, activity and portion control.

Jan said:
I think that in a society where very few people are physically active, carbs are not a necessity for most adults at all. 2 pieces of fruit a day would be enough to keep sedentary people out of ketosis.[...]

I think we should strive for being more than bedridden individuals. I work out every day and have so much energy. I never want to go back to a sedentary life with high bg levels. I can now eat what I want in moderation. That is a great life. I'm not starving my body on two pieces of fruit a day. I would be too dizzy and nauseous to even exercise.

Michelle, I didn't say people who exercise should consume little carb or even that everyone who is sedentary should. I personally eat more carb than that - but to say that everyone NEEDS to have carb as their primary source of energy, as you said, is not right. Most people will not exercise, and telling them to won't make them do it, the same way that telling them not to eat fast food won't. But personally, if I were a type II diabetic, I'd give a diet with very limited carb a try, rather than taking prescription meds for life and eating flour and sugar "so that I won't binge later", like what doctors say diabetics should do. I think it is insane to go on pills for something that could easily be controlled with a dietary change.

And if you are on diabetes meds - *of course* you'd be dizzy and nauseous without taking in a ton of carb. The meds are developed so people can carry on with their 60-70% carb diets.

I guess I tend to agree with Michelle...we are not designed to be inactive. Our natural state is to eat a variety of foods and move around most of the day. When you become a sedentary lump, you probably don't need as many carbs to function. Carbs give you quick energy, which you NEED if you are physically active. I run 8 miles a day. Without enough glycogen, I'd pass out or something. But someone like my mother in law, who sits on her butt all day long, doesn't need very much quick energy so she doesn't need to eat a lot of carbs.

Exercise helps your body metabolize glucose much better. I strongly believe that the diabetes epidemic is mainly caused by the strong shift in sedentary lifestyles and not so much by diet. Our relatives ate carbs every day...heck, my great grandparents were Mennonites and ate molasses and maple syrup on everything. They made bread all the time and lived on biscuits and pancakes and all of them lived to be in their 90's. Then again, they were all physically active until they died too.

Michelle: My genetics actually aren't all that far from Inuit. Plus, the Inuit aren't really old enough to have diverged much genetically, if at all. No, my lifestyle's a little different. I'm a bodybuilder and, in addition to cardio, often find myself under the weight of dumbbells. For that particular type of exercise, I need to ingest carbs, but only about 10% of my calories. I don't get what you proved. If you want to prove something, why don't you try making a proper argument?

If you have previous kidney problems, a high-protein diet will strain it. However, if you have any shred of evidence that it will do anything to a healthy kidney, I'd sure like to see it. Currently, that idea is considered a myth in my sport, as no one's been able to find one bit of evidence that supports it.

i think with the combination of natural methods and mainstream approach we will see a cure for diabetes within the next decade

I think more people should put money towards finding the cure for diabetes.

I think that people should put forth some money but not alot. Because we dont know what they do with that money.

Kara said:
I think more people should put money towards finding the cure for diabetes.[...]

Sounds good to me :)

There is a cure for type 2 diabetes and there is a "protocol" that one must follow. Some websites run you around in circles like the reasoning of evolutionists. "These dinosaur bones are 70 million (they always sound real solomn at this point...)years old." So a 12 year old girl asked, "Sir, how do you know how old the bones are?" The Curator answered and said, "Well honey, we can tell how old the bones are by what layer of dirt we find them in. The 'fossil index'." The young girl followed him to the next exhibit. "This layer of earth is 100 million years old." Once again the young girl asked, "Sir, how do you know how old the dirt is?" The Curator replied, "Well young lady, we can tell the age of the strata (dirt) by the bones that we fond in it." At this point the young girl said, "Excuse me Sir, but over there you said that you can tell the age of the bones by the dirt and over here you said that you can tell the age of the dirt by the bones!!! Isn't that circular reasoning?" The lights finally came on upstairs in the old man's head. He said, "You know what honey? You're absolutely correct! It is circular reasoning!" That made him go on a search for the truth. Also, no one has mentioned how great Essiac Tea is. It can reverse diabetes and autism, and cancer of any kind. Real simple: Type in "Teas that cure cancer" in the Yahoo! Search Engine and "VIOLA!" You'll see it clear as day. Even give you the exact recepie and directions on how to make it. And just a note to "Passion For Health" Agriculture HAS NOT been around for 10,000 years! The earth is NOT that old! The simple fact that the earth's magnetic field is weakening tells us that! If the earth's magnetic fields are weakening, then what does that tell us? That it used to be stronger! So, if we extrapolate and go backwards say about 20,000 years ago, nothing could have survived on this planet because of the magnetic pull. It would be impossible for any life to exist. They say the moon is getting farther away from the earth too. Well if we bring it back closer at the rate that they say it is moving away, why earth would have been flooded twice a day only 10,000 years ago! The earth is supposed to be slowing down in it's rotation. Well, here again, if we speed it back up at the rate they say it's slowing down it'll be easy to see what happened to the dinosaurs....THEY WERE ALL FLUNG OFF THIS PLANET! Evolution is a JOKE and there is absolutely NO scientific evidence to support it. The Bible has the answers for all of man's maladies! B17 cures cancer too but where can I find it? In the apricot seed! The Hunza tribe has a long mortality rate and they hardly ever get cancer. Their main crop is the apricot. Guess what they eat? The seeds! Check out Dr. Joel Wallach online. He was the one that had the tape out called, "Dead Doctors Don'T Lie!" You can still listen to it online. University Press published a book called "Amazing Medicines That The Pharmaceutical Companies Don't Want You To Know About!" back in 1993! It even tells you the number to what's called "The Doctor's Bribe Hotline!" It explained how the Pharmaceutical Reps. will come out and completely outfit a doctor with a complete computer setup and software for FREE under one condition! He has to agree to watch their infomercials for 30 minutes a month! This will subliminally get him to write prescriptions for THEIR pharmaceuticals even though that patient may not be able to take that particular brand! Remember, no one in the United States of America had a NUMBER until 1929! The Committee Of 300 created an economic collapse and made all Americans take a social security number claiming that they wouldn't be able to work if they didn't have one! Revelation 13:18 perhaps? READ IT! There's a conspiracy theory for ya! How about "electromagnetic chaos"??? How about what electromagnetic waves are doing to your very cellular structure? Never thought about that huh? Nicola Tessla did! Look up the "Philadelphia Experiment" and tell me it's harmless! I believe that there is a device called a "Q-Link" that one can get and wear it for protection. The water you drink it bad for you. ANY and ALL colas are rotten. They contain chlorine, carbon, and phosphoric acid! Those three ingredients when combined create Phosgene Gas! That was used in chemical warfare in WWI!!!! I will write more later! There is way too much going on out there!

Has anyone on this site ever looked at the ingredients list in "no-fat" or "low-fat" foods and compared the sugar content with the regular foods? The sugar content goes way up in the "diet" version of the same food because they replace the fat with sugar to "make it taste better" to the consumer. Most people don't read the label, they buy it and can't figure out why their glucose level goes up or why they can't lose weight. This is the reason. People should know that fat does not make you fat. It is the added sugar that makes you fat. Please read the labels and don't be afraid of fat. Get a list of the "good fats" that are safe to consume and are good for you and you will be amazed how much weight you can lose and how much better you will feel. Try coconut oil. It is the reason the islanders around the world have such long and healthy lives. If fat is so bad for you, all of them would be extinct by now because fat is one of the main staples of their diet.

J J

Please be sure to read the entire ADA article. Simply viewing the pyramid is faulty. Carbohydrates are required for our bodies to function properly, even in those individuals that have difficulty processing them. The ADA guide goes on to explain the portion sizes of any given group in the pyramid. Carbohydrates are carefully controlled which is why many Diabetic patients carb-count. In most cases, diabetes is brought under control (not necessarily cured) by limiting portion sizes of food items that influence insulin use and production (sugars and starches). It is not safe or healthy to completely remove the carbohydrates and their sources from your diet.

Ive got a question I had my colon removed because of cancer Now I suffer with IBS pills dont work I stopped drinking coffee sodas and dairy products I am constantly up nights because of bowek movements Cant eat Fiber cereals or eat raw vegtables but Im getting a juicer I want to know what vegtables and fruits I can juice that will cure this thing My address Is 3020 N 36th st apt G203 Phoenix Az 85018 602-957-1360

First it's essential to understand that everyone needs carbohydrates, but that your body is capable of making all the carbs it needs from the glycerol backbones of triglycerides and from protein. If your intake of protein is adequate then your body will make it from the protein that you eat. If not then your body will break down protein to make the needed carbs.

NEWS FLASH. Your body only need a very small amount of carbs for muscular energy. Most of the carbs that it needs are needed for the brain. And most of the brain's energy can come from ketones after a few days on a low-carb diet.

Low-carb diets are not for everyone. But they work extremely well for some people.

I've been on low carb for the last 8 years. During that time I've lost about 70 pounds. I'm a diabetic and before starting low-carb my HgbA1c was around 8, even with taking meds. My most recent HgbA1c was 4.8. I try to stay below 5.0 (the average non-diabetic) and really shoot for 4.5 and can sometimes get that low.

If you are a diabetic and you care about your life and you've tried other approaches and they don't work, please try a low-carb diet. But be serious. They simply don't work unless you really stick with them.

insulin causes excess fat to accumilate in the body. It is the only hormone in the body that does this. Therefore controlling blood sugar is the best way at losing weight and reversing diabetes. Whats the easiest way to control blood sugar? To stop eating grains, eat less dairy and eat more colourful vegetables and meat/fish. Vow to never touch sugar again.