Can You Reverse or Prevent Diabetes?

Sep 1

Sep 1 Can You Reverse or Prevent Diabetes?

Metformin

I noticed a new meme going around Facebook recently about the diabetic drug Metformin being recalled. There were lots of comments from people saying they were taking Metformin, many of them have been taking it for years, and it was working fine for them.

Metformin is the first line of treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), and gestational diabetes. It works in your liver, your muscles and your intestines to reduce glucose absorption. The net effect is that it does reduce A1c levels, but medications are not designed to treat the underlying cause of diabetes. They are only designed to help you manage your symptoms.

All pharmaceuticals have side effects. Those listed for Metformin include abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, cramping, vitamin B12 deficiency and lactic acidosis.

What if you could make some lifestyle changes to minimize your use of medications and increase your overall health and quality of life?

In the recent book, Mastering Diabetes, authors Cyrus Khambatta and Robby Barbaro explain their four-step program for doing just that. (1) Diagnose by knowing your blood pressure, your BMI, your Lipid panel, your A1c and your fasting blood glucose; (2) Change your diet; (3) Intermittent fasting; and (4) Exercise

Change Your Diet

The food you eat is the single most important variable when it comes to reversing insulin resistance and Khambatta and Barbaro recommend transitioning to a low-fat, plant-based, whole-food diet.

Eating a high-fat diet is the best way to create insulin resistance in both your liver and your muscles. The more fat you eat, the more insulin resistant you become. Therefore, it is imperative to change your diet.

Medical advice to diabetics for years has been to eat a low-carbohydrate, high protein, high-fat diet. Patients who have complied with that diet, have often developed more complications, such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, high cholesterol, rheumatoid arthritis, neuropathy, retinopathy, erectile dysfunction and, of course, weight gain.

High saturated fat, low-carb diets like the Paleo diet and the ketogenic diet are effective short-term treatments to lose weight and normalize blood glucose, but they significantly increase your level of insulin resistance, which in turn increases your risk for many chronic diseases and premature death in the long term.

Types of Fats

Trans fats are the most dangerous to eat. They occur in small quantities in beef, pork, lamb, butter and milk, but the overwhelming majority of them occur in processed foods such as margarine, cakes, pies, cookies, biscuits, crackers, microwave popcorn, doughnuts, ready-to-use dough and both dairy and nondairy coffee creamers. They are also found in processed luncheon meats.

Saturated fatty acids are found in all whole foods, but mainly in meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs and dairy products (butter, cheese, milk, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream and whipped cream), but are also present in plant foods, including vegetable oils, coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, cocoa butter, avocados, coconuts, nuts, and seeds. It is recommended that you only eat small quantities of nuts, seeds, and other high-fat plants like avocados, coconuts, and olives in order to keep your total fat intake below 15 percent of your total calories.

Unsaturated fatty acids are the least harmful of the three fat types. Realize that all whole foods contain unsaturated fat, without exception. There is no single whole food that does not contain fat, even unusual suspects like bananas, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, and beans. Even foods like squash, quinoa, papaya, tomatoes, and celery contain unsaturated fat. So they all contribute to helping you meet your daily essential fatty acid requirements.

Some Research

In 1927, an American physician named Shirley Sweeney recruited some healthy male medical students for a study of how diet affects blood sugar control. That study showed that the students who ate mainly starch and sugar for two days, had stable blood sugar levels during their glucose tolerance test.

In 1930, Israel Rabinowitch, MD, discovered that plant-based diets low in fat improve insulin sensitivity.

Dr. Walter Kempner, at Duke University in the 1930s, put very sick patients on a no-salt, no cholesterol, no fat diet of white rice, fruit, fruit juice, and added sugar. Patients eating this diet were able to reverse their type 2 diabetes and diabetic neuropathy.

In a 1979 study, James W. Anderson, MD, and Kyleen Ward, RD, had surprising results from their study. After only sixteen days on a low-fat diet, their subjects were able to completely discontinue insulin.

A recent study tracked the health of 512,891 Chinese men and women between the ages of 30 and 79, for an average of seven years, to understand the effect of their diet on their overall health. For those who did not have diabetes at the beginning of the study, those who had a higher fruit consumption were 12 percent less likely to develop diabetes compared with those who ate zero pieces of fruit per day.

Because heart disease is the leading cause of death for people living with diabetes, it’s extremely important to eat a diet that not only helps you control your blood glucose but also protects your heart and blood vessels.

What to Eat

Khambatta and Barbaro recommend transitioning to a low-fat, plant-based, whole-food diet. They recommend that you eat plenty of unprocessed whole plant foods, fresh or frozen, which are naturally low in fat and treat fruit like it’s your new best friend. Fruit is not to blame for elevated blood glucose; it’s the high-fat foods you ate before eating the fruit.

Breakfast Ideas:

Make a fruit bowl by chopping up 4 or 5 different fruits (apple, strawberries, blueberries, orange, pear, mango, banana, dates, etc). Add a handful of greens (spinach, lettuce) and a tablespoon of ground flax or chia seeds. If you would like more bulk, add a cup of beans (black, pinto, garbanzo, great Northern, etc.).

Whole fruits are better than smoothies. But, if you choose to drink a smoothie, it is best to drink it slowly to limit the chances of unwanted high blood glucose.

Snacks:

If you get hungry in 2 to 3 hours, increase the size of your breakfast bowl or eat a second breakfast in the middle of the morning. You can also eat fresh whole fruit every 2-3 hours.

Drinks:

The best drinks include water, carbonated water, green tea (plain or with lemon), herbal teas or green vegetable juices.

Lunch possibilities:

Mexican Beans: Saute’ onion, garlic, and cumin in water. Remove from heat and add the juice of a lemon, a can of beans, some grape tomatoes, cilantro and ground flaxseeds.

Lentil Tomato Salad: Cook lentils and garlic in water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes. Drain the lentils, discard the garlic, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, green onions, chopped basil, chopped dill, 1 cup corn, lemon juice and ground pepper with the cooled lentils.

Dinner:

Greens and Beans: Saute’ onion and garlic until translucent in small amount of water. Add 1 can white beans, chopped kale, chopped Swiss-chard, chopped green peppers and lemon juice.

Citrus Corn Carrot Salad: In a large bowl combine 2 chopped oranges, 2 shredded carrots, 1 cup corn, 1/2 chopped red onion, chopped cilantro and fennel seeds. Mix well and serve over mixed greens.

Final Take Away

If you are currently taking Metformin, try changing your diet to see your results.

As long as you eat a wide selection of fruits (bananas, persimmons, figs, papaya, or mango), starchy vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, yams, or corn), beans, lentils, peas, intact whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth, farro, or barley), non-starchy vegetables, leafy greens, mushrooms, and some herbs & spices, you can confidently eat large portions knowing that they will maximize your metabolic health and help you maintain your ideal body weight.

Sign up to receive new blog posts directly to your inbox. Just fill in your name and e-mail address in the gray/green box and hit the "submit" button. You will then get an e-mail asking you to confirm your e-mail address. Once you do that, you will be signed up to receive new blog posts.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: “Melinda Coker, health coach and author of the book, Diet and Cancer: Is There a Connection?, teaches men and women around the world how to develop a healthy lifestyle.”