D217
DIETARY TREATMENT OF DIABETES
Many people who develop diabetes after age 40 can become non-diabetic by eating a diet based on vegetables, whole grains, beans and fish; severely restricting bakery products and sugar and limiting meat, chicken and eggs; and eating fruits and root vegetables WITH other foods, not alone as snacks. Most late-onset diabetics have insulin; they lack the ability to respond adequately to insulin because they are overweight and they eat too much fat and refined carbohydrates. The first order is to substitute whole grains for bakery products because they fill you up and help you to eat less. Restricting major sources of fat reduces the total number of calories consumed to promote weight loss.
A major study from Europe shows that eating too much protein damages the kidneys in diabetics (1), so diabetics should restrict meat, chicken and eggs. Another recent study shows that diets rich in refined carbohydrates harm diabetics and that taking monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids in fish helps to reduce insulin requirements (2). High blood sugar levels after meals cause sugar to stick to cells and be converted to a poison called sorbitol that causes nerve, kidney, artery and heart damage. To keep blood sugar levels from rising too high, substitute whole grains for the refined carbohydrates found in bakery products, avoid table sugar and eat fruits only with meals.
1) M Toeller, A Buyken, G Heitkamp, S Bramswig, J Mann, R Milne, FA Gries, H Keen, B Karamanos, C Tountas and 4 more authors. Protein intake and urinary albumin excretion rates in the EURODIAB IDDM complications study. Diabetologia 40: 10 (OCT 1997): 219-1226. address M Toeller, Univ Dusseldorf, Diabet Res Inst, Clin Dept, Hennekamp 65, D-40225 Dusseldorf, Germany.
2) EM Berry. Dietary fatty acids in the management of diabetes mellitus. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66: Suppl. 4(OCT 1997):S991-S997. Address EM Berry, Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Hadassah Med Sch, Dept Human Nutr & Metab, POB 12272, IL-91120 Jerusalem, Israel.
HIGH-FAT AND HIGH REFINED CARBOHYDRATES KILL DIABETICS. All diabetics should markedly restrict fat and refined carbohydrates from their diets. Diabetes causes terrible tissue damage including blindness, deafness, loss of feeling, burning foot syndrome, kidney damage and heart attacks and strokes. When blood sugar levels rise too high, sugar attaches to cells and is converted to a poison called sorbitol that destroys tissue. Dietary fat causes high blood sugar levels by preventing sugar from entering muscles and other cells, thus keeping sugar in the bloodstream and driving it up to high levels (1,2,3).
Everyone knows that eating sugar causes an immediate rise in blood sugar, but many do not know that refined carbohydrates made from flour cause almost as high a rise in blood sugar as pure granulated table sugar. Eating the whole grain does not cause the same rise because it takes time to release the sugar from the capsules of whole grains. Fiber binds to other foods and delays their entry into the blood stream to keep blood sugar levels from rising too high. Fruit should be eaten with meals to delay blood sugar rises. So diabetics should restrict fat and replace refined carbohydrates with whole grains. It's fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans.
1) DH Han, PA Hansen, HH Host, JO Holloszy. Insulin resistance of muscle glucose transport in rats fed a high-fat diet: A reevaluation. Diabetes 46: 11 (NOV 1997):1761-1767.
2) ND Oakes, GJ Cooney, S Camilleri, DJ Chisholm, EW Kraegen. Mechanisms of liver and muscle insulin resistance induced by chronic high-fat feeding. Diabetes 46: 11 (NOV 1997):1768-1774.
3) RG Moses, JL Shand, LC Tapsell. The recurrence of gestational diabetes: Could dietary differences in fat intake be an explanation? Diabetes Care 20: 11 (NOV 1997):1647-1650. 4) P Wursch, FX Pisunyer. The role of viscous soluble fiber in the metabolic control of diabetes: A review with special emphasis on cereals rich in beta-glucan. Diabetes Care 20: 11 (NOV 1997):1774-1780.
USE GLUCOPHAGE AND ACTOS OR AVANDIA TO TREAT DIABETES. Glucophage, Actos and Avandia are first-line drugs because they lower both blood sugar and insulin levels, but Actos and Avandia may rarely cause liver damage. Get liver test every month while on them. High blood sugar levels cause terrible nerve and kidney damage. Insulin is necessary to keep blood sugar levels from rising too high and causing nerve damage, but insulin can cause heart attacks by closing arteries, makes you hungry 24 hours a day and causes your liver to make more fat so it makes you fat. The treatment for diabetes is to lower blood sugar levels with as little insulin as possible. Drugs to lower blood sugar increase insulin levels, except Glucophage, Avandia and Actos. Since blood sugar levels rise highest after meals, many doctors prescribe two drugs together before each meal. Since they do not call out extra insulin, they also do not cause blood sugar levels to drop too low. Many late-onset diabetics can be taken off insulin eventually by avoiding refined carbohydrates, eating lots of extra whole grains, and taking Glucophage, Actos or Avandia.
1) David Maggs of Yale University annual meeting ofthe American Diabetes association in Bostn, November, 1997.
2) J Pugh. Metformin monotherapy for type II diabetes. Advances in Therapy 14: 6 (NOV-DEC 1997):338-347.
INSULIN MAKES YOU FAT. Many people become even fatter after they start to take medication to treat their diabetes because almost all drugs used to treat diabetes make you hungry all the time and cause your liver convert extra calories to fat. Diabetics are at increased risk for strokes, heart attacks, nerve damage, blindness, deafness, kidney failure and burning feet. This is caused by blood sugar levels rising too high after meals and causing sugar to stick to cells and be converted to a poison called sorbitol. Doctors can measure nerve damage by getting a blood test called hemoglobin A1C that measures how much sugar is stuck on cells. To keep your blood sugar level from rising too high after you eat, your pancreas releases insulin that drives sugar into your cells. But, insulin and all pills that raise blood levels of insulin make you hungry all the time and increase your chances of getting a heart attack. So, the main goal of treating diabetes is to keep blood sugar levels from rising too high after meals with as little insulin as possible. Glucophage, Actos and Avandia (2) lower blood sugar and blood insulin levels. Doctors should try to control blood sugar levels as much as possible with these three drugs.
1) R Lazarus, D Sparrow, S Weiss. Temporal relations between obesity and insulin: Longitudinal data from the normative aging study. American Journal of Epidemiology 147: 2 (JAN 15 1998):173-179.
2) T Sir, T Castillo, S Munoz, G Lopez, M Calvillan. Effects of metformin on insulin resistance in obese and
hyperandrogenic women. Revista Medica de Chile 125: 12(DEC 1997):1457-1463.
-- Checked 8/8/05