Take Control of Your Type II Diabetes

Do you know someone with diabetes? Even if you answer no, 7 million Americans have diabetes AND DON'T EVEN KNOW IT! Besides those people, 30 million other Americans are diagnosed with Diabetes each year.
84 million Americans are pre-diabetic (before even this stage damage can begin to occur).

Above data is according to the American Diabetes Association.
USA Today recently published 5 important facts about diabetes.

On the bright side, a healthy diet CURES this disease! What I mean is, in most cases, eating a healthy enough diet will allow someone previously diagnosed with type II diabetes, to maintain normal blood sugar, and therefore not experience any short or long term diabetic complications. Now, the healthy eating of PLANT BASED WHOLE FOODS must continue in order to maintain this healthy state. 

Start with some chili!

Returning to previous eating habits and choices will result in the return of increased blood sugars, so the term CURE is relative. However, if getting off of insulin and other diabetic medications and avoiding their side effects and expense is a satisfying goal, you have an option!

Additionally, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine nicely summarized a recently published a study showing more good news for diabetics: "A plant-based diet improves psychological well-being in type 2 diabetes patients, according to a review published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research Care. Researchers reviewed 11 controlled trials on dietary interventions for type 2 diabetes and found that plant-based diets improved well-being overall when compared to dietary interventions from various diabetes associations. Participants reported less pain and saw improvements in depression, weight, quality of life, cholesterol and HbA1c levels, and other health outcomes. Adherence was higher among the plant-based intervention groups, which also suggested higher acceptability, compared with control groups, demonstrating the potential effectiveness of plant-based diets as a clinical intervention for type 2 diabetes."

Here is some more amazing findings about diabetes that I learned about from How Not to Die by Dr Greger:

SATURATED FAT is a key culprit here of the dysfunction of diabetes. Saturated fat harms muscle cells! WARNING TO ATHLETES
Saturated fat:

1. CAUSES inflammation
2. CAUSES mitochondrial dysfunction

(mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells!)
3. CAUSES insulin resistance

"Vegans have significantly LESS FAT trapped in the deep calf muscles than those of comparably slim omnivores" p.108

As for weight loss, most weight gain is due to portion control, so it is EVENTUALLY REGAINED :( So, INSTEAD we have to change WHAT we eat to maintain :) Adding 5 CUPS / week of beans to ones diet is just as effective at weight loss and blood sugar control as a portion control plan! Too much insulin causes other problems such as CANCER and premature AGING. 

I especially loved the study that cured 17 of 21 subjects of DIABETIC NEUROPATHY WITHIN DAYS! Since neural changed occurred before blood sugars stabilized, they speculate that rapid results were likely due to improved blood flow. 

This goes back the original basis for this healthy way of eating - it cures heart disease. Since our hearts fuel all of our organ systems, our nervous system benefits too!

Sorry for the delay, the Boston Marathon threw me off schedule :)