The cure for Diabetes… (by Dr. Saunders)
Want to know a secret about diabetes?
There was a study done in England on type 2 Diabetes where they found that those who were taking medications had lower blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol, but had a 12% increased risk of amputations, blindness, and kidney failure. The medications themselves apparently cause complications even though the numbers appear better. (1)
- The most important part of curing diabetes is your lifestyle.
- Eat fewer calories. Avoid all processed sugars and artificial sweeteners.
- Eat only whole foods: fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and less fat and protein.
- Don’t eat at restaurants if you can possibly avoid it.
Exercise is the other half of the equation. You should start easy and work up to about 30min per day of muscle-building exercise. The key is to increase your tolerance over time. Take up tennis or some other active sport, and get good at it. (Golf isn’t active enough).
These are the two halves of the cure. There are some things that help to lower the blood sugar:
- Cinnamon: one gram per day was as good as three in one study at keeping blood sugar down.
- Gynmema sylvestre has been shown to lower blood sugar.
- Bitter melon makes you more sensitive to insulin.
- Chromium is very important for blood sugar maintenance and energy production.
- Vanaduim is necessary for proper use of glucose.
Dr. Saunders says you can not only lower your use of medication, you should be able to get off of it completely.
However, the problem with most people is… they’re NOT WILLING TO MODIFY THEIR LIFESTYLE WITH PROPER NUTRITION AND EXERCISE.
The HbA1c test is currently the best way to follow blood sugar because it can give you an average, rather than just a point in time.
Click here for a natural remedy for diabetes.
(1) Lancet 2004 Jul 31;364(9432):423-8 (ISSN: 1474-547X)
(Disclaimer: The entire contents of this blog post are based upon the opinions of Dr. Saunders, unless otherwise noted. The information in this email is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Saunders and his community. Dr. Saunders encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. )
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I met a man from Nigeria in Brussels. He was diabetic, but had been able to keep it under control in Africa only by his watching diet. This man could have easily afforded medication had he wanted it, since he was a diplomat. But when he came to Europe he became sick. He said it was because the processed foods so often contained sugars and other chemicals which were not present in his homeland. Even meat, or other foods which one would not suspect contained sugar. So his battle in the “developed” world was much tougher than it had beeen at home.
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Xenia, here is a reply by Dr. Saunders about your post:
I have helped many people with diabetes to get off of medications and live a normal life with similar programs to the one used here. Eating for your metabolic type is very useful and I’ve seen it work well, as well as the Rosedale and Atkins programs. Dr. Julian Whitaker also recommends a similar program.
These do address the issue of insulin. But this can be taken one step further in most diabetics. When I have a diabetic patient on the Rosedale diet that reaches a plateau a high-fiber diet that includes whole grains and starchy vegetables without any added fat works very well. There is good evidence that protein raises the blood sugar dramatically in some people with diabetes.
The other issue, though, is complications. Just lowering the blood sugar doesn’t always address the complications of heart disease, kidney, or nerve problems.
Effect of a High-Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Blood Glucose Control in People With Type 2 Diabetes Diabetes 53:2375-2382, 2004The key to really curing all parts of the disease we call “Diabetes type II” is to eat fewer calories than you use, and to build muscle strength and endurance.
Hunger (never) works as a way of losing weight or getting healthy. However, calorie restriction is the ONLY proven therapy to lengthen life. So, going hungry isn’t part of the program, eating large amounts of low calorie/high nutrient foods is.
Dr. S
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Dear Dr. S.,
thanks for replying. There is a common misconception that Atkins-like – or generally low-carb – diets are high-protein. They are not. Protein is quite limited but one should certainly eat more protein than sugary or starchy carbs. The only carbs that are allowed and beneficial (not just to diabetics, to make sure) are carbs with lots of fibers – i.e. leafy parts of vegetables growing above ground.
I am not saying I doubt your results or the fact that you’ve had them, I just don’t understand how a low fat diet could be of help to anyone, and especially not in this particular situation. It is a well proven scientific fact that fat is actually the ONLY type of food that doesn’t trigger an insulin response. And it is insulin response, especially insulin spiking, that you want to avoid. I agree that just lowering the blood sugar won’t always address the diabetic complications (and I never said that it would). But you have to bring the BG and insulin levels down before you can hope for any success with diabetic complications and weight loss.
Diabetes is more often than not also accompanied by high leptin, cortizol and CRP levels (hunger signalling, chronic stress, chronic hidden inflammation). The first recommendation for lowering any of these states/markers is: no sugar. Grains, including whole grains, are sugar. The only difference is that with whole grains, sugar reaches the blood a bit later.
What does a diet with starchy vegetables, whole grains and no fat achieve in the body and how could that be of help with diabetes symptoms and related conditions? And what is the science behind it? To me, this seems just like what ADA has been recommending to diabetics, and look where it’s gotten us.
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There really is no argument on this end. Staying away from simple
sugars certainly is the easiest way to decrease blood sugar, aside
from taking pills. It’s one of those “good-better-best” ideas. It’s
good to lower blood sugar with medications/vitamins/supplements; it’s
better to do it with diet/exercise — however, it’s best to deal with
the whole person and the metabolic problem.Since people are individuals, it’s important to treat them as such and
work with them according to their individual and specific needs.In ancient societies where people lived almost exclusively on meat/fat
such as the Eskimo/Inuit peoples there was no diabetes until they
began a modern American diet.By the same token, the Tarahumara people in northern Mexico live on
corn, and beans — starch — and have never had a case of diabetes
among them. What’s interesting is that their cousins on the U.S. side
of the border in Arizona, the Pima Indian tribe, has a rate of
diabetes of more than 50%. They eat processed American food.Notice the pattern?
The key isn’t necessarily what you eat, it’s what you avoid (all
processed foods), and how much you eat. Ideally, those who eat
meat/fat should also do periodic fasting. Those who eat every day
should avoid fat. This keeps the adiponectin, leptin, insulin, and
glucocorticoids in the best balance.The second part of the equation is getting enough exercise. This is
no small part, either.Dr. S
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I’m sorry, you asked for some research evidence. There is a great deal.
Low-fat diet vs high-monounsaturated fat diet and type 2 diabetes
Nutrition Research Newsletter, Sept, 2004
The “low-fat” diet was higher in carbohydrates, whereas the high-fat
was low in saturated fats but high in monounsaturated fat. The
subjects weren’t restricted in caloric intake. “The most striking
finding in this study was that the ad libitum low-fat, high-fiber diet
induced a significant weight loss, whereas the high-mono diet did
not.”Another study comparing a carb diet to protein where the calories were
the same produced interesting results as well: “Both the
high-carbohydrate and high-protein groups lost weight (-2.2 [+ or -]
0.9 kg, -2.5 [+ or -] 1.6 kg, respectively) and the difference between
the groups was not significant. In the high-carbohydrate group,
hemoglobin A1c decreased (from 8.2% to 6.9%), fasting plasma glucose
decreased and insulin sensitivity increased. No significant changes in
these parameters occurred in the high-protein group, instead systolic
and diastolic blood pressures decreased (-10.5 [+ or -] 2.3 mm Hg, and
– 18 [+ or -] 9.0 mm Hg, respectively).”
Effect of high protein vs high carbohydrate intake in patients with
type 2 diabetes mellitus
Nutrition Research Newsletter, May, 2005There is extensive evidence from treatment of diabetes prior to 1921
(when insulin was found) because the only treatment was an extremely
low-carb (ketogenic) diet. What was found was that the patients would
die of heart disease from atherosclerosis.A low-carbohydrate diet will lower blood sugar, but there is a cost.
Dr. S
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The contents of the letter are very helpfull .thanks for sending in the mail,
Yours sincerely ,
Abid Ilahi Bhutta -
omg.. good work, man
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[…] The cure for Diabetes… (by Dr. Saunders) […]
I know you mean to help and that’s why I’m sorry to see some completely wrong advice, among the mostly good things that you recommend. I am an ex-diabetic who has just cured herself without the meds. You couldn’t be more right in recommending to avoid the processed sugars and artificial sweeteners.
However, the point is to avoid ALL sugars. When these foods break down in the body, fruit, whole grains and starchy vegetables are nothing but SUGARS AS WELL. They just pass into the blood more slowly, but they raise blood glucose levels and insulin levels just the same. I should know because eating like that for 5 years GOT me diabetes in the first place. That, and eating calorie restricted food. So if such diet causes diabetes, how could it cure it?
It’s wrong to tell a Type II diabetic to restrict their calories – their cells are not getting enough food as it is. It’s not about the amount of food, it’s about the composition of food, how the food has been ‘raised’/grown and how you prepare it. They should get MORE food, but of course only quality nutrients. Which starchy carbs are not.
Also, telling someone whose insulin is working overtime as it is (and insulin is a FAT STORING HORMONE) to lose weight by restricting their calories will only frustrate them and make them feel inadequate because such approach is doomed from the start. You can restrict the calories all you like, the insulin resistant cells will still not take up all the glucose and as long as there is surplus glucose in the blood, insulin will still be storing it as fat.
Thirdly, protein does not raise glucose and insulin levels half as much as sugars (refined or not) do, so why should one avoid protein? Only about 20 % of protein is converted to blood glucose (in absence of sufficient supply of carbs). There is even less reason to avoid fats, as long as you’re eating good fats. Fats are the only foods that don’t trigger insulin response at all.
So the right advice is to:
– not restrict calories as long as you eat healthy, uncompromised, real food (nothing man-made) – that is how I lost over 40 pounds in the past 4 months, and I could not even exercise due to my back problems
– eat less carbs – actually no carbs except healthy non-starchy veggies
– eat very little fruit – in the phase of intense blood sugar and insulin lowering I ate NO fruit for 3 weeks and still I got enough vitamins from fresh, uncooked veggetables
– eat only 3 meals per day, no snacking. But the meals should be sufficient not to leave you hungry. If you’re hungry before the next meal, you haven’t eaten enough in the previous one. Therefore, increase your fats and proteins. Curing diabetes is not about feeling hungry.
– eat all your foods that don’t need cooking, uncooked. Only cook meat and fish. I don’t even thermically process fats.
– eat lots of good fats: omega-3s (flax-seed oil, fish oil …), olive oil, coconut oil, butter. I get around 50 % of my calories from fats and have never seen such a quick and effortless weight loss. Dietary fat is NOT stored as body fat (if not eaten in the presence of damaging carbs) – it is used for body building and repair needs, like hormones, myelin sheets, brain cells, 50 % of the cell membranes of every body cell etc. By eating enough fats and protein you will never be hungry and you will completely stop overeating. All the cravings will go away.
In a nutshell: eat naturally and the weight will come off and blood sugar will stabilize. It is not natural to restrict one’s calories if one is hungry. The trick is not to be hungry, by achieving satiety with good, natural, unprocessed foods. High carb content in our today’s diets is not natural. If you don’t remove all sugar from you menu, no amount of chromium, vanadium etc. is going to help.
There is no effective weight loss without getting your insulin down where it should be. And you can’t to that if you are constantly causing insulin spikes by feeding sugar several times per day.
For more practical advice check the Rosedale Diet by Ron Rosedale, MD, Protein Power by Michael R. Eades and Mary Dan Eades (both MDs), any low carber forum, web sites like second-opinions.com and mercola.com, as well as works of dr. Wolfgang Lutz and dr. Jan Kwasniewski. There are thousands and thousands of people who safely, quickly and effectively cured their diabetes with this same approach.