Diet and Diaabetes (article)

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Diet and Diabetes

Dr. John McDougall

March, 2002 Vol. 1 No.3

 

Too Much Fat Causes Diabetes Type II diabetes is

called adult-type diabetes because it is the most

common type of

diabetes seen in adults. Approximately 8% of

American adults have

this condition and in some subsections of our

populations, such

as the American Indians, the incidence can be as

high as 50% of

the people. The cause is unquestionably the rich

American diet,

chock-full of fat and deficient in plant foods.

The association

with fat and diabetes has been known for over 75

years. In 1927

Dr. E. P. Joslin, founder of the famous Joslin

Diabetic Center in

Boston, suspected a high-fat, high-cholesterol

diet might favor

the development of diabetes and its major

complication,

atherosclerosis.1 He prophetically wrote: " I

believe the chief

cause of premature atherosclerosis in diabetes,

save for

advancing age, is an excess of fat, an excess of

fat in the body

(obesity), an excess of fat in the diet, and an

excess of fat in

the blood. With an excess of fat diabetes begins

and from an

excess of fat diabetics die, formerly of coma,

recently of

atherosclerosis. " And now, after 75 years of

repeating Joslin's

message, diabetes is the fastest growing disease

in Western

nations.

 

Three Major Studies This Past Year Tell of Cause

and

Prevention

 

1) A February 2002 study, published in the Annals

of

Internal Medicine, of 51,529 male health

professionals, found men

whose diets are rich in red meat, high-fat dairy

products, and

baked goods are 60% more likely to develop

diabetes than are men

who eat a more prudent diet of vegetables,

fruits, whole grains

and lean meats.2 When low physical activity is

combined with a

fatty diet the risk of developing diabetes is

doubled. Obese

subjects have more than 11 times the risk of

developing diabetes.

 

2) In May 2001 an article the New England Journal

of

Medicine reported on 522 middle-aged overweight

subjects who were

divided into 2 groups.3 One group was encouraged

to eat more

plant foods, less fat and to exercise; the other

continued their

old ways. The members of the healthier group lost

an average of

nearly 10 pounds each and had less than half the

chance of

developing diabetes.

 

3) A more recent study in February of 2002 in the

same journal reported on 3234 pre-diabetic

individuals who had

gone on a healthy diet and exercise program and

had reduced their

chances of getting diabetes over the following

2.8 years by 58%.4

 

Worldwide and nationwide the incidence of Type II

diabetes is skyrocketing. Treatment with

medications, including

insulin and diabetic pills, does not cause the

blood sugars to

return to normal or eliminate the common

complications, such as

blindness, heart attacks and kidney failure. But

all of this, and

more, can be done with a diet and exercise

program, and at no

cost.

 

Diabetes: An Adaptive Response

 

The human body is a survivor. It does whatever is

necessary in order to live and function at its

highest level even

when confronted by all kinds of adverse

circumstances. The severe

malnutrition caused by the high-fat, low-fiber

American diet

places serious burdens on the body and requires

it to make

adaptions. The calories consumed in excess of our

needs cause us

to gain weight. As the body gains excess fat it

becomes resistant

to the actions of the hormone, insulin, in order

to survive.5 One

of insulin's jobs is to push fat into the fat

cells – the fat is

being saved for the day when no food is available

(A day long

time coming). Once obesity has developed, in an

effort to stem

the rapid expansion of the body's girth, the fat

cells become

less responsive to insulin, in other words,

" insulin resistance "

develops. This slows or stops the accumulation of

fat – so the

person does not get as big as a house.

 

The next stage of adaption occurs when the body

becomes so resistant to insulin's effects that it

can no longer

keep the blood sugar at normal levels. The sugars

rise to a level

above the kidney's capacity to keep it in the

body, and the sugar

spills over into the urine like water falling

over a dam. At this

stage sugar is found on a urine test – a common

way to diagnosis

diabetes. This loss of sugar (calories) is the

body's adaptive

response to excess calorie intake and storage

(body fat). By

losing calories through loss of sugar into the

urine, weight loss

occurs – all in an effort to correct the

underlying diabetic

condition. Unfortunately, almost all doctors

prescribe

medications that thwart the body's efforts to

make lifesaving

adjustments.

 

Medication Guarantees Diabetes Will Continue

 

Diabetic medications guarantee that all diabetics

will remain diabetic. Insulin and diabetic pills

(sulfonylureas)

increase the amount of insulin in the diabetic's

body causing the

body to store more fat in the fat cells. Other

medications

(rosiglitazone) reduce insulin resistance and

cause weight gain.

Any of these medications may also lower the sugar

levels below

the kidney's threshold for dumping excess

calories. Thus a

vicious cycle is created: The patient goes to the

doctor, is

diagnosed with diabetes, placed on medication and

told to lose

weight. The medication makes the person fatter

and thus the

diabetes becomes worse. The patient returns to

the doctor and is

given more medications because the sugars are

higher, which makes

the patient fatter and the diabetes worse.

 

Curing Type II Diabetes

 

In my practice I see people whose future is

ever-worsening diabetes, obesity, loss of vision,

kidney failure

and vascular insufficiency, leading to gangrene.

They have seen

their doctors regularly, taken their medications

faithfully and

still they get fatter and sicker. To break this

downhill spiral I

ask them to do the following:

 

1) Stop or reduce their insulin or diabetic

pills.

This reverses the weight gain immediately.

(Insulin cannot be

stopped in Type I diabetes, but the dosage can

often be reduced).

 

2) Change to a low-fat, high-fiber, plant-based

diet.

 

3) Exercise.

 

4) Check other risk factors for serious disease,

such

as cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood

pressure.

 

Then take diet and lifestyle steps to correct

these

(for example, less fruits and juices with high

triglycerides and

less salt with high blood pressure).

 

5) Take medications carefully to correct symptoms

and

appropriate risk factors. (For example, with too

much weight loss

insulin is sometimes necessary. Cholesterol,

triglyceride, and

blood pressure lowering medications are sometimes

indicated in

high-risk patients.)

 

It is no coincidence that the same diet that

helps

prevent or cure diabetes also causes effortless

weight loss,

lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, and cleans

out the

arteries, and returns the body to excellent

function. No matter

how much research appears saying the same thing

over and over

again, the tide is unlikely to change because of

the economic

incentives for continued illness and profitable

treatments.

 

As enlightened individuals people can make a

difference in their own lives and the benefits

are seen almost

overnight. Scientific research has shown over the

past 75 years

that half to three-quarters of Type II diabetics

can get off

insulin and almost all can get off their diabetic

pills (See the

McDougall Program – 12 Days to Dynamic Health –

Plume 1991).

Changing to oatmeal, bean burritos and a daily

walk are the easy

ways compared to a short painful lifetime of

injections,

complications, doctor's visits and

hospitalizations.

 

References:

 

1) Joslin EP. Atheroscleriosis and diabetes. Ann

Clin

Med 1927;5:1061.

 

2) van Dam RM. Dietary Patterns and Risk for Type

2

Diabetes Mellitus in U.S. Men. Ann Intern Med.

2002 Feb

5;136(3):201-209.

 

3) Tuomilehto J. Prevention of type 2 diabetes

mellitus by changes in lifestyle among subjects

with impaired

glucose tolerance. N Engl J Med. 2001 May

3;344(18):1343-50.

 

4) Knowler WC. Reduction in the incidence of type

2

diabetes with lifestyle intervention or

metformin. N Engl J Med.

2002 Feb 7;346(6):393-403.

 

5) Bessesen DH. The role of carbohydrates in

insulin

resistance. J Nutr. 2001 Oct;131(10):2782S-2786S.