Diabetes
Diabetes can be greatly relieved by better food choices. Many diseases can actually be traced back to dietary blindness. Other problems related to people with this problem is arteriosclerosis, heart attacks, strokes, eye damage and kidney failure. Circulation to the extremities can also be cut down to such an extent that an infection in a toe which for most of us would be minor can, for a diabetic, easily lead to gangrene, may require amputation of a foot or a leg, and can even be life-threatening. Dietary changes could in fact reverse the process.
In Lancet, Dr. Inder Singh reported a remarkable study in which 80 diabetic patients were restricted to very lowfat diets- 20 to 30 grams a day - and forbidden any sugar consumption. Within six weeks, over 60% of the patients no longer required insulin. In the weeks that followed, the figure rose to over 70%, and those that still needed insulin therapy needed only a small fraction of what they had required before the diet change. All 80 cases were monitored for periods ranging from 6 months to 5 years, and the success of the dietary changes was confirmed over time.
The American Journal of Clinical nutrition reported a study in which 20 diabetics, all of whom needed insulin, were put on a high fiber very lowfat diet. After only 16 days, 45% of these patients were able to discontinue the insulin injections.
A common cause for the malfunction of the diabetic´s own insulin is the high level of fat in their blood. Thus the reduction of dietary fat, particularly saturated fat, can be of greatest significance to diabetics, for it lowers the concentration of fat in the blood, and thus allows their own insulin to do its job.
For a diabetic to be freed from his or her need for medication is a great blessing, for compared to the pancreas, medications are a vastly inferior means of controlling blood sugar levels. Furthermore, they have serious side effects. The pills more than double the risk of heart attack, and sometimes cause jaundice, skin rashes and anemia. Overdoses of medication are common because the body´s needs change all the time, and are impossible for patients to monitor with anything remotely resembling the accuracy of the pancreas. Insufficient food intake can easily precipitate disorienting bouts of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The insulin pump is a recent, sophisticated improvement, but is expensive, must be worn at all times, produces infections at the injection site a third of the time, and markedly worsens the eye diseases so common to diabetics.
Lowfat diets, particularly those without any saturated fat, have demonstrated a remarkable success rate in allowing diabetics to dispense with their pills, shots and pumps. Happily, these are the very same diets which protect against the ravages of arteriosclerosis to which diabetics are otherwise so terribly prone.
There is a rare and very serious form of diabetes called childhood onset diabetes which is in many ways a different disease. It is not the result of the body´s own insulin rendered ineffective, but is rather a situation in which the pancreas has been seriously injured, and either cannot secrete insulin at all, or does not secrete enough. Even for victims of this singularly destructive form of diabetes, however, wise food choices are of enormous value. Those who omit meat and other high-fat-low-fiber foods need 30% less insulin, have more stable blood sugar levels, are (in medical terms) less ¨brittle,¨ and are significantly protected from the complications of arteriosclerosis that otherwise would cause them such immense suffering.
The scientific breakthroughs of the past 25 years have found that the same diet-styles which can do so very much to help diabetics are the very ones that prevent the disease in the first place. Worldwide, the disease is rare or nonexistent among people whose diets are primarily grains, vegetables and fruits. It these same people switch to rich meat based diets, however, their incidence of diabetes balloons.
In Micronesia there is a small island called Nauru, near the equator, just west of the Gilbert islands. Before World War II, the native Polynesians lived here in isolation, and were such a healthy and happy people that the island used to be known as Pleasant Island. On this island there are enormous deposits of bird dung that have accumulated over the centuries. After the war, the phosphates from this bird dung were coveted by the industrialized nations. As a result, the Nauruans became very wealthy, and began to emulate the West- gorging themselves on rich foods, canned and frozen meats, fish, oils, white rice, soft drinks. Their consumption of fiber plummeted and their consumption of fat skyrocketed. Now the island is not so pleasant. Tragically, over one-third of these people have developed diabetes.
An enormous scientific project which studied more than 25,000 people for 21 years, found that vegetarians have a much lower risk of diabetes than meat- eaters. One of the authors of the study, University of Minnesota epidemiologist Dr. David Snowden, summarized the findings:
¨We suspect it is the absence
of meat that may explain our findings. In this study we looked at various
levels of meat consumption,
and as those levels got lower and lower, the risk of diabetes also decreased.¨
In a more personal vein, Dr. Snowden confided:
¨My meat consumption has dropped significantly....since completing the diabetes study.¨
THE CAUSE OF DIABETES
The cause of diabetes is not known medically. Insulin is secreted in the pancreas by the islets of Langerhans. These masses of cells are scattered throughout the pancreas, and vary in number from 200,000 to 1,800,000. They are most numerous in the tail portion of the pancreas.
The more yang beta cells (For a better understanding of yin and yang click : yin-yang) within the islets secrete insulin, while larger and more yin alpha cells secrete glucagon. In diabetes, the beta cells become expanded, and lose their ability to secrete insulin. This is caused by an overly yin blood condition which results from the overconsumption of sugar, fruit, dairy, chemicals and other similar foods, as well as the overconsumption of animal products which create an acidic condition.
The dietary approach to diabetes aims at restoring the capacity of the beta cells to produce insulin by restoring them to a more normal condition. This is accomplished by making the diet slightly more alkaline as well as through physical activity. You can find a general idea of the standard diet in: Lilaroshni -there are some other slight modifications or some special dishes for the diabetic condition.
For example a diabetic should eat Azuki bean but the preparation for the diabetic condition should be - 50% hard squash, 30% azuki beans, and 20% kombu seaweed. These should be cooked together and seasoned with seasalt. Several drops of sesame oil can be added while the dish is being cooked. This combination tastes very sweet, and the diabetic should eat a portion about the size of a baseball at every meal.
Azuki, kombu, and Squash Recipe
1 cup azuki beans
2-3 inch strips of kombu
1 hard winter squash
Wash and soak azuki beans with kombu. Remove kombu after soaking and chop into 1-inch-square pieces. Place kombu at bottom of pot and add chopped hard winter squash such as acorn, butternut, or hokkaido. Add azukis on top of squash. Cover with water and cook over a low flame until beans and squash are soft. Sprinkle lightly with seasalt. Cover and let cook for 10-15 minutes. Turn off flame and let sit for several minutes before serving.
Variation: you may cook azuki beans 50-70%, then add on top squash and proceed as above.
Note: This dish is helpful in regulating blood sugar levels. It is naturally sweet and will reduce the craving for sweets.
Dishes cooked with onion, squash and carrots are also highly recommended for diabetic persons. Whole grains and sea vegetables are also very important in the diet you will find recipes on these in: The Recipes Section . Proper chewing and the application of ginger compress greatly helps the recovery process.
When diabetes has arisen after the age of 35, it can be completely relieved in many cases within 2-4 months. However juvenile diabetes is much more difficult. Many cases show initial improvement. It is very difficult to get totally rid of it for people who are under the age of 20. However it can still be greatly improved. A distant cause of juvenile diabetes is the quality of food eaten by the mother during pregnancy. Since the diet of most people has become much worse during the past 25 years, many babies have been born with natively weak constitutions, which render them more susceptible to conditions such as diabetes. The physical structure of people over the age of 35, has already had the opportunity to stabilize for a number of years whereas young people still are in the process of completing their growth.
Diabetes affects millions of people caused by the failure of the islets of Langerhans to produce enough insulin. This is the result of an overly acidic condition of the blood, in which the level of sugar in the blood rises markedly. In normal circumstances, the sugar content of the blood is about 100 mg (70 - 120 mg) per 100 cc. Fatigue and tiredness begin if this level rises to over 130 mg, and if it increases to 180 mg, what is known as the renal threshold is reached. At this point sugar begins to accumulate in the urine (glycosuria) and the discharge of urine increases (polyuria). The loss of water through excessive urination causes the patient to become thirsty, while the accompanying loss of glucose and minerals produces hunger.
A high blood sugar level also has the effect of weakening the peripheral parts of the body, especially the skin. Wounds heal slowly, skin ulcers often develop, the skin loses its natural flexibility and begins to harden and the circulation becomes poor in the hands and feet.
To understand the progressive development of pancreatic disorders, it is necessary to consider the effects of the three different forms of sugar in the body. Simple sugars or monosaccharides are found in fruits and honey and include glucose and fructose. Double sugars or dissacharides are found in cane sugar and milk and include sucrose and lactose. Complex sugars are polysacharides are found in grains, beans and vegetables and include cellulose.
In the normal digestive process, complex sugar are decomposed gradually and at nearly even rate by various enzymes in the mouth, stomach, pancreas, and intestines. Complex sugars enter the blood stream slowly after being broken down into smaller saccharide units. During the process, the pH of the blood remains slightly alkaline.
In contrast, simple and double sugars are metabolized quickly, causing the blood to become overacidic. To compensate for this extreme yin condition (yin and yang) , the pancreas secrete a yang hormone, insulin, which allows excess sugar in the blood to be removed and enter the cells of the body. This produces a burst of energy as the glucose (the end product of all sugar metabolism) is oxidized and carbon dioxide and water are given off as wastes. Diabetes is a disease characterized by the failure of the pancreas to produce enough insulin to neutralize excess blood sugar. After years of excessive consumption of refined sugar, fruit, dairy products, chemicals, and other highly yin substances, the islet cells in the pancreas become expanded and lose their ability to secret insulin. Sugar begins to appear in the urine, the body loses water, and reserve minerals are depleted. To offset these symptoms, modern medicine treats diabetes with artificial injections of insulin.
Much of the sugar that enters the bloodstream is originally stored in the liver in the form of glycogen until needed, when it is again changed into glucose. When the amount of glycogen exceeds the liver´s storage capacity of about fifty grams, it is released into the bloodstream in the form of fatty acid. This fatty acid is stored first in the more inactive places of the body, such as the buttocks, thighs, and midsection. Then, if refined sugars continue to be eaten, fatty acid becomes attracted to more yang organs such as the heart and kidney, which gradually become encased in a layer of fat and mucus.
This accumulation can also penetrate the inner tissues, weakening the normal functioning of the organs and causing their eventual stoppage such as in atherosclerosis. The buildup of fat can also lead to various forms of cancer, including tumors of the breast, colon and reproductive organs. Still another form of degeneration may occur when the body´s internal supply of minerals is mobilized to offset the debilitating effects of simple sugar consumption. For example, calcium from the bones and teeth may be depleted to balance the effects of excessive intake of candy and soft drinks.
Pancreatic cancer can also result from longtime consumption of eggs, meat, seafood, poultry, refined salt and other strong animal foods high in protein and saturated fat in combination with refined sugars, acid producing food and beverages, chemicals, and drugs.
(Source: Michio Kushi - Natural Healing, Cancer prevention
Diet,
A Diet for a New America - John Robbins)
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The Art of Balancing... 