When it comes to diabetes, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is
considered one of the most important things you can do to defend yourself from
long-term complications associated with the disease. In most cases,
doctors will prescribe prescription drugs to help normalize blood sugar
levels. Unfortunately, these medications are often accompanied by a long
list of harmful and unnecessary side effects.In the words of
alternative medicine proponent Dr. Joseph M. Mercola, “taking drugs for type 2
diabetes can be far worse than the disease itself!”
According to Mercola, “Drugs used to lower blood sugar may increase
your risk of death from all causes by 19 percent and your risk of
cardiovascular mortality by 43 percent”
We encourage you to consider a different approach – one that focuses on supporting the body through diet instead of drugs - The only method that has the ability to naturally regulate blood sugar levels while sustaining your overall health.
SOURCE:
Hallelujah Acres Health News
So how does one get started on a plan to prevent or reverse diabetes?
Well, according to Dr. Neal Barnard, there are three simple steps as follows:
1. Begin to move to a vegan diet. A whole foods plant only diet contains no animal fat so there are no animal saturated fats or cholesterol that can cause insulin sensitivity. Some say well can I just move from beef to chicken? The leanest beef is 29% of calories from the fat and the leanest chicken is 23%. So, it is not a big enough difference. Also, some fish is slightly lower in fat and some higher (such as Chinook salmon which is 50% of calories from the fat) while on the other hand, plants are 1 – 8% fat which is a far better choice. Furthermore, a diet high in animal protein and saturated fat contribute to heart disease, some cancers, and in a Harvard University nurses’ health study, they found that the number one factor that contributed to loss of kidney function was animal protein in the diet. Plant protein is easier on the kidneys. This matters because kidney damage is a concern for people with diabetes as 40% of people with the disease already have lost some kidney function.
2. Choose foods that are naturally low in
fat. As we know from above, these are plant foods. But watch too your oil intake.
Yes olive oil is from a plant but it is not a whole food (an olive) it is
processed. Yes, it may be a good choice for an oil but try to remember that fat
is the densest source of calories. Fat has more calories than a carbohydrate
(fat is 9 calories per gram and a carb is 4 calories). Again, countries that
eat a lot of rice as part of a low-fat diet have very little diabetes (and
other food related illnesses for that matter).
3. Do consider foods that are low in the
glycemic index. A high GI food causes blood sugar to rise rapidly like white
bread and even wheat bread, sugar, cold cereals and puffed grains, which are
all an issue. Oatmeal is fine as long as it is not loaded with added sugar.
Yams and small red-skin potatoes are fine. In terms of fruit, try to be
careful with pineapple and watermelon as they seem to be the highest in GI
amongst the fruit choices. Your better choices are beans, sweet potatoes, a
wide variety of vegetables. Pasta has a surprisingly low glycemic index,
according to Dr. Andrew Weil, especially when it is cooked al dente (or just
barely tender)! You may notice your blood sugar rises a bit after having pasta
but as days and weeks go by, your insulin sensitivity is going to improve. So,
use the glycemic index as a guide in addition to a vegan and low fat diet.
In summary, fill your plate with an abundance of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts and seeds and avoid animal protein. Also, eliminate or try to avoid as much as possible, white or wheat breads, all forms of simple sugar, cold cereals, white potatoes, pineapple and watermelon and be sure to cut back on added oils.
Be sure to design a low fat plant based diet that meets your individual
needs and preferences.
Make sure your doctor knows that you are improving your diet and use
your glucose meter. If you feel shaky you want to catch it quickly and have Doc
lower your medications.
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