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Yes, obesity (and the related illnesses that it causes) is a huge problem in this country (bad pun intended), and I am surprised that you are shocked at the numbers. I hope I can continue to avoid this problem because I sure like to eat!
I was diagnosed with type II in November of last year (fasting blood glucose >300 and A1C of 12). I was kind of shocked, as while I was overweight, I thought I was eating a "healthy," Mediterranean diet. It turns out I had no idea what healthy really means, as like the vast majority of folks, I just followed the advice of experts (doctors, gov't, all the stupid alphabet societies).
Being an engineer, I took to this like I would take to any other problem. I knew that I had absolutely no desire to pump myself with medications and insulin for the rest of what would be a short, miserable life. So I researched, researched, researched and devised a solution for myself. Within two weeks I had normal blood glucose levels. Within three months my A1C was completely normal. Since I have no plan to go back to eating the way I did before, I consider myself completely cured. *
The solution was simple. There are certain foods that most of our bodies are not adapted to eating that have only been included in our diets for an evolutionary brief period of time (around 10k years). Our bodies have various negative reactions to these foods, including releasing too much insulin in response to the excess glucose present in our blood. Insulin is an amazing hormone that has many jobs, most prevalently the following: it brings glucose to muscles for energy and it stores fat. When you have too much of it, the muscles become resistant and glucose builds up in your blood.
By eliminating these problem foods, we can "reset" our metabolisms to work correctly. The biggest culprits are refined sugars, grains, legumes and grain and seed derived oils. In addition, there are three macronutrients our bodies can burn for energy (not counting alcohol) - fat, carbohydrates and protein. Carbohydrates are converted directly to glucose, so it is a no brainer that if you have a problem with blood glucose, drastically reduce the carbs. Protein is a building block, but can also be converted to glucose in the liver. Fat does not convert to glucose.
So my goal was to reduce my insulin levels drastically and maintain normal blood sugar. To do this, I started eating a diet that is completely free of all the foods mentioned above, and consists of 70 - 80% fat from animal sources, 10 - 15% protein and about 5% carbs. In addition to the elimination of diabetes, I have also dropped about 40 lbs.
Of course since this goes against our current norms of what is considered healthy, there will be responses to this saying that I am going to get heart disease or all sorts of other ailments. Save it, I have done the research and will put my numbers up against yours any day. The saddest part is that the epidemic of diseases of civilization will never subside until the current norms of what is considered healthy changes. We can just add that to the ever increasing list of necessary revolutions.
* For those who say there is no cure for type II diabetes, I would liken it to a condition caused by eating poison. Just as someone who has recovered from the condition caused by eating rat poison is cured so long as they don't eat more rat poison, I consider myself cured so long as I maintain my current dietary regimen.
CDC even though the following Data is a about 5 years old. As point C.J>.created this thread use
this data and increase it as this epidemic has become stronger.
Quote:
Heart disease and stroke
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In 2004, heart disease was noted on 68% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older.
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In 2004, stroke was noted on 16% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older.
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Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes.
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The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher among people with diabetes.
High blood pressure
• In 2003–2004, 75% of adults with self-reported diabetes had blood pressure greater than or equal to 130/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), or used prescription medications for hypertension.
Blindness
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Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20–74 years.
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Diabetic retinopathy causes 12,000 to 24,000 new cases of blindness each year.
Kidney disease
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Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting for 44% of new cases in 2005.
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In 2005, 46,739 people with diabetes began treatment for end-stage kidney disease in the United States and Puerto Rico.
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In 2005, a total of 178,689 people with end-stage kidney disease due to diabetes were living on chronic dialysis or with a kidney transplant in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Nervous system disease
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About 60% to 70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage. The results of such damage include impaired sensation or pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion of food in the stomach, carpal tunnel syndrome, erectile dysfunction, or other nerve problems.
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Almost 30% of people with diabetes aged 40 years or older have impaired sensation in the feet (i.e., at least one area that lacks feeling).
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Severe forms of diabetic nerve disease are a major contributing cause of lower-extremity amputations.
Good for you, LAMF, for taking it into your own hands! I am very much anti-medication, and I feel that the drug companies and doctors are inventing diseases daily to pad their wallets. (As a side note, have you seen that commercial for the "only FDA approved" Omega 3 supplement? Of course it's a prescription. Ridiculous!)
What works for some people does not work for others, as you have found out through your diet. The main concern I would have following a diet like yours would be malnutrition. I'm assuming your 5% carbs are from plant sources and not refined grains? Another thing to keep in mind is that factory produced animal products are lacking many of the nutrients found in free roaming animals.
I have read studies that show raw food diets can cure diabetes as well. To me, it's all common sense. Real food is healthy food.
I should mention also that I do not eat any processed foods at all. My carbs come from vegetables, some nuts and berries on occasion. Additionally I do not eat factory farmed animals, but get all of my meat from the butcher in Ballantyne or farmer's markets.
I am also a huge proponent of raw dairy.
I completely agree that real food is healthy food. 99% of the population would be 100% healthier if all they did was cut out processed foods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coastalgirl
Good for you, LAMF, for taking it into your own hands! I am very much anti-medication, and I feel that the drug companies and doctors are inventing diseases daily to pad their wallets. (As a side note, have you seen that commercial for the "only FDA approved" Omega 3 supplement? Of course it's a prescription. Ridiculous!)
What works for some people does not work for others, as you have found out through your diet. The main concern I would have following a diet like yours would be malnutrition. I'm assuming your 5% carbs are from plant sources and not refined grains? Another thing to keep in mind is that factory produced animal products are lacking many of the nutrients found in free roaming animals.
I have read studies that show raw food diets can cure diabetes as well. To me, it's all common sense. Real food is healthy food.
Type II diabetes is caused by bad eating and health habits including not enough physical activity. Certainly no shortage of this in modern America as any trip to Concord Mills or a Walmart will prove this out, given the proportion of fat people. Prior to WWII it was almost an unheard of disease in this country because people were are lot more physically active and diets were much more modest. Simply put, it comes from eating too much processed food which tends to be full of fat, highly refined carbohydrates, and little fiber. Plus people eat too many calories vs their physical activity.
If you want to avoid this disease, then.....
Don't worry about diets. They are self defeating.
Don't eat stuff that comes out of a package from a food factory. If you are supposed to nuke it, then it's probably bad for you.
Eating out these days is particularly bad for you. Buffets and the humongous portions are not what you should eat. By all means, if it involves fast then it is bad for you so avoid it. If you eat out, then get them to bring you a box and put 1/2 of whatever you get into the box before you take the first bite.
Forget the dumbass food pyramids, triangles, mumbo jumbo from the government because those are always highly influenced by food industry lobbying.
Treat meat as a condiment, not the main course. This isn't anti-meat, but the very high meat consumption we have now is unusual in most of human history. It's not that meat is bad for you, it's what is done to to cook it that is.
Stick to beans, complex carbs and vegetables for the majority of eating. Try to cook as much as you can.
Turn off the TV and Internet and get out of the house. Try walking somewhere. OK, this is Charlotte and that might not be possible. So then make a point of doing something that makes you move more than a potato sitting in a basket. Physical activity is good, but Americans spends lots of money to avoid it. Think about this next time you buy a washer and dryer that you don't have to bend down to empty that are located next to the bedroom because you are too lazy to take the laundry downstairs. Get a clothes line. This is just an example but things such as this add up. A Russian woman told me once that keeping it hard to do will keep you young.
Try growing some of your own food. The one thing that many many very old, healthy people have in common (no matter where they live) is they spent their time with a garden. It's physically good for you, it mentally good for you and the resulting food is good for you.
haha, cmon cg, take it easy......all I'm sayin is that this is a bigger problem than I thought and many can control w/a little effort, that's all....
I have it and its far better to do the right things to avoid it than treat it. Once you burn up your pancreas it too late. It can only work so hard and eating too much of the wrong foods AT THE WRONG TIME and not working the fat off will cause this over time.
Wow, you really don't know much about type II diabetes, do you? You may want to at least research your dietary information a bit more, especially if you are giving advice to diabetics. Please believe me that what you said below would force a diabetic to take meds and eventually insulin for the rest of his/her life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lumbollo
[*]Treat meat as a condiment, not the main course. This isn't anti-meat, but the very high meat consumption we have now is unusual in most of human history. It's not that meat is bad for you, it's what is done to to cook it that is.[*]Stick to beans, complex carbs and vegetables for the majority of eating. Try to cook as much as you can.
Wow, you really don't know much about type II diabetes, do you? You may want to at least research your dietary information a bit more, especially if you are giving advice to diabetics. Please believe me that what you said below would force a diabetic to take meds and eventually insulin for the rest of his/her life.
Read my post again. I said this is what you do to keep from getting TII diabetes. I didn't say this is what one does to treat it. This is an avoidable disease. Of course if you have it then you better be seeing a doctor rather than getting advice off an internet forum.
People always say this sort of thing when they don't want to take responsibility for their personal habits in regards to how it affects their health.
So tell me - how would limiting one's intake of meat (which is what we have adapted to eat primarily through millions of years of evolution) yet increasing intake of ... fiber (are you serious ... that isn't even food) ... prevent type II? Links to articles on pubmed would be appreciated.
I agree that this is an avoidable disease, but it is dietary misinformation and ignorance that led to its epidemic status.
And what is it that people say when they don't want to take responsibility for their personal habits? That last line cannot possibly be in reference to anything that I wrote, which is completely about taking responsibility for yourself as opposed to following BS dietary guidelines and misinformation propagated by ignorant doctors on the payroll of pharmaceutical companies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lumbollo
Read my post again. I said this is what you do to keep from getting TII diabetes. I didn't say this is what one does to treat it. This is an avoidable disease. Of course if you have it then you better be seeing a doctor rather than getting advice off an internet forum.
People always say this sort of thing when they don't want to take responsibility for their personal habits in regards to how it affects their health.
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