| THIS ARTICLE
MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE.
or ARE CARBOHYDRATES KILLING US? |
In our industrialized society, disease has severely
affected the quality of the later years of our lives. I have been
educating my patients, students, and radio listeners for three decades
about the dangers of simple sugars. In light of the current trends
in the scientific medical community, it behooves me to once again
educate you in this area. Scientific medicine is on the cusp of
a paradigm shift where diet is concerned, but the complete shift
will take another ten years and your families health can’t
wait that long.
How controversial
is the low fat, high carbohydrate diet?
In a recent featured research editorial in the New England Journal
of Medicine, the topic was how carbohydrate is a major
contributor to most of the chronic degenerative disease that affects
our society. The author was Dr. Gerald Reaven of Stanford,
a world class researcher. Although the medical community is beginning
to see the danger of carbohydrate consumption, many results-oriented
Americans have already figured this out. Over the last decade, some
of the most popular books on diet and nutrition have been The
Zone, The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, Sugar Busters, Life Without
Bread, and the benchmark by which all others are measured, Dr.
Atkins New Diet Revolution. The popularity of these books demonstrates
a rebellion against the Food Pyramid and the low fat, high carbohydrate
diet by a citizenry that is determined to experience greater health
and well being in spite of “the experts.”
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When does adult onset
diabetes start?
Dr. Reavens article achieved landmark status because he bravely
postulated that his research showed that diabetes diagnosed at age
45 and 50 began at age 1 ½ and 2 with the consumption of
fruit juice, soda pop, and sugar laden baby foods. Our chubby children
are in the early stage of blood sugar disease. During the Vietnam
Conflict and the Gulf War, when young American soldiers were killed
in combat, their autopsies all showed evidence of blood vessel disease
(arteries that had begun to close). This is a sign of middle stage
blood sugar disease. Diabetes is simply late stage blood sugar disease.
Dr. Reaven calls blood sugar disease, especially the early and middle
stages, syndrome X. When we refer to diabetes in this article we
are referring to adult onset diabetes or diabetes type II.
How scary are the
statistics regarding adult onset diabetes?
End point, or late stage blood sugar disease is called diabetes.
Every 24 hours 2,700 people are diagnosed with diabetes; 1,200 people
die from diabetes; 180 amputations are performed because of diabetes;
120 people begin treatment for end stage kidney disease because
of diabetes; and 75 people lose their eyesight because of diabetes.
Additionally, 65% of people with diabetes die from heart disease
and stroke; people with diabetes have the same cardiovascular risk
as if they had already had a heart attack; recent statistics show
there are currently more than 17 million Americans with diabetes;
scientists at the Centers for Disease Control estimate that by the
year 2050, the prevalence of diabetes will increase by 165%; diabetes
kills more people every year than AIDS or breast cancer; and one
American dies from diabetes every three minutes.
How important are
carbohydrates?
Thousands of years ago, as pointed out in The Zone, we were
hunter-gatherers. We ate what was available and catchable. An example
of that diet would be the diet that the Australian Aborigine’s
ate in the bush on a “walk about”. The diet consisted
of grubs, eggs, rodents, reptiles, insects, an occasional kangaroo,
and a sparse amount of vegetation. They lived to be ripe old ages
in good health. Another example would be the Eskimo’s. This
culture existed on seal, walrus, whale, fish, and polar bear. They
also lived to be ripe old ages in good health. These high fat and
high protein diets were sufficient to produce excellent health into
old age in the absence of significant carbohydrates.
Consider that there are essential fats.
These are fats that the body can’t make and must have to be
healthy. Also, consider that there are essential amino acids (the
building blocks of protein). These are amino acids that must come
from food because our bodies can’t make them (the definition
of essential). Without the essential nutrients we become diseased.
There are no essential carbohydrates. This means
that the body can make the carbohydrate it needs from the other
macro-nutrients, fats and proteins.
How do carbohydrates
contribute to aging?
All carbohydrates break down to sugars. Some complex carbohydrates
break down slowly, and these are the healthier ones. Simple carbohydrates
break down to sugars quickly, and these are the culprits that contribute
the most to chronic degenerative disease as mentioned by Gerald
Reaven in his New England Journal of Medicine article. These
simple sugars get absorbed too quickly, and the body’s blood
sugar control mechanisms are overwhelmed. When this happens, these
excess sugars begin to over-react chemically (oxidation) because
they are out of normal healthy balance. The result is the over-production
of free radicals, and an overabundance of Accumulated Glycosalated
End Substances (acronym, AGES). The formation of AGES is similar
to the formation of the crust around a loaf of bread after it is
popped in the oven. When cells have an increased load of AGES, it
results in damaged intracellular parts, which compromises performance,
and eventually results in premature cell death. Premature cell death
is synonymous with premature aging. Simply stated, if you eat simple
sugars you will age more rapidly.
What is insulin resistance?
The term “insulin resistance” describes a condition
of reduced sensitivity of a cell to the action of insulin. Insulin’s
job is too attach to receptor sites and attract sugar (glucose)
in the serum into the cells that can use it for fuel. When insulin
can’t attach to the receptor sites adequately, blood sugar
levels increase, and the pancreas works harder by producing even
more insulin. In adult onset diabetes, testing shows that both blood
sugar and insulin levels are increased. Sometimes the insulin levels
are 4 to 5 times normal. This creates, in time, an exhausted pancreas
which can not even produce normal levels of insulin.
Insulin resistance is synonymous with middle stage
blood sugar disease where many physiological changes that are associated
with disease states are occurring that are generally not medically
recognized as being related to blood sugar handling problems.
What are some other
disorders associated with insulin resistance?
We have accumulated a great many statistics around diabetes, for
example, in diabetes, heart disease is 2 to 4 times higher than
in adults without diabetes. Unfortunately, many people have been
diagnosed with heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, and nervous
diseases which include impaired sensations in the hands and feet,
slowed digestion, carpal tunnel problems and many more before actually
becoming diabetic. Many of these diseases and disorders associated
with diabetes are really more related to insulin resistance, and
develop during the decades of stage one (hypoglycemia), and stage
two (insulin resistance) that precede the diagnosis of diabetes.
To reiterate this important point, these conditions
often take decades to develop, are often fully developed by the
time diabetes is diagnosed, but are developing and producing problems
long before diabetes is diagnosed. For example, a lot of heart disease
patients have a heart attack or two because of decades of damage
from insulin resistance years before they are officially diagnosed
with end stage blood sugar disease, diabetes. A lot of vision loss/blindness
is the result of years of insulin resistance and is diagnosed and
treated long before the blood sugar disease is severe enough to
diagnosed as diabetes. Physicians continue to treat these symptoms
without realizing the underlying cause is insulin resistance.
Few oncologists realize that cancer builds its
fuel for growth by burning sugar (glycolysis). Increased sugar availability
increases cancer risk significantly, which is reflected in the significantly
increased cancer risk of diabetics. Cancer is the most feared disease
in our society, and as the high carbohydrate diet has been in vogue
over the last 25 years, cancer has become epidemic. Again, medicine
treats the symptom, and ignores an important underlying contributing
cause.
How to recognize
early stage blood sugar disease (hypoglycemia)?
Hypoglycemia is probably responsible for the coffee break. As our
food sources became more packaged and sugar laden, the most characteristic
symptom of hypoglycemia became so pronounced in the workplace that
management needed to take action against it. The symptom is fatigue
approximately 1 ½ to 3 hours after consuming food high in
simple sugars. In the manufacturing arena, workers were getting
injured because of the loss of concentration. In the office environment,
workers were falling asleep. In both cases, worker productivity
was severely compromised. The correction has been the coffee break,
mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
Unfortunately, this addresses the symptom and not
the cause. Workers are encouraged to get a coffee, often with sugar,
or a sweet of some sort. This temporarily solves the productivity
problem for the employer, but makes the employee even more sweet
addicted and drives that person toward middle stage blood sugar
disease, insulin resistance. The mid-morning and mid-afternoon crash
is also characterized by negative behavioral patterns as the brain
is going from sugar poisoning to sugar starvation as the blood glucose
goes from too high to too low. Digestive symptoms are also common
with hypoglycemia, as is musculoskeletal dis-coordination.
How to recognize
middle stage blood sugar disease (insulin resistance)?
In addition to the symptoms of hypoglycemia, in insulin resistance
the body is beginning to produce an abnormal amount of fat. Too
much sugar causes the body to make fat. Men accumulate the fat of
insulin resistance on the abdomen. It’s the pot belly syndrome.
It creates the “apple” appearance. Women accumulate
the fat of insulin resistance on the abdomen and hips, resulting
in the “pear” appearance. These changes in body appearance
are warning markers for a blood sugar condition that has already
gone past the initial stages, and the damage associated with diabetes
is solidly in progress. At this stage, almost all blood sugar disease
symptoms are reversible. If any of your loved ones demonstrate
these body types, now is the time to take action.
Can one kind of diet
control all stages of blood sugar disease?
It’s no accident that Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution
has sold over 14 million copies, and is the most popular diet book
ever published. This book has been recommending a high protein and
high fat diet for over 30 years. About 50% of those who have type
A blood do not do well on the Atkin’s diet, and have to substitute
more complex carbohydrate in place of the recommended animal protein
intake. Nevertheless, simple carbohydrate intake is injurious to
everyone, even the type A blood types who are making the genetic
adaptation to a more vegetarian biotype. It is important, when implementing
a high protein diet, to be consuming primarily organic protein,
because the research is now suggesting that the estrogens used to
fatten cattle and chickens for market is a contributing factor in
breast cancer and may be the primary cause of prostatitis and prostate
cancer.
Will exercise help
control blood sugar handling problems?
Exercise has been thoroughly researched in relation to all stages
of blood sugar disease, and in many cases of stage one and two,
exercise alone can stabilize the condition, produce weight loss,
and reverse many, and sometimes all, of the symptoms. Although aerobic
exercise has been recommended by diabetologists for some time, it
appears that anaerobic exercise (weight lifting) is much more effective.
As we get older we tend to lose strength. This
is because when you don’t use muscle you lose muscle. However,
we fill in the lost muscle space with fat, so we tend not to notice
big changes in muscle size. Muscle is a major user of glycogen as
an energy source, and because of this, muscles have a very large
number of insulin receptor sites. Therefore, if you increase your
muscle mass, you increase your body’s ability to efficiently
use glycogen, and a small increase in muscle mass (strength) equals
a large increase in the body’s ability to handle blood sugar
levels. Most people who undertake weight training when they are
older do not get “muscular.” This is a concern for some,
and what happens is that because muscles burn fat, the fat that
infiltrated the muscle tissue because of under-use is lost first
and replaced with muscle. Therefore, strength increases while muscle
dimension doesn’t. An excellent book for an intelligent exercise
regimen is Burn Fat for Fuel, by Donna Michaels-Surface.
Will vitamin supplements
help control blood sugar problems?
Until the later stages of adult onset diabetes are reached, which
have pancreatic exhaustion as a component, supplementation is an
important part of the cure. Of course, weight loss via low carbohydrate
diet and exercise are primary. However, vitamin supplements can
help the 3 primary blood sugar controlling organs (liver, pancreas,
and adrenals) recover and heal, and help insulin and the insulin
receptor site function more efficiently.
Chromium
is so important in helping the body use sugar efficiently that it
has been called “the glucose tolerance factor” (GTF).
Chromium binds with vitamin B3 to form the active form of GTF, so
a good B complex vitamin is also essential. 1000mg per day is a
common dosage because chromium is notorious for poor absorption.
(Preventics Chromium Aspartate).
Magnesium may
alter insulin secretion and how efficiently the body uses insulin.
It is also necessary as a part of over 300 enzymes. Magnesium is
also considered to be one of the most deficient minerals in our
society. A good indication of inadequate magnesium is restless legs
and leg and foot cramps at night. Usually 400mg of magnesium before
bed (it aids in getting to sleep) will be sufficient. (Preventics
Mag Chelate Plus).
Vanadium
increases insulin sensitivity resulting in improved glucose levels
It also seems to prevent glucose from being converted to fat. Dosages
of 10-100mg of vanadyl sulfate have been shown to be beneficial.
(Preventics Vanadyl Sulfate)
Mineral supplementation
in addition to the big three, chromium, magnesium, and vanadium
will help provide the selenium and manganese that have been recognized
to contribute to increased sugar handling efficiency, along with
those necessary minerals that have not been researched sufficiently
at this time. (Preventics Bone 350 Plus)
Vitamin B6
has been shown to inhibit glycosylation, the reaction that accelerates
the aging process at the cellular level. It also helps prevent the
formation of neuropathic changes so common to diabetics and those
with advanced insulin resistance. B6 is best taken in theform of
a complete B complex vitamin formula that includes other necessary
B’s in blood sugar management like folic acid, vitamin B-12,
and niacin. (Preventics Glyco B)
Fish oil and/or flaxseed
oil help balance the need for more anti-inflammatory
hormones. Because diabetes is an inflammatory disease, this is a
very important factor. They also seem to increase the sensitivity
of the insulin receptor sites. (Preventics Omega-3 EPA and Preventics
Flaxseed Oil)
Coenzyme Q10
is an important component of energy production that ends to be in
short supply as we get older. As energy production increases, glucose
utilization is increased. Studies show an increase energy production
of between 36 and 59% along with improved insulin production.
Vitamin E
has demonstrated its importance as an anti-oxidant by preventing
complications of diabetic neuropathy, retinopathy, and heart disease.
(Preventics E mixed Tocopherols)
Vitamin C
is transported into cells with the help of insulin. In diabetes,
the low intracellular vitamin C levels that result are implicated
in poor wound healing, increased capillary permeability (broken
blood vessels), and dysfunctional immunity (increased cancer risk).
(Preventics Vitamin C 1000 or Preventics Bio C)
What additional approaches
may contribute greatly to diabetic recovery?
Almost all adult onset diabetics have an associated disease along
with their diabetes that affects the normal bacterial balance in
the intestines. The disease is chronic Candida Albicans. Candida
is a form of yeast that thrives on sugar, so diets high in simple
sugars tend to promote it. Intestinal yeast overgrowth is often
reflected in urogenital yeast infections and yeast infections under
the toenails and fingernails. Candida produces a condition known
as “leaky guts.” In the “leaky guts” syndrome,
the intestines become more permeable, or leaky, and foods that don’t
normally get absorbed into the blood are absorbed. The body is designed
to recognize these foods as unfriendly, and begins to build anti-bodies
against them. In a matter of time, diabetics become allergic/sensitive
to these substances and notice an ever increasing amount of digestive
difficulty and overall allergy/sensitivity. NAET, Nambudripad’s
allergy elimination technique is an excellent way of correcting
these allergy/sensitivity reactions. More information on NAET may
be found on the website, www.naet.com,
and in Dr. Nambudripad’s book, Say Goodbye to Illness.
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