Treating Diabetes

Recently I received a letter from a reader who asked what she could do to prevent type 2 diabetes. I’m glad she’s taking a proactive stance against the disease because its incidence is rising dramatically, along with its complications—vision loss, kidney disease, lower extremity amputations, and premature death from heart disease. But the good news is that research shows you can prevent type 2 diabetes with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and weight loss.

Dietary fiber is an important factor in preventing and treating diabetes, so start with a fiber-rich diet with lots of vegetables, whole grains, beans, and fruits. At the same time, go easy on starchy foods such as potatoes and anything made with white flour or sugar. In addition to driving up blood sugar, these foods contribute to weight gain, a significant risk factor for diabetes. Also include lean chicken, fish, or soy with most meals, along with healthy, non-processed fats from raw nuts and seeds and olive oil.

Exercise is also imperative. No matter what shape you’re in, find a way to exercise regularly. Thirty to 45 minutes of activity most days of the week will make a surprising difference in your health, weight, insulin sensitivity, and risk of disease, including diabetes.

Deficiencies in certain nutrients can also tax your body’s ability to control blood sugar, so be sure you’re taking a high-potency daily multivitamin and mineral supplement as well.
 

Last week I talked about the studies that illustrate the dangers of diabetes drugs. Yes, these medications do lower blood sugar, but that shouldn’t be the main goal of managing diabetes. What good is a therapy that can lower blood sugar if it increases your risk of heart attack and death from cardiovascular disease?

Unfortunately, the vast majority of physicians ignore this research—and jeopardize the health of trusting patients. The pharmaceutical industry shoulders much of the blame because they control the bulk of medical research, treatment guidelines, and physician “education.” As a result, not only is the effectiveness of drugs overstated and the risks minimized, but the emphasis on medication draws attention away from safe, natural therapies that truly improve health and longevity.

These therapies, which include weight loss and lifestyle changes, require work on the part of both physician and patient. Most doctors do recommend diet and exercise, but to be really effective, this requires ongoing counseling and monitoring of activity, diet, and weight. Many physicians just don’t have the time or desire to put forth that much effort. And patients accept this because it’s an easy out for them as well. What could be simpler than taking a “magic pill”?

If not drugs, then what? Here’s the treatment program we recommend at the Whitaker Wellness Institute for our patients with type 2 diabetes.

Weight Loss: Losing weight is the single best therapy for type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to weight loss. It requires diet changes, an exercise program, and determination.

Diet: The most therapeutic diet for diabetes is a low-glycemic, Mediterranean-style menu with lots of vegetables and lean protein, such as fish and poultry; modest amounts of fruit (one serving per day); and healthful fats like olive oil. Stay away from sugar and starches—bread, pasta, cereals, and other grain-based foods drive up blood sugar and increase appetite.

Exercise: I recommend a brisk 10-minute walk after meals and several sessions of resistance exercise weekly. Walking and other forms of aerobic exercise lower blood sugar and burn calories, while resistance exercise builds muscle and improves long-term insulin sensitivity.

Nutritional Supplements: To guard against complications of the blood vessels, nerves, eyes, and kidneys, take a potent, antioxidant-rich daily multivitamin to replace the nutrients that are inevitably lost as a result of the diabetic condition. To lower blood sugar, take vanadyl sulfate 100 mg, alpha lipoic acid 400-800 mg, chromium 200 mcg, cinnamon 500–1,000 mg, and Gymnema sylvestre 400 mg daily. These supplements may be taken individually or in combination formulas.

My book Reversing Diabetes outlines a step-by-step program for treating diabetes. You can order it at www.amazon.com or by calling (800) 810-6655.

 

Harvard researchers recently conducted a placebo-controlled study examining the effects of insulin and metformin, a popular diabetes drug, on inflammation. Individuals with diabetes tend to have high levels of C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation, which—in addition to elevations in blood sugar—put them at increased risk of heart disease.

When you think diabetic complications, you probably think of amputations, kidney failure, and blindness. However, cardiovascular disease is the most serious and one of the most common complications—three out of four people with diabetes die of heart attacks or other cardiovascular problems.

The Harvard study tested the presumption that diabetes drugs would lower inflammation and therefore protect against cardiovascular disease. However, when results were published in the September 16, 2009 issue of JAMA, the researcher team was surprised to find that although insulin and metformin lowered blood sugar, they did not reduce inflammation. They stressed that diabetic patients need to adhere to other therapies to reduce risk of cardiovascular events. 

No Surprise

How anyone could be surprised at such an outcome is beyond me. Just last year, the large, government-funded Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial found that that study participants taking intensive drug regimens had a dramatically increased cardiovascular death rate. In fact, this arm of the study was terminated 18 months early to prevent aggressive drug use from killing even more people.

But we’ve known about the fatal cardiovascular complications of diabetes drugs since 1969, the year that results of a study called the University Group Diabetes Program were made public. Like ACCORD, this clinical trial had to be stopped two years early because participants who were taking the drugs had a 250 to 300 percent higher death rate than those taking a placebo.

Safe, Effective Options

So what’s the take-home lesson here? There are far better ways to lower blood sugar that also decrease inflammation and protect against cardiovascular disease. I’ve been treating patients who are dealing with diabetes for more than 30 years. If they come to the clinic on oral medication, we stop it on sight. If they’re on insulin and they’re overweight, we stop the insulin as well.

In their place, we institute a program of regular exercise, a therapeutic diet, weight loss, and targeted nutritional supplements. Yes, this is a new concept. Patients are conditioned to trust their doctors, who have convinced them of the absolute necessity of taking prescription meds to lower blood sugar. However, once they hear the truth about diabetes drugs, most of our patients opt to stop their medications and adopt a much healthier treatment approach targeted at lowering blood sugar and reducing risk of heart disease and other complications.

Next week, I’ll give you the particulars of the Whitaker Wellness Institute’s approach to treating diabetes. For more information now, visit www.whitakerwellness.com.

 

While green tea gets all the attention these days, it may be the humble black tea that proves to be most healthful for diabetics, according to a new study in the Journal of Food Science.

Researchers at Tianjin Key Laboratory in China examined green, oolong and black teas, keying on each tea's polysaccaride content. Polysaccarides are believed to be useful in treating diabetes because of their natural ability to limit the absorption of glucose.

The researchers found that the polysaccharides in black tea had both the most glucose-inhibiting properties and strongest antioxidant power. Their ability to scavage free radicals should be of great interest for those seeking alternative treatments for diabetes, or building a healthy diet plan that includes natural protection against arthritis, Alzheimer's and other diseases associated with aging.

“Many efforts have been made to search for effective glucose inhibitors from natural materials,” says lead researcher Haixia Chen. “There is a potential for exploitation of black tea polysaccharide in managing diabetes.”

Dr. Whitaker has long been a proponent of drinking tea, particularly green tea, with its high concentration of antioxidants and unique components like ECGC, which has thermogenic properties (meaning it helps your body burn more calories -- gotta love it).

Now no matter which variety of tea you choose, you know you're doing yourself a favor and making managing diabetes a bit easier.

Just don't make the mistake of thinking "sweet tea" makes the grade. A large McDonald's Sweet Tea packs a walloping 59 grams of sugar. I for one, am not loving it.