diabetes caused by excess dietary fat (posted with permission)

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March, 2002 Vol. 1 No.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diet and Diabetes

 

 

Too Much Fat Causes Diabetes Type II diabetes is

called adult-type diabetes because it is the most common type of

diabetes seen in adults. Approximately 8% of American adults have

this condition and in some subsections of our populations, such

as the American Indians, the incidence can be as high as 50% of

the people. The cause is unquestionably the rich American diet,

chock-full of fat and deficient in plant foods. The association

with fat and diabetes has been known for over 75 years. In 1927

Dr. E. P. Joslin, founder of the famous Joslin Diabetic Center in

Boston, suspected a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet might favor

the development of diabetes and its major complication,

atherosclerosis.1 He prophetically wrote: " I believe the chief

cause of premature atherosclerosis in diabetes, save for

advancing age, is an excess of fat, an excess of fat in the body

(obesity), an excess of fat in the diet, and an excess of fat in

the blood. With an excess of fat diabetes begins and from an

excess of fat diabetics die, formerly of coma, recently of

atherosclerosis. " And now, after 75 years of repeating Joslin’s

message, diabetes is the fastest growing disease in Western

nations.

 

Three Major Studies This Past Year Tell of Cause and

Prevention

 

1) A February 2002 study, published in the Annals of

Internal Medicine, of 51,529 male health professionals, found men

whose diets are rich in red meat, high-fat dairy products, and

baked goods are 60% more likely to develop diabetes than are men

who eat a more prudent diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains

and lean meats.2 When low physical activity is combined with a

fatty diet the risk of developing diabetes is doubled. Obese

subjects have more than 11 times the risk of developing diabetes.

 

2) In May 2001 an article the New England Journal of

Medicine reported on 522 middle-aged overweight subjects who were

divided into 2 groups.3 One group was encouraged to eat more

plant foods, less fat and to exercise; the other continued their

old ways. The members of the healthier group lost an average of

nearly 10 pounds each and had less than half the chance of

developing diabetes.

 

3) A more recent study in February of 2002 in the

same journal reported on 3234 pre-diabetic individuals who had

gone on a healthy diet and exercise program and had reduced their

chances of getting diabetes over the following 2.8 years by 58%.4

 

Worldwide and nationwide the incidence of Type II

diabetes is skyrocketing. Treatment with medications, including

insulin and diabetic pills, does not cause the blood sugars to

return to normal or eliminate the common complications, such as

blindness, heart attacks and kidney failure. But all of this, and

more, can be done with a diet and exercise program, and at no

cost.

 

Diabetes: An Adaptive Response

 

The human body is a survivor. It does whatever is

necessary in order to live and function at its highest level even

when confronted by all kinds of adverse circumstances. The severe

malnutrition caused by the high-fat, low-fiber American diet

places serious burdens on the body and requires it to make

adaptions. The calories consumed in excess of our needs cause us

to gain weight. As the body gains excess fat it becomes resistant

to the actions of the hormone, insulin, in order to survive.5 One

of insulin’s jobs is to push fat into the fat cells – the fat is

being saved for the day when no food is available (A day long

time coming). Once obesity has developed, in an effort to stem

the rapid expansion of the body’s girth, the fat cells become

less responsive to insulin, in other words, " insulin resistance "

develops. This slows or stops the accumulation of fat – so the

person does not get as big as a house.

 

The next stage of adaption occurs when the body

becomes so resistant to insulin’s effects that it can no longer

keep the blood sugar at normal levels. The sugars rise to a level

above the kidney’s capacity to keep it in the body, and the sugar

spills over into the urine like water falling over a dam. At this

stage sugar is found on a urine test – a common way to diagnosis

diabetes. This loss of sugar (calories) is the body’s adaptive

response to excess calorie intake and storage (body fat). By

losing calories through loss of sugar into the urine, weight loss

occurs – all in an effort to correct the underlying diabetic

condition. Unfortunately, almost all doctors prescribe

medications that thwart the body’s efforts to make lifesaving

adjustments.

 

Medication Guarantees Diabetes Will Continue

 

Diabetic medications guarantee that all diabetics

will remain diabetic. Insulin and diabetic pills (sulfonylureas)

increase the amount of insulin in the diabetic’s body causing the

body to store more fat in the fat cells. Other medications

(rosiglitazone) reduce insulin resistance and cause weight gain.

Any of these medications may also lower the sugar levels below

the kidney’s threshold for dumping excess calories. Thus a

vicious cycle is created: The patient goes to the doctor, is

diagnosed with diabetes, placed on medication and told to lose

weight. The medication makes the person fatter and thus the

diabetes becomes worse. The patient returns to the doctor and is

given more medications because the sugars are higher, which makes

the patient fatter and the diabetes worse.

 

Curing Type II Diabetes

 

In my practice I see people whose future is

ever-worsening diabetes, obesity, loss of vision, kidney failure

and vascular insufficiency, leading to gangrene. They have seen

their doctors regularly, taken their medications faithfully and

still they get fatter and sicker. To break this downhill spiral I

ask them to do the following:

 

1) Stop or reduce their insulin or diabetic pills.

This reverses the weight gain immediately. (Insulin cannot be

stopped in Type I diabetes, but the dosage can often be reduced).

 

2) Change to a low-fat, high-fiber, plant-based diet.

 

3) Exercise.

 

4) Check other risk factors for serious disease, such

as cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure.

 

Then take diet and lifestyle steps to correct these

(for example, less fruits and juices with high triglycerides and

less salt with high blood pressure).

 

5) Take medications carefully to correct symptoms and

appropriate risk factors. (For example, with too much weight loss

insulin is sometimes necessary. Cholesterol, triglyceride, and

blood pressure lowering medications are sometimes indicated in

high-risk patients.)

 

It is no coincidence that the same diet that helps

prevent or cure diabetes also causes effortless weight loss,

lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, and cleans out the

arteries, and returns the body to excellent function. No matter

how much research appears saying the same thing over and over

again, the tide is unlikely to change because of the economic

incentives for continued illness and profitable treatments.

 

As enlightened individuals people can make a

difference in their own lives and the benefits are seen almost

overnight. Scientific research has shown over the past 75 years

that half to three-quarters of Type II diabetics can get off

insulin and almost all can get off their diabetic pills (See the

McDougall Program – 12 Days to Dynamic Health – Plume 1991).

Changing to oatmeal, bean burritos and a daily walk are the easy

ways compared to a short painful lifetime of injections,

complications, doctor’s visits and hospitalizations.

 

References:

 

1) Joslin EP. Atheroscleriosis and diabetes. Ann Clin

Med 1927;5:1061.

 

2) van Dam RM. Dietary Patterns and Risk for Type 2

Diabetes Mellitus in U.S. Men. Ann Intern Med. 2002 Feb

5;136(3):201-209.

 

3) Tuomilehto J. Prevention of type 2 diabetes

mellitus by changes in lifestyle among subjects with impaired

glucose tolerance. N Engl J Med. 2001 May 3;344(18):1343-50.

 

4) Knowler WC. Reduction in the incidence of type 2

diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. N Engl J Med.

2002 Feb 7;346(6):393-403.

 

5) Bessesen DH. The role of carbohydrates in insulin

resistance. J Nutr. 2001 Oct;131(10):2782S-2786S.

 

 

 

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2002 John McDougall