Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

With the current epidemic of 40% of adults living in the US having diabetes or pre-diabetes, diabetes and insulin have become household words; almost as common and all-American as baseball and apple pie.

Obesity.  Diabetes.  Metabolic Syndrome.  Insulin resistance.  Blaah.  Blaah.  Blaah.  Yawn.

Ten percent of those with diabetes have type I or juvenile diabetes.  It’s an auto-immune disease where the body attacks and destroys its own islet cells that produce insulin.  Most often it appears in childhood and the child is totally dependent upon insulin 24/7 for the rest of his or her life.

The remaining ninety percent have type II or adult onset diabetes.  (Some call it insulin resistant diabetes.)  The pancreas makes insulin, but due to layers of excess fat surrounding the cells, they become insulin resistant, thus resulting in high blood sugar.

Diabetes, whether it is type I or type II, is a nasty disease that eventually produces life threatening complications such as heart disease, heart failure, blindness, kidney disease, circulatory problems and amputations; not to mention daily micromanagement of blood sugars, and astronomical costs of diabetic supplies, insulin, doctor and hospital bills, and high insurance premiums as a result of the disease.  On top of all that, with the best of care and self-management, one can still feel miserable when blood sugars fluctuate. 

The type I diabetics can utilize less insulin, stop hypoglycemic events and protect their future health with a nutritarian diet.  However, almost everyone with type II diabetes can get completely rid of it through embracing Dr. Fuhrman’s diet-style.  Dr. Fuhrman’s results in this arena are remarkable.  Imagine if the majority of type II diabetics took the challenge to get totally well.  That translates into almost 90% of those with diabetes; resulting in nearly 40% of the adult US population completely free from a life of diabetes and diabetes related complications!

Ask any kid who lives day-in-and-day-out with type I diabetes if he or she would consider committing to the nutritarian way of eating in exchange for the privilege of getting completely rid of diabetes for the rest of his/her life.  Hands down every child and teen would gladly embrace the opportunity.

As a nation, let’s all get healthy and eradicate type II diabetes from our vocabulary.  May diabetes no longer be an all-American, household word for generations to come!

Drugs for diabetes can perpetuate type II diabetes, and often cause more weight gain and worse disease outcomes.  Let’s get real and expose this nasty disease called diabetes.  Do you know someone suffering from it?  Without revealing the person’s identity, how has it affected his or her life?  If they knew for sure they could get rid of it, with excellent nutrition and daily exercise, would they?

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Our hunger drive craves volume. A key skill that you are developing for your health is the ability to eat large volumes of raw and cooked, high-nutrient, low-calorie foods every single day. This means eating lots of vegetables.

When you are actively trying to lose weight, you should strive to satisfy your volume requirements first, before addressing the other dimensions of hunger. This may feel strange at first because you may not immediately feel satisfied by the higher volume of food. This is because you are accustomed to eating large quantities of high-calorie foods that cause a dopamine rush, a rush that low-calorie foods don’t deliver. However, your body will adjust, be less dependent on the dopamine surge in the brain, and will gradually become more and more satisfied with fewer calories. Give yourself time, and use the knowledge you have gained. Striving to fulfill your body’s volume and nutrient requirements can help you resolve food cravings and your toxic hunger.

The trick to get you to desire fewer calories faster is to eat lots of these high-volume, high-nutrient foods. You are already familiar with these, but many of the foods that you have been incorporating into your diet because of their nutrient values are also great tools in meeting your volume requirements. They include:

• Raw Vegetables: lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, celery, anise, snow pea pods, carrots, beets, cucumbers, water chestnuts, red cabbage, onion

• Most Fresh Fruits: melons, oranges, grapefruits, apples, kiwis, berries, papaya

• Cooked Green Vegetables: Brussels sprouts, string beans, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, bok choy

• Other Non-Green Vegetables: mushrooms, eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, onions, bean sprouts, cauliflower, spaghetti squash

Especially on holidays and days when you know that you will be around a lot of unhealthy foods, pre-fill with these high-nutrient, low-calorie foods. Never go to a party or event with an empty stomach. Eat a large salad with assorted raw vegetables and a bowl of vegetable soup before going to the places that may tempt your desire to eat unhealthily. Being healthy is about being in control. You must control your hunger, and the more low-calorie, high-volume foods you consume, the less high-calorie food you will be able to eat. When you increase these super healthy foods in your diet, you will feel less temptation, and you will be in control of your food cravings and appetite.

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