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

Statins are a class of drugs used to treat elevated LDL cholesterol levels. Recently, researchers carried out a meta-analysis of 13 statin vs. placebo trials. Collectively, these researchers included over 90,000 subjects in their analysis, and came to the conclusion that taking statin drugs to lower cholesterol increases the likelihood of being diagnosed with diabetes by 9% over the following four years.¹

This is in fact the second meta-analysis performed in the past few months to come to this conclusion – an analysis published in October 2009 determined that statins increased diabetes risk by 13%. ²

Nine percent (or even 13%) may seem like a small risk, but let’s think about how many people take statin drugs. Today, cholesterol-lowering medications are the 2^nd most prescribed drug class in the U.S. (behind only pain relievers).³ Between 1988 and 2006 the use of statin drugs in U.S. adults over 45 increased 10-fold.⁴ 

Currently, over 30 million Americans take statin drugs, and this number may increase further. Statins may soon be recommended to older Americans who have normal LDL levels but elevated C-reactive protein.⁵ 

Each one of these millions of people will have a 9% increased risk of diabetes – when they could have used a high nutrient diet to lower their LDL and reduce their cardiovascular risk. A high nutrient diet rich in unrefined plant foods can reduce cholesterol to the same extent as statin drugs.⁶ Since reducing cholesterol with diet and exercise addresses the cause of the high cholesterol (the typical American diet), there will be no risk involved – in fact, it will also lead to weight loss, which will then reduce diabetes risk.

Statins are not benign substances – they are powerful drugs with side effects that include muscle pain and liver damage. Which would you choose to lower your LDL – statin drugs plus increased diabetes risk and potential liver and muscle damage, or dietary changes that reduce blood pressure, reverse and prevent diabetes and protect against dementia? My view is that drugs also have the psychological effects to inhibit the necessity of lifestyle and dietary changes that are the root cause of almost all our nation’s medical problems. Any way you look at it drugs kill millions of people and drug-centered health care is the problem, not the solution to our heath crisis and tremendous medical suffering.

References:

1. Sattar N et al. Statins and risk of incident diabetes: a collaborative meta-analysis of randomised statin trials. Lancet. 2010 Feb 16. [Epub ahead of print]

2. Rajpathak SN et al. Statin therapy and risk of developing type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis. Diabetes Care. 2009 Oct;32(10):1924-9.

3. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/drugs.htm

4. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/10newreleases/hus09.htm

5. Spatz ES et al.  From here to JUPITER: identifying new patients for statin therapy using data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2009 Jan;2(1):41-8. Epub 2009 Jan 13.

6. Jenkins DJ et al. Effect of a very-high-fiber vegetable, fruit, and nut diet on serum lipids and colonic function. Metabolism. 2001 Apr;50(4):494-503.

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 An article by Christina Pirello, an advocate of natural foods nutrition and professor of culinary arts at Drexel University, on Huffington Post states the uncomfortable truth about healthcare reform that the mainstream media consistently fails to report:

“Healthcare reform is irrelevant until Americans improve their lifestyles.”

The fact is, our healthcare costs are out of control because the diet and lifestyle that has become the societal norm in this country causes disease.  As Ms. Pirello mentioned in her article:

“We are willing to tolerate this revolutionized food because it's cheap. But it comes at a high price to our health. We spend less on food today than any other people at any other time in recorded history. And the less we spend on food, the more we spend on health care.”¹

 Here are some numbers:

- Overweight and obesity rates are at an all time high – 73% of Americans are either overweight (38.8%) or obese(34.2%).² In 1980, 15% of adults were obese – over the past 30 years,that number has more than doubled.³

- According to the CDC, U.S. obesity-related health costs totaled $117 billion in 2000, and if current trends continue, that figure is projected to reach $344 billion per year by 2018.^3,4

- Coronary heart disease costs are estimated at $177 billion for 2010, costs for stroke at $74 billion, costs for hypertension at $77 billion. ⁵

- Health insurance premiums have gone up 131% in the last 10 years.⁶

- Over 50% of insured Americans take prescription drugs for a chronic condition – the majority of these drugs are for blood pressure or cholesterol.⁷  

These costly diseases are caused by poor lifestyle choices, and they are also preventable by positive lifestyle choices.

The problem is not the fact that there are so many uninsured Americans – the problem is that there are so many unhealthy Americans. Do we need a better health care system? Of course. But not as desperately as we need better health. Better health through improved lifestyle choices is also fiscally responsible. Vegetables are cheaper than statin drugs. A gym membership is cheaper than bypass surgery.

Health care costs are the symptom, poor lifestyle choices are the cause. If we want to improve the situation, we need to address the cause. The only way to reduce these costs is to reduce the prevalence of these devastating (but preventable) diseases.

No matter how many confusing messages the American public gets about nutrition, there are some very simple truths. Fruits and vegetables are healthy, processed foods and fast food are not. If you follow a nutritarian diet, it will cost less to keep you healthy. 

Ms. Pirello suggests a healthcare system in which individuals are rewarded for having healthy habits – sounds like a great idea to me. She also mentions Whole Foods Market’s new Health Starts Here program, for which I provide nutritional guidance.

“They are about to implement a program that encourages their employees to get and stay healthy. Beginning with a simple blood test and survey, each employee who chooses to participate will receive a diet plan. Each benchmark they hit (lower cholesterol and blood pressure, healthier BMI, etc., will result in a greater discount on their groceries purchased at Whole Foods Market. Imagine a health care plan that does the same thing.”¹

No matter what the outcome of healthcare reform in Washington D.C., if enough of us develop and practice healthy habits, it will be to the benefit of our healthcare system.

References:

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-pirello/healthcare-reform-is-irre_b_440589.html

2. Ogden CL et al. Prevalence of High Body Mass Index in US Children and Adolescents, 2007-2008. JAMA. 2010;303(3)

Flegal KM et al. Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999-2008. JAMA. 2010;303(3)

3. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/overweight/overweight_adult.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/AAG/pdf/obesity.pdf

4. http://www.americashealthrankings.org/2009/obesity/ECO.aspx#2018

5. http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192667

6. http://money.blogs.time.com/2009/09/30/a-dozen-disturbing-health-care-statistics/

7. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/14/health/main4094632.shtml?source=related_story

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Individuals with Type II diabetes are 2-4 times more likely to die of heart disease, and also 2-4 times more likely to have a stroke. Heart disease and stroke together account for 84% of diabetes-related deaths.¹

Type II, or insulin-resistant, diabetes may be treated with a number of different drugs. The class of drugs called sulfonylureas work by stimulating the pancreas to produce more insulin. Sulfonylureas are used either alone or in conjunction with other diabetic medications.

In the past few years, several studies have found that certain diabetes drugs may carry increased cardiovascular risks compared to others. A recent study of over 90,000 type 2 diabetics compared the cardiovascular effects in individuals treated with either metformin or sulfonylureas. These researchers found an increased likelihood of death from any cause in the patients treated with sulfonylureas (24-61% increased risk depending on the specific drug), and also an increased risk of congestive heart failure (18-30%).²

These new results strengthen the similar findings a 2006 study and an earlier 2009 study³ comparing mortality risk between patients treated with metformin and sulfonylureas, confirming sulfonylureas should be avoided if possible..

The reason why doctors have to rely on all these dangerous medications is because they do not address the problem straight on.  Diabetes primarily a disease of dietary ignorance and lack of physical fitness.

Simply controlling blood glucose with medications does not remove the causes of type 2 diabetes – physical inactivity and excess weight from a calorie-rich, nutrient-poor diet. Excess body fat blocks insulin function and forces the pancreas to overproduce insulin. Over time, the overworked pancreas “poops out.”  Giving drugs to force the already overworked pancreas to work even harder only makes the insulin-producing cells die off faster.  If you are still eating the same disease-causing diet you will likely gain even more weight, obtain other cardiovascular risk factors, and possibly become insulin dependent. 

The best way for Type II diabetics to protect themselves from cardiovascular complications is to become non-diabetic – to slowly reduce their dependence on diabetes drugs. Exercise and nutritional excellence (which will inevitably result in weight loss) can achieve this goal in 90% of patients.

Diabetes is caused by poor diet and sedentary lifestyle, and it can be reversed with nutritional excellence and exercise. If you have Type II diabetes or know someone who does, don’t just treat your diabetes or control your diabetes, join the hundreds who have recovered and gotten rid of it! 

References:

1. http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics/

2. Tzoulaki I et al. Risk of cardiovascular disease and all cause mortality among patients with type 2 diabetes prescribed oral antidiabetes drugs: retrospective cohort study using UK general practice research database. BMJ. 2009 Dec 3;339:b4731. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b4731.

3. Pantalone KM et al. The risk of developing coronary artery disease or congestive heart failure, and overall mortality, in type 2 diabetic patients receiving rosiglitazone, pioglitazone, metformin, or sulfonylureas: a retrospective analysis. Acta Diabetol. 2009 Jun;46(2):145-54. Epub 2009 Feb 5.

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Diabetics who take insulin-type drugs appear to be more prone to increased rates of cancer diagnosis, according to several prominent researchers who spoke at a press conference at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. The concerns were first raised by German researchers in a data base analysis submitted in 2008, which linked an insulin-based medication to increased cancer risk. The researchers generally agreed that insulins may promote cancer through their actions as growth factors.

The message here is that when you follow my nutritarian diet-style and protocols for diabetes, a Type 2 diabetic would not need an insulin-based medication. In fact, over 60% of diabetics who follow my protocol no longer need any medication at all. A Type 1 diabetic following my nutritarian diet-style would only have half the insulin requirements, without the highs and lows, which would signifacantly extend their lifespan and reduce complications.

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My kids always look forward to Halloween, even though they don’t eat the candy (at least in front of me). They look forward to dressing up in costumes, being out with their friends, and staying up late on a school night.

I, on the other hand, I do not look forward to Halloween. I don’t like the focus on fear of ugly-looking creatures and giving of toxic items to children. (I don’t call the candy “treats” because they certainly aren’t nourishing.) The sad fact is that even normally well-behaved children can start acting crazy after consuming all the highly-sugared, chemicalized junk they get. And the disrupting behavior can last for as long as a month afterward.

So, I'm not a person who believes in letting eating choices turn my home into a war zone. Read my recent "War Zone" post on DiseaseProof. I believe in providing an education in healthful eating—and setting a good example! I keep unhealthful foods out of the house, and trust my kids to use their best judgment. Thankfully, we have figured out how to make Halloween a happy time for all of us, without joining in the candy craze. Here are some tips that have worked for us.

1. Hand out inexpensive toys or gifts instead of candy. By setting this good example, perhaps a neighbor will pick up on the idea. Even if nobody follows your lead, you will feel good about your decision. Toys are perhaps a little more expensive than candy, but not much, and they definitely send a great message to both the kids and the parents.
   
   My children help choose what they think is cool. In recent years, we have been giving out glow-in-the-dark necklaces and bracelets*. The best thing about these toys is that they make kids safer in the dark because cars can see them when they are walking in the road. Kids say, “Wow!” or “Cool!” when they see the glowing gifts, so I know they love them. Plus, my kids are proud to hand them out. Now that my kids are older, they always remind me when it’s time to place my order (which is right around now). Other toys that we have purchased include small cans of Silly String, glow-in-the-dark animals, and glow-in-the-dark balls.
    
2. Make your family's favorite dinner on Halloween night, including their favorite desserts. There are great healthy fall menu ideas in the Member Center recipe guide. With full stomachs, your kids will be less tempted to eat the junk they receive. You also can try the Halloween treat recipes in the September 2006 Healthy Times Newsletter, or have some delicious Pop'ems on hand from DrFuhrman.com.
    
3. When the children come home, set a limit on how many candies they are allowed to eat. I suggest you allow them two pieces of candy, which they can pick out—and then discard or give away the rest. We let our children pick one or two candies to eat. Most of the time they only take a bite or two before tossing the rest out. Our youngest, Sean, has no desire to even taste the stuff, because as he explains, "I don't eat junk food." Luckily for us, he is too finicky to try anything new. He rejects anything he is not accustomed to.
    
4. Some people find it easiest to throw out all the candy after the children go to sleep. Little ones probably won't even remember it once it's gone, and getting rid of it eliminates temptation for the adults in the house.
    
5. Life is full of compromises— and this day will pass! I believe that with a little advance planning you can ensure that your children will have a good time and not be tempted to hide or sneak candy. Plus, you will be happier knowing that they will be eating a lot less candy this year than they did last year.

That's a good start!

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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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As the number of people with type-two (adult onset) diabetes continues to soar, it is openly recognized that the growing waistline of the modern world is the main cause of this epidemic; however, most physicians, dieticians, and even the American Diabetes Association have virtually given up on weight reduction as the primary treatment for diabetics. Consider this statement from a medical advisory committee: “It is nearly impossible to take very obese people and get them to lose significant weight. So rather than specifying an amount of weight loss, we are targeting getting metabolic control.” This is doublespeak for—our recommended diets don’t work, so we just give medications and watch patients gradually deteriorate as the diabetes advances. Today, medications are the mainstay of treatment and, unfortunately, most of these medications cause weight gain, worsening the syndrome and making the individual more diabetic. Additionally, the narrow focus on blood-sugar reduction and reliance on medications gives patients a false sense of security because they mistakenly think their somewhat better controlled glucose levels are an indication of restored or improved health. They continue to gain weight following the same dietary habits that originally caused the problem.

It is well accepted that if it were possible for people to stick with weight reduction and high nutrient eating, that route would be the most successful. Patients with diabetes who successfully lose weight from undergoing gastric bypass surgery typically see their diabetes melt away.1 Dietary programs that have been successful at effecting weight loss have been dramatically effective for diabetics too, enabling patients to discontinue medications.2 Preventing and reversing diabetes is not all about weight loss. The nutritional features of Eat for Health have profound effects on improving pancreatic function and lowering insulin resistance over and above what could be accomplished with weight loss alone. The increased fiber, micronutrients, and stool bulk, plus the cholesterol-lowering and anti-inflammatory effects of this eating-style, have dramatic effects on type-II diabetes. Scores of my patients have been able to restore their glucose levels to the normal range without any further need for medications. They have become non-diabetic. Even my thin, type-I, insulin-dependent diabetic patients are typically able to reduce their insulin requirements by almost half and have better glucose control using this high-nutrient eating-style.

Diets high in fiber and vegetables have been consistently shown to be beneficial for diabetic patients and offer considerably better results when compared to the current recommendations of the American Diabetic Association Diet.3 The dietary advice typically offered to diabetics is not science-based, and it caters to Americans’ social and food preferences and food addictions. In contrast, the qualities of an eating-style that maximizes benefits for weight reduction, cardio protection, and diabetes reversal are described in Eat for Health.

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Not getting enough vitamin D can be harmful, just last week a report found lack of vitamin D heightens risk of metabolic syndrome and now researchers have found not getting enough vitamin D raises cholesterol.

[Researchers] obtained macrophage cells from diabetics and non-diabetics, with and without vitamin D deficiency. When the cells were exposed cells to cholesterol and low vitamin D levels, they found that low vitamin D levels in the culture dish resulted in fewer macrophages becoming foam cells.

On the other hand, when the human macrophages were placed in a vitamin D-rich environment, the uptake of cholesterol was suppressed, and they don't become foam cells, said Bernal-Mizrachi.

The researchers noted that it may be possible to delay or reverse the development of atherosclerosis in diabetics by helping them regain adequate vitamin D levels.

Recently, in a post of about children and their need for vitamin D, Dr. Fuhrman explains it get be difficult to get sufficient vitamin D from food, unless you are spending a lot time outdoors, and even then its tough.

A sufficient amount of vitamin D is difficult to obtain from dietary sources. It is possible to obtain vitamin D from direct sun exposure—without sunscreen (sunscreens block UV-B rays they in turn prevent the body from converting vitamin D). However, since the generous amount of sunshine necessary to assure sufficient vitamin D exposure is potentially harmful and because children often spend too much time indoors watching television, playing video games, or on the computer, it is advisable for all children to assure vitamin D levels with supplements, not sunshine.

To help you get your vitamin D, Dr. Fuhrman recommends his supplement Osteo-Sun, for both children and adults.

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Are you tired? You might get diabetes! A new report Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism claims poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and insufficient sleep heightens risk of diabetes:

Dr. Plamen Penev, of the University of Chicago, Illinois, and a senior author of the study and colleagues subjected 11 healthy but sedentary middle-aged men and women to two 14-day periods of sedentary living with free access to food and either 5.5 hours or 8.5 hours of sleep each night.

As nightly sleep times changed from 8.5 to 5.5 hours, the participants went to bed later and got out of bed earlier and, as a result, average sleep duration was reduced by about two hours a day.

When the adults had their bedtimes decreased from a healthy 8.5 hours to 5.5 hours they showed changes in their response to two common sugar tests, which were similar to those seen in people with an increased risk of developing diabetes.

Go to bed already! Previous studies have linked lack of sleep to weight-gain, getting the common cold and obesity. Now, do you really need to know why sleep is a good idea? Here Dr. Fuhrman explains the importance of getting shuteye:

During sleep, your body removes the buildup of waste in the brain. Sufficient sleep is necessary for the normal function of your nervous and endocrine systems. Most civilizations in human history recognized the value of mid-afternoon naps. The desire for a rest, short sleep, or “siesta” after lunch should not be seen as an abnormal need, but rather a normal one. People who “cover up” their lack of sleep by using drugs (such as caffeine) as food and/or food (such as highly processed, sugary foods) as drugs sometimes claim (even boast) that they can get by with very little sleep. As you begin to live more healthfully, you may quickly recognize that you need more sleep than you previously thought.

Via Reuters.

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I’m Italian, so I’m required to like garlic, but that garlic powder I grew up on can’t hold a candle to fresh garlic. A new study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry claims that raw, crushed garlic has more heart-protective effects than the dried stuff.

In the study, Dipak K. Das and colleagues point out that raw, crushed garlic generates hydrogen sulfide through a chemical reaction. Although best known as the stuff that gives rotten eggs their distinctive odor, hydrogen sulfide also acts as a chemical messenger in the body, relaxing blood vessels and allowing more blood to pass through. Processed and cooked garlic, however, loses its ability to generate hydrogen sulfide.

The scientists gave freshly crushed garlic and processed garlic to two groups of lab rats, and then studied how well the animals' hearts recovered from simulated heart attacks. "Both crushed and processed garlic reduced damage from lack of oxygen, but the fresh garlic group had a significantly greater effect on restoring good blood flow in the aorta and increased pressure in the left ventricle of the heart," Das said.

Garlic is one of the foods Dr. Fuhrman recommends diabetics eat plenty of, along side green vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms and onions. Sometimes I bake garlic cloves in the oven and spread it on wholegrain bread.

Via EurekAlert!

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