| DRUGS FOR DIABETES AND THE NUTRIENTS THEY DEPLETE
If you have a diagnosis of diabetes or insulin resistance, also known as "prediabetes," borderline diabetes, metabolic syndrome, or Syndrome X, you should not head right for the pharmacy. It's been proven over and over that you can reverse this condition yourself, with the right diet, plus exercise. Speak to your doctor, and enroll him or her as your partner here.
Specific supplements, which you'll find in the last pages of this chapter, can help your body deal with insulin resistance. |
| Those basics apply to people with diabetes or prediabetes as well. The rule of thumb: the more weight you want to lose and the more you are concerned about your health, the more you should cut refined carbs and sugars, and the more care you should take to eat low-glycemic foods. This is the step that makes the most difference for the most people, in my experience.
I put Gloria on a nearly zero-carbohydrate, no-grain "caveman" diet called the "Paleolithic" or "Paleo" diet. This diet was developed by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Today, these conditions are called prediabetes, meaning your insulin activity has already started to fall short of the amount your body needs. And if something isn't done, there's a good chance you'll go on to develop full-blown diabetes.
What are the odds? Fasting blood sugar between 100 and 110 mg/dL means you have a 20% chance of developing diabetes within five to 10 years. If it's higher than 110, you have a 40% chance of getting diabetes. If both the fasting blood sugar and two-hour glucose tolerance tests are elevated, the odds increase even more. |
Elaine Magee
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 Saturated fat raises LDL
Eat Your Way to Better Diabetes Control
While it's vital that anyone with diabetes or prediabetes work with a doctor to develop a proper, personalized diet and weight loss plan, the following general tips can help.
1. Make fiber a part of almost every meal.
2. Count carbohydrates so you know how much your body can tolerate at different times of the day, taking into account your medication and exercise schedule.
3. Emphasize heart-protective fats.
4. Cut back on saturated fat and cholesterol.
5. Remember that calories do count.
6. Eat more fruits and vegetables. |
Steven V. Joyal
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 Their daughters condition also prompted Tracy and Rich to have their own health evaluated, and they found that they, too, had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and prediabetes. Despite some reluctance on Madison's part, Tracy and Rich were able to help their daughter, and themselves, lose weight and bring down their blood pressure and cholesterol levels over a period of eight months.
"We're still not at our goal weight," said Tracy, "but Madison is actually doing better than we are. We're helping each other. |
| And although people with prediabetes typically don't experience strong symptoms, at least during the early years of progression—when interventions can have the most powerful impact on reversing the course of the disease—there are risk factors you should consider. They include the following:
?being overweight or obese
?having a sedentary lifestyle (little or no regular exercise)
?having a family history of diabetes, especially parents and/ or siblings
? |
| He goes on to emphasize that even in people at risk for or who have prediabetes, "psychological factors may work to lower insulin secretion and raise blood sugar." It just so happens that the hormones psychologists call stress hormones are the same ones that can significantly impact blood glucose levels, and that these hormones (e.g., Cortisol, epinephrine [also known as adrenaline], norepinephrine, and growth hormone) can have a serious negative impact on glucose metabolism unless they are controlled. |
| Two of the experts who originally discovered the benefits of DPP-4 note that because drugs like sitagliptin stimulate beta-cell function, they will likely work best in people who have prediabetes, because these people still have enough beta cells that can be "urged" to prevent progression of the disease. Once people are diagnosed with diabetes, only about 50 percent of normal beta-cell function remains.
Studies of sitagliptin show that it can reduce Hb A levels by nearly 3 percent in patients who start with high Hb A]c levels, which is significantly better than other available drugs. |
Mark Sircus
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 These findings, which require confirmation in prospective studies, suggest that cadmium may cause prediabetes and diabetes in humans. Urinary Cadmium, Impaired Fasting Glucose, and Diabetes in the NHANES III Gary G. Schwartz, PHD et.al; Diabetes Care 26:468-470, 2003 (http://care. diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/26/2/468)
19 Metals such as iron, mercury, arsenic, lead and possibly aluminum may play a role in the actual destruction of beta cells through stimulating an auto-immune reaction to them after they have bonded to these cells in the pancreas. |
Peter J. Whitehouse and Daniel George
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 Epidemiological studies suggested that people with Alzheimer's had co-occurring diabetes more than those who did not, while other studies showed that people with high blood pressure and prediabetes tended to score poorly on cognitive tests. Further, small pilot randomized controlled studies reported that drugs used to treat diabetes led to some improvements in patients. As is quite common in these small clinical studies, the results were overinterpreted. |
Hyla Cass
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 The New Glucose Revolution for Diabetes: The Definitive Guide to Managing Diabetes and prediabetes Using the Glycemic Index. New York, NY: Marlowe & Company, 2007.
DVDs
Raw for 30 Days by Mark Perlmutter. A moving documentary film about six advanced diabetics on a vegan, organic, raw food diet for a month, supervised by medical staff at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, AZ, with excellent results. Release date: Spring 2008. A compendium DVD is also being produced about the program to reverse diabetes; for more information, see www.Rawfor30Days.com. |
| DRUGS FOR DIABETES AND THE NUTRIENTS THEY DEPLETE
If you have a diagnosis of diabetes or insulin resistance, also known as "prediabetes," borderline diabetes, metabolic syndrome, or Syndrome X, you should not head right for the pharmacy. It's been proven over and over that you can reverse this condition yourself, with the right diet, plus exercise. Speak to your doctor, and enroll him or her as your partner here.
Specific supplements, which you'll find in the last pages of this chapter, can help your body deal with insulin resistance. |
| Those basics apply to people with diabetes or prediabetes as well. The rule of thumb: the more weight you want to lose and the more you are concerned about your health, the more you should cut refined carbs and sugars, and the more care you should take to eat low-glycemic foods. This is the step that makes the most difference for the most people, in my experience.
I put Gloria on a nearly zero-carbohydrate, no-grain "caveman" diet called the "Paleolithic" or "Paleo" diet. This diet was developed by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. |
Melody Petersen
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 The drug marketers have learned to expand their markets by getting doctors to prescribe pills for things like "prediabetes," "subclinical thyroid disease," and "prehypertension." While such diagnoses don't meet the threshold of disease, the marketers urge doctors to prescribe pills to these patients anyway, claiming it will ward off real illness or somehow help the patient by providing "early treatment." Many doctors have followed the marketers' pleas, perhaps because each new diagnosis provides them with a stream of revenue from continuing office visits. |
Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey
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 The American Diabetes Association (ADA) diagnostic criteria for diabetes mellitus [63] are summarized in Table 2 and those for prediabetes in Table 3. Criteria for the metabolic syndrome are given in Table 4.
The diagnosis of diabetes is made in (1) a person who shows symptoms of diabetes (polyuria, polydipsia, unexplained weight loss) and has a plasma glucose concentration, taken at
TABLE 2 Criteria for the Diagnosis of Diabetes [57]
1. Symptoms of diabetes and a casual plasma glucose > 200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/L). Casual is defined as any time of day without regard to time since last meal. |
Jack Challem
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 This doctor understood that alcoholism was a form of glucose intolerance—that is, a type of prediabetes. He knew that high-sugar diets and cravings for sugary foods often set the stage for alcohol abuse.The doctor recommended a protein-rich diet, containing a lot of chicken and fish, along with high-fiber vegetables to stabilize Janet's blood sugar. He also gave her injections of B vitamins (to speed up their benefits) and vitamin and mineral supplements to be taken with food. |
Elaine Magee
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| Some new research from the University of Western Ontario tested a Mediterranean diet and exercise program on 38 people with high-normal blood pressure or prediabetes (impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance). They noticed a big improvement in the elasticity of subjects' carotid arteries—an increase of about 16 percent (the thicker and less elastic the arteries, the greater the load on the heart). Improving the health of blood vessels might not sound like it would have a big payoff, but boy, does it. |
Neal D. Barnard and Bryanna Clark Grogan
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 If your values are above the normal limit but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes, your doctor will diagnose prediabetes (impaired glucose tolerance), which often precedes an eventual diabetes diagnosis.
*US medical laboratories measure glucose in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl). In most other countries, glucose is measured in millimoles per liter (mmol/l). As you will see, the same units are used in cholesterol measurements.
Diabetes Types
A diagnosis of diabetes—or prediabetes—means the insulin in your body is not doing its job adequately. |
Brenda Davis and Tom Barnard
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 Prediabetes is now recognized as a medical condition of higher than normal blood sugar affecting more than sixteen million Americans. Without treatment, people with prediabetes are headed down a rocky road to full-blown type 2 diabetes.
For many people, the first step to diabetes is insulin resistance, in some cases even before diabetes can be diagnosed. Insulin resistance can also be part of a syndrome leading to prediabetes and full-blown type 2. |
Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
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 People with prediabetes may also find it helpful to limit carbohydrates, especially highly refined foods like bread, pasta, crackers, and cookies. |
Jack Challem
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 However, if you are trying to lose weight or if you have serious glucose tolerance problems (such as prediabetes or diabetes), it is best for you to avoid any sugary dessert, snack, or beverage.
Guideline 9: Eat Organically Produced Foods Whenever Possible
Foods grown with organic (or sustainable) agricultural methods avoid the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Such techniques enhance rather than reduce soil quality, which is good for both you and the environment. |
Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
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| Some diabetes experts believe that prediabetes should be diagnosed when fasting blood sugar runs at or above 100 mg/dl.205
People at risk for diabetes may also be overweight and have high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol. When these conditions occur together, they are labeled metabolic syndrome. Anyone who has three of these problems should get motivated to make major changes before full-blown diabetes develops. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 If you get a number between 100 and 199 mg/dL, it suggests prediabetes. A blood sugar level of 200 mg/dL and above is an indicator of diabetes.
Charts are often published containing different figures. Those might be the ones used by diagnosed diabetics and are target goals. As such, they will be somewhat higher. (See Quick Reference Guide—Goals for Blood Glucose Control, on page 363.)
There is another test that is used normally as a diabetes management tool rather than a screening test. This is the hemoglobin Ale lab test. |
Steven V. Joyal
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| AGEs (advanced glycation end products), and ALEs (advanced lipoxidation end products), known collectively as glycotoxins, which can cause irreversible damage in people with diabetes. Glycation is a core factor in diabetic complications.
Diabetes Is a Form of Accelerated Aging
The fact that diabetes is a form of accelerated aging is a surprise to most people. Yet over decades of research, scientists have been uncovering the root causes of premature aging. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 L) Normal
101 -- 199 suggests prediabetes
200 + suggests either type 1 or type 2 diabetes
Understand, that the significance of these numbers not only lies in validation of the Glucotor formula, it lies in the power it gives you to regain control of your blood sugar level or prevent it from becoming a problem in the first place -- or for that matter, just slowing down the aging process.
Blood Sugar, Carbs, and Natural Energy Production
In a perfect world, all food choices would be healthy, convenient, nature-based ways of fueling your body. |
Michael T. Murray
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 Most important, to the 17 million Americans with diabetes and the 16 million with various stages of prediabetes (insulin resistance or glucose intolerance), we will present a cutting-edge system to manage the various manifestations of diabetes and to avoid its potential catastrophic complications. We have also outlined emerging evidence demonstrating that diabetes can almost always be significantly improved and in many cases it can be reversed altogether—a revolutionary concept indeed for the majority of diabetics who still believe that the diagnosis of diabetes is a life sentence. |
| Type 2 diabetics or those with prediabetes or insulin resistance must be willing to look at a variety of factors that play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of their future. Research has shown that individuals with chronic illnesses who maintain an optimistic view of their life and circumstances tend to have better outcomes. Outcomes in chronic illness are also improved when individuals gain control over their illness by setting realistic goals for change. |
James F. Balch, M.D. and Mark Stengler, N.D.
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 Other terms that are sometimes used by doctors to describe syndrome X include metabolic syndrome, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and prediabetes.
The letter "X" in syndrome X, was so named because researchers in the past did not fully understand this syndrome, and X represents the unknown. Today syndrome X is a recognized condition and is well understood as a metabolic disorder. People who have untreated syndrome X are more prone to inflammatory disorders, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. |
Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
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| We would never recommend this dietary approach for someone with blood sugar problems (diabetes or prediabetes). And it obviously is not for someone who is trying to lose weight. But such high-carbohydrate foods can boost serotonin levels in the brain and make it easier for you to relax and fall asleep when you consume them 15 to 30 minutes before bedtime.
Magnesium
A simple mineral may be just the ticket for a good night's sleep. Magnesium is essential for good health, but often it is in short supply in the American diet. One reason many people are deficient is because of their medicine. |
Jack Challem
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| Diets high in sugars and refined carbohydrates, bouts of hypoglycemia, prediabetes and diabetes, low thyroid activity, obesity, psychological stress, inadequate sleep, and depression can be interconnected with fatigue. In some cases excess copper levels can depress zinc and result in fatigue.
What You Can Do
Physicians often use energy-promoting nutrients, such as alpha-lipoic acid, B vitamins, carnitine, and coenzyme Q10, to treat mitochondrial myopathies. |
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