Diabetes 2, more commonly known as Type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, a condition where your pancreas is probably producing enough insulin but the cells of the body don’t accept the glucose or sugars the insulin is bringing to them because they are so used to seeing sugar show up, they say….that’s enough, I don’t want to see anymore sugar. In other words, Diabetes 2 patients are resistant to accepting the sugar into the cell. So, the sugar remains in your bloodstream and isn’t used for energy by the many cells in the body, in fact the sugar in your bloodstream will cause Type 2 Diabetes patient's health problems. What this really means is you are eating a diet consisting of too much sugar…..but wait….before you disagree with me…let’s define what I mean by sugar….it may surprise you. Any food that is not an animal product, fat, oil, nut or butter has sugar in it may contribute to Diabetes 2. That’s right, sugar…same as the sugar in a Snickers bar! It’s called glucose. What I’m really talking about are carbohydrates….all of which break down into glucose. Said another way, every carbohydrate a Type 2 Diabetes patient eats will be broken down into fiber, vitamins, minerals…maybe some fat…and certainly a form of sugar that breaks down into glucose. So, our definition of a carbohydrate is any food that is not an animal product, fat, oil, nut or butter. The key to controlling your blood sugar…and forgetting about Diabetes 2…is to reduce…I didn’t say eliminate, I said reduce the amount of carbohydrates in your diet. Yes, I’m talking about Dr. Atkin’s, The Zone Diet, The South Beach Diet, Suzanne Sommers, or a basic Mediterranean diet where the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease is much lower than in the US. You don’t necessarily need to be as drastic as Dr. Atkins or completely follow the advice of any of these books, just cut back on your carbs. You don’t need a diet plan, recipes or exact details about what foods you should eat. It’s really this simple, each Type 2 Diabetes patient should just cut back on the carbohydrates they’re eating and check their blood sugar with a glucose monitor a couple times each day. If you are a Diabetes 2 patient and you have weight to lose, you’ll need to cut back on carbohydrates more than someone who doesn’t need to lose weight and only as long as you are trying to lose the weight. If your blood sugar isn’t within normal ranges when you test it, you aren’t reducing your carbs enough or if you need to lose weight and you’re not….you’re still eating too many carbs. It’s that simple. Type 2 Diabetes This plan for Type 2 Diabetes patients differs greatly from the advice you may have heard from your doctor, a registered dietician or from the American Diabetes Association. The entire focus of the advice they give a person diagnosed with any type of diabetes centers around eating only 4-6 ounces of animal protein each day and minimal fat intake that includes using low fat or non fat dairy products. With so few calories coming from meat and fats, that leaves a patient with only one option. The remaining calories each day will come from….you guessed it….carbohydrates….and what do carbs do? They break down into sugar! Remember our definition: Anything that is not a protein, fat, oil, nut or butter is a carbohydrate and contains glucose, a type of sugar. Yes, the American Diabetes Association recommends you eat whole grains and complex starchier carbohydrates, which break down into sugar more slowly, but they still break down into sugar. The focus is on eliminating fats because there is a misplaced emphasis that fats cause heart disease….they don’t. There has never been a study done that has proven that a high fat, low carb diet caused heart disease. Only a high fat, high carb diet causes heart disease. All studies about fats linked to heart disease did not take into account the amount of carbohydrates eaten by the participants because scientists have never been able to wrap their brain around thinking that apples, whole wheat breads, potatoes or those cute little Bugs Bunny carrots could in any way be linked to heart disease. Well. If you eat too many they can….. So, if you follow the America Diabetes Association advice of low fat, you will eat more carbs, your blood sugar will remain out of whack and you will eventually need medication. Because a high carb diet contributes to heart disease by creating an inflammatory response within the body and arteries, you will get heart disease and then need medications for heart disease on top of your diabetes medications. And what is your downside risk to follow my advice? By monitoring your blood sugar and keeping track of your readings as you reduce the amount of carbs you are eating each day you can determine your own optimal level of carbohydrates based on those readings. If you’re readings are normal but you want to lose weight and you aren’t …cut your carbs even further. Your blood sugar cannot go out of control on a low carb diet. As part of a plan for a Type 2 Diabetes patient to reduce carbohydrates from their diet, do not use artificial sweeteners like aspartame, aka NutraSweet or those little blue packs called Equal, no Sucralose, aka Splenda, no saccharin and no Acesulfame K…where the K stands for potassium. All of these artificial sweeteners and especially aspartame have the unintended consequence of increasing your desire for carbohydrates. So, a Diabetes 2 patient might not be taking in sugar in their soft drink or not putting it in their coffee, but because it increases your desire for carbohydrates…which remember, break down into glucose, you will make up the difference throughout the day by eating more carbs. And that’s not to mention the neuro-toxicity of these products….that means they’re poison to your brain. Controlling Type 2 diabetes is within your power, so apply all the discipline I’m sure you have in other areas of your life to reduce the amount of carbohydrates you’re eating. For video explanations: Click here to view a video about Type 1 Diabetes and diet
Click here to view a video about Type 2 Diabetes and diet
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
2656 Fair Oaks Lane
Cincinnati, Ohio 45237
(513) 871-3300
