Featured image credit from Sterishoe

In the year 2000…

19.8% of US adults were obese; meaning they had a body mass index, BMI, of 30 kg/m2 or higher.
7.3% of US adults had diabetes
27% of US adults did not engage in any physical activity
28.2% of US adults were not regularly active
24.4% of US adults ate fruits and vegetables 5 or more times daily
42.8% of US adults diagnosed with obesity or diabetes were told they needed to lose weight by their doctor, 17.5% of them actually followed the recommendations

Compared to 2014…

34.9% of U.S. adults are obese
11% of US adults have diabetes
22% of US adults have some form of insulin resistance which could lead to diabetes
49.2% of US adults met the US Physical Activity Guidelines for aerobic physical activity
20.1% of US adults met the US Physical Activity Guidelines for both aerobic physical and muscle-strengthening activity

Obesity and Diabetes: A Modern Day Epidemic

As the American population gets heavier and heavier, diabetes is becoming more prevalent.

Obesity leads to diabetes!

First you put on a little weight and start developing hormonal imbalances…

Then you start getting heavier and developing insulin resistance…

Then you develop diabetes…

Here’s how it happens…

Diabetes is a disease where blood glucose regulation becomes imbalanced.

Blood glucose is sugar in the bloodstream that supplies energy to all the cells.

When you eat too many carbohydrates your blood sugar rises to an unhealthy level.

Your pancreas needs compensate by pumping out lots of insulin to transport the sugar into your cells.

Over time your cells become resistant to the effects insulin has on them; this known as insulin resistance.

Since less sugar can get into your cells your blood sugar levels get higher; there’s nowhere else for the sugar to go.

Not only that, you also wear out your pancreas, brain, heart, gut, and other organs over time.

This is how you become a type II diabetic.

A type I diabetic is someone who doesn’t produce enough insulin; more often than not, they’re born this way.

Because of this lack of insulin, their bodies are unable to transport an adequate amount of sugar to their cells.

Symptoms of diabetes:

excessive thirst
excessive hunger
chronic fatigue
blurry vision
sores or cuts that won’t heal
abnormal weight increase
abnormal weight loss
frequent or increased urination, especially at night

If you have any of these symptoms, it’s important that you go see a doctor right away.

Optimal blood sugar levels:

Morning fasting – Between 3.9 – 5.5 mmol/L or 70-99 mg/dl
After foods – Between 3.9 – 6.7 mmol/L or 70-120 mg/dl

High Blood Sugar Also Causes Bacterial and Yeast Infections

Candida is an yeast which eats up excess sugar when levels get too high in the blood stream.

This is healthy process when it happens every once in awhile; it’s how your body is designed to function.

But when you eat foods that drive your blood sugar too high with every meal, you’re feeding the candida an excessive amount of sugar and causing it to grow to an unhealthy level.

What was once a healthy yeast that helped lower your blood sugar, becomes a yeast that is dead set on taking over your body.

Have you ever had black mold form in a wet bathroom?

Have you ever had a garden and watched your plants grow?

Both of these situations require specific conditions for the organism to thrive, without these conditions, they cannot survive.

Your body is no different.

When you continually eat foods that feed pathogens, they grow in your body.

None of us want to hear this, but it’s the reality of the world we live in.

Don’t believe me?

Enter “candida” or “intestinal parasites” into google and look at the images.

WARNING: It’s not a pretty sight. Do not do this if you have a weak stomach.

If you’re a type II diabetic, then you’ve likely got candida or some other yeast or bacterial infection in your body

How?

You’ve spent your lifetime feeding yourself an excessive amount of food that causes these pathogens to grow.

Your unhealthy diet is their healthy diet.

Until you start eating healthier, you will not get rid of these creatures.

Symptoms of candida include:

cravings for sweets and alcohol
bloating w/ every meal
chronic fatigue
poor memory
brain fog
irritability
insomnia
depression
anxiety
and more

To get your body back into balance, you need to eat a healthy diet that starves the yeast of their food source like the ketogenic diet.

Start Where You Are…

If you’re at this point, don’t beat yourself up for eating poorly, it’s not going to help you get any healthier.

Instead, start making healthier choices TODAY.

You can’t go back and change your decisions, but you can choose to make your next meal a healthy one.

I’ll get into what you can do about type II diabetes later on this post, but first I need to tell you how it’s managed in mainstream medicine.

The Conventional Approach to Managing Diabetes Doesn’t Work

Doctors give patients oral medications and insulin pens and pumps to treat the symptoms of diabetes.

There are 2 types of oral medications:

Sulfonylureas (glyburide, gliclazide) causes the pancreas to release insulin.
Metformin prevents the liver from dumping glucose into the body.

Insulin can be delivered via injection pens or an insulin pump. These medications stimulate the insulin produced in our body.

There are 2 types of insulin:

Basal insulin is a slow acting long period insulin.
Bolus insulin is a fast acting short period insulin.

The problem is, these prescription medications DO NOT reverse your diabetes and make you healthier. They only reduce your symptoms while giving you a whole host of side effects.

Side effects from insulin use include:

weight gain
hormonal imbalances
hypoglycemia
hypersensitivity reactions
blurry vision
abnormalities in platelet function, clotting factors, and the fibrinolytic system
metabolic side effects
decreased renal plasma flow, and glomerular filtration rate
significantly increased urinary albumin excretion rate

Patients with Type 2 diabetes have excess sugar in their blood, which can cause a number of complications, including nerve and kidney damage.

A trifecta of trouble can set the stage for amputations: Numbness in the feet due to diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage) can make people less aware of injuries and foot ulcers. These ulcers may fail to heal, which can in turn lead to serious infections.

Sure, prescription medications can be effective for patients who really need them, but if you can manage your diabetes without the side effects, why wouldn’t you?

Reversing Diabetes with the Unconventional and the Most Effective Approach

The Low Carb Ketogenic Diet

The low carb ketogenic diet has reduced or completely reversed diabetes symptoms in thousands of people around the world.

It is low in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and high in fats. Eating this way causes the body to burn fats, called ketones, as an energy source instead of glucose/sugar.

Here are some of the benefits:

blood sugar control
reduce diabetes medication
rapid weight loss
decreased appetite
reduced inflammation
better memory and focus
cancer treatments
reduced symptoms for Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s patients
seizure management for epileptic patients
reversing multiple sclerosis symptoms like Dr. Terry Wahls

Read this blog post to learn how to start a ketogenic diet!

Herbalism: Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda

Before we get into the herbs, it’s important to note that herbalism works best when you are already eating a healthy diet.

Herbs are not a magic bullet that will reverse all your problems while you continue to live the same unhealthy lifestyle.

Here are some of the many herbs that will lower blood sugar without side effects:

Bitter gourd extract: Lowers blood sugar. It’s also used for gastrointestinal (GI) upset, ulcers, colitis, constipation, intestinal worms, kidney stones, and fevers.
Gymnema sylvestre: Lowers blood sugar. It’s also used for malaria and as a snake bite antidote, digestive stimulant, laxative, appetite suppressant, and diuretic.
Rehmannia glutinosa: Lowers blood sugar. It’s also used for anemia, fever, weakened bones (osteoporosis), allergies, and as a general tonic.
Schisandra chinensis: Normalizes blood sugar. It’s also used for treating liver disease (hepatitis) and protecting the liver from poisons.
Lycium chinensis/Goji berry: Lowers blood sugar. It’s also used for aiding in sleep and enhancing athletic performance.

Photo credit from Chinese Medicine Living

How to Manage Your Blood Sugar on a Ketogenic Diet

Measure your blood glucose before and 2 – 2.5 hours after your meals.
Aim for a low blood glucose rise after meals. No more than a 1.5 mmol/L or 27 mg/dl rise is preferable.
Ketone levels between 0.4 and 3 mmol/L are optimal if your blood glucose is lower than 7.9 mmol/L or 142 mg/dl.
If your blood glucose is above 8 mmol/L or 144 mg/dl and you see ketone levels above 1.5 mmol/L, it’s time to go to the doctors for possible Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA).

Most doctors do not encourage patients to do frequent blood glucose tests at home.

We recommend for people to test their blood sugar at home more often than the doctor, because you need to understand how your body responds to food.

Over time, you’ll begin to see which foods are causing your blood sugar to go too high, and you’ll be able to eliminate them from your diet.

If you have high blood glucose issues or diabetes, Ketogenic therapy could be your last chance to reverse this disease.

Don’t wait till is too late.

Here Are Some Additional Resources to Get You Started

How to Cure Type 2 Diabetes

Jay Wortman, MD, tells the story of how he got rid of his rampant type 2 diabetes, by eating a low carb diet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjUdtK6ukqY&

Reversing Type 2 Diabetes Starts with Ignoring the Guidelines | Sarah Hallberg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da1vvigy5tQ

Dietary Carbohydrate Restriction as the First Approach in Diabetes Management: Critical Review and Evidence Base

http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(14)00332-3/fulltext

Here’s a list of answers to frequently asked questions about the ketogenic diet

1 Comment

Peggy :) on January 7, 2017 at 1:12 am

Just curious if you’ve read the “Always Hungry?” book by Dr David Ludwig. He’s an obesity doctor who has studied the effects of insulin and food.

He says that eating the wrong foods (lots of high glycemic carbs and/or processed foods with added sugars) causes a rise in a person’s insulin levels. Which causes a person’s body to store excess fat.

He has a big thing about how most doctors/people focus on how obese people need to eat less, more low fat, and exercise more, but that your body will fight back against you, until you change your diet. (More fat, less carbs!)

He’s also said he is really interested in ketogenic diets and is closely following the studies being done on them. 🙂

It’s cool because it’s kind of backwards to how people are used to thinking of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. And he cites studies (more accurate types than are often cited, such as double-blind clinical trials) that back up his points.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested. 🙂