Many people who develop diabetes after age 40 can become non-diabetic by eating a diet based on vegetables, whole grains, beans and fish; severely restricting bakery products and sugar and meat, and eating fruits or root vegetables WITH other foods, not alone as snacks. Most late-onset diabetics have insulin; they lack the ability to respond adequately to insulin because they are overweight and they eat too much fat and refined carbohydrates. The first order is to substitute whole grains for bakery products because they fill you up and help you to eat less. Restricting major sources of fat reduces the total number of calories consumed to promote weight loss.

A major study from Europe shows that eating too much protein damages the kidneys in diabetics (1), so diabetics should restrict meat, chicken and eggs. Another study shows that diets rich in refined carbohydrates harm diabetics and that taking monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids in fish helps to reduce insulin requirements (2). High blood sugar levels after meals cause sugar to stick to cells and be converted to a poison called sorbitol that causes nerve, kidney, artery and heart damage. To keep blood sugar levels from rising too high, substitute whole grains for the refined carbohydrates found in bakery products, avoid table sugar and eat fruits only with meals.

HIGH-FAT AND HIGH REFINED CARBOHYDRATES KILL DIABETICS. All diabetics should markedly restrict fat and refined carbohydrates from their diets. Diabetes causes terrible tissue damage including blindness, deafness, loss of feeling, burning foot syndrome, kidney damage and heart attacks and strokes. When blood sugar levels rise too high, sugar attaches to cells and is converted to a poison called sorbitol that destroys tissue. Dietary fat causes high blood sugar levels by preventing sugar from entering muscles and other cells, thus keeping sugar in the bloodstream and driving it up to high levels (1,2,3).

Everyone knows that eating sugar causes an immediate rise in blood sugar, but many do not know that refined carbohydrates made from flour cause almost as high a rise in blood sugar as pure granulated table sugar. Eating the whole grain does not cause the same rise because it takes time to release the sugar from the capsules of whole grains. Fiber binds to other foods and delays their entry into the blood stream to keep blood sugar levels from rising too high. Fruit should be eaten with meals to delay blood sugar rises. So diabetics should restrict fat and replace refined carbohydrates with whole grains. It's fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans.

About the Author: Gabe Mirkin, MD

Sports medicine doctor, fitness guru and long-time radio host Gabe Mirkin, M.D., brings you news and tips for your healthful lifestyle. A practicing physician for more than 50 years and a radio talk show host for 25 years, Dr. Mirkin is a graduate of Harvard University and Baylor University College of Medicine. He is board-certified in four specialties: Sports Medicine, Allergy and Immunology, Pediatrics and Pediatric Immunology. The Dr. Mirkin Show, his call-in show on fitness and health, was syndicated in more than 120 cities.
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