When I share my advice with someone who has type 2 diabetes, it is often a shock for this person. The advice is pretty different in comparasation with the regular nutritional advice. So I thought let give some more attention to the true cause behind type 2 diabetes.
Sugar is widely believed to be the leading cause of diabetes, leading to recommendations to follow a low-carbohydrate diet and avoid sugar at all costs, including fruits. Sugar and unhealthy carbohydrates from things like pastries, cakes, cookies, donuts and sweets are indeed bad for us and should be avoided. However, our bodies need healthy carbohydrates to function, which can be found in foods such as pumpkin, sweet potatoes, carrots, lentils, black beans, berries, apples and other fruits.
When we eat carbohydrates (regardless of source), our bodies break them down into glucose (blood sugar), which becomes the fuel that keeps us going — and keeping us alive. When the glucose level rises, our pancreas secretes the hormone insulin. Insulin directs glucose from the bloodstream into our cells, where it can be used for energy, and keeps our blood sugar levels stable. However, this process can go awry if the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin, or if some of your cells stop responding to insulin, which is called insulin resistance. In either case, blood sugar remains high, putting you at risk for type 2 diabetes.
The role of fat
Contrary to popular belief, one factor that is much more likely to cause insulin resistance and diabetes than healthy carbohydrates mentioned above is a high-fat diet. There are several reasons for this. First, high levels of fat in the blood put a strain on your liver, pancreas, and adrenal glands, which work together to regulate your blood sugar. Your liver has to carry the burden of processing the fat you eat, so a high-fat diet can make the liver sluggish and unable to store and release glucose as it should. Excess fat puts a strain on your pancreas because the pancreas has to release a lot more fat-digesting enzymes for fat digestion to run smoothly.
In addition, when blood fat levels are high, the adrenal glands flood the body with adrenaline. While this increases digestive power to help move fat through your system, excess adrenaline can increase pressure in the pancreas, reducing its ability to produce enough insulin to control your glucose levels. Finally, high levels of fat in the blood can prevent glucose from entering cells. This is not to say that all fats, even healthy fats like nuts, seeds, and avocados, are bad for us and should be eliminated completely.
Regardless of your chosen diet, fat intake should only be moderated to avoid excessive blood fat levels when dealing with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. For example, if you are vegan, reduce the amount of fat you get from nuts, nut butters, seeds, oils, avocados, etc. If you are vegetarian, limit the eggs, dairy, nuts, seeds, oils, avocado, etc. If If your diet contains animal protein, limit it to one serving of meat per day (even lean meats contain significant amounts of fat).
Reducing fat in this way helps lighten the load on the pancreas, liver, and adrenal glands, which is the first step in preventing and/or curing diabetes. If you choose to follow a high-fat diet (which can normalize your HbA1c levels in the short term), it becomes especially important to limit your carbohydrate intake, as a diet high in carbohydrates and high in fat puts too much strain on your body systems. Ultimately, reducing dietary fat and incorporating healthy carbohydrates as mentioned above will give you the best chance of healing from diabetes and help get your A1C levels within a healthy range on a more permanent basis.
The role of adrenaline
A precursor to type 2 diabetes is hypoglycemia (when glucose levels fall below normal), which is due to a stagnant, sluggish, overworked or weakened liver and dysfunctional adrenal glands. In fact, both type 2 diabetes and hypoglycemia usually start with malfunctioning adrenal glands. For example, when you experience chronic stress, your adrenal glands secrete large amounts of adrenaline, which is very harmful to the pancreas. Hypoglycemia can also occur if you do not eat at least one light, balanced snack every two hours, for example fruit (for sugar and potassium) and vegetables (for sodium).
Skipping meals forces your body to use up the glucose stores in your liver, once consumed the body will experience an energy shortage, causing the body runs on adrenaline, which can damage your pancreas and lead to insulin resistance. Too little adrenaline can also affect your pancreas as it forces it to work overtime to compensate. Adrenal exhaustion, in which unstable adrenal glands alternate between producing too much and too little adrenaline, can also harm your pancreas as it tries to compensate for deficiencies in adrenaline and is then flooded with adrenaline. (click here for more information on adrenal fatigue)
Healing Foods
In addition to cutting fat intake, it is important to include healthy carbohydrates in your diet. Healing carbohydrates such as pumpkin, sweet potatoes, other root vegetables and fruits contain essential nutrients for optimal health and when the natural sugars in these healthy carbohydrates are bonded to these nutrients, it does not cause any damage to your blood sugar levels as processed sugar does.
Wild blueberries, papayas, blackberries, apples and raspberries are top fruits to eat if you have type 2 diabetes or hypoglycemia. Vegetables to focus on include spinach, celery, Brussels sprouts, kale, and asparagus. These foods help detoxify the liver, boost glucose levels, support the pancreas, stimulate the adrenal glands and stabilize insulin. To control your blood fat, it is best to avoid cheese, milk, cream, butter, eggs, processed oils and all sugars except raw honey and fruit.
While these recommendations conflict with conventional strategies for preventing and managing type 2 diabetes, emphasizing nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables and reducing dietary fat relieves the burden on your liver, pancreas, and adrenal glands, allowing them to perform their functions, including keeping your blood sugar as stable as possible. Befriend healthy carbohydrates and fruits, limit your fat intake and regain the healthy life you are supposed to live!
Regards Aschwin
Orthomolecular therapist
Lyme recovery therapist