Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Understanding Diabetes – one Illness, Many Faces
At one time in our recent history, many of today's epidemic disorders were well understood to often be
but symptoms of Diabetes. Strokes, both ischemic and hemorrhagic, heart failure due to neuropathy as
well as both ischemic and hemorrhagic coronary events, obesity, atherosclerosis, elevated blood pressure,
elevated cholesterol, and elevated triglycerides were all known to be common consequences of a
disturbed metabolism as it occurs with Diabetes. These symptoms, as well as impotence, retinopathy,
renal failure, liver failure, polycystic ovary syndrome, elevated blood sugar, systemic candida, poor
wound healing, peripheral neuropathy, and many others have since been turned into separate diseases,
requiring specialized treatments and specialists to administer them. Although this may have greatly served
the medical and pharmaceutical industry, it has led to untold suffering of patients and cost many lives.
Diabetes afflicts over 8% of the American population. Many of them have the belief that Diabetes is
inherited and the body is a victim of a genetic flaw. Although genetic reasons can play a certain role in the
manifestation of Diabetes, in most cases they don’t, and they certainly don’t explain why pancreatic cells
one day suddenly decide to self-destruct (type I Diabetes), or why common cells in people of age 50 or
older suddenly decide to block out insulin-laden sugar (type II Diabetes).
Many patients and their doctors assume that diseases manifest when the body somehow makes a
mistake and thus fails to do its job. This idea defies all sense of logic, and scientifically, it is incorrect. In
this world every effect has an underlying cause. Just because doctors are not aware of what causes certain
pancreatic cells to stop producing insulin doesn’t automatically mean this is an autoimmune disease, a
disease where the body presumably tries to attack and destroy itself. By developing Diabetes, the body is
neither doing something wrong nor is it out to kill itself. It certainly finds no pleasure in making you suffer
and feel miserable.
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What we should be focusing on are the circumstances that the body would need to shut down its insulinproducing
capability in type I Diabetes, and increase it in type II Diabetes. With its huge number of
sophisticated survival mechanisms, the body makes every effort to protect you from further harm from
what has already been caused through inadequate nourishment, emotional pain, and/or a detrimental
lifestyle. When seen in this light, disease becomes an integral part of the body’s effort to prevent a person
from committing unintentional suicide. It can be firmly stated that your body is always on your side, never
against you, even if it appears to attack itself (as in the so-called autoimmune disorders, such as type I
Diabetes, lupus, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis).
Just as there is a mechanism to become diabetic, there is also one to reverse it. To call Diabetes,
regardless whether it is type I or type II, an irreversible disease reflects a profound lack of understanding
the true nature of the human body. once the preconditions for restoring balance or homeostasis have been
created, the body will be able to use its full repair and healing abilities. Almost all of us know how to heal
a wound or mend a broken bone. Some of us may “lose” this ability when the immune system becomes
impaired, when prescription drugs interfere with blood clotting mechanisms, or when the body becomes
severely congested with toxic waste. In the case of type I Diabetes, pancreatic cells don’t just stop
producing insulin because they are tired of doing their job. And in the case of type II Diabetes, the body’s
60 trillion cells don’t just reject insulin entering them because they have developed a dislike to it. In both
situations, the cells are prevented from doing their job for a number of reasons, all of which are basically
under our control. If we stop destroying the cells directly or indirectly by the way we eat and live, they can
just as easily be reprogrammed, nursed back to life or be replaced by new ones.
Healing the pancreas is not so much different than healing a broken bone. But for healing to occur we
must make certain changes that facilitate the healing, not counteract it. Treating Diabetes on the symptom
level prevents its cure. on the other hand, it is not difficult to determine what causes the insulin-secreting
pancreatic cells to malfunction in type I Diabetes, and then to remove those causes. To perform properly,
these specialized cells require adequate nourishment. Insulin is an all-important hormone that all of us
need to take essential nutrients (proteins, sugar, fats), especially glucose, into the cells of the body. If there
is not enough insulin available to deliver these nutrients to the cells, sugar in particular becomes trapped in
the blood, causing it to rise to dangerously high levels. In the case of insulin-dependent Diabetes (which
can apply to both types), it would seem to make sense to inject insulin into the blood in order to remove
the excessive sugar, fat and protein molecules from the blood stream. However, without investigating and
rectifying what has put the body into this awkward position in the first place, merely administering insulin
shots to the patient to enforce a lower blood sugar does not only not solve the problem, but, as we will see,
makes it worse. This quick-fix approach actually makes a true cure impossible and, at the same time,
increases the risk of developing many other ailments.
It is now known to be a fact (again) that diabetics suffering from either type have an increased risk for
heart disease, cancer, stroke, blindness and Alzheimer's, etc. The question arises whether this risk is really
due to the Diabetes itself or its treatments. I propose that Diabetes has become such a dangerous ailment
because it is treated on the symptom level rather than on the causal level. If a non-insulin dependant type
II diabetic gets an insulin shot, it can seriously harm or even kill him. And as surprising as it may be, a
healthy person who receives insulin shots develops Diabetes, which is not so uncommon, given the high
percentage of false positive blood tests nowadays. “Once a diabetic, always a diabetic” is a sad
consequence of medical intervention. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
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Foods That Cause Diabetes
1. Refined Carbohydrates – A Cause of Insulin Resistance
One of the most common directions given to type II diabetics is to reduce or even cut out their intake
of carbohydrates. They are being told that the sugars they contain may raise their blood sugar to abnormal
levels and endanger their lives. While there is basic truth to this statement, as we will see in the following
section, it is also a highly misleading one. Let us first understand the true part of this statement.
It is certainly correct to say that refined, manufactured carbohydrates can seriously affect anyone’s
health, not just the health of diabetics. As a result of the normal digestion of plant foods, the body
converts complex carbohydrates into complex sugars (glycogen), which it stores in the liver and muscles.
Whenever required, the body converts glycogen into glucose for generation of cellular energy. on the
other hand, if you eat refined carbohydrate foods (crisps, potato chips, cakes, candy, ice cream, pasta,
white bread, soft drinks, etc.), you actually bypass this process and the sugars or starches (starch is sugar)
they contain enter the blood stream within a matter of minutes. The more of these simple carbohydrates
you consume, the higher your blood sugar rises. To keep the constantly rising blood sugar in check, your
pancreas has to pump extra amounts of insulin into the blood. Insulin takes sugar out of the blood stream
and delivers it to the cells. on the surface of the cells are insulin receptors which act like tiny doors that
open and close to regulate the inflow of blood sugar.
There is a major difference between the highly valuable glucose the body makes available to the cells
and the useless sugar forced into the blood stream right after drinking a coke or eating an ice cream cone.
The cells don’t like to absorb the acidic, bleached, processed, and energy-stripped sugar. To protect
themselves, they put up a barrier that ignores the insulin when it knocks at their door, even as it tries to
deliver proper, usable, quality glucose. The resulting buildup of blood sugar prompts even more insulin
secretions by the pancreas, which in turn causes more and more cellular doors to close and blood sugar to
rise further. This condition is known as “insulin resistance.” When insulin production no longer keeps up
with rising blood sugar, type II Diabetes results. This makes type II Diabetes a severe case of insulin
resistance. Insulin resistance can lead to many complications in the body, including:
• Heart Disease
• Hardening of the Arteries
• Damage to Artery Walls
• Increased Cholesterol Levels
• Vitamin & Mineral Deficiencies
• Kidney Disease
• Fat Burning Mechanism Turned off
• Accumulation & Storage of Fat
• Weight Gain
2. Animal Proteins – More Harmful Than Sugar
Without question, foods that are nutritionally empty lead to malnutrition, eating disorders, and obesity.
To avoid sudden, harmful blood sugar spikes, not even healthy individuals should eat refined sugar or
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starch-packed foods. Having a regular craving for sweets and starchy foods represents a serious signal of a
major disturbance of cell metabolism. But sugar is actually not such a big concern when you compare its
effects with those caused by eating animal proteins. Diabetes patients are almost never told that the
amount of insulin the body needs to process, for example, one regular piece of steak equals the amount of
insulin required for about 1/2 pound of white sugar. The reason no doctor is telling you about this is
because eating the steak does not substantially raise your blood sugar levels, so it appears that meat is a
safe food, especially for diabetics. And so the “disease” can progress and worsen quietly and unnoticeably.
The insulin resistance in type II diabetics describes the condition in which the pancreas is capable of
producing insulin, but the cells are insensitive to it. Insulin acts as the “key” that unlocks the “gate”
through which glucose and other nutrients must pass to enter cells. When there are too few “gates” open,
or the “locks” on the gates are “rusted shut” and difficult to open despite the presence of insulin, insulin
resistance results. Cells may actually become damaged and turn cancerous if insulin comes into contact
with them too often and in too large amounts. Regular protein meals make the cells increasingly resistant
to insulin, and, without at first raising blood sugar levels, eventually lead to type II Diabetes. Frequent
snacks that contain sugars and refined fats also play a major role, but as already explained, to a much
lesser extent.20 Refined fats, though, play a major role in type I Diabetes, as we will see in section 3.
Even in a healthy body, pancreatic cells are unable to produce such large amounts of insulin as would be
required for regularly consumed protein meals. Part of the unused protein is broken down by the liver,
although this ability is greatly diminished in diabetics. The secreted insulin takes the rest of the protein out
of the blood into the intercellular fluids. But since the diabetic’s cell membranes prevent insulin from
entering the cells, the protein must be removed from the intercellular tissue or connective tissue through
other means. The process is the same one I have discussed in the last two chapters. The body converts the
excessive proteins into collagen fiber and stores them in the basal membranes of the blood capillary walls.
This escape route makes it appear that protein poses no problem for the diabetic.
Sugar, on the other hand, doesn’t have such a seemingly untraceable escape route. once the intercellular
fluid is saturated with the unutilized sugar, it naturally rises in the blood stream. With continued protein
consumption, the basal membranes accumulate so much protein fiber that simple sugars can no longer pass
through them, even if the cells were to give up their insulin resistance and let the sugar pass through their
membranes again. Thus, overeating protein foods makes type II Diabetes a permanent condition, a chronic
illness. But the progression of this illness doesn’t stop there.
3. Refined Fats and Oils – Delicious Poisons?
In the 1930s, physicians considered many of our degenerative diseases to be due to a failure of our
endocrine system known as Insulin Resistant Diabetes. The severe derangement of the body’s blood sugar
control system was understood to be the basic underlying disorder that could manifest itself as nearly any
kind of illness. Although there are other reasons for bringing about such a basic imbalance, as discussed
20 Apart from those conditions discussed here, there are other conditions which may predispose the body to the development of
insulin-resistant Diabetes or which may unmask a mild, subclinical, or transient Diabetes that already exists. These include
pregnancy, overproduction or over-administration of steroids like cortisone or prednisone, overproduction of growth hormone
(acromegaly), infections, and prolonged or severe stress.
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before, badly engineered fats and oils are among the most influential ones. Although these fats and oils
may be delicious to the taste buds, they act like poison in the body. Their destructive effects lead to severe
nutritional deficiencies that prevent the body from coping with the metabolic consequences of these
poisons.
In recent years there has been a lot of publicity about good fats and bad fats. Although some food
companies now claim to avoid bad fats, there are still thousands of common foods that contain them. The
fats and oils industry still wants us to believe that the saturated fats are the bad ones, and the unsaturated
fats are the good ones. This is false information. There are many highly beneficial saturated fats, and just
as many unhealthy unsaturated fats. The only distinction that should be made when judging the value of
fats is whether they are left in their natural form or are engineered. You cannot trust advertisements by the
fats and oils industry that praise the amazing benefits of their unique flavorful spreads or low cholesterol
cooking fats. Their smart ad campaigns have no interest in promoting your health; they are solely
intended to create a market for cheap junk oils such as soy, cottonseed and rape seed oil.
Until the early 1930s, manufactured food products were very unpopular and mostly rejected by the
population because of their suspicion of them being of poor quality and not being fresh enough to be safe
for consumption. The use of automated factory machinery to mass produce foods for immense potential
profits was at first bitterly opposed by local farmers. But eventually, this resistance broke and gave way to
an increasing interest in the “new” foods that no one had ever seen before. When margarine and other
refined and hydrogenated products were introduced into the US food markets, the dairy industry was
vehemently opposed to it, but the women found it to be more practical than the lard they had been using.
Due to the shortage of dairy products during WW II, margarine became a common food among the
civilian population, and the commonly used coconut oils, flax oils and fish oils disappeared from the
shelves of America’s grocery stores.
The campaign by the emerging food industry against natural oils and genuinely beneficial fats such as
the very popular coconut oil became fueled by a massive media disinformation that blamed saturated fats
for the wave of heart attacks that suddenly started to grip a large portion of the American population. For
30 or more years, coconut oil was nowhere to be found in grocery stores and has only recently re-emerged
in health food stores. Coconut oil and other healthful oils were practically replaced by cheap junk oils,
including soy oil, cottonseed oil and rape seed oil. The coconut oil’s powerful weight controlling effects
helped prevent an obesity epidemic among the general population. Since eliminating it from the American
diet, obesity has become the leading cause of illness in this country and the rest of the world.
If you are suffering from either type Diabetes and wish to permanently restore your body’s natural
sugar-regulating mechanisms, for a certain period of time you will need to strictly avoid all artificially
produced fats and oils, including those that are found in processed foods, restaurant foods, fast foods and
are sold as “healthy” foods in grocery stores. one of the more harmful oils is the genetically engineered
canola oil made from rapeseeds. Rapeseeds are not suitable for human consumption. Produced in Canada
(hence the name canola) this renamed, refined rapeseed oil found a huge and instant market in the U.S.
during the height of the cholesterol mania (still going on). It is cheap and, therefore, widely used by
restaurants and people on a low food budget. The reason for its huge popularity is that it contains very
little cholesterol. one of the main problems with this oil is that it should not be heated, yet heating it is a
standard practice in the production process, or in restaurants and households. According to a January 26,
1998 Omega Nutrition press release, “heating distorts the omega-3 essential fatty acid found in canola,
turning it into an unnatural trans form that raises total cholesterol levels and lowers HDL [good]
cholesterol.”
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Japanese researchers found that the life spans of rats fed diets rich in canola oil were 40% shorter.
Experimental rats that were fed canola oil “developed fatty degeneration of the heart, kidney, adrenals,
and thyroid gland.” Canadian federal scientists have spent several years and a lot of money to alleviate
fears linking canola consumption to hypertension and stroke. The Health Ministry in Canada insists that
although their tests match the Japanese data, canola poses no risks to humans. Yet canola oil consumption
has been correlated with development of fibrotic lesions of the heart, lung cancer, prostate cancer, anemia,
and constipation. The long-chain fatty acids found in canola have been found to destroy the
sphingomyelin surrounding nerve cells in the brain. Other illnesses and conditions that have been
associated with canola oil consumption include loss of vision and a wide range of neurological disorders.
How can this government be so reassuring when Canola oil has been around for a short number of
years and long-term effects may not develop before 3-5 years? Is it not also strange that the FDA allowed
the canola industry to avoid the lengthy and expensive approval process, including medical research on
humans? Given the alarming reactions that rats have to canola oil, could it at least be possible that a
certain percentage of heart attack and stroke victims are actually due to regular canola oil consumption?
Since canola oil is contained in the majority of manufactured foods, baked goods, frozen foods, and
restaurant foods, is it any wonder why people are falling ill everywhere, at a rate that is absolutely
stunning and unprecedented?
So what do refined and manufactured oils and fats actually do to the body? For one thing, they can
cause severe gastro-intestinal disturbances. The number of people in the U.S. suffering from acid reflux
disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, constipation, colon cancer, etc., exceeds the number
of all other diseases taken together. Deep fried foods and other fast foods have become the popular choice
of young people, aged 3-30. An ever-increasing number of them develop Diabetes.
The high temperatures used in canola refining and margarine production will damage many of the
essential fatty acids, which are much more susceptible to damage by heat than saturated fats. As
mentioned before, heat is known to convert many of the unsaturated double bonds to the “trans fatty acid”
configuration. Although high-quality essential fatty acids as contained in some of these engineered foods
are required for human health, in their damaged or rancid forms they become harmful. In fact, they may
trigger power immune responses that may lead to autoimmune diseases, such as type I Diabetes.
In order for cells to be healthy and functional, their plasma cell membrane, now known to be an active
player in the glucose scenario, needs to contain a complement of cis type w=3 unsaturated fatty acids.
This makes the cell membranes slippery and fluid, thereby permitting glucose molecules to be able to pass
through them and enter the cell interior for energy generation. This maintains balanced blood sugar levels.
By regularly eating fats and oils that are heat-treated (versus natural cold pressed oils and untreated fats)
the cell membranes begin to loose their healthy fatty acids and replace them with harmful trans-fatty
acids and short and medium chain saturated fatty acids. As a result, the cell membranes become thicker,
stiffer, sticky and inhibit the glucose transport mechanism, resulting in blood sugar rising.
The rest of the body suffers serious consequences of the clogging up of the cell membranes. The
pancreas starts pumping out excess insulin. The liver starts to convert the some of the excess sugar into fat,
stored by adipose cells. To get rid of the rest of the sugar, the urinary system goes into overdrive. The
body goes into exhaustion due to the lack of cellular energy. The adrenals respond by pumping extra
amounts of stress hormones into the blood, creating mood swings, anxiety and depression. The endocrine
glands malfunction. Overtaxed by the constant demand for extra insulin, the pancreas fails to produce
enough. Body weight plummets. The heart and lungs become congested and fail to deliver vital oxygen to
all the cells in the body, including the brain. Each organ and system in the body is affected by this simple
dietary mistake. All this and more is what we know as Diabetes, an acquired illness that can easily be
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avoided and even reversed by eating a natural diet consisting of natural, fresh foods that nature so
generously provides for us. The idea that we can create better foods than nature does is a fallacy that has
turned into a weapon of mass destruction.
The Unfolding Drama of the Diabetes Syndrome
When sugar becomes trapped and begins to increase in the blood stream, eating sugar at this point can be
life-threatening. Not having enough glucose reaching the cells and organs of the body can also be fatal. If
the heart cells run out of glucose, heart failure occurs. If the kidney cells run out of glucose, kidney failure
occurs. If the eyes don’t get their glucose, eyesight will fail. The same applies to a sugar-starved liver,
pancreas, stomach, brain, muscle, and even bone cells. By not receiving enough glucose, the body begins
craving food, especially sugars, sweets, starchy foods, sweet beverages, etc., which leads to overeating and
further congestion, and possibly heart congestion or cancer (see previous chapters).
Because type II Diabetes affects the health of every single one of the 60 trillion cells in the body,
diabetics are predisposed to developing virtually every type of disorder there is. This has been denied by
medical science for many years, but has recently been verified through major medical research. The
majority of the chronic disorders plaguing our modern world today, including heart disease, cancer,
arthritis, MS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc., may in actual fact not be separate diseases at all. While
sharing the same cause or causes, they manifest themselves in different parts of the body as unique
symptoms of disease. There will come a time when the practicing physician will recognize that Diabetes,
cancer, heart disease, and dementia, for example, share the same underlying causes, and therefore require
the same treatment.
At the beginning stages of type II Diabetes, the pancreas tries to respond to the increasing congestion of
the blood vessel walls (with excessive proteins) and, possibly, to an excessive sugar or starch consumption,
by secreting extra large amounts of insulin. By constantly producing disproportionate amounts of insulin,
the cells become even further resistant to insulin. By blocking out insulin (along with vital nutrients) the
cells try protecting themselves against the cell-damaging effects of too much insulin, or otherwise they
would have to face cell mutation. Eventually, though, through intricate hormonal feedback mechanisms
and enzyme signals, the pancreas recognizes both the increase in blood sugar levels and the shortage of
cellular sugar, proteins and fatty acids. So the pancreas begins to deactivate, destroy or “put to sleep” a
large number of its insulin-producing cells. This practically sets the stage for non-insulin dependent
Diabetes to become insulin-dependent Diabetes.
There are a number of other reasons that may lead to reduced insulin output by the pancreas. When the
basal membranes of blood capillaries supplying the pancreas with nutrients become congested with protein
fiber, insulin production and other important functions, such as production of digestive enzymes, become
suppressed. The same occurs when stones in the bile ducts of the liver and gallbladder drastically reduce
bile secretion. In an increasing number of individuals, bile sludge consisting of small cholesterol stones
enters the common bile duct and gets caught up in the Ampulla of Vater (where the common bile duct and
pancreatic duct meet). Bile activates pancreatic enzymes before they enter the small intestine to aid in the
digestion of foods. If bile flow is restricted, not all of the enzymes dispatched by the pancreas are activated.
Any of these unused enzymes remaining in the pancreas can damage or destroy pancreatic cells, which
leads to pancreatitis – a common cause of Diabetes and pancreatic cancer. In any case, the inability of the
pancreas to produce enough insulin can be a lifesaver, at least temporarily.
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It is obvious, though, that this act of cancer-preventive self-preservation also means that there is not
enough insulin around to transport the sugar out of the blood stream. If type II diabetics become insulindeficient,
doctors often prescribe insulin in addition to blood sugar medication, while letting them continue
eating protein foods. Thus, a previously non-insulin-dependent diabetic now needs insulin shots, which
greatly increases his health risks. This is completely unnecessary. I have had such insulin-dependent
patients turn vegan, and within just six weeks become free of the main signs and symptoms of Diabetes,
for the first time in 20-30 years.
Chronic disease is only chronic for as long as its causes are still intact. Insulin injection is the very thing
that keeps the patient from recovering. It continues to increase the cells’ resistance to insulin, and forces
the pancreas to destroy an ever-increasing number of insulin-producing cells. There are plenty of natural
things that can replace injection with insulin. Just one teaspoon of ground cinnamon per day can balance
blood sugar. Tumeric is an amazing herb/spice with a similar effect. Broccoli and other vegetables, as well
as regular full body exposure to sunlight (vitamin D-generating),21 have superior blood sugar-regulating
effects than potentially dangerous insulin injections.
Abstaining from proteins foods, cleansing the liver of stones (gallstones are a leading cause of Diabetes,
see details in The Amazing Liver Cleanse), eating a balanced diet and living a balanced lifestyle as
advocated in this book are much more effective means of restoring normal body functions than just trying
to fix one symptom of disease. By taking responsibility for their own health, and therefore their life, the
diabetic has the opportunity to put the sweetness back into his cells and, thus, into their life.
The Risk of Being Overweight
Approximately 16 million people in the United States are diagnosed with Diabetes based on national
statistics. In reality, through, this figure is much higher. It is estimated that another 5.4 million people
have the disease and are not aware of it. Type II Diabetes, also called Adult onset Diabetes, now appears
routinely in six year old children. Minorities are at particular risk, as their diet consists mainly of cheap
fast foods, such as hamburgers, fried chicken, pasta, potatoes, refined sweets and other highly processed
foods and beverages.22 These foods typically cause a rapid increase in blood sugar, which stimulates the
production of large quantities of insulin. When there's too much insulin in the blood, the body reacts by
producing the chemical somatostatin, which suppresses insulin release. In due time this natural response
translates into Diabetes. Compared with Caucasians, African Americans have a 60% higher risk of
developing Diabetes and Hispanics have a 90% increased risk. Considering the large number of
undiagnosed diabetics, physicians are now losing more patients to Diabetes than they are diagnosing.
21 Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine (UCLA) found that compared to subjects with
the highest vitamin D levels, those with the lowest levels had symptoms of type II Diabetes, including weaker pancreatic
function and greater insulin resistance. When the skin is exposed to ultraviolet light, the body responds by manufacturing
vitamin D.
22 Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health examined nine years of dietary and medical data on more than 51,000
women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study II. From this group, well over 700 cases of type II Diabetes were
diagnosed during the study period. The Harvard team concluded that the excess calories and high levels of rapidly absorbable
sugars found in non-diet soft drinks promote weight gain and a greater risk of developing type II Diabetes. In fact, women who
drink one or more soft drinks per day may have an 80 percent increased risk of type II Diabetes compared to women who avoid
this type of beverage.
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An increasing number of American adults diagnosed with Diabetes are obese, U.S. officials said in
November 2004. A study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention found that between
1999 and 2002, 54.8 percent of diabetics over the age of 19 were obese. That compared with 45.7 percent
in the same age group between 1988 and 1994. When the category was expanded to include diabetics who
were obese or overweight, the percentage surged to 85.2 percent in 1999-2002 compared with 78.5
percent in the earlier period. About 69 million people are obese or severely obese, according to the
American Obesity Association.
In the CDC study, a person was considered overweight if their body mass index – the most commonly
used method for calculating if a person weighs too much – was 25 to 29. Anyone with a body mass index
of 30 or greater was categorized as obese. Using the body mass index to determine risk for Diabetes is not
completely reliable and can keep these numbers lower than they actually are. Taking averages in human
statistic analysis always ends up disporting the true figures. A balanced Vata type, for example has a
naturally lower weight than average. According to the body mass index Vatas are underweight. Their
bones are much lighter and they have very little body fat on them. If a Vata type adds 25 pounds of body
weight, it can cause him serious health problems, but according to the body mass index this extra weight
would bring him up to the normal range. Kapha types, on the other hand, have a very heavy body
structure already. They cannot afford to add even 25 pounds without causing them to develop a typical
Kapha disorder, such as Diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.
By removing the discrepancies that exist with currently used body mass calculations, it is likely that
almost every diabetic is overweight or obese. Likewise, a person who is overweight or obese can actually
be considered diabetic, or at least insulin resistant. Due to the accumulation of abnormal amounts of new
cells in the overweight person, there is simply not enough insulin available to meet all the nutrient
demands of these extra cells. And although the pancreas may still make a normal or a little extra amount
of insulin, the added weight leads to a relative insulin shortage. Eventually, the pancreas suffers from
being continuously over-extended. The side-effects of a relative insulin-deficiency can be just the same as
an absolute insulin-deficiency where pancreatic cells stop producing insulin altogether.
According to the American Diabetes Association, Diabetes accounts for 178,000 deaths (which may
not be accurate23), 54,000 amputees, and 12,000-24,000 cases of blindness annually. Blindness is 25 times
more common among diabetic patients compared to non-diabetics. It is estimated that by the year 2010
Diabetes will actually exceed both heart disease and cancer as the leading cause of death through its many
complications. It is my hope that more and more scientists and doctors begin to see the strong link that
exists between all these “diseases.” They are metabolic disorders that share a common cause, but show up
as different symptoms.
Autoimmune (Type I) Diabetes
Type I Diabetes affects nearly 700,000 people in the United States. It is the most common chronic
metabolic disorder to affect children. Caucasian populations, especially Scandinavians, have the greatest
risk, and people of Asian or African descent have the lowest risk of developing this form of Diabetes.
Type I Diabetes is usually diagnosed in children or adults under 30. The difference of risk is less due to
genetic factors than to dietary ones, as we shall see shortly. Type I Diabetes can develop unnoticed for
23 1 "Fast Stats" National Center for Health Statistics", Deaths/Mortality Preliminary 2001 data shows that in 2001, the most
recent year for which figures US figures are posted, 934,550 Americans died from out of control symptoms of this disease.
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years. But then symptoms usually develop quickly, over a few days to weeks, and are caused by blood
sugar levels rising above the normal range (hyperglycemia). Early symptoms include frequent urination,
especially noticeable at night; possible bed wetting among young children; extreme thirst and a dry mouth,
weight loss and sometimes, excessive hunger.
Type I Diabetes is defined by the absence of insulin due to the destruction of insulin-producing cells in
the pancreas – called beta cells. Type I diabetics are dependent on insulin injections to control their blood
sugar levels. The most common time for developing Diabetes is during puberty, although it can occur at
any age.
In type 2 Diabetes, due to insulin resistance, the cells in the body are unable to obtain glucose that they
need for energy. In type I Diabetes, the cells are also deprived of glucose, but in this case it is because
insulin is not available. When cells are glucose deprived, the body breaks down fat for energy. This
results in ketones or fatty acids entering the blood stream, causing the chemical imbalance (metabolic
acidosis) called diabetic ketoacidosis. If left untreated, very high blood sugar would lead to flushed, hot,
dry skin; labored breathing, restlessness, confusion, difficulty waking up, coma, and even death.
There is an increasing body of scientific evidence to suggest that cow’s milk during childhood
increases the risk of developing type I Diabetes. In a recent study published in Diabetes (2000),
researchers found that children who had a sibling with Diabetes were more than fives times as likely to
develop the disorder if they drank more than half a liter (about two 8-ounce glasses) of cow's milk a day,
compared with children who drank less milk.
While it is not clear which component of cow's milk may increase the risk of Diabetes, researchers
suspect that one of several proteins may be to blame by causing the immune system to attack insulinproducing
cells in the pancreas. Dairy products so closely mimic human hormones that many times an
autoimmune response is mounted. This may result in arthritis, irritable bowel, Crohn’s disease, lymph
edema and lymphatic congestion, phlegm in the throat, fatigue, cancer, and many other disorders.
Although many type I diabetics are known to be genetically susceptible to the disease (genetic
variation), others with the same genetic variation will never develop Diabetes. This suggests that dietary
factors play a decisive role in who will actually become afflicted with the disorder. In fact, research
showed that babies who breastfeed at least three months have a lower incidence of type I Diabetes, and
may be less likely to become obese as adults. This further supports and validates other research that has
linked early exposure to cow's milk and cow's milk-based formula to the development of type I Diabetes.
Clinical studies have also shown that women who breastfeed reduce the risk of their children developing
the type II Diabetes.
Risky Orthodox Medical Treatments
After the diagnosis of Diabetes, doctors routinely prescribe either oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin.
The causes of diabetes are rarely addressed, if known at all. Currently available oral hypoglycemic agents
include Biguanides, Glucosidase inhibitors, Meglitinides, Sulfonylureas, and Thiazolidinediones.
The biguanides lower blood sugar by inhibiting the normal release, by the liver, of its glucose stores,
interfering with intestinal absorption of glucose from ingested carbohydrates, and increasing peripheral
uptake of glucose. All this can completely disrupt the functions of all the organs and systems in the body.
The glucosidase inhibitors are designed to prevent the amylase enzymes produced by the pancreas to
digest carbohydrates. The theory behind this is that if there is no digestion of carbohydrates the blood
sugar wouldn’t rise.
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The meglitinides and sulfonylureas are engineered to stimulate the pancreas to produce extra insulin in
a patient whose blood insulin is already elevated. Since most doctors don’t measure insulin levels, this
frequently prescribed drug is causing a lot of harmful side-effects, including hypoglycemia. An insulin
surplus in the blood can damage blood vessels and lead to similar defects as high blood sugar.
The thiazolidinediones are known for causing liver cancer. one of them, Rezulin, was designed to
stimulate the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream by the peripheral cells and to inhibit the normal
secretion of glucose by the liver. After the drug killed well over 100 diabetic patients and crippled many
more, it was pulled off the market.
Neither the oral hypoglycemic agents nor insulin injections have any effects on increasing the uptake
of glucose by the cells of the body. This essentially means that the diabetic patient cannot expect to
improve or become cured by any of these treatments. on the contrary, the prognosis with this orthodox
treatment is increasing disability and early death from heart or kidney failure, or failure of some other
vital organ. Research has in fact shown that diabetes drugs increase your risk of heart attack by a
whooping 250%! Is it any wonder that 80% of diabetics die of heart disease?
Medical doctors don’t treat you to cure your diseases. Cure is not even word they are permitted to use.
Most practicing physicians and their patients want a quick fix, and in the case of Type II Diabetes, it
consists of glucose-lowering drugs. And although these drugs can control your symptoms and lower your
blood sugar, they do nothing to address the cause of the disorder. one of the problems with glucoselowering
drugs is that they can lose their effectiveness over time. This can dramatically increase your
chances of dying from a heart attack. If that is not bad enough, these drugs can also make your life more
miserable. Common side effects are weight gain, elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, nausea,
diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain, drowsiness, and headache.
Healing the Cause
To help your body heal itself and remove the causes leading to the symptoms of diabetes (especially
Type II and possibly even Type I), avoid eating animal proteins, such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese
and cow’s milk. During the recovery phase, strictly refuse consuming cheap, refined oils or fats as found
in many restaurant foods and processed foods. You may use healthful fats and oils such as expeller
pressed (cold pressed) coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil and ghee butter (see your body type food list).
Don’t eat food that has been cooked in the microwave oven. Avoid frozen foods, canned products, and
leftover foods.
Read labels. If a food contains more than 2-3 separate items on it, it is likely to be of no use for your
body. Ideally, eat only foods produced by nature, such as fruits, fresh salads, cooked vegetables, grains,
pulses, nuts, seeds, etc. With the exception of stevia, xylitol and D-mannose, etc., strictly avoid sugar and
starchy foods such as pasta and potatoes. Much worse than sugar are artificial sweeteners and products
that contain them; they should be avoided at any cost. Artificial sweeteners will reverse the recovery even
if everything else is followed (see Aspartame and Other Sweet Killer Drugs in Chapter 14). Most vitamin
supplements don’t work for diabetics and may end up in the toilet (see chapter 14). Also avoid all
manufactured beverages and fruit juices. Eat fruits whole, and separate from meals.
While recovering, try to monitor blood sugar manually. For some time, you may want to use glycemic
tables to help you in this regard. Make sure to work with a doctor who is aware of and supportive of the
healing measures you are taking for yourself. Also avoid alcohol until blood sugar stabilizes in the normal
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range. The same applies to caffeine as well as other stimulants. Stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine
trigger sugar release by the liver.
Those who are on the verge of developing insulin resistance or are considered pre-diabetic should follow
the same guidelines. If you don’t ever want to risk developing diabetes, the same guidelines apply for you
also. For example, soft drinks are known to cause diabetes. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public
Health examined nine years of dietary and medical data on more than 51,000 women who participated in
the Nurses' Health Study II. From this group, well over 700 cases of type II Diabetes were diagnosed
during the study period. The study found that women who drink one or more soft drinks per day may have
an 80 percent increased risk of type II Diabetes compared to women who pass on this type of beverage.
Changing key lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity may not be easy for everyone. But in the
case of controlling blood sugar, you usually have a choice. In the above study, making the choice of
drinking fresh water instead of soft drinks can make the difference between life and death. If you feel you
cannot make that choice, please consider that becoming diabetic can make your lifestyle much more
limited and complicated than following the simple suggestions made in this chapter.
Diabetes is not a disease; it is a complex mechanism of protection or survival that the body has no
choice but to implement in order to avoid the consequences of an unhealthful diet and lifestyle. Millions of
people suffer or die unnecessarily from this non-disease. The diabetes epidemic is man-made, or shall I
say, factory-made. It could be brought to a halt by more and more people refusing to eat foods that are not
safe for human consumption.
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