A Wake-up Call for a Healthier Lifestyle: Diabetes and the Role of Proper Nutrition

“I will start eating healthy,” is probably the most overused New Year’s resolution – ever. But for over 2 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes, ‘eating healthy’ is not an option – it’s a commitment.
If you’ve recently been diagnosed or have a genetic predisposition to it (i.e. family has diabetes history), take heart. Science now knows how to control, head off, and even – some believe – reverse diabetes. We have modern medication aimed at improving insulin sensitivity, you can do beneficial exercises, and of course, the primary weapon of every diabetic: proper diet and nutrition.
The first – and best thing you can do is to visit a dietitian with experience advising diabetics and map out a nutrition plan. You can’t just stop eating certain foods or eliminating all sugars from your life. You should actually broaden your gastronomic horizon (in a safe and moderated way). Your new diet should take into account your lifestyle, medication, weight, age, and other medical conditions you may have. Going on a diabetic-friendly diet doesn’t mean depriving yourself, it simply means eating well in a way that will prevent the complications of diabetes and improve your overall health while allowing you the pleasure of good healthy food.
Diabetics should change their diet to achieve specific goals – maintaining a healthy weight, controlling blood glucose levels, and getting proper overall nutrition.
One way to do this is to follow the ADA’s Diabetes Food Pyramid guide. This guide can be found online and has an extensive list of examples. The ADA guide groups foods according to their carbohydrate and protein content, often guiding you regarding what you can eat, when to eat it, and serving size. The ADA’s guide contains and extensive list of grains and starches, vegetables, fruit, milk, meat and meat substitutes.
Another diet option is the Glycemic Index Diet, which ranks foods according to the rate at which they break down in the body to form glucose. High GI foods break down rapidly, while low GI foods break down more slowly. The Glycemic Index diet focuses on low GI foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products.
Another option is a low-fat vegan diet. Switching to a vegan diet seems like an abrupt change to some, however a study by Dr. Neal Barnard and chronicled in his book Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes Without Drugsclaims a low-fat vegan diet and foods with low glycemic index can help reduce or do away with medication, and even reverse the diabetes’ progression.
Following a diabetic-friendly diet can be both fulfilling and nutritious, as long as you are willing to change your lifestyle. Before settling on a diet, remember to consult your doctor and dietician and stick with it. If you’re a diabetic, now is the time to forget eating without abandon, it’s probably what got you here in the first place. Remember, the keys to a great life despite diabetes are proper medication, exercise, and a good nutritious diet.
Resources of interest:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabeticdiet.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes-diet/DA00027

Review: Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes

Reversing The Course of Diabetes You are what you eat is an adage science has repeatedly proven true. Eating less fats and trans fats lessens chances of heart disease. Some believe that a gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diet helps children with Autism recover. Now, Dr. Neal Barnard (University of Toronto, George Washington University) claims in his book, Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes Without Drugs(Amazon affiliate link)  that his diet can actually reverse the course of one of this century’s dreaded diseases: Diabetes. Fact – Diabetes has reached epidemic levels. More than 200 million around the world suffer from it. If left untreated, it may lead to severe conditions such as heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, amputations, etc.

• Traditionally, diabetes has been treated using a regimen of low carb/calorie diets and medication recommended by the American Diabetics Association (ADA) to keep the disease in check.
• Barnard’s book challenges this decades-long practice by saying that eating a low-fat vegan diet and foods with low glycemic index can do better, can help reduce or do away with medication, and even reverse the disease’s progression.
• In his book, he explains that in people with Type-2 diabetes, an “accumulation of tiny amounts of fat inside muscle cells” cause blockages that prevent insulin from opening the cell membrane and allowing glucose to enter.

Eliminating animal fat and taking in minimal protein is key in improving insulin sensitivity. People with diabetes take insulin to control their blood sugar (glucose). He studied two groups in his research; one control group followed the ADA diet while the other was placed on a low-fat vegan diet. The study found that while the ADA group were able to control their blood sugar levels as expected, the other group actually had to lessen their medication as their blood sugar began to drop dramatically.

• The diet also reduced the vegan group’s A1c (measure of blood-glucose control) three times better than the others.

The diet also appears to help reduce body weight, control cholesterol, improve glycemic control, control blood glucose levels, decrease triglycerides, and reduce blood pressure. Switching to a vegan diet is not easy, so for those concerned about the diet’s palatability, the book offers a tasteful menu of meals from cookbook author Bryanna Clark-Grogan.

The recipes are incorporated into the book’s “7 Days of Healthful Menus” section. There’s even a Nutrition Guideline, a section on the “New Four Food Groups”, and a list of permitted and non-permitted foods. Surprisingly, Dr. Barnard found that those who have been on the ADA diet were eager to jump ship.

Barnyard’s diet does not limit portion sizes, as it focuses on diet and nutrition not on counting calories and carbohydrates. However, the real power of this book is that it gives diabetics a choice, one that is rooted in science and has been tested and proven successful. No longer are they tied to certain foods and medication. As Barnard says to diabetes sufferers, “You are now in the driver’s seat.” Those who want to be in control should grab this book immediately.