But as Sarah Hallberg, the Medical Director of the Medically Supervised Weight Loss Program at IU Health Arnett, United States, notes, obesity is a hormonal disease, not a lifestyle choice. And one of those hormones is insulin.
The body processes insulin when glucose is released into the bloodstream following carbohydrate consumption. Usually, this insulin responsF
As for the general recommendations put forth by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), she explains that, "The general recommendations are to tell patients with type 2 to consume 40-65g of carbohydrate per meal, plus more at snacks. We are essentially recommending that they eat exactly what's causing their problem."
Hallberg notes that, when treating type 2 patients with insulin, glucose levels rise after eating carbs, as does the need for insulin. But because insulin is the body's fat storage hormone, this causes hunger fat to be stored, making it difficult for patients to lose weight.
"The ADA guidelines specifically state that there is inconclusive evidence to recommend a specific carbohydrate limit. Nowhere in the ADA guidelines is the aim of reversing type 2 diabetes. This needs to be changed because type 2 can be reversed, in many if not most situations, especially if we start early," she says.
As for Hallberg's diet recommendation, she points out that, though the body needs proteins and essential fatty acids, it doesn't have a certain amount of daily carbohydrates it must adhere to for health purposes.
"When our patients decrease their carbs, their glucose goes down and they don't need as much insulin. Their insulin levels drop fast. Low-carb intervention works so fast that we can literally pull people off hundreds of units of insulin in days to weeks," Hallberg explains.
But she is also sure to explain that low-carb does not refer to no carbs, nor is it necessarily high in protein. "My patients eat fat, and a lot of it. Fat is the only macronutrient that is going to keep our blood glucose and insulin levels low," she says.
Her evidence comes in the form a study her clinic performed, where 50 people with type 2 diabetes were treated with her recommended low-carb high-fat diet. She treated another 50 patients with ADA guidelines. After six months, the study concluded that the patients treated with Hallberg's recommended diet were able to decrease their insulin by nearly 500 units a day, on average. Those in the ADA group, however, had to boost their insulin by an average of 350 units a day.
So can type 2 diabetes be reversed? "Cured would imply that it can't come back, and if they start eating excessive carbs again it will, but they don't have diabetes any longer," Hallberg urges.
Watch her full presentation below:
More Interesting Information On How 6 Test Subjects Reverse Diabetes In 30 Days
In the film, Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days, six test subjects were used, all of whom had varying lifestyles and conditions but were all diabetic - five were type 2 and one was type 1. Each subject was taking insulin.
Before we get into the results of this film, let's take note of what is established about type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This information is from The National Diabetes Education Program:
Type 1 diabetes - The body does not make insulin. Insulin helps the body use glucose from food for energy. People with type 1 need to take insulin every day.
Type 2 diabetes - The body does not make or use insulin well. People with type 2 often need to take pills or insulin. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes.
The participants of the program were as follows:
- Austin (age 25) was not only a type 1 diabetic, but he also had a drinking problem.
- Kirt (age 25) had a blood sugar reading of 1200. Normal is below 100. His doctor told him, "You should be dead."
- Bill (age 58) was seeing a cardiologist and had neuropathy. He could not feel his feet.
- Michelle (age 36) was quite obese.
- Henry (age 58) took insulin plus 9 pills daily. Blood sugar was at 464.
- Pam (62) was quite obese. Her father, brother, and sister are also diabetic.
The approach Gabriel Cousens takes to cure people of diabetes is all about changing their diet. According to him, research shows that in terms of health, meat eaters have 4 times more breast cancer, 3.6 times more prostate cancer, 4 times more diabetes, and much higher rates of chronic disease in general, than their vegan counterparts. If you're just having milk, that's 3 times more leukemia.[4]
Given his position on diet, he believes in taking a mainly raw approach to eating and consuming a plant based diet. His team prepares raw, well-balanced and whole meals for the test subjects throughout the 30 day period. The food becomes their medicine.
Comment: You don't have to go raw to reverse diabetes. It would be much more satisfying and sustainable to partake of a low carb paleo or ketogenic diet. See links below for more information.
With medical supervision, all of the subjects took their medication as needed and ate the food that is provided to them by Gabriel and his team at the Tree Of Life Rejuvenation Center.
Results
By Day 3 of the program Kirt, Bill and Henry were able to stop taking insulin and medication. Their blood sugar levels had already dropped to the normal range after just 3 days of changing their diet. Pam was able to cut her insulin intake by 1/3. Austin, the type 1 diabetic, was able to cut his insulin intake down to half. And Michelle saw her blood sugar at around 362. This discouraged her to the point where she didn't want to stay in the program any longer, although she did.
By day 12 of the program, Henry's blood sugar had dropped 256 points compared to day 1. He was not using medication to lower his blood sugar levels. Although he was seeing great results, Henry felt he was too old for the program and requested to go home. His family arrived on day 17 and he went home. By that time, he was no longer taking 17 medications, he had lost 30 pounds, and his blood pressure had decreased. In Henry's case, his addiction to the food he used to eat was too difficult to overcome.
By the very last day, day 30, incredible results were seen that significantly challenge the current belief that diabetes has no cure.
- Kirt no longer needed medications. His blood sugar had dropped 214 points to as low as 73 (normal) without medication. It was later found out he was type 1 diabetic since the beginning.Status: Within normal range.
- Bill stopped taking 19 medications and lost 32 pounds. His blood sugar dropped 214 points to 74 (normal) without medication or insulin. Status: Within normal range.
- Michelle stopped taking all of her medications and lost 23 pounds. Her blood sugar dropped from 291 to 109 without the use of medication. Status: Within normal range.
- Pam lost 26 pounds while her blood sugar dropped 167 points down to 112 without medication.Status: Within normal range.
- Austin, who is type 1 diabetic, lost 20 pounds and reduced his insulin from 70 units down to 5.Status: Drastic improvement in diabetic condition.
What Does This Tell Us?
Like many things in modern medicine, we don't have all of the answers and in a lot of cases we have a difficult time admitting that what is currently mainstream isn't always the best course of action.
People everywhere are taking alternate routes to achieve results equal to and sometimes better than what is made available to them through mainstream voices like doctors and government appointed professionals. I feel it's important that people know their options and have a fair chance of hearing them out. I know many people with diabetes who aren't aware of the power of food in transforming their condition yet are taking insulin and following mainstream ideas as if they were the only truth.
It isn't to say that the mainstream is bad, it's simply that we are missing out on other options in a big way. After all, the American Diabetes Association makes claims about there being no cures yet the above results would suggest there is more to that story.
Have you ever tried raw food to cure your diabetes? We are curious to hear some real live results from others.
Comment: More on low carb diets for diabetes:
Can a low-carb, high-fat diet help fight diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes...cured?
Ketogenic diet rules! Study compares American Diabetes Association low-fat diet to high-fat ketogenic diet fordiabetes