Diabetes is a health condition in which the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or can not use it effectively. Insulin is a hormone used by the body to convert the various nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) taken from food into energy.

Even though the exact causes of this disease still remain unknown, it seems that two factors play a very important role: the first is heredity. People with a family history of diabetes are more likely to suffer with this disease themselves. The second one is the lifestyle. In this case, we refer to factors such as nutrition, obesity and lack of physical exercise.

Some of the symptoms of diabetes include:

1. Frequent urination
2. Blurred vision
3. Excessive hunger
4. Excessive thirst
5. Rapid weight loss without dieting
6. Nervousness

In type 1 diabetes the problem is caused by the immune system. There are some cells in pancreas, called beta cells that are responsible for the production of insulin. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system confuses them for foreign cells and attacks and destroys them (as if the were bacteria for example). When the majority of these cells are destroyed (more than 90%), the symptoms appear.

However, most diabetics suffer from the type 2 condition.

In this case, the beta cells are still capable of producing insulin. The problem is that the body cells don’t respond properly to this hormone (a condition called insulin resistance).

If a patient fails to regulate their blood sugar, many complications can occur over time, such as neuropathy that causes problems in the legs and other body parts, kidney damage, heart problems and damage to the eyes.

Here are some ways to reverse this disease:

• Lose excess weight: If you have extra pounds, especially if the fat is concentrated in the abdomen, then you definitely need to lose some weight. Fat prevents the action of insulin and prevents it from drawing enough glucose from the blood.
• Limit your consumption of alcohol to under up to 1 glass of red wine for women and 2 glasses of red wine daily for men and it would be preferable to always consume it with food.
• The consumption of carbohydrates should be mainly from sources like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, unsalted nuts and low fat dairy products
• You need some kind of physical activity for more than half an hour a day or 4 hours per week.
• You need to consume 3 or more servings of fresh fish per week, because of the beneficial omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids they contain.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that is affecting millions of people worldwide. It is a disorder in which human body does not produce or properly uses insulin, a hormone that is produced by the pancreas and is required to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy. Without this insulin, the sugar remains in our bloodstream, creating several health related problems like blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage, stroke, amputations and other organ function problems. Finally, left untreated, it can lead to death.Majorly, there are three types of diabetes:

i) Type I, normally develops in children or young adults who are under the age of 30.In this form of diabetes the body destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Once these cells are destroyed, they won’t ever create insulin again.

ii) Type II, it is a condition that occurs when the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin.

iii) Gestational Diabetes, this type of diabetes is found in pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.

There are several natural ways to avoid this disorder. Some of them are given below:

• Weight reduction is a key of success in managing diabetes; hence take all the measures of carbohydrate control, what you can.
• Exercise regularly for at least 3-4 hours per week or a simple half an hour walk is sufficient. Exercising regularly significantly reduces your diabetes risk, independent of weight
• Take a well balanced diet full of nutritional supplements.
• Stay away from food and beverages that contain added sugars.
• Avoid alcohol.
• Stop eating carbohydrates in massive amounts.
• Stop eating foods crammed full of sugar and stop drinking the sugar.
• Take supplements that contain magnesium, zinc, calcium, iron and vitamins A, C and D.
• Avoid dehydration.
• Do yoga and meditation to avoid stress and to keep you relaxed. Feeling stressed for long periods can make your blood sugar levels raise.
• Reduce your cholesterol level by including high fiber foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans in your diet.
• Avoid flour and baked products, like cookies, cakes, etc.
• Spread your meal at regular intervals.
• Drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water everyday.
• Sleep well. Lack of sleep increase insulin resistance.
• Another good tip is to listen to music instead of watching TV, as while eating you are not aware of how much you are eating and will almost always overeat.

There is a total difference between Type 2 and Type 1 diabetes; Type 2 diabetes refers for body that can still generate insulin even if it couldn’t generate enough or the cells can’t use is properly.

Even before patients are diagnosed with diabetes, they are at bigger risk of morbidity and mortality from macro vascular disease (ischemic heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease). Pre-diabetic risk begins from many atherosclerotic risk factors natural in the metabolic condition.

Thus, risk examination and management are especially important to patients known to have complications due to diabetes. Strong verification now supports exact targets for glycaemic control, blood pressure and lipid management, mainly in patients at high risk of diabetes.

Practical Tips for Diabetes Risk Reduction

Prevention is better than cure - diabetes confers an inherent risk for macro vascular disease that is independent of the standard coronary risk factors. To prevent this, stop the onset of diabetes itself.

Exercise - one major therapeutic intervention and management of patients with type 2 diabetes, particularly if accompanied by weight loss. Exercise can also improve well-being and can reduce macro vascular risk.

Never Miss Secondary Causes of Diabetes - failure to diagnose underlying causes, disease in patient can result in poor outcomes and lost opportunity for diabetes prevention.

Glycaemic Control - it is often achieved very slowly, with adjustment to the patients therapy being made only during rare medical attendances. Persistent hyperglycemia is toxic to beta cells and may hasten the gradual decline of beta cell function that characterizes type 2 diabetes.

Macro vascular Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Patients with diabetes may not suffer typical anginal pain ad coronary disease are usually painless, dyspnea or tiredness are the only presenting feature that can be noticed.

These patients with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of stroke. Careful assessment of the patients pulse is the simple ad inexpensive method of detecting major risk for stroke, and this should be a routine examination for patients with diabetes.

Patients at over 50 years of age with type 2 diabetes ad other risk factors to CAD are suggested to take low dosage of aspirin. Aspirin use reduces cardiovascular events, even in patients with retinopathy, provided that patient is under the supervision of physician.

Tips for Managing Poly pharmacy Risk in Patients w3ith Type 2 Diabetes

Prioritize treatment; Use once-a-day medications if possible; consider economics; use half of the tablet if possible; use dosing boxes of pharmacist packaging medication; use drug combination.

Signs ad Symptoms for Type 2 Diabetes

Increasing thirst levels and recurrent urination; Feeling of tiredness; Loosing weight; Severe hunger; Blindness; Slow healing wounds; Areas of darkened skin; Recurrent infection.

Some of the symptoms were seen in other type of diabetes, such as the darkening of skin it’s more connected with the type two but it is commonly seen as a sign of type 1 diabetes.

Fear of the complications of diabetes can hang like a shadow over the lives of people with this condition. Effective prevention and management of these complications requires sound knowledge not only for complications but also for the risk factors for their development.

Diabetes is not just any run-of-the-mill health condition. It is a creeping disease that if left untreated, can drastically reduce the quality of your life. If you are a pre-diabetic or a diabetic reading this, you most likely know what I am talking about. But I hope it doesn’t end with one’s knowledge or experience about this subject.

Because the reality is, you can reverse diabetes naturally. It all depends on your approach and how you treat it.

One way of reversing diabetes naturally is by avoiding obesity.

Recent statistics reveal that the top risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes is obesity - which is defined as 20 percent or more than a healthy weight. Originally, this kind of diabetes was referred to as “adult-onset” diabetes due to the fact that it tended to develop later in life (after all those years of unwanted weight).

Unfortunately though, the times are changing, and the childhood obesity epidemic has caused Type 2 diabetes diagnoses as young as children who are only on their teenage years.

The cause/s of Type 2 diabetes are still not clear (although there are millions of dollars going into research every year). It is suggested by many though that obesity is the biggest factor. An overweight person with Type 2 diabetes is believed to have plenty of insulin but just couldn’t make full use of it. This triggers an unhealthy cycle, as the body recognizes that insulin isn’t being used that effectively. What follows is it produces even more of it in the pancreas.

The end result is that the beta cells in the pancreas (responsible for making insulin) can’t keep up and eventually exhaust themselves.

Insulin is need by the body to burn that glucose that is produce when we eat something. The pancreas is where it is produce, somewhere inside the pancreas the beta cells are located which produce insulin.

Having type 1 diabetes means that the body isn’t capable of producing any hormone, the bets cells are ruined thus it is not able to produce insulin to use the sugar from the food that we consume. Having type 2 diabetes means that the body is still capable of producing insulin but the problem is with body. In this type of cases, the bodies can not fully absorb and use the hormone. A person who has type 2 needs diabetic pills so that it maximizes the use of insulin in our body.

To help the patient break down the glucose and create energy for the body, insulin is use. If insulin would be taken as a pill then it would just break down like any other food that we eat. In order to get the insulin to our body a patient needs to inject the hormone to their body so that they will have a supply of insulin in their bodies.

The insulin that we are using comes from animals like pigs. There are different types of insulin in the market right now. A patient must consult a doctor first before using it. Some doctor advices diabetic to change their insulin once in a while to make some adjustment depending on the reaction of the body to the insulin type.

Are you confused about diabetes and wondering how you ended up with it? And what are you supposed to do about it? There is so much different information given to you, your head is spinning. Firstly, let’s look at the main differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes and the effect of type 2 on both the lean and obese person.

1. Type 1 Diabetes:

2. Type 2 Diabetes:

• it is understood to be brought on by lifestyle choices

in the lean person:

• the pancreas secretes less than normal amounts of insulin
• then fewer doors are opened for glucose to enter the muscle cells
• this results in blood sugar levels being higher than normal
• glycogen stores in the liver are mobilized then raising blood-sugars even further
• blood-sugars are elevated because the pancreas slowly and gradually stops producing insulin

in the obese or overweight person:

• even more than normal amounts of insulin could be secreted into the blood stream to compensate for increased resistance caused by extra fat around the waistline
• this causes the keyholes (insulin-receptors) to change their shape so that the keys (insulin-molecules) do not fit as well and fewer doors are then opened to allow blood glucose to pass through
• these high blood-sugars cause even more insulin to be secreted into the blood stream by the pancreas
• this build-up is known as insulin-resistance
• in time the pancreas becomes overworked and gradually becomes tired and fails to produce insulin
• glycogen stores in the liver may be mobilized to raise blood sugar levels even further
• blood-sugars are raised mostly because the pancreas tires and/or insulin-resistance

Signs and Symptoms:

• slow onset
• can vary from none to mild

Treatment:

• First stage: … diet and exercise; if obese weight loss
• Second stage: … diet and exercise plus insulin-stimulating medications. There is no real way of knowing when or if this stage will definitely occur
• Third stage: … diet and exercise plus tablets and/or insulin-injections

The biggest difference is in the treatment:

People in the type 1 category require insulin as their body is no longer producing it. Lean or obese people with type 2 diabetes need to find their particular food, exercise, or medication plan so that it translates into normal blood sugar levels in his or her body.

Diabetes affects an estimated 23.6mil people in the United States. Basically it is a serious, life- long condition. The condition has been diagnosed in children and adults alike. It presents with genetic pre-disposition, yet it is generally triggered by environmental factors.

Any individual who has been diagnosed must care for diabetes as if your life depended on it. The American Diabetes Association recommends that any one who has a pre-disposition for developing diabetes receive extensive, regular checkups.

In order to care for diabetes, it is imperative that you are aware of what it is. The condition is a disorder of metabolism. Metabolism is the method of which the body utilizes the digested food to promote growth and energy. The digested food is broken down into glucose or sugar in the blood. The body requires glucose for fuel and energy.

The body’s cells use the glucose, after passing through the bloodstream, for revitalization. In order for the glucose to get into the cells, however, the hormone, insulin must be available. This hormone is produced by the pancreas- gland behind the stomach.

The pancreas is an important organ as it supplies the insulin to the body for it to assist the glucose through the blood to maintain stamina. Specifically, it produces enough insulin to impel the glucose into the bloodstream then into your cells.

In individuals with diabetes, the pancreas does not function properly. There are three main types of diabetes; type 1, type 2 and gestational. Some form of malfunction in regards to the insulin supply occurs in each of them.

Type 1 diabetes, also referred to as juvenile diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces little to no insulin. To care for this type of diabetes, an individual must take insulin daily to live. Juvenile diabetes is basically an autoimmune disease.

Meaning, the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas. People who are developing type 1 diabetes may experience increased urination, constant hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and extreme fatigue.

The type 2 diabetic must also be aware of its challenges and treatment goals. Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes is the most common of the disease. Mostly associated with old age, obesity, genetics, ethnicity, and a pre- history of gestational diabetes, it requires intense life- style changes. The pancreas produces enough insulin, but the body resists or rejects its chemical make-up.

It is unclear why the body can’t use the insulin effectively. Eventually, as in type 1 diabetes, the insulin production decreases. The glucose begins to settle in the blood causing the body to loose its fuel and energy source. Healthcare professionals recommend that people change their life styles to care for adult onset diabetes.

The diabetic must implement a diabetic diet plan and exercise. Depending on the severity of the condition, oral medication or insulin injection will be prescribed. The symptoms may include frequent urination, slow healing of wounds or sores, and increased thirst or hunger. Unlike type 1 diabetes, the symptoms develop gradually or you may not experience any symptoms to identify at all.

Gestational diabetics must also be aware of how to care for diabetes. This type of diabetes develops in women late in pregnancy. The condition is caused by the combination of hormones of the pregnancy or a shortage of insulin. In most cases, there are no warning signs or symptoms.

More so, women who have experienced gestational diabetes; which generally subsides after birth, have increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Preventative methods include persistent physical activity and maintained body weight.

Conclusively, the primary goal of treating any type of diabetes is to maintain safe blood glucose levels. The body must be able to use the glucose as it is the main source of fuel and energy for the body. When it builds up in the bloodstream, obviously, it can’t be used. The overflow passes through your body via urination.

Numerous oral medications (pills) are available for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. There are currently seven classes of oral medications to treat diabetes, with each class having a unique mechanism of action to help control diabetes.

1. Sulfonylureas (2nd Generation)
   
   • onlinepharmacylist.net/107/1/Glucotrol/”>Glipizide (Glucotrol )
   • Glimepiride (Amaryl )
   • Glyburide (DiaBeta , Micronase , and Glynase )
2. Biguanides
   • Metformin (Glucophage , Fortamat , Riomet , and Glumetza )
3. Thiazolidinediones (TZD’s)
   • Pioglitazone (Actos )
   • Rosiglatizine (Avandia )
4. Meglitinides
   • Repaglinide (Prandin )
   • Nateglinide (Starlix )
5. Alpha Glucosidase Inhibitors
   • Acarbose (Precose )
   • Miglitol (Glyset )
6. Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors (DPP-4 Inhibitors)
   • Sitagliptin (Januvia )
7. Bile Acid-binding Molecule
   • Colesevelam (WelChol )

Sulfonylureas (SU’s) have been available for decades and the older first generation medications should really not be used anymore so I will limit my discussion to the second generation medications. The SU’s treat type 2 diabetes by causing the pancreas’s insulin producing beta cells to make more insulin and thus lower glucoses. They can produce good glucose reductions however this is not a sustained reduction in that over time the pancreas makes less and less insulin and this diminished insulin production can be accelerated with the use of SU’s. Hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) is a common side effect of SU therapy. I avoid the use of SU’s, if at all possible, in my practice due to the hypoglycemia and due to the fact that SU’s do not treat the underlying cause of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, but instead overload the system with extra insulin to overcome this insulin resistance.

There is only one Biguanide on the market, Metformin; however, it is available from a number of manufacturers and is available in immediate release and extended release versions. The most common side effect of Metformin is gastrointestinal (GI) in nature with nausea & diarrhea being the most common complaints that I will hear from my patients. The extended release version is much less likely to have these GI side effects; therefore, I avoid the immediate release version. Metformin is typically the first line of treatment for all people with type 2 diabetes unless they have a contraindication to its use including renal insufficiency or congestive heart failure. One of the causes of elevated glucoses in type 2 diabetes is the fact that the liver produces too much glucose and Metformin is an excellent product that decreases the liver’s production of glucose thus improving diabetes control.

TZD’s target the insulin resistance that is type 2 diabetes by improving the skeletal muscle’s and fat cell’s sensitivity to insulin. The most common side effects are swelling and weight gain but these can be avoided with strict salt restriction and calorie reduction. TZD’s should not be used in people with uncontrolled heart failure. TZD’s may help to preserve the function of the pancreas’s beta cells and thus may slow the progressive nature of type 2 diabetes. These are excellent products and I frequently use them in my practice due to the good glucose control and the fact that they may protect beta cells.

Meglitinides are similar to SU’s in that they cause the pancreas to release insulin; however, they are shorter acting than SU’s and are given immediately before a meal to control after eating glucoses that rise in response to food. Therefore, the disadvantages are that they need to be taken 2 or 3 times a day with each meal and they can induce hypoglycemia. I use these only when someone has a specific problem with after eating glucose elevations that have not responded to other medications.

Alpha Glucosidase Inhibitors work in the gut by blocking the absorption of carbohydrates into the blood stream and therefore are best used to treat elevated after eating glucoses. The main disadvantages are the need for dosing 2 or 3 times daily before each meal and gastrointestinal (GI) side effects such as flatulence, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. These GI side effects make dosing and tolerance very difficult and I therefore rarely use this class of medications.

Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors (DPP-4 Inhibitors) are relatively new to the market and work by raising a chemical in the body called Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP-1). GLP-1 is released from cells in the intestine in response to food in the gut. GLP-1 causes the pancreas to release insulin but only if glucoses become elevated and thus do NOT cause hypoglycemia. There is at the present time only one DPP-4 Inhibitor on the market but numerous other will be available soon. They are very well tolerated and the only common side effect is “cost” in that they are not available as generic medications. They may have beta cell preserving properties that could make them even more attractive for use it this is proven to be the case. They are once daily medications and have modest glucose reductions.

There is a Bile Acid-binding Molecule, Colesevelam (WelChol ), that was initially approved for the treatment of elevated cholesterol. It was found to also have modest glucose lowering properties by binding carbohydrates in the gut and Colesevelam was then approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The main side effect, as with the Alpha Glucosidase Inhibitors, is gastrointestinal, mainly constipation and dyspepsia. The only other problems are “cost” and pill size and number. A treatment dose is 3 “large” pills twice a day before breakfast and supper.

The art of medicine is how the prescribe these numerous different medications to best control glucoses and thus prevent long-term diabetes complications. Strive for good control without side effects such as hypoglycemia.

There are many difficulties for children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes. Having diabetes imposes certain restrictions that goes against the usual childhood experience. Treatments always have to be thought about and leaving the house always entails checking they have their insulin or their glucometer. For you, the parent, it is a constant concern for your child’s health and treatment requirements.

If your child is diagnosed with type 2, here are some important guidelines to consider:

1. What do you need to know:

• it is important to have a full understanding of type 2 diabetes and to understand the rationale behind your child’s treatment and medication.
• essentially it is a condition with no known cure which affects the body’s metabolism
• in type 1 diabetes, a defect in the immune system leads to destruction of the beta cells. This occurs suddenly and the pancreas stops producing insulin and insulin-injections are needed for survival
• In type 2 diabetes however, insulin is produced by the body. There is not insulin-lack but rather the inability of the body to use it effectively. Blockage of its action is known as insulin-resistance. The body is forced to create much larger doses and with time, can cause pancreatic malfunction and other complications.

2. Psychological effects:

After knowledge of the disease, the second important thing to remember is the affect type 2 diabetes has:

• on the lifetime and psychology of the patient
• also on friends and family members who are involved and closely related to the diabetic

In the early days following diagnosis many people often discount the social implications of diabetes. However, without proper mental preparation for all of the ways this condition will impact lives, it is possible for resentment to develop between the diabetic child and his siblings. Also, the psychological stress on you as parents is often great and can lead to feelings of self-blame.

Once the emotional considerations are taken care of, either through counseling or group therapy, the next step is to acquaint yourself with the available treatment plans.

3. Treatments

Most children with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese at the time of diagnosis. Treatment often begins with weight control and proper nutrition. Don’t single out your child with diabetes and make them eat different foods from the rest of the family. Encouraging the whole family to eat similar foods will benefit everyone. Research has shown that optimal control without medications is obtainable in less than ten per cent of adults. Some children are given metformin and have good results, others who are very ill at the time of diagnosis may need insulin-injections at first to reduce their high blood sugar levels.

It is also essential to change your child’s sedimentary lifestyle; this is necessary to speed up weight loss but it also increases insulin-sensitivity at the cellular level.

Type 2 diabetes affects the whole family, don’t single out your child with diabetes and treat them differently to everyone else. They will feel they are being punished.

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), Diabetes now afflicts 20.8 million Americans, or 7% of our population. Only 5-10% of Diabetics are type 1, where through autoimmune destruction of insulin producing beta-cells, they now have a lifelong dependence on insulin. The rest are classified as type 2, resulting from insulin resistance (the cells of the body stop responding to insulin) combined with insulin deficiency. According to the ADA there are 54 million Americans who have prediabetes, or 17% of our population.

What’s causing this epidemic? Is it really “bad genes” or what we are putting into our bodies?

Diabetes is a serious, life-threatening condition that has everything to do with what one eats (excessive and poor food choices) and what one does not eat (nutritional deficiencies), and much less to do with the supposed biological fatalism of our genes. While geneticists apply vast amounts of time, energy and money to finding the “causes” of disease in our genes, much less attention is placed on research that has already proven that the consumption of foods like wheat, dairy and soy are major contributing factors in the development of type 1 diabetes, or that the consumption of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.

Blaming “bad genes” on diseases like diabetes is a convenient way to escape the obvious things we can do individually, and as a culture, to prevent the escalation of an already epidemic problem.

We shouldn’t settle for the unlikely prospect of a future “cure” via the pharmaceutical pipeline, gene therapy, stem cell research or similar scientific fantasies, when the cause (and therefore the cure) of diabetes may be as close to us as what is at the end of our fork.

It is universally accepted that type 1 diabetes is caused by the immune system attacking the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Eventually the pancreas is no longer capable of producing insulin. While geneticist look for the “bad genes” that are supposedly “causing” the autoimmune problem, it is well documented that in susceptible individuals something in wheat known as gliadin stimulates diabetogenic class II HLA antigens on the surface of the pancreatic islet cells (cells that normally do no display these antigens), marking them for autoimmune destruction. [Do dietary lectins cause disease? BMJ 1999;318:1023-1024].

Not everyone who eats wheat will develop diabetes. Different people will exhibit differing degrees of susceptibility to wheat lectin and this is why it is right to say that there is a “genetic component” to the development of type 1 diabetes, or to any disease. But acknowledging the existence of genetic differences and differing susceptibilities to illness in a population is not to say that genes are “causing” the disease. In the case of wheat lectin, it is not the gene that is causing the islet cell to present an antigen on its surface. It takes wheat lectin to activate the genes necessary for this cellular transformation. To use an analogy, the genes predisposing one to higher risk for diabetes are like an “unloaded gun.” The “bullets” are certain allergenic foods like wheat, dairy and soy. The “triggers” that “fire” this “loaded gun” are varied, from prolonged exposure to these foods, to increased intestinal/gut permeability, vaccinations, viral infections, and perhaps a multitude of as of yet unknown factors.

If we know that the three most commonly lauded “health foods,” wheat, dairy and soy all are implicated in the development of type 1 diabetes, wouldn’t it be a good idea to remove them from the diets of our young as a precaution? What is the other alternative? Succumb to the fatalistic fallacies of the “gene theory” of disease, and just hope that our children won’t develop the disease because they do not have “the bad gene,” or have just been lucky in the game of nutritional Russian roulette?

Type 2 Diabetes - a preventable and reversible disease!

Type 2 diabetes, and the prediabetic state of insulin resistance that precedes it, are caused by the following preventable factors:

1) excessive consumption of calories.

2) inactivity; lack of exercise.

3) Consumption of high glycemic foods (foods that make the blood sweet):

a) primarily sugar and grain derived carbohydrates, e.g. pasta, cereal, crackers.

b) high fructose corn syrup, and other sources of concentrated fructose: e.g. sugar, agave.

4) hydrogenated oils

5) nutritional deficiencies of minerals, especially magnesium, chromium and zinc, and omega 3 fatty acids, as found in foods like flaxseed, walnuts and wild fish.

When we eat beyond our capacity, excess energy is stored in the body as glycogen and saturated fat. When through prolonged over-consumption of food our body no longer has room to store these unneeded calories, insulin resistance emerges. As if to protect itself from caloric over-saturation, the fat cells and muscle cells begin to lose the number of insulin receptors, thus reducing the amount of glucose that may enter. This causes the blood sugar to raise to unhealthy levels leaving the pancreas with no other option than to overcompensate and produce more insulin. If this cycle continues, eventually the insulin producing beta cells become enervated and lose their ability to produce insulin, resulting in full blown type 2 diabetes. Caloric restriction becomes of vital importance in forestalling the development of type 2 diabetes.

Exercise is essential in helping the body use up stored energy, converting calories consumed into calories burned. Exercise has the opposite effect of over-eating, increasing the number of insulin receptors in muscle, and increasing the sensitivity of the body to insulin; hence, releasing the pancreas of the burden of constant insulin production. Exercise also results in the release of appetite suppressing hormones and neurotransmitters which help to forestall over-eating.

Carbohydrates generally have an insulin secreting effect on the body because they have a high glycemic rating. That is to say, carbohydrates cause the blood to become sweeter than protein or fat, which are broken down slowly in the body, independently of insulin. Even so-called “complex carbohydrates” like puffed rice have higher glycemic ratings (110) than white sugar (80), which is 50% fructose, and therefore less likely to induce an insulin response than these “whole grains.” On the flip side, fructose while having a low glycemic rating, can raise blood sugar on the back end by reducing the affinity of insulin for its receptor, hence contributing to insulin resistance and elevating blood glucose.

When it comes to “whole grains,” no food category is associated with greater misunderstanding in realm of blood sugar disorders. The perception that “whole grains” are good for our health and should be consumed in plenty is based on the assumption that the millions of years of biological evolution that preceded the advent of the agrarian revolution (circa 10,000 b.c.) are no longer relevant. We spent 300,000 years as archaic homo sapiens in the capacity of hunters, gatherers and foragers, where the consumption of cereal grasses, and especially the seed form of these grasses, would not have occurred with any regularity, if at all. Our metabolism is simply not designed for large amounts of starch, sugar, and synthetically produced sweeteners and fats. We need fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts, and high quality animal protein in plenty. Moreover evidence exists demonstrating that the glycoproteins in starchy grains known as “lectins,” can bind to the leptin receptors in the hypothalamus blocking out the appetite suppressing effects of the hormone leptin. This is one reason why bread, pasta, cereal, crackers, etc, can generate incessant cravings and contribute to a condition known as “leptin resistance.”

High Fructose Corn Syrup has been shown to cause insulin resistance in rats and humans. It also been associated with insatiable hunger and increased production of fat by the liver, along with other blood lipid alterations associated with “metabolic syndrome,” which includes high triglycerides, increased blood pressure, low HDL and elevated LDL.

Hydrogenated oils dramatically reduce the responsiveness of our muscle and fat to insulin, whereas, omega 3 fatty acids increase that responsiveness. A search of the biomedical citations on www.pubmed.gov shows a treasure house of research proving omega 3 fatty acids help to correct insulin resistance.

Numerous clinical studies have also been done showing that magnesium, gtf chromium, chelated zinc, alpha lipoic acid, cinnamon (ceylon or true cinnamon; not cassia or false cinnamon) all help to prevent, reduce or reverse the progression of type 2 diabetes.

The reason why these truly remarkable dietary supplements receive less attention than they deserve is because they are not “patentable drugs.” Mother Nature’s formulas are proprietary, but She does not grant patents! Rather, she offers these things to us to use freely for self-healing, if only we would listen and consider ourselves deserving enough to use them.