https://www.youtube.com/embed/jaQJrNyUClw
"Type 1 Diabetes Treatment:
A Plant-Based Diet" The brand-new International Journal
of Disease Reversal and Prevention had its share of typical plant-
based miraculous disease reversals. After having not one but two
heart attacks within two months, a whole food, plant-based diet
and no more chest pain, controlling his cholesterol,
blood pressure, and blood sugars while losing 50 pounds as
a neat little side-bonus. Yet the numbers don’t capture the
transformation, the resurrection from feeling like a “dead man walking”
to getting his life back. I already discussed the cases of
autoimmune inflammatory disease reversal, the psoriasis, the lupus,
nephritis (kidney inflammation); and speaking of autoimmune-
diseases-we-didn’t-think- we-could-do-anything-
about, type 1 diabetes. In contrast to type 2 diabetes,
which is a lifestyle disease that can be prevented and reversed
with a healthy enough diet and lifestyle, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune
disease in which your body attacks your own pancreas, killing off
your insulin-producing cells condemning you to a
life of insulin injections— unless, perhaps, you
catch it early enough.
Maybe if we can switch people early
enough to a healthy enough diet, we can reverse the course by
blunting that autoimmune inflammation. Now, we know patients with type 1
may be able to reduce insulin requirements and achieve better
blood sugar control with healthier diets. For example, randomize children
and teens to a nutritional intervention in which they boost the whole
plant food density of their diet, meaning eating more whole grains,
whole fruit, vegetables, legumes (which are beans, split peas, chickpeas,
and lentils), nuts, and seeds. And the more whole plant foods,
the better the blood sugar control. The fact that more whole
fruits was associated with better blood sugar control has
important clinical implications for nutrition education in
those struggling with type 1. We should be educating them
on the benefits of fruit intake and allaying “erroneous concerns that
fruit may adversely affect blood sugar". But this case series went beyond just
proposing better control of the symptom of diabetes—high blood sugars—but
better control of the disease itself, suggesting the anti-inflammatory
effects of whole healthy plant foods may slow or prevent further destruction
of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, if the dietary
intervention is initiated early enough.
Where are they getting this
from? Check it out. One patient who began a vegetable-
rich diet at age three immediately following diagnosis of type 1
diabetes, but three years later still has yet to require insulin
therapy, while experiencing a steady decline in autoantibody levels,
markers of insulin cell destruction. Another child, who didn’t start
eating healthier until several months after diagnosis, maintains a
low dose of insulin with good control. And even if the insulin-producing
cells have been utterly destroyed, type 1 diabetics can still enjoy
dramatically reduced insulin requirements and reduced inflammation and
reduced cardiovascular risk, which is the #1 cause of death for
type 1 diabetics over the age of 30.
Type 1’s have 11 to 14 times the risk
of death from cardiovascular disease compared to the general population,
and it’s already the #1 killer among the public, so it’s like
11 to 14 times more important for type 1 diabetics to be on
the only diet and lifestyle program ever proven to reverse heart
disease in the majority of patients— one centered around whole plant foods. And the fact that it may also
help control the disease itself is just sugar-free icing on the cake. All this exciting new research was
just from the first issue of the journal! As a bonus there’s a companion
publication called the Disease Reversal and Prevention Digest,
a companion publication to the International Journal of
Disease Reversal and Prevention for the lay public with the
belief I wholeheartedly share that everyone has a right
to understand the science that could impact their health. And so, you can go behind the
scenes and hear directly from the author of the lupus series,
with bonus interviews from luminaries like Dean Ornish, practical
tips from dietitians on making the transition towards a healthier
diet, complete with recipes.
The second issue continued
to feature practical tips like how to eat plant-based on
a budget, what Dr. Klaper is doing to educate medical students, what
Audrey Sanchez from Balanced is doing to help change school lunches,
and if you think that’s hard, Dr. Ostfeld got healthy foods
served in a hospital. What a concept! And, what magazine would be
complete without an article to improve your sex life. Now, while the journal itself is
free, downloadable at IJDRP.org, the companion digest, available
at diseasereversaldigest.com, carries a subscription fee, but I,
for one, am a proud subscriber..
