Diets For Ailments & Disease - Week 1 Diabetes

@eco-alex bought to our attention that:

More than 100 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes or pre diabetes, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of 2015, 30.3 million Americans – 9.4 percent of the U.S.population –have diabetes. “The WHO estimates that diabetes will become the seventh major cause of death around the world by 2030!

That's rather depressing, but the good news is that Diabetes can be prevented, controlled and even cases of being cured through diet!

Presenting The Medicinal Cooking Collective Challenge: Diets For Ailments & Disease
from @eco-alex

Week 1 is Diabetes

On my journey of healthier eating, I had first found a need to do a cleanse, then incorporate more natural foods into my diet, with that I wanted as much of it as possible to be raw foods.

This interest led me to a documentary "Raw for Life" which blew me away with all the changes and benefits that can come about by having a raw food diet.

Another documentary put out by the same people as did the "Raw for Life" and "Super Size Me" (another great documentary giving you a good reason to watch your diet) was :
"Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days" in which 6 typical Americans, who had diabetes, set out to change their lifestyle by changing their regular diet to a Vegan diet with out their pharmaceutical medications.

They would go on a raw diabetic food diet without any meats, dairy, sugars or any processed foods and they would do this for 30 days.

You get to see, not only the medical and physical changes that come about in their new lifestyle, but also the emotional journey in this challenge.

It was a real eye opener to see that diet can reverse disease and change lives. That diabetes could be reversed naturally without any medications.

***A medical disclaimer was given that If you are on diabetes medication, insulin, or oral hypoglycemics, not to attempt to come off medication without medical supervision.

Along with giving up meat, dairy and sugar, they also gave up alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, soda, junk food, fast food, processed food, packaged food, and cooked food. they went from their processed sugars and starches, and substitutes these for organic, whole plant foods that have not been cooked.

With a diabetic raw food diet you want organic, nutrient-dense, plant source-only, low-glycemic, low-insulin-scoring, and high-mineral living foods.

So what types of food would you be eating on this diet?

• plenty of greens, in the form of delicious salads, smoothies, and juices.
• non-sweet fruits and vegetables like like tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, lemons and limes.
• mineral-rich sea vegetables like kelp, nori, dulse, sea palm and sea lettuce
• Fats and oils like hemp oil, hemp seeds, avocado, olives and olive oil, sesame, pumpkin and almond oil, flax seed, and other nuts and seeds.
• cultured and fermented foods like apple cider vinegar, soy-free miso, raw sauerkraut, sprouted lentils and mung beans
• caffeine-free tea
• all herbs and spices
• Zero glycemic sweetners like xylitol (derived from Birch) and stevia, sweeteners that don't altering blood sugar levels.

Keep in mind too that your raw food you want to be living food. This is food that has not been heated above 115–118°F.
Above that and it becomes cooked food which destroys the enzymes.

Avoid a high-glycemic diet that includes white sugar, white flour, white rice, honey, maple syrup, alcohol, coffee, wheat, any junk food, and most fruit.
Most berries plus cherries, are moderate to low on the glycemic index.

If this seems like a rather radical diet, remember it will decrease your body weight, blood glucose and A1C levels will drop, improving glycemic control, which is good for Type II diabetes.

Another diet that helps people with Type II diabetes, allowing the body to maintain glucose levels at a low but healthy level is a diet that is low in carbohydrates. Being low in carbohydrates helps eliminate large spikes in blood sugar, reducing the need for insulin. Helping to regulate blood sugar levels plus a diet that helps to lose weight is good for reversing Type II diabetes.

Photo by Shanice Garcia on Unsplash

The Ketogenic Diet (Keto diet) - low in carbohydrates, moderate in protein and high in fats.

Following a keto diet, try for a daily calorie intake consisting of:
• 75-85% fat
• 10-20% protein
• 5% carbohydrate or <20-50g

I know, I know! We've been conditioned to think consuming high levels of fat is bad for us .

Let me let you in on some of the science behind the ketogenic diet and how it helps you lose weight and regulate you blood sugars.

First understand - “Ketogenesis” means “generating ketones”, which your body does naturally to generate energy from fat when carbohydrate sources are sufficiently low.

Will Little from KetoSchool.com describes the science behind the keto diet very well -

When on “normal” diets (eating more than 100g carbs a day), before sending excess energy to fat cells, your liver and muscles will store carbs in a relatively simple storage mechanism called glycogen
Your brain normally runs on ~100g of glucose per day, so when your liver isn’t able to pump out sufficient glucose for this requirement, it starts producing ketone bodies to get the job done
Under “normal” conditions, insulin helps glucose from the blood stream get into cells, where glucose is converted into pyruvate and sent into the citric acid cycle to generate energy
Then, all that NADH gets converted to ATP (our cells’ main energy source) via oxidative phosphorylation.
Now, when there’s not enough glucose around to generate Acetyl-CoA from pyruvate as shown above, then Acetyl-CoA is generated mostly from oxidizing fatty acids
This not only produces a good amount of ATP on its own, but the build-up of Acetyl-CoA in liver cells induces ketogenesis
If their concentration is high enough in the blood, some of these molecules are excreted in breath, sweat, and urine (hence the fruity smell of keto-dieting people during induction). But most of the acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate is sent from the liver around to other tissues, where they are reconverted to Acetyl CoA which then produces energy

One last thing about this, again from Will Little -

On a Keto diet hunger goes way down forcing more fat to come out of storage for energy than goes in. Mechanistically, without constant insulin spikes, your body can more easily take advantage of leptin-induced satiety.
With insulin levels relatively low on a regular basis, fat is pulled out of fat cells more readily and the body gets increasingly used to burning fat (consumed and stored) for energy.

So do you get the idea here?
You want to adapt your body to burning fat for energy and you do this by eliminating foods high in sugars (or glucose), carbohydrates, that could spike insulin levels then you want to eat more fatty foods. Again you want to avoid highly-processed foods and focus on minimally processed and real foods.

Transition over slowly and remember if you are on diabetes medication, insulin, or oral hypoglycemics, do it with medical supervision.

With this diet it is also important when you eat as well as what you eat. Once your body has adapted to this diet you will not feel hungry as often, you're taking advantage of the leptin-induced satiety, so let you're body rest with intermittent fasting, say 10 to 14 hours before you begin your eating period again. This is the time when your body heals.

Take into consideration too your metabolism, some are faster and some are slower. Also your activity levels or if you have endocrine problems. This will affect the amount of energy you will be expending and thus energy your body will need.

Now what to eat:

• Low carb vegetables: Any leafy green vegetable, Asparagus, Avocado, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumbers, Kale, Leeks, Mushrooms, Radishes, Sauerkraut, Scallions, Shallots, Snow Peas, Spinach, Sprouts
• Protein sources: Eggs: Eggs are low in carbohydrates as well as an excellent source of protein. Meats: Fatty meats are acceptable but avoid too much protein. Whey protein powders, hemp or other vegetable protein powders. Bone broths. Dairy products: Raw milk products are preferable. Be aware that dairy proteins (whey and casein) are insulinogenic (meaning they cause an insulin spike) in the body, so if you having trouble avoid them. Use full fat products. Creams, cheeses, Unsweetened whole milk yogurt.
• Healthy fat sources, such as avocados,avocado oil, nuts and seeds, olives, olive oil, coconut oil, Ghee, butter, tallow.

Give it a go and see if it works for you.
Here are some potential benefits you might gain from the Keto diet:
• Better blood sugar management
• Effective weight management
• A feeling of fullness (fewer cravings)
• More energy for cardio workouts

Also some people with Type II diabetes, may be able to reduce their medication with the ketogenic diet.