Sorry for the long delay between posts. This article was really encouraging and I wanted to share with you all. Nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes with the vast majority of those people having type 2. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance. Once insulin resistance kicks in, there is a domino effect of physiological demise. Bad stuff happens; very bad. The nice part about type 2 diabetes is that is 100% manageable. Some diseases are very difficult to treat; diabetes is not one of them. In fact, you could even argue that up to a certain point, diabetes (type 2) is curable! That's what these researchers found. It was a very small sample size, but the results are not only encouraging but somewhat predictable.
Eleven volunteers were newly diagnosed diabetics. After following a 600 calorie per day diet for 8 weeks, there disease disappeared! Blood sugar levels returned to normal and the pancreas improved its appearance and function. Three months after the study was completed, 7 out of 11 were still diabetes free.
There are 2 ways to look at this. First, you could say that eating a 600 calorie per day diet is not realistic in the long run. The participants in this study consumed nothing but liquid drinks and non-starchy vegetables. It doesn't seem like a lot of fun so may have little application for real people in the long run. Who wants to live like that forever?
The other way to look at it (and the preferred way), is to understand that you can reverse early diabetes. While this study doesn't directly say the following, I would argue that even in severe diabetes, you can make the disease regress and dramatically improve the functioning of your body. Eat well. Food has enormous potential to heal you.
What would happen on a less restrictive diet coupled with regular walking? What about a 1200 calorie per day diet with a regular yoga class? 1400 calorie per day diet with resistance exercise and yoga together? The possibilities are endless.
You don't need to be on a liquid diet with lettuce and broccoli alone. You can eat tons of veggie and reasonable amounts of other real foods and still have the same effect. Perhaps it will be 9 weeks rather than the 8 weeks of this study. Perhaps it will take 4 months? But you will move in the right direction. That is a guarantee.
