DIET
Diet of a diabetic patient does not need to be restrictive. The diet should rather be a one that is healthy, rich in nutrients, low in fat, low in calories, and alkaline in nature. A diet that facilitates diabetes reversal is the best eating plan for anyone to follow.
In modern diet, many items are taking a toll on health. To name a few...
Refined sugar: It has been proven over several studies that refined sugar causes insulin resistance and fatty liver. It has also been proven to have close links to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Whether you have diabetes or not if you want a healthy life you should try to avoid refined sugar.
Refined grains: Some studies similar to the one done by Dr. Barnard has proven that refined grain leads to rapid spikes in blood sugar, insulin resistance, and weight gain. You should avoid having refined grains as the first meal of your day.
Refined Oils: Refined oils are considered high in inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acids, these oils increase inflammation and oxidative damage. For a healthy body decrease inflammation and reduce oxidative damage by avoiding refined oils.
Trans Fats: The last but not the least on the list is trans fat. Trans fat is extremely harmful, man-made fats found in processed foods and linked to many serious diseases, especially heart disease. Trans fat also contributes to diabetes. By eliminating processed food and trans fat in your body, you will achieve better insulin sensitivity.
Low-fat plant based diet; also known as Vegan Diet has a profound impact on metabolic condition like Diabetes. Clinical researchers like Barnard, associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Director of Research at the Nutritional Research Foundation, have studied vegan diet for decades. And based on the studies they've conducted over the past few decades, there is conclusive proof that a vegan diet is three times more effective in controlling our blood sugar than other diets usually recommended for people with diabetes by doctors.
For those who are new to the vegan diet, it is a vegetarian diet that excludes animal products like meat, eggs, dairy and other animal derived ingredients. To understand why a vegan diet is so important in reversing diabetes we first need to understand the cause of diabetes and what affect animal products have on our body.
We all know diabetes is a type of a malfunction when our body is not able to use the sugar that is being formed as a result of digestion. Our blood sugar levels are dependent on the production of the hormone insulin from the pancreas. People who have type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant. Insulin helps in transporting glucose. The hormone binds to a receptor on the cell wall, opening a passage that allows glucose to enter the cell. The cell then metabolizes this glucose to use it as fuel to perform the various tasks assigned to it.
Dietary causes of diabetes are :
(1) Fat interfering with hormones,
(2) Acidic and inflamed system and
(3) Lack of micronutrients [vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, nutraceuticals, etc.].
If you can fix your diet to remove these three irritants, you will see significant improvement in your blood sugar levels. Based on clinical studies performed by Dr. Neal Barnard, by adopting a low-fat vegetarian diet free of all animal products and added vegetable oils individuals can lower their cholesterol, reduce their blood pressure, lose weight and attain better control over blood sugar. The reason is simple. A low-fat vegetarian diet (vegan diet without added vegetable oils) reduces the fat interfering with your hormones which will allow insulin that you naturally produce to bind properly to the cell wall opening passage to allow for glucose to enter the cell. A vegan diet is also naturally abundant in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Now if you focus on specific vegetables then you can also reduce the acidity in your body which will reduce the inflammation in your system while providing anti oxidants and nutraceuticals.
We typically start out the day with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning. Typically that is the first thing we consume on an empty stomach. Everyone including healthy individuals builds up acidity overnight. Both tea and coffee are acidic, so we increase our acidity by consuming tea or coffee first thing in the morning. Instead, the first thing you should do to start your day is to reduce the acidity buildup overnight with a nutrient dense green smoothie that will help alkalize your body. Recipe of this stunningly nutrient dense alkalizing green smoothie can be found here.
Food Preparation
Diabetes can be prevented and can be controlled or even reversed with healthy eating habits. One of the best ways of doing so is by practicing healthy eating habits is to know what you are putting in your body. It might also help if you make/cook your own food.
Here you will find easy to follow instructional videos on food preparations.
