Looking back, I am amazed to think how much of our food was from a package, which of course must be made in a plant.  Now four years after changing our diet and lifestyle, I feel so much healthier overall as we eat nearly all of our food from trees and plants rather than those manufactured in plants. I think the more we eat the right, fresh, organic, low glycemic, alkaline-forming vegetables, the better or health will be.

A group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has pinpointed a gene that confers diabetes susceptibility in obese mice. Published on October 6th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, this study also shows that its protein tomosyn-2 acts as a brake on insulin secretion from the pancreas.

“It’s too early for us to know how relevant this gene will be to human diabetes,” says Alan Attie, who leads the group, “but the concept of negative regulation is one of the most interesting things to come out of this study and that very likely applies to humans.”

In a properly tuned system, insulin secreted into the blood after eating helps maintain blood sugar at a safe level. Too little insulin (as in type 1 diabetes) or insulin resistance (as in type 2 diabetes) leads to high blood sugar and diabetic symptoms. Too much insulin can drive blood glucose dangerously low and lead to coma or even death. The group found tomosyn-2 while searching for genes that contribute to diabetes susceptibility in obese mice. Genetic analyses and comparisons of obese diabetes-resistant and diabetes-susceptible mouse strains revealed a single amino acid difference that destabilizes the tomosyn-2 protein in the diabetes-resistant mice, effectively releasing the brake on insulin secretion and allowing those animals to release enough insulin to avoid diabetes.

Though diabetes is highly unlikely to be caused by a single gene, identifying important biological pathways can suggest clinically useful targets. “This study shows the power of genetics to discover new mechanisms for a complex disease like type 2 diabetes,” concludes Sushant Bhatnagar, a co-lead author of the paper.

Health-e-Solutions comment: I am less enthusiastic about genetic research than other types of diabetes research. Genetic research usually leads to pharmacological manipulation of some process within the body. I would much prefer a more natural process where the body is put in a position of strength to heal itself. This is why we practice the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle.

Researchers in Japan have discovered how a patient’s neural stem cells could be used as an alternative source of the beta cells needed for a regenerative treatment for diabetes. The research, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, reveals how harvesting stem cells could overcome a lack of beta cell transplants from donors.

The research, led by Dr Tomoko Kuwabara from the AIST Institute in Tsukuba, Japan, focuses on developing methods for defining human stem cell differentiation, the process through which cells can be adapted to a specialized role, for use in cell replacement treatments.

“As diabetes is caused by the lack of a single type of cell the condition is an ideal target for cell replacement treatments,” said Kuwabara. “However donation shortages of pancreatic beta cells are a major hurdle to advancing this treatment. So a safe and easy way of using stem cells for obtaining new beta cells has been long awaited.”

The hippocampus and olfactory bulb, at the front of the brain provide an easily accessible tissue source for cells that could be transplanted directly into the pancreas. Normally neuronal cells do not produce high levels of insulin, pancreatic cells do.

However, once they had been transplanted into diabetic rats the cells not only started to express several key characteristics of pancreatic beta cells, but insulin production was increased and blood glucose levels were reduced. The removal of the transplant increased levels of blood glucose, revealing that transplanting neural stem cells into the pancreas could be an effective treatment for diabetes.

“The discovery of stem cells which have virtually unlimited self-renewal raises great expectations for their use in regenerative medicine. The isolation and cultivation of stem cells as a renewable source of beta cells would be a major breakthrough,” wrote Onur Basak and Hans Clevers, from the Hubrecht Institute for Development Biology and Stem Cell Research, in their close up paper, published in the same issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine.

“Dr Kuwabara’s team found that transplanting neural stem cells directly into the pancreas can unleash their intrinsic ability to act as critical regulators of insulin production, and most importantly they demonstrated that the cells could be gained from a patient without the need for genetic manipulation.”

“Our findings demonstrate the potential value of neural stem cells for treating diabetes without gene transfer,” concluded Kuwabara. “This presents an original strategy to overcome the donor shortage which has hindered cell replacement therapy.”

Health-e-Solutions comments: Now this is a novel and interesting approach that has promising potential. It solves the problem of exogenous cell transplant that then requires lifetime immunosuppressive drugs. The problem still remains about how to prevent any transplanted cells from being attacked, like the original beta cells were, by antibodies induced through an autoimmune response to as yet an unknown trigger or combination of triggers. This is where the diabetic alkaline lifestyle can possibly be helpful. It minimizes food antigen triggers by avoiding the usual food suspects and focusing on foods that heal.

In an hour-long interview with Dr. Rosedale, entitled Neurodegenerative Disease, Hormones and Diet, he summarizes what he discussed as follows:

Interviewer: There is an increasing rise in neurodegenerative diseases right now. That’s not what we want.

RON ROSEDALE: No, we don’t want diseases, period. Unfortunately, it is part of life. The major problem is not that we’re getting the diseases, but that we’re getting them more frequently and younger. The rise in these chronic diseases—in fact, virtually all chronic diseases—correlates with the patterns of dietary changes that we’ve been seeing, perhaps delayed by 20 or 30 years for the results of the dietary changes to actually manifest themselves. But I think there’s a strong link between diet, metabolism, and all of the chronic diseases of aging, including neurodegenerative diseases.

It basically boils down to one thing. If you just have to summarize all of this stuff we’ve been saying, you can make huge changes in your health if you switch from burning sugar to burning fat. The body functions really, really differently. You will be much healthier, you will improve your immune system function, not just in fighting infections and fighting cancer, but also preventing it from over-fighting, which would manifest as autoimmune diseases, by burning fat. It’s a totally different type of fuel. The body functions extremely different when you burn fat from when you burn sugar.

We were never designed to burn sugar extensively. It’s a major problem with the diseases of civilization. The whole world is primarily burning sugar as its primary fuel, and that has to do with what people are being fed and what the medical profession has told people to eat. The medical profession told people, “Don’t eat fat. Eat carbohydrates. Eat a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet.” That’s been their mantra over half a century. That’s been a killer. There has never been in the history of mankind worse advice than that. It was actually based on nothing. You don’t get any nutritional training in medical school, so why they said that in the first place is really beyond me. It was what I would call “kindergarten medicine.” They noticed fatty fats in arteries, so they said, “If you eat fat, it’s going to stick to your arteries and kill you.” And that’s literally what caused fat to be blamed for heart disease. No scientific merit, no studies, nothing really of substance to implicate that.

The body doesn’t work that way. The body is far more complex than that. The body is regulated by instructions and by signals, and if you have signals to build up plaque in your arteries, you’ll do it. If you have signals to burn fat or to burn sugar, you’ll do that. Your cells that line your arteries are living, and they can burn fat or sugar. If they’re burning fat, they’re going to keep themselves clean. Whether you burn fat or sugar is regulated by the same powerful hormones that regulate aging, leptin and insulin. It regulates all of the – since it affects and even controls, to a great extent, the rate of aging, it will affect those processes that also affect the rate of aging, such as immunity, autoimmunity, cancer, diabetes, overabundance or not of fat. Everything that we notice detrimental that happens when we age is going to be controlled by those hormones that are controlled by what we eat.

Dr. Rosedale also says:

The energy source we want our bodies to rely on is fat. Unfortunately, many people have a media ― or medical-induced fear of fat. This fear is misguided because society currently lumps fat into one dangerous category without looking at fats for their individual properties. While we are working on spreading the word, it is not yet common knowledge that certain fats in the right amount are good for you.

The fat we recommend you eat differs qualitatively from the usual fare of red meats, cheeses, and desserts. Those foods usually contain damaged or saturated fats. We recommend only what we consider “good” fats.

Remember that fat has always been and always will be essential for life. We need fat to nourish our immune system, nervous system, hormonal system, for skin integrity, to control inflammatory processes and don’t forget, to burn for energy.

Some examples of “good” fats include: raw nuts and seeds such as almonds, walnuts, macadamia, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, olives and olive oil, flax oil and cod liver oil.

Remember, fat and protein often come together in nature (eggs, fish, seeds, nuts, etc.) The avoidance of fat in your diet is typically an avoidance of protein as well, and the absence of these leads to many of the chronic degenerative diseases of life.

Health-e-Solutions comment: The diabetic alkaline lifestyle is a high healthy-fat, “right-carb” adequate protein diet that avoids all foods that are acid-forming in the body and those with high glycemic impact. What Dr. Rosedale discusses fits nicely within this lifestyle.

Most people with whom we talk think carbohydrates are essential and that fat is not. It is actually the opposite! Healthy fats are indispensable to the body’s proper function down to the cellular level.

• Discard anything that contains trans-fats, hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup, or added sugars.
• Replace high-fructose corn syrup-base condiments, spreads, and salad dressings with natural, organic alternatives.
• Discard items with artificial sweeteners.
• Place any “other family” treats, such as cookies and after-school snacks, far from view. Don’t have a cookie jar out on the counter unless you fill it with something from the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle, like our Zesty Crackers, large desiccated coconut flakes, almonds or walnuts.
• Replace sugary beverages (including fruit juices and sodas) with green drinks and fresh alkaline water – add a twist of lemon for taste. Have them visible and available when you open the refrigerator. Drink up all day long!
• Dump chips, crackers, cookies, ice cream, candy, and packaged sweets. Avoid having crunchy, salty chips/crackers, trail mix, pretzels, kettle corn, chocolate, and packaged snacks around to tempt you.

Our recipe e-books, workshops and home study course will teach you how to transform your lifestyle in a practical, livable way for long term sustainability.

“I have noticed an amazing difference in his blood sugar stability and fewer seizures. We went out of town last week for the day. I let him eat his usual travel fast food. His blood sugar went crazy and he had several seizures… I was so sad to see the old patterns come back but excited to see what I had been doing was helping.”

Comments like these are so satisfying to hear. They always encourage us, because we know the sacrifice and commitment it takes for a family to implement lifestyle changes. But is it such a great price to pay when you see results like these?

A compound found in garlic is the basis of a potential orally-available drug candidate for types 1 and 2 diabetes.

Diabetes incidence is increasing worldwide, and there is a continuing need to develop effective treatments. Existing treatments involve either injection with insulin (primarily for sufferers of type 1 diabetes), or treatment with drugs (for type 2 diabetes). However, says Hiromu Sakurai, of the Suzuka University of Medical Science, Japan, neither method is ideal, as they involve frequent injections, and the drugs have undesirable side-effects.

In earlier work, Sakurai’s group had shown that a complex of vanadium and allixin, a compound found in garlic, lowered blood glucose levels in mouse models of both types 1 and 2 diabetes and that the effect was maintained for type 2 model mice given the complex orally. In its latest study the team found that the orally administered complex also lowered glucose levels in type 1 model mice, offering hope for an injection-free treatment for people with type 1 diabetes.

The new study looked primarily at how the allixin complex works. By examining the effects of the complex on genes affected by diabetes, the researchers found that it activates not only the insulin signaling cascade, which regulates glucose metabolism, but also an enzyme that helps cells to absorb glucose.

John McNeill is a professor emeritus in the division of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He says that although other vanadium compounds have shown promise for the treatment of diabetes, this investigation is extensive and ‘adds significant information to our understanding of how vanadium compounds can affect both carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.’

The researchers say that the allixin and similar complexes could be good candidates for treating both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Future work, says Sakurai, will be aimed towards clinical trials of their complexes in human diabetes patients.

Health-e-Solutions comment: In the early stages of implementing the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle, we gave or boys a supplement of chromium/vanadium. This study seems to support its potential to lower blood glucose. We use garlic liberally in all of our salads and other recipes. There are many health benefits to garlic.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored normal blood sugar metabolism in diabetic mice using a compound the body makes naturally. The finding suggests that it may one day be possible for people to take the compound much like a daily vitamin as a way to treat or even prevent type 2 diabetes.

This naturally occurring compound is called nicotinamide mononucleotide, or NMN, and it plays a vital role in how cells use energy.

“After giving NMN, glucose tolerance goes completely back to normal in female diabetic mice,” says Shin-ichiro Imai, MD, PhD, associate professor of developmental biology. “In males, we see a milder effect compared to females, but we still see an effect. These are really remarkable results. NMN improves diabetic symptoms, at least in mice.”

Imai says this discovery holds promise for people because the mechanisms that NMN influences are largely the same in mice and humans.

All cells in the body make NMN in a chain of reactions leading to production of [Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide] NAD, a vital molecule that harvests energy from nutrients and puts it into a form cells can use. Among other things, NAD activates a protein called SIRT1 that has been shown to promote healthy metabolism throughout the body, from the pancreas to the liver to muscle and fat tissue.

According to the study, aging and eating a high-fat diet reduce production of NMN, slowing the body’s production of NAD and leading to abnormal metabolic conditions such as diabetes. NAD cannot be given to the mice directly because of toxic effects. But after administering NMN, levels of NAD rise and the diabetic mice show dramatically improved responses to glucose. In some cases, they return to normal.

“I’m very excited to see these results because the effect of NMN is much bigger than other known compounds or chemicals,” says first author Jun Yoshino, MD, PhD, postdoctoral research associate. “Plus, the fact that the body naturally makes NMN is promising for translating these findings into humans.”

Imai and his colleagues found that young, healthy mice on a high-fat diet developed diabetes in six months or less. In these mice, they found that NAD levels were reduced. But after administering NMN, levels of NAD increased and the female mice had normal results in glucose tolerance tests. Glucose tolerance was also improved after male diabetic mice received NMN but did not quite return to normal.

In an interesting twist, few elderly female mice developed diabetes at all. But after switching to a high fat diet, older female mice quickly developed severe diabetes.

“Again, when we injected these females with NMN, we came up with a completely normal glucose tolerance curve,” Mills says. “We can also see that the NMN has completely reversed and normalized the levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and free fatty acids.”

Though the mice received NMN by injection in this study, Imai’s group is now conducting a long-term study of diabetic mice that get NMN dissolved in their drinking water. Imai calls this work a first step toward a possible “nutriceutical” that people could take almost like a vitamin to treat or even prevent type 2 diabetes.

Health-e-Solutions comment: This is a very interesting study. In the early stages of implementing the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle, we gave or boys a supplement of niacinamide (another name for nicotinamide), a form of vitamin B3. We still rotate on and off of this supplement. This study would seem to support this supplement as being efficacious. Even though the focus in this study was type 2 diabetes, it may also have an impact on type 1 diabetes.

While the study does not specify the type of fat used in the diet of these mice to induce diabetes, it is almost certainly saturated animal fats and trans fats from hydrogenated oils. They are linked to elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and free fatty acids.

Many health conditions are preventable by living a healthy lifestyle. You cannot control your genetic makeup, age, or gender. However, by controlling your health, you can lower your risk of future disease and help manage and fight already formed diseases.

Pattiy Hill was a yo-yo dieter who rarely exercised. She was diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and joint problems. Hill was 51 years old and fading fast.

“I had been fat for so long,” Hill told Ivanhoe. “I wanted to live, and I knew fat people don’t grow old.”

At 280 pounds, Hill wanted a do-over.

“We get a do-over,” Michael Roizen, M.D., Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic, told Ivanhoe. “If you change your habits now, within three years, it’s like you only had the healthy habit.”

You can also change the way your genes function. “Just changing your habits changes whether your genes are on or off,” Dr. Roizen said.

Eating three quarters of a cup of broccoli four times a week turns on the GSTM1 gene. That gene makes a protein that kills prostate, breast and colon cancer cells.  “You get to turn on a gene that helps you kill those cancers with something as simple as having broccoli,” Dr. Roizen said.

About 12 walnut halves a week doubles the amount of Omega-three that most of us have. “It decreases the risk of stroke or heart attack by 62 percent,” Dr. Roizen said.

Avoiding saturated fat in beef, pork, poultry, butter and cream also turns off aging genes.

Hill lost 136 pounds the old-fashioned way. In 13 months, she cut her body fat from 60 percent to 20 percent and went from a size 24 to a slender size four.  “I looked at it as a way to help myself rather than depriving myself,” Hill explained.

Hill is now free of diabetes. Her high blood pressure and high cholesterol are gone along with her joint pain.  “It’s turned my life around 100 percent,” Hill said. “I feel so healthy now, and I am so healthy now.”

If you’re using money or insurance as an excuse, think again. Hill lost all her weight while she was uninsured. The only money she spent was on a gym membership. The savings on her medications she used to take has more than paid for that.

Health-e-Solutions comment: The diabetic-alkaline lifestyle is definitely a healthier lifestyle than what the vast majority of people live in this country. It focuses on healthy vegetables and fruits low in glycemic load. If simply eating broccoli on a regular basis can help prevent the most common cancers, then I am going to eat broccoli!

Our recipe e-books, workshops and home study course will teach you how to transform your lifestyle in a practical, livable way for long term sustainability.

(Excerpt)

Most people consider it common knowledge that healthy food is expensive and unhealthy food is cheap. But for most people it does not need to be this way. You may be able to save money.

How? In a nut shell, by cooking more at home. If you have properly set up your kitchen you will find it can actually take less time to cook a healthy meal than it does to place and fill your order at most fast food restaurants.

Every penny counts in this brutal economy. Here are a few tricks you can use to save a buck and get a little healthier too.

1. Cook at home - The most important change to make to save money is to turn cooking at home into your default option rather than rely on neighborhood eateries as your go-to cop out.
2. Shop Regularly - If you already have fresh food in the fridge you will be more motivated to cook for yourself instead of going out and spending money.
3. Shop seasonally - When choosing what to eat, taste trumps health 90% of the time. If you really want to start eating healthy you must want to eat vegetables, and that will only happen if the ones you buy taste delicious. Seasonal, farm fresh produce can completely change how you feel about vegetables and fruits – it also tends to be the best deal in the produce section.
4. Shop at the farmers market - Rather than handing over your whole paycheck or settling for less than inspiring options at a chain grocery store, do your weekly produce shopping at your local farmers market. If you shop intelligently (see below) you can get 2 meals for the cost of one burrito.
5. Focus on leafy greens - Leafy greens like kale, chard, collards, spinach and broccoli are some of the most nutritious, least expensive things you can buy. It also takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. Can you beat that?
6. 6.     Buy in bulk – Whenever you can buy in bulk you will save money so long as you can use it all before it spoils. You can buy REAL Salt in bulk comparatively for pennies on the dollar.
7. Eat less meat - This is probably the easiest way to save money. Whether at the grocery store or at restaurants meat is always the most expensive thing on the menu. The diabetic alkaline diet avoids meat altogether for the first 6 months to a year. Even now, we eat meat sparingly.  Once on the transition diet, limiting meat to once or twice a week is an easy way to cut back on both calories (if that is an issue) and expenses.
8. Think long term - I am not arguing that buying every single food item at the farmers market is the cheapest way to shop, but it is almost certainly the healthiest. Our hedonistic tendencies may incline us toward cheap, greasy foods but you should consider what you are really paying for in the long run. Poor diet can be attributed to most cases of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer and a generally difficult, painful life. And I probably don’t need to convince you that a farm fresh salad costs less than a hospital trip and a lifetime of medication. Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive, but unhealthy eating can cost you your life.

What are your favorite money saving tips for healthy eating?

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We hope your Valentine’s day is filled with the love of family and close friends. It is our desire that it also be filled with delicious, healthy food that keeps your blood sugars under control and your day running smoothly.

You will love the wide assortment of free recipes on our web site. You can also review the selection of recipe e-books we have available to help you on your way to better living. We are sure they will help you sustain the natural, healthy, diabetic-alkaline lifestyle.

Chocolate is clearly one of the most enjoyed foods on the planet, and has one of the oldest documented histories of use going back to 1100 BC. And yet many still harbor guilt about consuming it because they associate it with “candy” and have never been exposed to the research indicating it may actually be closer to a “medicine.”

Now, new research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has revealed that the consumption of chocolate, or its active constituents (cocoa, flavan-3-ols), reduces a broad range of risk factors for cardiovascular disease including insulin resistance. The researchers looked at 42 acute and long-term studies and found a 33% median reduction in insulin resistance following chocolate consumption. What is so unique about this new study is that chocolate consumption is generally believed to elevate blood sugar and blood insulin levels; not only does it disprove this myth but it sheds additional light on why chocolate consumption (especially dark, organic) may be beneficial in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

This comes in the wake of over a decade worth of research showing that chocolate and/or cocoa lowers blood pressure, prevents or ameliorates endothelial dysfunction (a primary contributor to atherosclerosis), protects against coronary artery disease, reduces stroke risk, prevents cholesterol oxidation (which converts healthy lipoproteins into atherogenic ones), to name only 5 of 70+ potential health benefits associated with its regular consumption.

Any serious discussion on the medicinal properties of chocolate should be qualified by pointing out that non-organic cocoa may also contain residues of the dangerous herbicide glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup), among many other biocides used in conventional farming, so the consumer must take special care to avoid this.  Also, because chocolate has complex pharmacologically active properties, it must be consumed in moderation, and with attention paid towards the tendency for using it to self-medicate, especially when the cocoa content is lower and the sugar content higher.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Cocoa is very acidic and high in caffeine content. The only way it makes sense to incorporate it into the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle is in small quantities on rare occasions using organic, unsweetened cocoa and then sweetening it with pure stevia (no additives). Our recipe for Dark chocolate candy is an example of this.

After the “something is wrong” incident, we searched for several months and finally found a wonderful naturopathic doctor (ND) to follow our two boys. If you can find one that sees type 1 diabetic patients, I recommend you interview them to see if they would be a good fit for your overall care.

We have two NDs; one who no longer takes any new patients (too busy), and another who is an expert in diabetes, nutrition and gastroenterology. She even teaches endocrinologists how to dose for insulin when it is needed. Her name is Dr. Mona Morstein. Her info is on the resource page of our web site in case anybody needs a good doctor.

Naturopathic Philosophy

(Excerpt)

Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are primary care physicians clinically trained in natural therapeutics and whose philosophy is derived in part from a Hippocratic teaching more than 2000 years old: Vis mediatrix naturae – Nature is the healer of all diseases.

Their practice is based on the same basic bio-medical science foundation that allopathic practice is; however, their philosophies and approaches differ considerably from their conventional counterparts. Naturopathic doctors diagnose disease and treat patients by using natural modalities such as physical manipulation, clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, counseling, acupuncture, and hydrotherapy, among others. They choose treatment based on the individual patient, not based on the generality of symptoms. This approach has proven successful in treating both chronic and acute conditions.

The six principles that guide the therapeutic methods and modalities of Naturopathic medicine include:

First Do No Harm - primum non nocere – Naturopathic medicine uses therapies that are safe and effective.

Our experience is they put their money where their mouth is on this principle by how they practice medicine.

The Healing Power of Nature - vis medicatrix naturae – The human body possesses the inherent ability to restore health. The physician’s role is to facilitate this process with the aid of natural, nontoxic therapies.

Allopathic doctors will agree with this principle, but we find that naturopathic doctors develop treatment plans that are actually more in line with facilitating the body’s inherent ability to restore health.

Discover and Treat the Cause, Not Just the Effect - tolle causam – Physicians seek and treat the underlying cause of a disease. Symptoms are viewed as expressions of the body’s natural attempt to heal. The origin of disease is removed or treated so the patient can recover.

This is a big departure from standard allopathic care in our opinion. Treating symptoms is important, but treating the cause is more important, so far as it can be done. This area has not been explored sufficiently in standard care medicine.

Treat the Whole Person - tolle totum – The multiple factors in health and disease are considered while treating the whole person. Physicians provide flexible treatment programs to meet individual health care needs.

We have found this to be an important principle in the treatment of our boys over the last few years. One doctor – one appointment – one treatment plan. We know this is not always possible for everybody, but a naturopath may come the closest to providing this for you.

The Physician is a Teacher – docere – The physician’s major role is to educate, empower, and motivate patients to take responsibility for their own health. Creating a healthy, cooperative relationship with the patient has a strong therapeutic value.

Now this is where there becomes a huge departure from standard allopathic care. It is usually difficult to spend more time than the allotted 15 minutes, especially if you are going to ask questions about nutrition’s impact on your disease. Our experience with naturopathis doctors has been nothing but positive in their willingness to sit and answer all of our MANY questions.

Prevention is the best “cure” – praevenire – Naturopathic physicians are preventive medicine specialists. Physicians assess patient risk factors and heredity susceptibility and intervene appropriately to reduce risk and prevent illness. Prevention of disease is best accomplished through education and a lifestyle that supports health.

Prevention: What a novel concept! While allopathic medicine is coming around slowly to the idea of preventative medicine, naturopaths are well ahead in this area.

I know this post sounds like a shameless plug for NDs, but this is a health tip worthy of a little more ink. Of course there are good NDs and not so good ones, just like there are good allopathic doctors and not so good ones. We think it would be good for you to consider looking for one of the good naturopathic physicians in your area. Look for those with expertise in the area of diabetes, and particularly type 1 diabetes if that is your diagnosis.

Researchers are baffled by the worldwide increase in type 1 diabetes, the less common form of the disease.

For reasons that are completely mysterious, the incidence of type 1 diabetes has been increasing throughout the globe at rates that range from 3 to 5 percent a year. Although the second trend is less well publicized, it is still deeply troubling, because this form of the illness has the potential to disable or kill people so much earlier in their lives.

No one knows exactly why type 1 diabetes is rising. Solving that mystery—and, if possible, reducing or reversing the trend—has become an urgent problem for public health researchers everywhere. So far they feel they have only one solid clue.

“Increases such as the ones that have been reported cannot be explained by a change in genes in such a short period,” says Giu­seppina Imperatore, who leads a team of epidemiologists in the Division of Diabetes Translation at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “So environmental factors are probably major players in this increase.”

A Challenge of Counting

The first strong signal that the incidence of type 1 diabetes was on the rise came in 2006, from a World Health Organization project known as DIAMOND (a combination of words in several languages for worldwide diabetes). That survey, which looked at 10 years of records from 112 diabetes research centers in 57 countries, found that type 1 had risen an average of 5.3 percent a year in North America, 4 percent in Asia and 3.2 percent in Europe.

Statistics from Europe—where the single-payer health care systems that care for residents throughout their lives generate rich stores of data—back up that first finding. In 2009 researchers from a second project called EURODIAB compared diabetes incidence across 17 countries and found not only that type 1 was rising—by 3.9 percent a year on average—but also that it was increasing most quickly among children younger than five. By 2020, they predicted, new cases of type 1 diabetes in that age group will nearly double, from 3,600 children to an estimated 7,076 children.

Competing Hypotheses

The challenge for explaining the rising trend in type 1 diabetes is that if the increases are occurring worldwide, the causes must also be. So investigators have had to look for influences that stretch globally and consider the possibility that different factors may be more important in some regions than in others.

The list of possible culprits is long. Researchers have, for example, suggested that gluten, the protein in wheat, may play a role because type 1 patients seem to be at higher risk for celiac disease and the amount of gluten most people consume (in highly processed foods) has grown over the decades. Scientists have also inquired into how soon infants are fed root vegetables. Stored tubers can be contaminated with microscopic fungi that seem to promote the development of diabetes in mice.

None of those lines of research, though, have returned results that are solid enough to motivate other scientists to stake their careers on studying them. So far, in fact, the search for a culprit resembles the next-to-last scene in an Agatha Christie mystery—the one in which the detective explains which of the many suspects could not possibly have committed the crime.

The last scene in the drama, unfortunately, still has not been written. Currently the suspects getting the closest scrutiny are infections with bacteria, viruses or parasites. The presumptive etiology: a version of the “hygiene hypothesis” that links clean modern lifestyles and allergies.

The diabetes version of the hygiene hypothesis proposes that when the immune system learns not to overreact to allergens, it also learns to tolerate compounds from the body’s own tissues—and therefore prevents the autoimmune attack that destroys the ability to make insulin.

Some circumstantial evidence supports that proposal. Children with multiple siblings—who might bring infections home from day care or school—are less likely to be hospitalized for type 1 diabetes (a proxy measure for incidence). The disease is also less common in children who attend day care themselves, and it is more common in specially bred mice that do not encounter infections because they are raised in a sterile environment.

Back to Fat

Recently the search for a cause behind the rise of type 1 diabetes has taken an unexpected turn. Some investigators are reconsidering the role of an old adversary: being overweight or obese.

This idea, called the accelerator or overload hypothesis, proposes that “if you have a kid who is chubby, that extra adiposity is going to challenge the pancreatic beta cells,” says Rebecca Lipton, an emeritus professor at the University of Chicago. “In a child who has already started the autoimmune process, those beta cells are just going to fail more quickly, because they are being forced to put out more insulin than in a thin child.”

Overweight makes a logical perpetrator. People are packing on the pounds in rich countries and poor ones. Of course, investigators want to do more than just to explain the rise of type 1 diabetes; they want to prevent it. Unfortunately, if excess weight is a major contributor to the problem, that task will not be easy. No one, so far, has been able to slow the global obesity epidemic. (By 2048, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University, all American adults will be at least overweight if present trends continue.) Until societies can ensure that most children (not to mention adults) are more physically active, eat healthfully and maintain a normal weight, diabetes researchers will be in the position of detectives who, having solved a murder, realize they can do nothing to prevent the next one.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Lots of suspects, but alas, not enough clues to solve the mystery yet. Until the mystery is solved, we will continue to practice the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle in an effort to limit the environmental and dietary factors that may be involved.

Our recipe e-books, workshops and home study course will teach you how to transform your lifestyle in a practical, livable way for long term sustainability and better living. You will enjoy a natural way to help manage type 1 and type 2 diabetes with healthy, alkaline-forming, low-glycemic foods.

Researchers have shown that fisetin, a type of flavonoid found in strawberries and to a lesser extent in other foods, reduces neurologic complications and kidney damage in type 1 diabetes. The research, suggests that fisetin may reduce diabetes complications by protecting nerve cells from toxic insults and by direct effects of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.

Fisetin, or a synthetic version of it, might eventually be used to treat patients with diabetes, said corresponding author, Pamela Maher, PhD, senior staff scientist at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

“A compound that could reduce some or all of these complications has a real potential for improving quality of life for people with diabetes,” Dr. Maher said.

The fisetin flavonoid is found in highest quantities (160 μg/g) in strawberries, but even that isn’t very much. Fisetin is also found, although in 5- to 10-fold lower levels, in apples and persimmons and even smaller amounts in kiwi fruit, peaches, grapes, tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Organic strawberries are nutritious, but they are too high on the glycemic index for most diabetics to tolerate well. You would have to consume large quantities of strawberries in order to obtain the benefits, and that is not advisable for well-controlled blood sugars. The healthful effects identified in this article can also be obtained through the other foods on the diet. There are plenty of other foods on the diabetic alkaline lifestyle that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Vitamin B12 is a nutrient found naturally in animal products such as meat, fish and eggs. The nutrient is perhaps best known for its relationship with a condition known as ‘pernicious anaemia’ – a form of anaemia caused by B12 deficiency which itself is caused by impaired absorption of B12 from the gut.

However, for some time now there has been specific interest in the role the B12 plays in brain function. In particular, B12 deficiency is believed to play a potential role in the declining brain function (cognitive impairment) often seen in aging.

One of the proposed mechanisms here concerns ‘homocysteine’ – an amino acid that is linked with adverse effects on health including cardiovascular issues such as heart disease and stroke. Low levels of B12 can cause raised levels of homocysteine (as can low levels of other nutrients including folic acid and vitamin B6). Measuring homocysteine levels is sometimes used as a proxy for B12 status.

In a study published in the journal Neurology, vitamin B12 levels and brain structure and function was assessed in a group of individuals aged 65 or more. B12 status was assessed with five tests including homocysteine levels and serum (blood) B12 levels. Four and a half years later, the individuals were assessed via tests for cognitive function as well as MRIs of the brain.

In general, tests which indicated low B12 status (e.g. raised homocysteine levels) were associated with lower cognitive function tests scores and smaller brain volume. This was true for all of the 5 markers for B12 except serum B12 levels.

What this evidence suggests is that B12 may have an important role to play in the ageing brain, and that assessing levels via the standard blood test is not particularly useful.

The absorption of B12 is a quite complex process, and aging may well lead to an impairment of B12 absorption and increase the risk of deficiency. There is a risk, of course, that using the most common test for B12 levels (serum B12) runs the risk of missing genuine B12 deficiency. The end result might be someone languishing in a B12-deficient state, which may have profound implications for their health and wellbeing.

Health-e-Solutions comment: We take a vitamin B-12 supplement because the diabetic alkaline lifestyle limits meat consumption to avoid the negative health consequences associated with an overly acidic diet and lifestyle. Methylcobalamin (not cyanocobalamin) is said to be the best form of B-12, so look for this in any B-12 supplement you purchase. Be sure to read the label for flavors, fillers, preservatives, sugar and sweeteners. There are many B-12 supplements on the shelves of health food stores with too many of these in them.

Click here to sign up for this opportunity. As a reward for acting promptly, she is offering the first 30 people to sign up a FREE individual consultation with her for 1 ½ hours, by phone or by Skype, which normally costs $100 or £60.

This membership program will give you all the information, support and encouragement you need to:

• Achieve normal average blood sugar levels
• Have stable blood sugar levels and avoid nasty hypos
• Avoid long term health complications
• Reduce or reverse any current complications

And, for those with type 1 diabetes:

• Significantly reduce the amount of insulin you need per day, potentially by more than half

Plus, if you have type 2 diabetes:

• Get off medications
• Be able to reverse the diabetes!

Click here to sign up. Sign up now to secure the bonus individual consultation with Katherine, which is limited to the first 30 people to sign up.

Katherine’s offer will only be open at this price for the next 5 days.  She won’t offer the program to new members again for several months and she tells me that when she does, it will be at a higher price, so seize this great opportunity to become radiantly healthy

I do not share the concern that eating more healthy food and less unhealthy food might harm my children. I do, however, have a concern that the standard American diet is going to do harm to them. I have an even greater concern over uncontrolled blood sugars. The consequences of hyper- and hypoglycemia, as well as hyperinsulinemia have been well documented in countless studies.

Some people may have controlled their blood sugars well without changing their lifestyles as much as we have. That is great. The diabetic-alkaline lifestyle has done the same, but with even better results for our two boys – it has done the same for others. Nearly everyone who implements this lifestyle see at least some benefit toward more stable blood sugars.

We remain vigilant with our boys. We eat the same as they do. We are “all in” with this lifestyle. So do we believe it is harming them? Not at all!

A new study found that plant based diets are a fundamental solution to our public health crisis, especially with some of the most serious and debilitating illnesses. The physicians at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute found that the frequency and the cost of many illnesses, including obesity, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, can be considerably reduced just by switching to a whole food, nutrient dense, plant-based diet that doesn’t include meat or dairy. Sometimes, the diseases were reversed just with these diet changes too.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, who led the study, said: “We are potentially on the cusp of what could be a seismic revolution in health. This will never come about from another pill, another procedure, another operation, or construction of another cardiac cathedral. It will come about when we are able to show the public the lifestyle that will halt and eliminate 75% of these common, chronic killing diseases. The most essential component of this lifestyle is whole food plant-based nutrition.”

This is foundational for a population that often eats meat and dairy daily and also one that often has one health problem or another. It’s also eye opening for people who still believe that medical doctors have the health care answers, even though medical doctors are often only required to take one nutrition class (and that class is often about how foods and drugs interact). That seems to be lacking quite a bit when dietary changes can reverse and eliminate 75% of the most serious problems – and most people get the serious problems after having several smaller problems.

Dr. Esselstyn initiated this study to treat seriously ill patients with coronary artery disease with plant-based nutrition, and he generally succeeded in the reversal or removal of their disease.

According to Esselstyn, “Patients lose weight, blood pressure normalizes, and type 2 diabetes improves or resolves, as does angina, erectile dysfunction, and peripheral vascular and carotid disease.” He also added that today’s adolescents are but a decade or two away from compounding our healthcare epidemic.

Of course, the best time to start a dietary program that has the potential to change the quality of your future is always today. While adding tons of fruits and veggies to your diet and dropping the meat and dairy can reverse many diseases, it’s also definitely better to just avoid the disease route all together. Many people who practice this type of diet also find that they feel better emotionally and have better energy, which just equates to a better overall quality of life too.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Kudos to Dr. Esselstyn for his study! The diabetic alkaline lifestyle has proven to be life-changing for our family, including our 2 type 1 diabetic boys who seem to have reversed their disease progression and now have near-normal insulin production. We see no reason to “go back” to the lifestyle that may have played a role in precipitating their disease.

Two new studies into the potential health benefits of eating almonds have supported evidence that they can help people with type 2 diabetes to maintain their blood glucose and cholesterol levels…

One of the studies, published in the journal, Metabolism, showed that consuming an ounce of almonds straight before eating a high-starch meal brought a 30 per cent reduction in post-meal glucose levels for patients with type 2 diabetes, compared with a 7 per cent reduction for non-diabetics. In addition, after overnight fasting, patients with type 2 diabetes whose meal contained almonds had a lowering of blood sugar levels after their meal.

The effect of regular almond consumption on blood glucose levels for people with type 2 diabetes was also investigated, with the daily consumption of one ounce of almonds over a 12-week period being associated with a 4 per cent reduction in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and the same reduction in body mass index (BMI).

The second study, which was published in Diabetes Care, revealed that nuts such as almonds could help to maintain healthy levels of blood glucose and cholesterol for both men and post-menopausal women who suffer from type 2 diabetes.

Karen Lapsley, chief science officer for the Almond Board of California, commented “Those with diabetes are faced with many challenges with their disease management, which is why we are always energized when new research is published that supports our understanding of almonds’ role in helping alleviate some of the difficulties.”

Health-e-Solutions comment: These studies focus on Type 2 diabetes. However we have seen the same effects in our two type 1 diabetic boys. Almonds are also concentrated in protein. A quarter-cup contains 7.62 grams -”more protein than is provided by the typical egg, which contains 5.54 grams. The diabetic alkaline lifestyle incorporates almonds and other nuts as an important part of the diet.

Our recipe e-books, workshops and home study course will teach you how to transform your lifestyle in a practical, livable way for long term sustainability.

Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids is crucial for the development and maintenance of the brain and nervous system, especially in young children. And a new study published in the journal Pediatrics adds to this, having found that pregnant women who supplement with Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) during their pregnancies produce children that are much healthier and less prone to sickness than those born to women who do not supplement with, or otherwise consume enough, DHA.

An Emory University study published online in Pediatrics suggests consuming Omega 3 fatty acids during pregnancy helps protects babies against illness during early infancy. Researchers found those whose mothers took DHA supplements had fewer colds and shorter illnesses at one, three and six months of age.

“This is a large scale, robust study that underscores the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy,” says Usha Ramakrishnan, PhD, associate professor, Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health. “Our findings indicate that pregnant women taking 400 mg of DHA are more likely to deliver healthier infants.”

At one month of age, the infants in the DHA group experienced a reduced occurrence of cold symptoms by 25 percent, including a shorter duration of cough, phlegm and wheezing. At age three months, the infants in the DHA group spent 14 percent less time ill. At six months of age, infants in the DHA group experienced shorter duration of fever, nasal secretion, difficulty breathing and rash, though longer duration of vomiting.

Ramakrishnan and her colleagues have previously reported findings that show offspring of women pregnant with their first child who received 400 mg DHA during pregnancy delivered babies who were 100 grams heavier at birth and 3/4 cm longer at 18 months of age.

Health-e-Solutions comment: The benefits of omega 3 fatty acids just keep rolling in. Our diabetic-alkaline lifestyle provides us with abundant, healthy fats and oils. Even so, we still supplement with essential fatty acids such as DHA and EPA. You should consider doing the same.

Our recipe e-books, workshops and home study course will teach you how to transform your lifestyle in a practical, livable way for long term sustainability. We believe this lifestyle has resulted in better health and blood sugar control in our two boys with type one diabetes.

Technically, this recipe should have little or no glycemic impact. However, as usual you should check blood sugars before and after for individual responses. We will be making these as a special treat on Valentine’s Day.

You must log in to your Health-e-Solutions free member account to download this recipe. Once logged in, look for it under “Recipes” on our Free Recipes page

If already logged in, click here to download the recipe

Daigan’s Story:

Our son, Daigan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) on April 21st, 2010 when he was 6.5 years old.  Our whole family was shocked, as we have no known family history of diabetes.

His symptomatology started around mid-March when Daigan was complaining of extreme thirst and frequent urination at least 4-5 times a night.  When we went to the pediatrician in April for another issue, I mentioned the thirst and frequent urination.  The pediatrician tested his blood sugar, and it was over 300!   We were told he has T1D and we needed to go to the children’s diabetic clinic at the hospital immediately.

At the hospital they tested his blood sugar with long needles all through the day and night for three miserable days.  They checked his thyroid and tested for celiac disease and pancreatitis.  Everything was normal except for his blood sugar levels. Daigan was immediately put on insulin.  We were told that we were lucky that he was only sick for about a month prior to arriving at the hospital, and that his hemoglobin A1C was only 9.

The next morning at the hospital, we attended a parent training course on how to check blood sugar and administer insulin.  What a horrible experience.  There was another boy, around 15-16 years of age with his mother who was also recently diagnosed. He looked very thin and not well.  He was eating potato chips during the training session.  He was told that he can eat whatever he wants as long as he counts his carbs and takes insulin (consistent with ADA advice).  At the follow up session, a registered dietician with diabetes training, also repeated the same message – give him whatever he wants and just count the carbs and take insulin.

When we arrived at home, Daigan was a basket case.  It took us 1.5 hours just to be able to give him a shot of insulin.  He was scared and crying all the time (as were his parents).  We were told that we should count carbs at every meal and then give him a shot of Humalog fast acting insulin.  At night we would additionally have to give him a shot of Lantus long acting insulin.  For about three months he was getting 3-4 shots of insulin a day. On a vacation, he became lethargic and could barely walk. His blood sugar was low so we gave him pasta to bring it up. Then, the blood sugar became too high, so we had to give him more insulin to bring it down.

I was depressed and crying every day.  However, I was not going to give up on finding a better solution.    It did not make sense to me to feed Daigan excessive carbs, knowing that his body could not metabolize them well.  Each day I did excessive research on the internet, trying to delineate potentially dangerous recommendations for treating T1D, from those that seemed plausible (even if not formally proven to be beneficial in clinical trials). One day I came across Gabriel and Nathan’s story. I read about their incredible mother Sally and how she was not willing to give up and she put them on a special diet that helped both boys alleviate dependence on insulin. I immediately emailed Sally and we set a phone conversation.   She was very encouraging and warm. She explained about the food and supplement plan she had developed.

I placed Daigan on a diabetic diet with similarities to Sally’s plan, in July of 2010 and within a week he no longer required insulin injections.   His A1C decreased to 5.2 in September 2010 and to 4.9 in December 2010.  We were very happy with Daigan’s progress.  At one point, we received the bizarre advice from a diabetologist to give him more carbohydrate-rich foods so that we could continue to give him insulin, so that we would not give him a false sense of hope that he would not need insulin in the future.

Our challenges started in February 2011, when he got sick (high fever) and his fasting blood sugar hovered around 120 in the morning. Ironically, Daigan got sick while attending Sally and Dan’s informative seminar in Phoenix (it was great to meet their family and other attendees).  His A1C climbed to 5.7 in April 2011 (difficult to know if sickness was implicated in this rise as diabetes is a progressive and sometime unpredictable disease to manage).  Daigan got a stomach virus in May 2011 and his blood sugar started climbing.  In September 2011 his A1C rose to 7.3 and by October 2011 it was 7.7.  I spoke with Sally who provided a whole list of new helpful suggestions.   We tried to lower his carb load, but the blood sugar would still rise in the evening and be too high in the morning. We were facing another problem in that Daigan is a very picky eater (although to his credit, he had adapted to eating new and healthy foods that were not a part of his pre-diabetic pizza- and pasta-rich diet).  He stared losing weight following the implementation of these new dietary modifications, and we had no choice but to return Daigan to the previous dietary plan, and start giving him one shot of Lantus in the evening.   We also tested him for the four major antibodies.  We had to fight with our endocrinologist to have these antibody tests performed.  She said “why do you need to know this information; it will not change the treatment regimen”.  Our insurance company covered the costs of having these tests performed, but I suppose her logic was that we are nevertheless wasting time and money.  Daigan tested positive for GAD65, ICA512 and AI2 in the summer of 2011. We will retest for antibodies again in a few years. Currently, his blood sugar is becoming more stable and there are days when he does not need any insulin.

We are grateful that his pancreas still makes insulin and the combination of a low carbohydrate and low glycemic diet with nightly insulin keeps him healthy, active and growing, without observable hypo- and hyperglycemic bouts.  His fasting C-peptide values were 0.5 ng/mL in August 2010 and 0.8 ng/mL in August 2011.   We are planning to retest him for C-peptide in Spring of 2012.   We believe that with his high titers of auto-antibodies, Daigan’s condition would have been worse without the implementation of a special diet, and his C-peptide levels lower. We are hoping that one day Daigan will go back to not requiring any insulin injections. Thank you Sally and Dan for always being available to give us advice and emotional support as we manage this very serious metabolic disease.

Center (SFGH) and Columbia University have analyzed the effect of a nationwide tax on these sugary drinks.

They estimate slapping a penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages would prevent nearly 100,000 cases of heart disease, 8,000 strokes, and 26,000 deaths over the next decade.

“You would also prevent 240,000 cases of diabetes per year,” said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine and of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF and acting director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at the UCSF-affiliated SFGH.

U.S. Consumption of Sweet Beverages

• 13.8 billion: Number of gallons consumed in 2009
• 45: Number of gallons consumed annually per person
• 17: Number of teaspoons of sugar in a typical 22-oz soda
• 70,000: Number of calories average person consumes per year in sweet drinks

Source: HealthAffairs

Diabetes in the United States

• 25.8 million: Number of people who have diabetes
• 8.3: Percentage of population affected
• 174 billion: Annual cost in dollars of diabetes
• 7: Ranking on list of leading causes of death

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In addition to $13 billion per year in direct tax revenue, Bibbins-Domingo and her colleagues estimated that such a tax would save the public $17 billion over the next decade in health care-related expenses due to the decline of obesity-related diseases.

High Cost of High-Calorie Drinks

Consumption of beverages high in calories but poor in nutritional value is the number one source of added sugar and excess calories in the American diet. Sugar-sweetened drinks are linked to type 2 diabetes and weight gain.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) listed reducing the intake of these beverages as one of its chief obesity prevention strategies in 2009, and several states and cities, including California and New York City, are already considering such taxes.

The analysis by Bibbins-Domingo and her colleagues is among the first study to generate concrete estimates of the health benefits and cost savings of such a tax. They modeled these benefits by taking into account how many sodas and sugary beverages Americans drink every year and estimating how much less they would consume if a penny-per-ounce tax were imposed on these drinks. Economists have estimated that such a tax would reduce consumption by 10 percent to 15 percent over a decade.

They then modeled how this reduction would play out in terms of reducing the burdens of diabetes, heart disease and their associated health care costs.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Soda and other sugary drinks (juices) are addictive. I seriously doubt that a penny per ounce tax will be enough to reduce consumption significantly. I am usually not in favor of more taxes. I do think this tax is a good and needed idea in order to curb the epidemic of lifestyle diseases, but I think it should be higher. Having cheap sugary drinks really only shifts the true cost of drinking them from the drinks onto our healthcare system. Our healthcare system is overburdened by lifestyle diseases, like diabetes.

Our recipe e-books, workshops and home study course will teach you how to transform your lifestyle in a practical, livable way for long term sustainabilityand better living.

A major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other health- and life-threatening conditions, obesity is epidemic in the United States and other developed nations where it’s fueled in large part by excessive consumption of a fat-rich “Western diet.”

But not all fats are equal. Animal-derived saturated fats like lard and butter are strongly linked to adverse health effects, but unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from plants and cold-water fish like salmon and mackerel are not. In fact, the latter are known to produce beneficial health effects and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

For biomedical investigators, the enduring question has been why saturated and unsaturated fatty acids produce such diametrically opposed health effects. Now, in a paper published in the Sept. 30 issue of the journal Cell, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues offer an explanation, and a framework that could lead to dietary supplements designed to treat obesity at the molecular level.

Senior author Karin, first author Ryan G. Holzer, PhD, formerly a graduate student in Karin’s lab and now at the Mayo Clinic, and colleagues began with the observation that saturated fatty acids, such as palmitic acid, are potent activators of Jun kinases (JNK), key regulatory molecules implicated in the development of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity and atherosclerosis. However, unsaturated fatty acids such as palmitoleic acid (POA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) not only do not activate JNK, but actually block JNK activation by palmitic acid.

Palmitic acid and POA differ in molecular structure by the presence of a single unsaturated bond (the absence of two hydrogen atoms) in POA. Cellular membrane fluidity is decreased upon incorporation of saturated fatty acids, which possess rigid hydrocarbon tails, but increased by the incorporation of unsaturated fatty acids with “bent” hydrocarbon tails.

Currently, polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as EPA and structurally-related omega-3 fatty acids are used in the treatment of hyperlipidemia (high blood cholesterol levels) and may be effective in the treatment or prevention of type 2 diabetes. Karin said understanding how EPA works could lead to the identification of even more potent EPA-like molecules.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Omega-3 oils may be effective, not only in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, but also type 1 diabetes and many other autoimmune diseases and cognitive impairments. With the diabetic alkaline lifestyle, we see incorporating omega-3 oils as imperative for potential optimal health and healing.

Researchers say the ketones found in coconut oil have slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in some people and may actually prevent it. The doctor in this video describes Alzheimer’s as a type of diabetes of the brain. We believe one of the many advantages of the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle is its ability to produce ketones (ketosis, not ketoacidosis, which is dangerous). With ketones providing an alternative fuel source to glucose, the need for carbohydrates, which break down into glucose can be minimized. Ketones can help reduce the glycemic impact on the body, which has been shown to have many positive effects on the body.

Coconut oil, a medium chain saturated fat is quite unique in its properties. More research is showing that it is beneficial to health, such as increasing good cholesterol and even having antibiotic properties that protect against viral attacks.

Watch this short video report for a brief, helpful understanding of ketones and how they can work in the body.

http://dl2.cbn.com/LJO190v1_WS_M.mp4

Drink More Water

Too often we misinterpret thirst for hunger. Our signal for thirst may cause us to eat as we mistake it for hunger pains. Reach for water first and make sure you are well hydrated before eating any meal throughout the day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.

Where possible make sure to drink your water at least 30 minutes before eating as this will allow time for the water to properly penetrate the cells of your body and hydrate your stomach lining in preparation for proper digestion. I like to add lemon juice to my water or green it up with chlorophyll, or better yet, put both in your water. They will both increase the alkalinity of your water.

Add a Green Juice to Your Day

Green juices are an amazing way to add life giving and detoxifying plant chlorophyll to your bloodstream. Juicing is the ultimate fast food; it is a 15 minute nutrient express to health. Stir green powder into your juices to green them up even more!

Add More Parsley and Cilantro (Coriander) To Your Diet

Parsley and cilantro (coriander) are very powerful natural green plant foods for detoxing heavy metals out of your body. Add these amazing herbs to juices, salads, soups and meals.

Heavy Metal Detox Pesto Recipe:

• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup Brazil nuts (selenium source) or macadamia nuts
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (cysteine source)
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (zinc, magnesium sources)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro (coriander)
• 1 cup parsley
• 2/3 cup cold pressed olive oil
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice (Vitamin C source)
• Big pinch of sea salt and or dulse flakes to flavor

Soak the seeds and nuts over night to release the enzyme exhibitors. Process the parsley, cilantro (coriander) and olive oil in a blender until chopped. Add the garlic, nuts, and seeds, salt / dulse and lemon juice and mix until the mixture is finely blended into a paste. Store it in dark glass jars if possible. It freezes well also if needs be. Enjoy!

Breathe Deep into Your Abdomen

Deep breathing, where you fill your belly and expand your diaphragm downwards, is one of the most powerful exercise you can do to activate your lymph system which helps to detoxify your body. Think of your lymph system as your own personal garbage removal system. Practice 10 deep slow breaths counting 4 seconds in, 8 seconds hold and 8 seconds out. You can do this exercise watching the TV, walking the dog, etc.

Up to 70% of our body’s waste products are eliminated via our lungs and the rest through the urine, skin and feces. When the efficiency of our lungs is reduced due to poor breathing less oxygen is available to our cells, it slows down the flow of blood which carries wastes from the kidneys and lungs. Our lymphatic system which fights off viral and bacterial invaders is weakened along with a slower digestive process.

Breathe long slow and deep as often as possible.

An oral glucose tolerance test is one that can be performed in a doctor’s office or a lab. The person being tested starts the test in a fasting state (having no food or drink except water for at least 10 hours but not greater than 16 hours).

An initial blood sugar is drawn and then the person is given a “glucola” bottle with a high amount of sugar in it (75 grams of glucose or 100 grams for pregnant women). The person then has their blood tested again 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours after drinking the high glucose drink.

In a diabetic, glucose levels rise higher than normal after drinking the glucose drink and come down to normal levels much slower (insulin is either not produced, or it is produced but the cells of the body do not respond to it). A markedly abnormal oral glucose tolerance test is diagnostic of diabetes.

As you can imagine, that much sugar all at once would put a stress on any non-diabetic person’s pancreas. The stress is only multiplied in a person with diabetes. Their endocrine system is already compromised.

While all tests indicate that our boys are within normal ranges of blood glucose (fasting and postprandial) we do not have them do the OGTT with 75 grams of glucose. We do not want to risk putting that much stress on their pancreases. We prefer to give the body as much time as possible to maximize the potential to heal and rebuild before putting such a stress on it.

Our doctor developed a non-standard tolerance test using 15 grams of carbohydrates – a much milder load to put on the pancreas. He then calculates what the normal response should be to such a load. After testing the boys we can measure them against the normal response. The same goal is accomplished without the potential for further damage to the pancreas or microvascular system from an elevated blood glucose level.

Our boys are happy and healthy eating within the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle. The day may come when we will test them with a standard OGTT, but that is not today. We’d rather see much more time pass with stable blood sugars and positive test results before taking this risk – it may be a small risk, but it is a risk we see no good reason to take at this time.

Contrary to what you might think, cancer and diabetes appear to have some biology in common. According to a report in the September 30th issue of the Cell Press journal, Cell, a pathway that initially drew attention for its role in embryonic stem cells and cancer also influences the odds that mice develop or resist diabetes.

Mice with high levels of the cancer-promoting proteins Lin28a or Lin28b become more sensitive to insulin and less prone to diabetes when on a high-fat diet, the new study shows.

“This highlights the overlap in the biology of these disorders,” said George Daley of Harvard Medical School. “It may be the same kinds of metabolic shifts that allow cancer cells to grow are also related to [whole-body] glucose metabolism.”

Daley’s team, including first authors Hau Zhu and Ng Shyh-Chang, had noticed earlier that an immature form of the microRNA (tiny bits of RNA that silence genes by targeting messenger RNA) known as let-7 is abundant in stem cells. “It allows stem cells to be stem cells,” Zhu says.

Let-7 is also important in preventing cancer, Zhu explained, and its activity is blocked by the cancer-promoting RNA-binding protein Lin28. Lin28 is also known as an ingredient that can help turn skin cells into embryonic stem cell-like cells.

Mice lacking Lin28a or that have increases in let-7 become insulin resistant and have impaired glucose tolerance. These metabolic changes occurred in part through effects linked to the insulin-PI3K-mTOR pathway, which is important in cancer and basic metabolism.

Importantly, the researchers also found that let-7 acts on many genes with apparent links to type 2 diabetes and glucose control in humans. This may prove to be good news for those in search of new ways to tackle complex conditions like diabetes, which have many genetic drivers, each with relatively small effects.

“MicroRNAs touch multiple targets in subtle ways,” Shyh-Chang said. “Our findings suggest that let-7 and perhaps other microRNAs may help to unify the picture of how type 2 diabetes develops.”

Health-e-Solutions comment: This relationship between cancer-promoting proteins and the diabetes-inhibiting protein is interesting. It underlines the importance of having balance in your metabolism, which is impacted by nutrition and lifestyle. This is also important since there are many genetic drivers with relatively small effects. We believe the diabetic alkaline lifestyle plays an important part in maintaining the proper balance required to fend off disease.

Researchers at the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a powerful molecular pathway that regulates the liver’s management of insulin and new glucose production, which could lead to new therapies for diabetes.

Usually, the liver stores excess blood sugar as glycogen, which it doles out overnight during sleep and other periods of fasting to keep glucose levels within a normal physiological range, explained H. Henry Dong, Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics, Pitt School of Medicine. But in diabetes, the liver continues to pump out glucose even when insulin is provided as a treatment.

“Scientists have been trying to find the factors that contribute to this liver overproduction of glucose for decades,” Dr. Dong said. “If we can control that pathway, we should be able to help reduce the abnormally high blood sugar levels seen in patients with diabetes.”

He and his team have been studying a family of proteins called Forkhead box or FOX, and for the current project focused on one called FOX06. They found that mice engineered to make too much FOX06 developed signs of metabolic syndrome, the precursor to diabetes, including high blood sugar and high insulin levels during fasting as well as impaired glucose tolerance, while mice that made too little FOX06 had abnormally low blood sugars during fasting.

“In a normal animal, a glucose injection causes blood sugar level to rise initially and then it goes back to normal range within two hours,” Dr. Dong said. “In animals that made too much FOX06, blood sugar after a glucose injection doesn’t normalize within two hours. They have lost the ability to regulate the level while the liver keeps making unneeded glucose.”

Other experiments showed that diabetic mice have abnormally high levels of FOX06 in the liver, he added. Blocking the protein markedly reduced liver production of glucose, although blood sugar did not completely normalize. Within two weeks of treatment, there was significant improvement in blood sugar and glucose metabolism in diabetic mice.

Tests with human liver cells echoed the importance of FOX06′s role in glucose production.

“These findings strongly suggest that FOX06 has potential to be developed as a therapeutic target,” Dr. Dong said. “If we can inhibit its activity, we can possibly slow the liver’s production of glucose in patients with diabetes and better control blood sugar levels.”

Health-e-Solutions comment: The liver has a crucial role in blood glucose homeostasis, because the liver can release glucose from glycogen stores or synthesize glucose from gluconeogenetic precursors.

The liver’s over-production of glucose is likely a contributing factor in the dawn phenomenon that is so difficult to manage for some diabetics. The liver’s production of glucose is important in that it smooths out the highs and lows in blood glucose. With the diabetic alkaline lifestyle, the amount of dietary glucose is minimal so the liver’s production of glucose becomes even more important. We would take a long term view on any drug that manipulates the liver’s processes before trying them on our two boys.

Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered how a hormone turns on a series of molecular switches inside the pancreas that increases production of insulin.

The finding raises the possibility that new designer drugs might be able to turn on key molecules in this pathway to help the 80 million Americans who have type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetic insulin resistance.

The molecular switches command pancreatic beta islet cells, the cells responsible for insulin, to grow and multiply. Tweaking these cells might offer a solution to type 1 diabetes, the form of diabetes caused by destruction of islet cells, and to type II diabetes, the form caused by insulin resistance.

“By understanding how pancreatic cells can be encouraged to produce insulin in the most efficient way possible, we may be able to manipulate those cells to treat or even prevent diabetes,” says the study’s lead author, Marc Montminy, a professor in the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology at Salk. Such new agents might increase the functioning of beta islet cells even in people who have not developed diabetes.

“The truth is that as we grow older, these islet cells tend to wear out,” Montminy says. “The genetic switches just don’t get turned on as efficiently as they did when we were younger, even if we don’t develop diabetes. It’s like using a garage door opener so many times, the battery wears out. We need a way to continually refresh that battery.”

Type II diabetes is caused by an inability for insulin to stimulate muscles to take up glucose, a kind of sugar, from the bloodstream after eating. Age is a risk factor for diabetes, as is obesity, genetic predisposition and lack of physical exercise.

Montminy and two researchers in his lab, Sam Van de Velde, a post-doctoral research associate, and Megan F. Hogan, a graduate student, set out to study how glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a hormone produced in the gastrointestinal tract, promotes islet cell survival and growth.

The researchers set out to identify the various players in the molecular pathway that is activated when GLP-1 docks onto its receptor on the surface of islet cells. In his previous work, Montminy had already discovered that one of the first switches activated is CREB, which turns on other genes.

In this study they defined other players “downstream” of CREB — discoveries that turned out to be surprising. Two of the molecules, mTOR and HIF, are heavily implicated in cancer development, Montminy says. For example, mTOR is a critical sensor of energy in cells, and HIF works inside cells to reprogram genes to help cells grow and divide.

These findings suggest it may be possible to activate these molecular players independently to restore insulin production, Montminy says. A drug could directly activate the HIF switch, for example, bypassing the prior steps in the pathway: GLP-1, CREB and mTOR. That might not only increase production of insulin from existing islet cells, but also promote growth of new islet cells.

Knowing that activating HIF also may help islet cells grow could be useful in efforts to transplant islet cells in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Manipulating cells, using drugs, bypassing the body’s natural pathway to producing insulin; there are many unknowns that would have to be researched over a long period of time for me to try this approach. I will stick with the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle and let others be the guinea pigs on this, if it ever gets to market.

Should I buy local foods or stick to organic?

It depends on what you value most. If keeping pesticides out of your food is your highest value, then buy organic. If you care most about freshness and quality or keeping local farms in business and circulating money in your community, buy local. But very often you can do both. Some local farmers are organic in everything but name, so before you decide to pass them up, ask them not “Are you organic” – to which the answer must be no if they haven’t been certified – but rather, how do you deal with fertility and pests? That starts a more nuanced conversation that may convince you to buy their produce.

We can’t afford to buy all our produce organic, so where should we direct our money to get the most benefit?

On produce, some items, when grown conventionally, have more pesticide residue than others, so when buying these, it pays to buy organic. According to the Environmental Working Group, the “dirty dozen” most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables are: apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, imported nectarines, imported grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce and kale/collards. The “clean 15″ are onions, sweet corn, pineapples, avocado, asparagus, sweet peas, mangoes, eggplant, cantaloupe, kiwi, cabbage, watermelon, sweet potatoes, grapefruit and mushrooms. So if you’ve only got a little money to devote to organic, buy the organic bell peppers and skip the organic onions. But do keep in mind that it’s important to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables regardless of how they’re grown. Just make sure they are acceptable within the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle to keep blood sugars well controlled.

Why are vegetables and meat labeled “organic” so much more expensive than similar items without the “organic” label?

There are several reasons organic food costs more than conventional food. First, the demand for it exceeds the supply, and presumably, as more farmers transition to organic, the price will fall, though it will never match conventional prices. For one thing, organic farmers receive virtually no subsidies from the government. (European governments significantly subsidize the transition to organic; ours doesn’t.) But even on a level playing field, farming organically would probably remain more expensive. Farming without chemicals is inherently more labor-intensive, especially when it comes to weeding. In animal agriculture, raising animals less intensively is always going to cost more.

Think about it this way: The “high” price of organic food comes a lot closer to the true price of producing that food – a price we seldom pay at the checkout. It’s important to remember that when you buy conventional food, many costs have been shifted – to the taxpayer in the form of crop subsidies, to the farmworker in the form of health problems and to the environment in the form of water and air pollution.

 O.K., apart from a clearer conscience, what does the premium paid for organic food get you as a consumer?

Organic food has little or no pesticide residues, and especially for parents of young children and people with chronic diseases, this is a big deal. There is also a body of evidence that produce grown in organic soils often has higher levels of various nutrients. Probably for the same reason, organic produce often tastes better than conventional (though a cross-country truck ride can obviate this edge).

So it’s possible to make a case to the consumer for the superiority of organic food – but the stronger case is to the citizen. Farming without synthetic pesticides is better for the soil, for the water and for the air – which is to say, for the common good. It is also better for the people who grow and harvest our food, who would much rather not breathe pesticides. Producing meat without antibiotics will also help stave off antibiotic- resistance. If you care about these things, then the premium paid for organic food is money well spent.

Are there real opportunities for consumers to make an impact on factory farming and unsustainable agriculture?

Absolutely. As the market for humanely raised meat grew in recent years, the industry responded. The egg industry recently committed to an effort to phase out tightly confining cages for laying hens; some pork producers are phasing out gestation crates; McDonald’s has taken steps to ensure that the meat it buys is slaughtered more humanely; Chipotle now buys only humanely raised pork. There is no question that agribusiness responds to the “votes” of consumers on these issues. The food industry is terrified of you.

She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 39, but she looks like she is 29! She manages her blood sugars through 6 key strategies, which are quite in line with the diabetic-alkaline lifestyle.

Located in England, Katherine is launching her coaching services and diabetes holistic health program to help others achieve normal average blood sugar levels. If you want ongoing coaching support, this might be a great program for you.

She has created a report especially for people with diabetes, called the “6 Key Strategies to Success in Achieving Normal Blood Sugar Levels”.

Inside this report, you’ll discover:

• Why most diabetes sufferers will never be able to cure their diabetes (and it’s nothing to do with diet or exercise).
• Discover the one food group that you should absolutely avoid (shockingly, one diabetes charity says you should have this food group with every meal – but they’re wrong!)
• Something you should be doing every day, which is completely underused.  Everyone knows this but most people don’t actually do it!
• What you can do to reduce your blood sugar levels with the press of a button that even works in your sleep!
• What you can do that will have added benefits beyond improving your diabetes.
• How to make it easy to actually put this program into practice.

After reading this report, you’ll realize why the vast majority of people with diabetes do not manage to achieve normal blood sugar levels and how you can buck this trend and become radiantly healthy to boot!

So go ahead and fill in your details and get instant access to your free copy of “6 Key Strategies to Success in Achieving Normal Blood Sugar Levels”

You’ll be glad you did!

A possible link between what a mother eats during pregnancy and the risk of her child developing allergies has been identified in new research published in this month’s The Journal of Physiology.

The research found that if a mother’s diet contains a certain group of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) — such as those found in fish, walnut oil or flaxseed — the baby’s gut develops differently. The PUFAs are thought to improve how gut immune cells respond to bacteria and foreign substances, making the baby less likely to suffer from allergies.

Until now, several clinical trials have shown that fish and walnut oil supplementation in pregnant women reduces the risk of allergy in their children, but the mechanism was unknown.

“There is intense research interest in maternal diet during pregnancy. In the western diet, the group of polyunsaturated fatty acids that we have shown to help gut function are actually disappearing — our dietary intake of fish and nut oils is being replaced by corn oils which contain a different kind of fatty acid.” Said Dr Gaëlle Boudry, of the INRA research institute in Rennes, France.

“Our study identifies that a certain group of polyunsaturated fatty acids — known as n-3 PUFAs — causes a change in how a baby’s gut develops, which in turn might change how the gut immune system develops. These changes are likely to reduce the risk of developing allergies in later life.”

The team found that supplementing a mother’s diet with n-3 PUFA caused the newborn’s gut to become more permeable. A more permeable gut enables bacteria and new substances to pass through the lining of the gut into the bloodstream more easily. These new substances then trigger the baby’s immune response and the production of antibodies.

“The end result is that the baby’s immune system may develop and mature faster — leading to better immune function and less likelihood of suffering allergies,” added Dr Boudry.

This research adds to previous studies which have shown that an intake of n-3 PUFAs during pregnancy increases gestational length and maturation of the central nervous system of a baby and that their performance on mental tasks also seemed to be improved in childhood.

“Other studies have found that a diet containing fish or walnut oil during pregnancy may make your baby smarter — our research adds to this, suggesting such supplements also accelerate the development of a healthy immune system to ward off food allergies.”

In terms of next steps, the team’s findings were based on piglets so research will continue to see if they translate to humans. The porcine intestine is an excellent model of the human gut however, so they are hopeful that the findings can be extrapolated. The team also plans to investigate whether the apparent gut function-boosting effects of n-3 PUFA that they have identified in newborns extends into later life.

Health-e-Solutions comment: N-3 PUFAs, another name for omega 3 fatty acids, are essential fatty acids (molecules that cannot be synthesized by the human body but are vital for normal metabolism). If these essential fatty acids have the ability to impact positively our immune system, then it would make sense to be sure our diets include sufficient quantities to meet all bodily requirements.

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease with association to gut permeability. The hygiene hypothesis suggests that we have become too clean, preventing our immune systems from developing properly. If the research above proves to be true, it could be possible that the diabetic alkaline lifestyle, with its emphasis on healthy fats, including n-3 PUFAs may at least help provide what the body needs to self-regulate positively, instead of negatively.

According to an interesting statistic from the University of Michigan, more than 25 million Americans could be aging twice as fast as the rest of us. (1)

Could you be one of the statistics? Well, if you suffer from diabetes, it’s quite possible. Diabetes is a tough disease that can damage the kidneys, lead to numbness in the extremities, and boost the odds of heart disease.

But now it seems

The best way to control diabetes—and avoid getting old before your time—is by taking a natural approach.

Whether you need medication to help regulate your blood sugar levels or not, I recommend a 3-pronged approach to managing diabetes:

• watch your diet
• keep a healthy body weight
• take targeted supplements
• Watch What You Eat

Junk food is bad news for everybody, but especially for those with diabetes. But there is good news. Nature has provided healthy and flavorful foods to prevent and treat diabetes

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables will help satisfy the body’s nutritional needs while providing a tasty alternative to junk food. But what about carbohydrates?

You can enjoy carbs if they are complex. Simple carbohydrates like white flour and white sugar cause your blood sugar to spike. Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, are digested more slowly and help keep your blood sugar on a more even keel. Plus, eating 5 to 6 small meals daily will also help regulate your blood sugar and prevent spikes and dips.

Maintaining a healthy weight improves the cells’ response to insulin. A National Institutes of Health study found a combination of diet and exercise cuts the risk of developing diabetes by 58%. (2)

It’s also important to exercise for an hour a day, 5 days a week. You might want to try walking or biking as a way to get started. Just be aware that different types of exercise affect blood sugar differently. For example, aerobic exercise lowers blood sugar immediately. Weight lifting, however, may affect your blood sugar many hours later. As long as you are eating every few hours, this shouldn’t become a problem.

There are many herbs that can also help you control your blood sugar and boost insulin sensitivity. Here are some I’ve found to be especially effective:

• Alpha Lipoic Acid – Used for nerve pain – Dosage: 600-800 mg/day – In one trial, ALA improved insulin sensitivity 27%. Other studies show a decrease in nerve pain, numbness, and burning.(3)
• Bilberry [huckleberry] – Used to protect eyes and nerves – Dosage: 80 to 120 mg twice daily – Bilberries help prevent damage to tiny blood vessels that can result in nerve pain and retinopathy (damage to the eye’s retina).
• Chromium – Used for lowering blood sugar – Dosage: 200 mcg daily – This trace mineral enhances insulin and may help normalize blood sugar.
• Ginseng – Used for lowering blood sugar – Dosage: 1,000-3,000 mg. Daily – Slows carbohydrate absorption, increases cells’ ability to use glucose and increases insulin secretion from the pancreas.
• Gymnema Sylvestre – Used for lowering blood sugar – Dosage: 200-250 mg twice a day – Known as the “sugar destroyer,” this herb boosts the enzymes that help cells use glucose while reducing cravings for sweets.
• Magnesium – Used for lowering blood sugar – Dosage: 250-350 mg daily – Enhances insulin secretion and helps insulin transfer glucose into cells.

Adopting this 3-pronged approach not only helps regulate your blood sugar levels on a daily basis, it just might help prevent growing old before your time.

References:

1. Cigolle C. Geriatric Conditions Develop in Middle-Aged Adults with Diabetes. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2011;26: 272-279.
2. Pan XR. Effects of diet and exercise in preventing NIDDM in people with impaired glucose tolerance. The Da Qing IGT and Diabetes Study. Diabetes Care. 1997;20:53.7-544.
3. Gianturco V. Impact of therapy with alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on the oxidative stress in the controlled NIDDM: a possible preventive way against the organ dysfunction? Archives in Gerontology and Geriatrics. 2009;49 Suppl 1: 129-133.

Health-e-Solutions comment: Perhaps understanding that poorly controlled blood sugars can speed up the aging process will be motivation for you to be more diligent in controlling your blood sugars. I know it is for me.

While complex carbohydrates are better than simple carbs, complexity should not be the sole determining factor as to whether or not a food should be eaten by a diabetic. Their glycemic loads are generally better than those of simple carbs, but not always sufficiently low to warrant being eaten by the diabetic. There is also the gluten factor to consider – gluten should be avoided at all times.

Our recipe e-books, workshops and home study course will teach you how to transform your lifestyle in a practical, livable way for long term sustainability. We believe this lifestyle has resulted in great health and blood sugar control in our two boys with type one diabetes.

Chia is an edible seed that comes from the desert plant Salvia hispanica, a member of the mint family that grows abundantly in southern Mexico. Chia, is familiar to most of us as a seed used for the novelty of the Chia Pet, clay animals with sprouted Chia seeds covering their bodies. Little is known, however, of the seeds tremendous nutritional value and medicinal properties. For centuries this tiny little seed was used as a staple food by the Indians of the south west and Mexico. Known as the running food, its use as a high energy endurance food has been recorded as far back as the ancient Aztecs. It was said the Aztec warriors subsisted on the Chia seed during the conquests. The Indians of the south west would eat as little as a teaspoon full when going on a 24hr. forced march. Indians running form the Colorado River to the California coast to trade turquoise for seashells would only bring the Chia seed for their nourishment.

Chia seeds (Salvia hispanica) are extremely high in Omega 3 fatty acids and are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and soluble fiber. One ounce of chia seeds provides eleven grams of fiber. This amount also includes calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, manganese, copper, niacin, zinc and the proper ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. Chia seeds are rich source of antioxidants containing chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, myricetin, quercetin and kaempferol flavonols. These compounds are both primary and synergistic antioxidants that contribute to the strong antioxidant activity of chia.

Studies show that eating chia seed may slow down how fast our bodies convert carbohydrate calories into simple sugars. This leads scientists to believe that the chia seed may have great benefits for diabetics. Viscous fiber (that which appears like a gelatin) slows down the conversion of carbohydrates into sugars and helps normalize blood glucose levels. That means it’s beneficial to mix Chia Seed in with food you already like to eat.

Blood sugar naturally rises and falls throughout the day. It can also be what makes you drowsy in the afternoon. Dips and spikes aren’t good for consistent, healthy energy. The slowing of conversion of carbohydrates into sugar has the ability to create endurance. Protein fuels energy as well, and the protein in chia is complete.

If you try putting a spoonful of Chia seeds in a glass of water and leaving it for approximately 30 minutes or so, when you return the glass will appear to contain not seeds or water, but an almost solid gelatin. This gel-forming reaction is due to the soluble fiber in the Chia. Researchers believe this same gel-forming phenomenon takes place in the stomach when food containing these gummy fibers, known as mucilages, are eaten. The gel that is formed in the stomach creates a physical barrier between carbohydrates and the digestive enzymes that break them down, thus slowing the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar. This blockage of calorie absorption makes the chia seed a great diet helper.

One of the exceptional qualities of the Chia seed is its hydrophilic properties, having the ability to absorb more than 12 times its weigh in water. Its ability to hold on to water offers the ability to prolong hydration. Fluids and electrolytes provide the environment that supports the life of all the body’s cells. With Chia seeds, you retain moisture, regulating more efficiently the body’s absorption of nutrients and body fluids.

You do not need to grind chia seeds in order to digest them. It is a relatively easy to digest seed, whereas flax seeds are not. Flax seeds need to be ground for the nutrients to be absorbed by our digestive systems. That is not the case with chia seeds. Unlike flax-seeds, chia seeds can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid.

Chia seeds can be eaten raw as a dietary fiber, omega 3 and antioxidant supplement. Soaked chia seeds are gelatinous in texture and are used in porridge’s and puddings. Taste-wise, chia seeds have a slight nutty flavor and are a healthful addition to the diet.

Some possible benefits of chia seeds include:

• Supporting cardiovascular health
• Being very high in soluble fiber
• Improving digestion & natural detoxification
• Strong antioxidant benefits
• Assisting joint function & mobility
• Being great for prolonged energy & endurance
• Supporting a healthy heart
• Supporting healthy weight loss – dieters trying to reduce calorie consumption
• Supporting healthy blood pressure levels
• Higher antioxidant than blueberries

Health-e-Solutions comment: Ch-ch-ch-chia! These are great (but pricey). If you can afford them, you cannot go wrong eating them for their omega 3, protein and antioxidant content. I wonder if I could grow them on my chia pet long enough to harvest the seeds…

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