Diabetes and Diet – Is There a Connection?

A diabetes and diet connection unquestionably exists.

Not only is diabetes preventable and reversible, but experts assert that the cause lies squarely with poor nutrition choices.

Healthy nutrition author and environmental activist John Robbins states that diabetes “is rare or nonexistent among peoples whose diets are primarily grains, vegetables and fruits. If these same people switch to rich meat-based diets, however, their incidence of diabetes balloons.”

Insulin Utilization

Nutrition research shows that eating a rich diet filled with fat and lacking complex carbohydrates prevents the body’s cells from utilizing insulin, and this is the major cause of adult-onset diabetes.

Dr. John McDougall writes that when blood sugar levels of fat and cholesterol have fallen to healthy levels, many type II diabetics are once again able to utilize insulin. This is accomplished by eating a diet low in fat and cholesterol.

So, how do you do that? Are you afraid you’ll be chewing sprouts all day and nothing will taste good anymore? Believe me, there are delicious recipes in The New McDougall Cookbook that will satisfy your taste buds and fill you up. You’ll see how easy and loaded with flavor a plant-based diet can be.

Here’s a sample menu for one day in Dr. McDougall’s diet plan:

• Breakfast: Pancakes, herb tea
• Lunch: Burrito with whole wheat tortillas, water or soda water
• Dinner: Tortilla soup, southwest jambalaya, fresh bread, herb tea or water

Rampant Obesity

Obesity is at near-epidemic levels in the US. Simply put, people overeat the wrong foods and don’t consume the nutritious ones (because they’re stuffed full of the bad foods).

The American diet—based on milk, meats, cheese, white bread, fried foods, and sugar-filled snacks and drinks—is absolutely a causative factor in diabetes, as well as other chronic diseases.

According to Olin Idol, ND, CNC, of Hallelujah Acres, “…the more saturated fatty acids in cells, the greater the insulin resistance.” Where do these saturated fatty acids come from? Meat and dairy products.

One of the connections between fat in the bloodstream and diabetes is that the body’s cells become coated with fat and the glucose (the cell’s nourishment) can’t get into the cells, and there’s too much insulin in the blood.

Diabetes and Diet... or Genetics?

Dr. Fuhrman writes, ““Heart diseases, strokes, cancer, dementia, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, and other common illnesses are not predominantly genetic. They are the result of incorrect dietary choices.”

Read this article on reversing diabetes by Dr. Fuhrman's.

In the meantime, in case you aren’t already convinced, here is a sample day’s menu from his nutrition plan as outlined in Eat for Health. It’s delicious, filled with nutrients, and simple:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal, orange juice
• Lunch: Whole wheat pita with vegetables, avocado, dressing; sunflower seeds; strawberries
• Dinner: Raw vegetables, hummus, pasta with roasted vegetables, ice cream (made from fruit only)

If you want to do the best for yourself and your family, stop eating animal products and base your diet on whole plant foods. There clearly is a diabetes and diet connection. Now that you know what it is, you can begin positive action.

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