Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
Type II Diabetes is a serious disease, which, if not
controlled can be life threatening. It is often associated with long term
complications that can affect different body systems. It can contribute to eye
disorders and blindness, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, amputation and
nerve damage. It makes pregnancy more difficult and can cause birth defects.
But, diabetes is not the hopeless disease most people think
it is. It can be a long and losing battle if you blindly listen to your medical
provider, and take no responsibility for your own health. The big drug
companies do not really want you or your doctor to become aware of the real
causes of diabetes. It certainly doesn’t want you to have information that can
reverse or prevent diabetes.
There are many benefits to finding ways to reverse diabetes
and prevent it. According to the American Diabetes Association, the combined
cost of medical care and lost productivity due to diabetes exceeded 174 billion
dollars in 2007. People with diabetes pay 2.3 times as much for health care as
non-diabetics.
Statin drugs have a side effect: causing diabetes. A recent
Harvard medical school study showed that women over age 45 are 50% more likely
to develop diabetes when also taking a statin drug. “Adults with diabetes are
also 2 to 4 times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke than adults
without diabetes,” says the American Heart Association.
A Natural News.com article entitled, “High Fructose Corn
Syrup and Diabetes: What the Experts Say,” has the following quotes from
research experts:
“Since the fructose in corn syrup does neither stimulate
insulin secretion nor reduce the hunger hormone ghrelin, you will continue to
feel hungry while the body converts fructose into fat. The resulting obesity
increases the risk of diabetes and other diseases”, says Andrea Moritz.
“Some suggest that HFCS, which is widely used as an inexpensive
sweetener in juice, soft drinks and processed foods, might predispose people to
diabetes. In animal research this sugar leads to insulin resistance and poor
glucose tolerance” by Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, PH.D., authors of
“Best Choices from the Peoples Pharmacy.”
The latest research from the American Heart Association’s Cardiovascular
Disease Epidemiology and Prevention annual conference shows that soda
consumption has conservatively caused 130,000 cases of new diabetes and 14,000
new cases of heart disease. Soda causes diabetes and heart disease. Although
the soda industry denies this, doesn’t it sound something like nicotine is not
addictive?
So what is a person to do to prevent diabetes or control
blood sugar in existing cases? There are many studies showing lots of possible
solutions. But the simplest answer is to control your diet and intake of sugars
such as HFCS, and get regular exercise. You must be in charge of yourself and
your habits. Diabetes has no single cause or cure, but when you take control of
your health, aided by some natural supplements and minerals, you can overcome
diabetes, or at least control it naturally.
A study published by the journal Diabetologia said that a
diet of just 600 calories a day reverses diabetes. After one week on the diet,
patients saw their blood sugar levels return to normal, indicating their
diabetes had gone into remission. That isn’t much food, to be sure. But, these
people didn’t stay on this fasting diet very long, and 72% of them were still
diabetes free 3 months after stopping the diet. The point is that if you have a
recent onset of diabetes, it is reversible, so take the responsibility and get
your diet and lifestyle under control.
Diabetes, we now know, is not just some disease that attacks you. There is a cause, and it is your inactive
lifestyle and eating habits. Are there
some exceptions? Sure. But the majority
of diabetes can be controlled.
A newly studied supplement that you can add is
cinnamon. Cinnamon bark has calcium,
chromium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and
vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. One review of eight studies showed that cinnamon is
effective at reducing blood glucose levels both between meals and after meals,
and that it may reduce complications from diabetes.
Cinnamon has even outperformed drugs. In a study published
in the “Journal of Diabetic Medicine,” participants given cinnamon supplements
experienced greater improvement in blood sugar levels than participants given
standard diabetes drugs.
The best way to prevent and manage Type II diabetes is still
to maintain a healthy body weight, eat a healthy diet low in refined sugars and
high in natural fiber, and exercise regularly.