A
primary problem appears to be massive consumption of sugar
and fructose. In the year 1880 diabetes was uncommon (2.8
persons per 100,000 had diabetes) and the per capita consumption
of sugar was 2 or 3 pounds a year. Now the average American
is eating 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of sugar daily. Sugar is addicting.
The food conglomerates know this and deliberately place sugar
in more than 90% of processed foods which makes up most of
the food consumed by the U.S. public. Currently more than
10% of U.S. adults have diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes, and careful
screening of persons who have hypertension, elevated cholesterol
and triglycerides, obesity, hypoglycemia symptoms and arteriosclerosis
by use of insulin tests would certainly raise this percentage
much higher.
Sugar in the form of fruit contains fiber that delays
absorption and thus moderates the rise in blood sugar values
when fruit is consumed. Refined white sugar, sucrose, and
dextrose lack fiber and nutrients. When consumed in food
or drinks the refined sugar rapidly goes into the blood
stream and produces a sharp rise in blood sugar values.
The pancreas secretes large amounts of insulin to promptly
return high blood sugar values to normal.
Sharp rises in insulin output may cause overshooting the
desired blood sugar and it is common for these individuals
to have blood sugar values plummet to low levels with symptoms
of low blood sugar (weakness, sweating, cloudy thinking,
lack of energy, hunger, shakiness).
High blood insulin levels precede elevations in blood
sugar on which a diagnosis of diabetes is made. Blood fasting
insulin levels over 15 U/ml are a reliable indicator of
excessive insulin production as these values correlate well
with the more complex euglycemic clamp study for insulin
excess. If persons with obesity, hypertension, arteriosclerosis,
high cholesterol and triglyceride values and persons experiencing
hypoglycemia had insulin values tested those individuals
with high insulin values could be screened out and advised
that they were far along on the road to diabetes, which
is inevitable unless life style changes are instituted.
With the passage of time this massive output of insulin
provoked by huge sugar intakes takes a toll on the pancreas
and reaches the point where the pancreas is unable to produce
any greater quantities of insulin. When this occurs sugar
no longer enters the cells in adequate amounts to prevent
rising blood sugar values. The diagnosis of diabetes can
be made with now elevated blood sugar values but the problem
obviously began many years earlier with the first signs
of insulin excess.
What Causes Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes?
Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are essential to health
because the body can not manufacture them so they need to
be obtained from dietary sources. The omega 6 fatty acids
are plentiful as they are found in corn, soybeans, sunflower,
canola, hemp, pumpkin and sesame seeds, nuts and oils. Omega
3 fatty acids are less available because they are found
primarily in flax oil, perilla oil, grazed beef and fish
oil. Another factor contributing to the lack of consumption
of Omega 3 fatty acids is valid concerns about the mercury
found in all fish.
The Omega 3 fatty acids prevent inflammation but Omega
6 fatty acids cause inflammation in the body. Many persons
do not eat fish and few persons eat flax oil, so most persons
consume far too much Omega 6 fatty acids and have too little
Omega 3 fatty acids in their diet. This contributes to the
occurrence of inflammatory illnesses in a major way.
Cellular membrane dysfunction occurs when the body must
manufacture and repair our cell membranes with the wrong
fatty acids, because the right ones are not available from
our diet. Our cell membranes require Omega 3 fatty acids
for proper functioning. Because most persons in developed
nations are currently obtaining their essential fatty acids
primarily from Omega 6 fatty acids manufactured in factories
at high temperatures using chemicals (salad oils, cooking
oils, margarine) these persons are eating artificial chemical
substances (similar to plastic) called transfats that are
very injurious to health. When it comes time to make new
cell membranes, their bodies are forced to use these abnormal
chemical Omega 6 fatty acid substances to construct cell
membranes. These abnormal cell membranes are what causes
insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.
When the cell membranes are made out of synthetic transfats
the new membranes are sticky and stiff [1]
instead of having the slippery smooth character of healthy
cell membranes. As this outer cell membrane becomes damaged
from transfats, less sugar is able to enter the cells. Therefore,
more insulin must be secreted to keep the blood sugar levels
down.
During the transition to Type 2 diabetes the number of
insulin receptors in cells is gradually decreasing from
the normal level of 2000[2] per cell
to 1000 per cell which is the level noted when Type 2 Diabetes
appears. When normal amounts of insulin production and blood
glucose values have been restored by effective therapy the
number of insulin receptors in cells returns to the 2000
range.
Why Does Arteriosclerosis Plague Diabetic Patients?
Inflammation is believed to play a major role in causing
arteriosclerosis. The massive use of synthetic Omega 6 transfats
by the American public has contributed to great increases
in inflammatory illnesses such as arteriosclerosis, multiple
sclerosis, Alzheimer's Disease, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative
Colitis, Arthritis, Multiple sclerosis etc.
Current research also suggests that inflammatory reactions
caused by infectious organisms contribute to arteriosclerosis.
Infections such as pneumonia and gingivitis are associated
with an increased incidence of strokes and heart attacks.
Markers for inflammation such as increased levels of C Reactive
Protein CRP and elevation of Sedimentation Rates have been
discovered to provide valuable warnings that such patients
are at increased risk for heart attack and stroke. Insulin
in large amounts causes inflammatory reactions in the body
and it is well known that when diabetic patients are started
on insulin therapy there is a greater likelihood of onset
of heart attacks, strokes and gangrene.
A third adverse problem contributing to arteriosclerotic
damage is increasing levels of low density lipoproteins
and triglycerides which are common in diabetes. High levels
of these fats in blood cause sludgy blood flow which may
result in blood clots diagnosed as heart attacks and strokes.
Insulin is a hormone that stimulates the production of
new tissue. When new fibrous and muscular tissue appears
in the lining of arteries it has the appearance of what
we call plaque. This narrows the opening in the artery that
blood passes through. This may progress to produce symptoms
of inadequate blood supply (anginal pain, temporary paralysis)
due to oxygen lack. If greater artery narrowing occurs the
tissue oxygen levels worsen, blood clots easily appear in
these narrowed arteries with slowed blood flow and the end
result is a heart attack, stroke or gangrene.
These plaques can be caused by high homocysteine values
which appear in high insulin states. Failure to metabolize
homocysteine to normal levels leads to aging with a greater
chance of developing Alzheimer's Disease and acceleration
of the arteriosclerotic process.
An additional problem caused by the synthetic transfats
consumed by 90% of U.S. citizens is suppression of the immune
system. Suppressed immune systems have difficulty in killing
the multitudes of cancer cells normally made daily by the
human body. This probably helps explains why cancer of the
lung was uncommon in the 1930s when 80% of U.S. males smoked
cigarettes. By the time Archer Daniel Midlands stopped manufacturing
flax oil in 1950 most Americans had already moved over to
the use of synthetic fats for cooking and salad oils and
had substituted margarine for butter. There was a steady
rise in the incidence of lung cancer as Americans stopped
using lard, butter, unrefined coconut oil and flax oil and
switched to synthetic transfats.
This ability of the transfats to suppress immune function
encouraged Dr. Eric Newsholme of the Department of Biochemistry
at Oxford to treat two girls, who had become invalids from
Guillan Barre Syndrome,[3] with “sunflower
oil” 2 tablespoons daily. Both girls made complete
recoveries after previously failing to respond to immunosuppressive
drugs.
Why Do Diabetics Become Obese?
When the pre-diabetic person is experiencing chronic high
insulin values with too many carbohydrate calories, this
insulin is converting some of the excess glucose into the
fat triglyceride, which gets stored in fat cells which end
up distended in an obese patient.
In this manner, high insulin levels are producing many
of our obese persons. Obese persons need to have insulin
levels checked, as many of them are certainly pre -diabetic.
A long term follow up study in an English obesity clinic[4]
revealed that all patients eventually became diabetic.
Many persons becoming obese have been using monosodium
glutamate (MSG) and aspartame (NutraSweet), often unknowingly
in packaged food. Both these substances increase insulin
levels, cause obesity and have addicting properties. These
are found in nearly all packaged foods which must be avoided.
Another dangerous food is white bread. In addition to being
a poor food, as its nutrients have been removed, it contains
alloxan to give it a nice white appearance. Alloxan has
been used for many years to cause diabetes in laboratory
animals and certainly has the capability of killing the
insulin producing beta cells in the human pancreas. White
bread and other baked goods are made using sodium aluminum
phosphate and sodium aluminum sulphate (baking powder).
These aluminum substances contribute to the development
of Alzheimer's Disease.
What Role Does U.S. Soil Play In The Diabetic Problem?
The human body runs smoothly when there is an abundance
of enzymes facilitating the chemical processes needed for
health. In the 1930s when the U.S. Department of Agriculture
mandated compulsory use of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium
fertilizer by farmers it guaranteed that the citizens of
our country would have poor health. This fertilizer does
not contain the critical nutrient sulfur and over time the
trace mineral content of our soil has steadily declined.
The soil our food comes from has been changed in our modern
world. Chemical fertilizers have caused the protein content
of vegetables to decrease and the vital trace minerals we
need are no longer being replaced. Artificial fertilizers
restore only 3 to 6 of the 20 minerals removed by plant
growth. Composting[5] is preferred to fertilizer because
good composting returns to soils all the 20 minerals removed
by plants. When trace minerals are lacking from the soil
the enzyme levels in plants also diminish. Enzymes are vital
to many life processes including digestion. Enzymes contain
large protein molecules with added trace minerals such as
zinc, selenium, manganese and copper.
Mineral deficiencies and imbalances in plants grown in
polluted areas using contaminated water contribute to enzyme
deficiencies in the general population. Lack of trace minerals
in enzymes and the presence in the body of metals that damage
enzyme function (lead, mercury) contribute to the declining
health suffered by the U.S. population.
At least 75% of U.S. citizens lack adequate amounts of
the vital mineral magnesium. Foods grown in depleted soil
contain much less magnesium. This combined with the disappearance
of real food from the U.S. diet, caused the magnesium intake
by U.S. citizens to drop by more than 50% since 1900. The
use of bottled and filtered water has contributed to this
problem as it contains little magnesium. Magnesium is involved
in acid base balance, carbohydrate metabolism, cellular
energy production, synthesis of nucleic acids and protein,
mineral absorption, bone construction, blood pressure control,
muscle function and utilization of B complex vitamins, Vitamin
C and Vitamin E.
An example of how seriously depleted our soil has become
is provided by a research study conducted by the legendary
Dr. William A. Albrecht of the University of Missouri. One
hundred bushels of Kansas wheat were tested in 1926 for
mineral content. This same study was repeated in 1968 on
wheat from the same farm. To get the same amount of minerals
now required 1000 bushels. In 1940 U.S. soil contained an
average of 60 minerals. The soil mineral analysis in 1996
now reveals that less than 20 minerals are still present.
Oranges that contained 50 mg of Vitamin C fifty years ago
now contain only 5 mg.
Louis Bromfield summarized this situation aptly: “As
soils are depleted, human health, vitality, and intelligence
go with them.” Control of blood sugar values is dependent
on enzymes which contain trace minerals (zinc, manganese,
chromium, vanadium, magnesium etc.). When these trace minerals
are lacking in the diet proper carbohydrate control of blood
sugar values is compromised and rising blood sugars may
occur. The soil in the U.S. has lost 85% of its mineral
content because of these despicable farming practices.
Diabetics are at increased risk for mineral deficiencies
compared to the general populace because when their blood
sugars are elevated they pass large amounts of urine, which
contains valuable minerals and nutrients.
