One of the most common health problems I advise people on relates to diet.
Routinely I hear health problems, including, often, diabetes from the thousands who have sent and are still sending me personal messages.
Finally
I took the many hours and day to research into this. I started with
discovering, to my horror, that the diet recommended by the American Diabetes
Association was EXACTLY what contributed to more diabetes!
I went on from there to research the subject of diet, even though none of the products I sell relate to "diet." I published that HERE.
I concluded that virtually ALL diabetes could be prevented, or reversed, with the proper diet. I am certainly not the only one who has said this, but there are literally millions of people who don't want to believe that -- they would rather go to the doctor, get a drug, and continue eating too much sugar.
I concluded that many years ago, and have regularly pointed people with diabetic concerns to my web pages about diet. I'm not sure very many have heeded my advice??
I, myself, am the living proof of what I write about some of the unacknowledged causes of failures at dieting. At least I understand my own shortcomings.
I stressed that people have an
almost innate desire for sensation -- and that sugar provides
very satisfying sensations. This desire is really a mental thing. I
reject those claims which say there is some medical reason why people like sugar
and carbohydrates. Diabetes can be handled, but not with a pill. The
doctor won't help you, either, because the RIGHT advice doesn't carry any
insurance payment to him!
Here are a couple hidden secrets about "taste" from my article:
You might think that McDonalds French Fries have a wonderful taste? Well, read the secret to that "taste" by clicking here.
While I spoke of the desire for taste sensation above, and many people would agree that they enjoy the "taste" of food, the terrible truth is that very little of what you consider a sensation of taste actually takes place in your mouth!
The other fault I've found in my own eating, and in almost everyone else, was and is that people also feel that they need variety in their foods. The body certainly doesn't need "variety." The body needs a good balance of proteins, fat, carbohydrates and fiber -- always assuming that the proper vitamins, minerals and enzymes are present in those foods.
You can get that balance with the same food every day! But, possibly we seek variety in the vain hope that one of these many meals will provide those commonly-missing items needed in the properly balanced diet.
Another
reason people fail on diets is social pressure. The people around you do
influence your eating habits -- tremendously. Choose your friends
carefully.
Have you ever gone to a birthday party? Could you refuse the cake? Do you eat with a spouse? Are the both of you 100% following "the diet" whatever it may be?
Finally, I came to some shocking final conclusions -- that cooking food damaged it terribly.
Well, read that article about diet -- I still think it is "spot on."
But, also, read the latest "medical opinion" on diabetes in the Wall Street Journal article below. Doctors are finally agreeing with Karl Loren!
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Another Reason to Lose Weight More Doctors Are Struggling To Convey Risks of DiabetesThe medical community wants you to be scared of diabetes -- but not too scared. An estimated 16 million people are on the verge of developing diabetes, a serious condition that can lead to blindness, limb loss, kidney failure and early death. Yet new research shows that more than half of new diabetes cases can be prevented with some fairly simple lifestyle changes, such as losing a few pounds. After years of reassuring diabetics that the disease is one they can live with and manage, doctors and health workers are struggling with how to also send the message that diabetes is a deadly, terrible disease -- so that more people will be motivated to take steps to prevent it. This month, many patients may begin seeing pamphlets and brochures in their doctor's office distributed by the American Diabetes Association as part of its "Weight Loss Matters" campaign, which is trying to spread the word that people have to lose only a little weight to dramatically lower their risk for diabetes.
But "it's much harder to get people's attention who are just overweight," says Christopher D. Saudek, director of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Diabetes Center in Baltimore. "It's always been a problem of how do you get people's attention without scaring the life out of them." The medical community has learned it must walk a fine line when educating people about a disease as ubiquitous as diabetes, which afflicts 17 million people in the U.S. The trick is to warn people of the dangers of the disease without making those who already have it feel hopeless. Several years ago, a frightening public-awareness campaign featuring Uncle Sam as a diabetic amputee prompted so many complaints it was quickly shelved, notes Dr. Saudek. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, and usually is triggered by poor diet, obesity, lack of exercise and genetics. The body becomes unable to process insulin effectively and can't make enough insulin to keep blood-glucose levels normal. Insulin is important because it promotes the storage and use of all nutrients, including sugar. Once full-blown diabetes occurs, blood glucose is barricaded from the cell and accumulates in the bloodstream. Type 1 diabetes, which isn't preventable, occurs most often in children and young adults whose pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin. How diabetes damages the body isn't entirely understood. One theory is that all the excess sugar in the blood stream triggers a process similar to rusting -- the sugar begins to stick to things and damage blood vessels, kidneys and nerves. But while it is true that diabetics can make diet and lifestyle changes to manage their illness fairly well, complications from the disease can be tragic. The leading cause of death from diabetes is heart attack and stroke, and about 40% of all heart attacks are caused by diabetes. Diabetes is also the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, impotence and amputations, and steals five to seven years from your life expectancy. "In the short term, people don't pay much attention -- they think, 'it comes on slowly, everybody gets it,' " says David M. Nathan, Harvard professor and director of the diabetes center at Massachusetts General Hospital. "But if you live with it for 10 to 15 years, you can end up being pretty sick. It's not a nice way to die." Dr. Nathan led a three-year clinical trial studying 3,000 people who weren't diabetic, but were overweight with higher-than-normal blood-glucose levels. The study found that participants who made lifestyle changes lowered their risk for developing the disease by 58%. The changes were relatively small -- they walked about 30 minutes, five evenings a week and lost about 7% of their body weight -- only about 15 pounds each. The impact of the lifestyle changes was even greater among people over age 60, where the risk of diabetes was reduced by 70%. But since the results of the landmark 2001 Diabetes Prevention Program study were released, diabetes experts have remained frustrated at how difficult it has been to get the word out to both doctors and patients. "We know there is this enormous gap between what we know to do and how it gets done," says Dr. Nathan. "Forget about patients listening -- doctors don't even listen." In addition to the new pamphlets going out from the ADA, a new Small Steps Big Rewards campaign was launched earlier this year by the National Diabetes Education Program. This spring 30-second public-service announcements with the slogan "Get Real" began airing, urging people to get checked for diabetes and promoting the simple lifestyle changes that can prevent the disease. The ads are also being piped into 10,000 medical waiting rooms around the country, and patients may also see pamphlets from the program in thousands of doctors' offices. The goal is to simply get more people to ask their family doctor about diabetes. It isn't always obvious who is at risk. Being over 45 and just slightly overweight -- by 15 or 20 pounds -- puts you at higher risk for the disease. A simple blood test can help determine if your blood-sugar levels are above normal, putting you at high risk for developing diabetes over the next 10 years. "It's long been a concern that people don't take Type 2 diabetes very seriously," says Martha Funnell, past president of health care and education for the American Diabetes Association. "It's been our attempt to soften the message to not frighten people, and in so doing, we perhaps have not conveyed the seriousness well enough." • E-mail me at
healthjournal@wsj.com 2.
Updated September 23, 2003 4:43 p.m.
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2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your Subscription agreement and Copyright laws. For information about subscribing go to http://www.wsj.com |
