We have covered a whole range of aspects of diabetes – its causes and its complications. Last week we gave an introduction to lifestyle interventions and how they promise not only prevention of diabetes in the first place, but also arrest and reversal of the progress of diabetes in many if not most cases.
However because this approach reduces dependency upon the pharmaceutical industry and the need for intensive medical care in the long term, it is not so popular in the medical industry.
One might be tempted to believe that lifestyle medicine is fringe medicine, but there is so much research out there to support this approach. It is interesting to notice too that the official guidelines that come out from time to time – both national and international are starting to take note of the success of lifestyle interventions, and are gradually changing. However it is so hard to turn a ship around that is aided and abetted by huge business and political interests.
But a second obstruction to the implementation of lifestyle interventions is also the will to change and to make sometimes drastic alterations in one’s habits and beliefs. It is so easy to close your ears and eyes and just barrel along in the destructive belief that your life is destined to these diseases and there is nothing you can do to change that destiny, and you may as well just “eat, drink and be merry” because we all have to die!
And yes, it is true that life is mortal, but what counts is the quality of our lives and well-being; what counts is if we are able to live a full and useful life; what counts is how much time we can spend with our families – our spouses, our children and our grandchildren – in meaningfully contributing to their life experiences.
Why would we want to steal the best years from their lives of what we can give? Life is not only about us and our pleasure – it is also how much we can give in love and influence and service.
But now we will get onto the dietary controversies, and see if we can bring some rationality to the discussion. I don’t claim to be an expert, but have read widely.
Carbohydrates and Insulin Resistance
We discussed this in great detail in part 2 of this series on Diabetes:https://www.citizen.co.za/south-coast-herald/340252/turning-tide-understanding-diabetes-part-2/ in case you missed it. But I think we need to just emphasise a few factors again for clarity.
In traditional societies where complex carbohydrates are a staple of the diet, the incidence of diabetes, and especially type 2 diabetes, is very low.
It is only as they begin to adopt the more Western diet of processed carbohydrates, other refined foods and an increase in animal product ingestion that the incidence begins to rise rapidly.
The standard American diet (SAD) is high in fats, refined carbohydrates and animal products and seems particularly prone to cause diabetes type 2. Most of the processed and packaged foods found on our supermarket shelves are high in fats and refined carbohydrates and low in nutrients and fibre.
It is not the unrefined carbs that are the problem, but the refined carbs as found in fizzy drinks, cool-drinks, pastries, sweets, processed fruit juices, white flour products, white rice, refined snacks and crisps, refined breakfast cereals, etc.
Because these processed carbohydrates lack their attendant fibre as found in nature the carbohydrates are rapidly metabolised and absorbed as glucose and rapidly elevate the blood sugar.
Many doctors and “keto” advocates lump all carbs in the same basket – which is incorrect. Thankfully rationality is prevailing and most official guidelines recommend the use of fruits and even starchy vegetables, and whole grains as beneficial in diabetic management.
Here are some links to other articles which explain the role of carbohydrates in the management of diabetes: https://www.forksoverknives.com/conquering-diabetes-carbohydrates/#gs.3fpjuf
https://www.forksoverknives.com/recommend-a-high-carb-diet-for-patients-with-diabetes/#gs.3ft3rt
For those who would like to claim that whole grains are a cause of diabetes, weight gain or leaky-gut syndrome, look at this article, with numerous scientific studies referenced:
https://www.forksoverknives.com/why-whole-grains-should-be-part-of-your-diet/#gs.3fvw2w
For a really comprehensive article written in laymen’s language, well illustrated, and if you wish a video lecture covering the material, go to this link:https://www.masteringdiabetes.org/high-carb-foods-reverse-insulin-resistance/
If anyone is interested in learning more about how to practically implement a high carb – whole-food low-fat, plant-based diet, please contact me at dglass@venturenet.co.za and we can communicate directly. I have a wealth of resources available.
Next week we will examine again the role of fats in diabetes.
To a new perspective on the role of “carbs” in our health and well-being,
Dave Glass
Dr David Glass graduated from UCT in 1975. He spent the next 12 years working at a mission hospital in Lesotho, where much of his work involved health education and interventions to improve health, aside from the normal busy clinical work of an under-resourced mission hospital.
He returned to UCT in 1990 to specialise in obstetrics/gynaecology and then moved to the South Coast where he had the privilege of, amongst other things, ushering 7000 babies into the world. He no longer delivers babies but is still very clinically active in gynaecology.
An old passion, preventive health care, has now replaced the obstetrics side of his work. He is eager to share insights he has gathered over the years on how to prevent and reverse so many of the modern scourges of lifestyle – obesity, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, common cancers, etc.
He is a family man, with a supportive wife, and two grown children, and four beautiful grandchildren. His hobbies include walking, cycling, vegetable gardening, bird-watching, travelling and writing. He is active in community health outreach and deeply involved in church activities. He enjoys teaching and sharing information.
