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An article in the New England Journal of Medicine that shows that diabetes can be prevented by exercising regularly, not being overweight, reducing intake of saturated and partially hydrogenated fats, and eating more unrefined foods from plants.

Diabetes means that your blood sugar level rises too high after you eat, causing sugar to stick to cells irreversibly, eventually destroying that cell to cause blindness, deafness, heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, amputations, burning foot syndrome, impotence, and so forth. Since the cause of all side effects of diabetes is blood sugar levels rising too high after meals, the prevention and treatment of diabetes is to prevent blood sugar levels from rising too high after meals.

1) Avoid the foods that cause the highest rises in blood sugar levels: sugar added foods and other refined carbohydrates as bakery products, pastas, and fruit juices.

2) Avoid saturated fat that blocks insulin receptors so you need more insulin to do the same job.

3) Avoid being overweight which prevents your body from responding to insulin so you need more insulin to do the same job.

4) Exercise. The only place that you can store extra sugar is in your muscles and liver. If you eat and your muscles are full of sugar, sugar goes from your intestines, into your bloodstream and has no place to go, so it accumulates in the bloodstream. On the other hand, when you exercise, your muscles and liver are empty of sugar, so sugar goes from your intestines, into your bloodstream, then into your liver and muscles, to keep blood sugar levels from rising too high.

People who follow these rules are unlikely to become diabetic. The vast majority of people who develop diabetes in later life cause the disease by their unhealthful lifestyles. 90 percent of adult-onset diabetics can be cured so they can live a long life without the side effects of diabetes, but they must make major changes to reverse a lifetime of unhealthful habits. See report #D222.

NEJM May 3, 2001 The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group.

Checked 8/9/05

May 19th, 2013
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About the Author: Gabe Mirkin, MD

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