DIABETES
About 10 mil ion persons in the United States have diabetes, although almost half of them are unaware that they are diabetic. Three out often diabetics end up in the hospital every year. Eight out of ten diabetics develop eye problems. Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness. Diabetics are eighteen times more likely to experience severe kidney damage than are non-diabetics: 25 percent of kidney dialysis patients are diabetics. Diabetes more than doubles the risk of heart disease and stroke.
There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is called insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes. The onset is sudden in children and young adults and accounts for about 20 percent of all known cases of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is known as non insulin-dependent diabetes or Adult onset diabetes. This type affects people of middle-age and older. Of this group at least 90 percent are obese.
SYMPTOMS
The most common symptoms of diabetes include constant hunger, frequent urination, being always thirsty, weakness, loss of weight, mental depression, dry red tongue, blindness, irritability, restlessness and poor circulation. Not all these symptoms are present in every case.
The normal blood sugar is 80-120 mg/dl., but can rise after a meal up to 150 mg/100 ml. of blood. When the blood sugar exceeds 180, it will spill over into the urine. To excrete the sugar, water is taken from the tissues causing frequent urination and increased thirst. The appetite is often increased because we are not fully utilizing the food we normal y eat.
A diabetic coma is caused by not enough insulin, causing high blood sugar. Symptoms are headache, thirst, frequent urination and fatigue. The face becomes red, the skin hot and dry, and the breath has a sweetish odor. Nausea and vomiting sometimes occur. Respirations become rapid and the pulse increases. If insulin and fluid are not given immediately the person will lose consciousness.
Insulin shock is caused by too much insulin causing low blood sugar. Its symptoms are nervousness, pal or, hunger, perspiration and behavior that resembles intoxication. If a complex carbohydrate (such as ripe fruit) is not given promptly, the individual becomes drowsy, disoriented and eventual y unconscious.
In 1981 diabetics in the United States needed the glands of 56 mil ion animals to meet their insulin needs. To produce a single pound of animal insulin, the amount required to maintain approximately 750 diabetics for a single year, 8,000 pounds of glands from 23,500 animals were required. In the past, insulin was obtained in tiny amounts exclusively from the glands of pigs and cattle supplied by slaughter houses.
Insulin, a preparation used in the medical treatment of diabetes, is prepared from animal pancreas, usually pork or beef; there is also human insulin available. Orinase, Tolinase, Diabinese or Dymelor are oral medicines which many Type 2 diabetics take. These medicines are not insulin, but drugs that stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin. There are many natural ways to stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin without taking the drugs which have side effects.
NATURAL WAYS TO HELP
Diet - There is not a known remedy that will cure diabetes without a reformation along the lines that caused it. The number one dietary consideration for diabetes must be a strict vegetarian, low calorie, alkaline diet of high quality natural foods. Plenty of whole grains, bran and oatmeal are very beneficial in diabetes, as well as raw vegetables of all kinds - red cabbage, cauliflower, watercress, brussel sprouts, okra, cucumbers, onions, etc. A big emphasis needs to be placed on raw foods as they stimulate the pancreas and increase insulin production. Green beans and cucumber juice contain a hormone needed by the cells of the pancreas in order to produce insulin. No table sugar should be used. When sugar is eaten and absorbed into the blood stream, it requires insulin and a trace element called chromium to move the sugar from the blood stream into the cells where it can be burned for energy. In the diabetic the insulin is missing. Therefore sugar piles up in the blood stream and cannot move into the cell . When insulin is given, the sugar is able to move into the cell and the sugar level will drop in the blood stream. If chromium is missing, the blood sugar will rise again, for the sugar is still not able to enter the cell . Chromium is available in many natural foods (especially whole grains), but most of it is removed when foods are refined. The average American diet is lacking in chromium. At birth we have a good supply of chromium, but as we get older we gradually lose it if we do not eat properly. Many older individuals are deficient in chromium. Why is this happening? When refined sugar is eaten, it requires chromium to be utilized. If none is taken in with food, chromium from the body stores, if available, has to be used. Thus chromium is gradually depleted and sickness occurs.
What about fresh fruits, as they contain sugar? Fresh fruits of all kinds are excellent for the diabetic.(1) The sugar in fresh fruit is fructose sugar and is very different from the refined table sugar (which is sucrose sugar). When we eat sugar or starch our body breaks it down into simple sugar and the blood then carries it to the cells of the body. For this simple sugar to enter the cells it needs insulin and chromium, but if you have eaten only fructose sugar (the good kind that is found only in fresh fruits), no insulin is needed for the sugar to enter the cells. This is why a diabetic can eat all the fresh fruit desired, but no canned or frozen fruit juices (even if they are supposedly all natural). All of these are refined; they have been heated (even the frozen ones) and are hard for a diabetic to assimilate.
Use no free fats - only natural fats as found in avocados, nuts, etc. Recent studies show excess fat intake can decrease the number of receptors and/or deactivate them. This results in the gradual build up of sugar in the bloodstream. Dr. James Anderson, one of the most respected authorities on diabetes in the world, did a study with Dr. Kiehm. They took thirteen diabetics off the 34 percent fat, 23 percent protein diet prescribed by the American Diabetes Association and fed them a 9 percent fat diet of mostly natural high fiber, starchy foods. Blood sugar levels were significantly lowered in all thirteen. All five patients taking oral drugs and four of the eight patients taking insulin were able to discontinue their medication completely. (2)
Diabetics should discontinue the use of baking powder or soda, as these decrease the activity of the pancreatic juices, which are used in the body to digest protein, fats and carbohydrates. The pancreas is one of the most important organs of digestion.
Fasting is usually not advisable for diabetics. Avoid all mental nervous stresses and strains. Avoid constipation; the bowels must be kept loose with at least three good eliminations every day. This is imperative to improved health.
Herb Tea - Tea, made from any one of the following herbs is beneficial: raspberry leaves, red root or dandelion root. Mix one tsp. of herb per 8 oz. of distilled water. Let steep for 20 minutes or longer. Drink three cups daily.
Exercise - Exercise will lower the blood sugar and enable the diabetic to require less insulin.(3) Deep breathing and lots of exercise of hard physical labor will help keep the fire of the metabolic processes burning fast, and this will diminish the need for insulin.
Sunlight - The effect of direct sunlight on the body's sugar metabolism parallels that of insulin. Sunlight facilitates the absorption of glucose into the cells of the body and stimulates the body to convert its blood sugar (glucose) into stored sugar (glycogen).(4) This is minimal in a normal individual but dramatic in diabetics. A diabetic must gradually expose his body to the sunlight. Diabetics who choose to sunbathe should always keep in touch with their physician as their insulin dosage will have to be decreased.
In conclusion, diabetes is unknown in countries where people can't afford to overeat. Americans may be the richest people in the world, but they are also one of the sickest. In America, a new diabetic is discovered every 50 seconds. I want to encourage all to eat in moderation, only those things that are wholesome and natural.
(1) Kloss, Jethro, Back to Eden, Back to Eden BookPubl. Co., pg. 407, 1984.
(2) Kiehm, T.G., et al (1976), Beneficial Effects of a High Carbohydrate, High Fiber Diet on Hyperglyucemic Men, American Journal Clinic Nutrition 29:895-899.
(3) Cooper, K.H., Aerobics, New York, Bantam Books, 1968.
(3) Kime, Z.R., Sunlight Could Save Your Life, World Health Pub., pg. 60, 1980.