I’ve helped many people reverse diabetes naturally, and in this article, I will share with you how you too can reverse diabetes naturally and the science behind this process.
Diabetes Type 2 is a disease that is thought by many to be a chronic and progressive disease. I have many patients who believe that once your diagnosed with diabetes you will have it for life. It comes as no surprise considering the American Diabetes Association tells us this on their website.
In America it is estimated that 23.6 million Americans suffer from diabetes every day. These equates to 1 out of every 4 people over the age of 60. It’s the 7th leading cause of death costing $174 billion dollars annually. I wish we could say that with all the money spent on diabetes that we are seeing the numbers go down, but unfortunately it is quite the opposite. It is estimated that 57 million Americans unknowingly have pre-diabetes, which is the gateway to the full-blown type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
There is a way to reversing diabetes without medication, but before we get to that, let’s learn about diabetes.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that disrupts normal everyday life as you know it. Once diagnosed with diabetes, you have no choice but to begin taking the necessary steps to maintain or heal the body. There are several types of diabetes, diabetes type 1, 2, and 3. The basis behind types 1, 2, and 3 diabetes is the same in the way that they revolve around the hormone insulin’s inability to properly transport sugar.
Diabetes is medically characterized by your fasting blood glucose being higher than 126 mg/dl. Ranges that fall between 100-125 mg/dl are considered to be pre-diabetic, and ranges that fall under 99 mg/dl are considered to be normal. Many younger individuals are unknowingly creating diabetes in their bodies as they consistently fall into the pre-diabetes category.
Though our focus in this article is going to be mostly on Type 2 diabetes, we need to touch on all three to avoid any confusion and show you how to reverse diabetes naturally.
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is also called Juvenile Diabetes because it tends to develop at a younger age and is due to an autoimmune response. What happens in the case of type 1 diabetes is that the immune system attacks the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. When these cells are destroyed the pancreas loses the ability to produce insulin. Without insulin, our bodies cannot use the sugar in the blood which will ultimately lead to high blood sugar and a myriad of symptoms.
When we look upstream to see where diabetes type one stems from, many believe the autoimmune response can be related to toxicity, leaky gut, vaccines, heavy metals, chronic inflammation and all irritants to the immune system.(7)
Type 1 diabetes is rarely ever reversed, but can certainly be improved by following many of the strategies we will share with you in this article.
Type 2 Diabetes
When you hear people talking about reversing diabetes, it is likely they are talking about type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes is commonly known as Adult Onset Diabetes due most being diagnosed over the age of 40. It is being referred to less and less as adult onset simply because so many young adults and children are experiencing diabetic symptoms due to such poor lifestyle habits.
Diabetes Type 2 is due to insulin resistance. What this means is that insulin is being produced by the pancreas and released, but the receptor cells are not responding to the insulin. The reason that this is occurring is because the receptors are burnt out as a result of many years of excessive sugar intake. The common medical treatment for this situation is to give an individual insulin, but as you can imagine this further complicates the problem by burning out the insulin receptors to a much high extent.
Chronic high blood sugar that has gone unchecked is very dangerous. It can lead to many issues, including but not limited to disrupted vision, weight, digestion, hormones, and can even cause heart disease. Therefore, high blood sugar should not be taken lightly.
Just as we mentioned with diabetes Type 1, we always want to look for the root cause in order to truly reverse these conditions. Some causes of Type 2 diabetes include:
- High sugar / carbohydrate diet
- Overweight
- Chronic stress
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Toxicity
- Chronic inflammation
- Epigenetic susceptibility (runs in the family)
If you fall into some of these above categories, it’s best to start making some serious changes now.
Type 3 Diabetes
If this is the first time you’ve heard of this, don’t be too surprised as it is a new science. Diabetes Type 3 is referring to Alzheimer’s disease being a brain-specific form of diabetes. In essence, Type 3 diabetes is a result of chronic insulin resistance plus an insulin-deficiency state that is largely confined to the brain causing neuro-degeneration. Research has shown that many key aspects of the central nervous system degeneration that occurs in Alzheimer’s disease can be effectuated by impaired insulin signaling. All of the same risk factors that play a role in Type 2 diabetes play the same role in Type 3.(6)
History Of Diabetes
I often hear people say that the reason we see more diabetes today more than ever is because it is being diagnosed better. This is comical considering the simple blood sugar tests that are being used today have been around for 50 years. So the fact is, the issue of diabetes is continuing to get worse as time goes on. According to the CDC in 1958 an estimated 1.58 million Americans had diabetes, and today that number has increased to an estimated 23.6 million people.(2)
Over time, eating habits have declined and individuals continue to consume more sugar on a yearly basis. The average American now consumes over 130 pounds of sugar each year.
Where is the sugar coming from?
When most people do an analysis of their food and drink habits, they don’t consider themselves to be one who consumes a lot of sugar. The reason for this is because people picture consuming sugar as scooping the sugar from the sugar jar into your meal or drink; unfortunately it’s not that straight forward.(5)
It is obvious that sodas, juices, candy and desserts contain a lot of sugar, but let’s take a look at the not so obvious items that are over-consumed. All starches such as bread, pastas, rice, crackers, corn, and potatoes are broken down into glucose in the stomach and then we call this blood sugar as it enters the blood stream. These items must be avoided when suffering from unstable or high blood sugar.(1)
Many health foods are also jammed with high levels of sugar as well. Many “healthy” or “all natural” granola bars contain more sugar than a can of pop (or soda for those in the South) is one prime example. Many people are running from gluten and dairy but completely ignoring the fact that their “healthy” breakfast bar has more sugar than a can of Coca Cola.
How to Reverse Diabetes Naturally
When my patients tell me that they have diabetes, they often think that diabetes is a condition that they will have to suffer with for the rest of their life. Though their doctor remembered the insulin, they forgot to tell them that lifestyle changes could completely reverse the condition and give them their life back. Let’s dive into strategies you can implement today to start stabilizing your blood sugar and reverse diabetes naturally.
1) Dietary Changes: When I think of diabetes and diet changes, it brings me back to when my diabetic grandfather was in the hospital. No sooner did they bring him a big sandwich (on white bread), sugary yogurt and jello for lunch, nurses followed in with an insulin shot. I remember thinking: this is insane! You’re feeding him sugar + sugar + sugar and then giving him an insulin shot.
When facing diabetes, you not only need to eat on a diet plan that heals the body, but one that is not constantly spiking your blood sugar. It is important to remove from your diet:
- Grains
- Starchy carbs and high carb vegetables
- Refined sugar
- Hydrogenated oils
- High sugar fruit
It is important to replace these with:
- Healthy fats
- High quality protein
- Minimal carbohydrates
- Low sugar fruits (in moderation)
- High fiber vegetables
Diet is your foundation and the most powerful tool in your toolbox when healing diabetes. You may find this podcast helpful when looking to eliminate sugar from your diet. If you’re looking for a more complete diet guide with delicious recipes, then look to the Heal Yourself Cookbook. It is a perfect diet for diabetics or pre-diabetics.
2) Fix your Gut
I have never met a diabetic who doesn’t also have gut issues that need to be addressed. Many doctors (me being one of them) believe that intestinal issues may be a major contributing factor in the diabetic condition. I have seen anything from Leaky Gut to bacterial imbalances all contribute negatively to diabetes, making the healing process much more difficult when not addressed. I wrote a great article on the necessary steps to heal the gut. This step should neither be overlooked nor discounted as it is crucial to the healing process. If you’re looking for proper supplementation to fix your gut, I’d recommend the Gut Healing Package by Celarity.
3) Exercise Daily
Exercise is a basic requirement of the genetic health for humans. So it would make sense that not only do we benefit from exercise to maintain good health, but we benefit also when we are sick. In this study, it was demonstrated that exercise offers support in the reversal of diabetes naturally by improving the levels of blood glucose.
There are many forms of exercises that one can do. Decreasing stress is important when healing any condition, meaning that yoga would be a twofold approach that offers you stress reduction and exercise. I also recommend high intensity interval training that can be done in just 20 minutes a day. Though “high intensity” may sound daunting to many people, it is important to remember the intensity level is on a per person basis. This means “high intensity” to a sedentary 60 year will be vary drastically from that of an athletic 30 year old’s “high intensity”. This podcast explains how to do high intensity interval training, regardless of your current activity level.
4) Supplementation to Reverse Diabetes Naturally
Those looking to reverse diabetes naturally must use proper nutritional supplementation concentrated on healing the body. These are some of the top minerals and herbs to support healthy blood sugar levels.
Chromium: Individuals with poor glucose metabolism tend to have lower blood chromium levels. Chromium enhances the metabolic action of insulin and may support heart health, especially in overweight individuals. A review published in Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics looked at 13 studies that found significant improvement in glycemic control and substantial reductions in hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia after patients used chromium supplementation.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon has been clinically proven time and time again to powerfully influence glucose metabolism. Cinnamon has been studied extensively for its roles in glucose uptake, glycogen synthesis, and insulin action. Anderson et al. demonstrated a 20-fold increase in glucose uptake utilizing a water-soluble form of cinnamon. In this study, it was found by Western University associated significantly lower plasma glucose levels with cinnamon consumption. (3)
American Ginseng: The University of Maryland Medical Center along with several other studies have found American Ginseng to be of great benefit with both fasting blood glucose levels and postprandial (after eating) glucose levels. One study done on two different Type 2 diabetes cases demonstrated a lesser increase in blood glucose levels after consumption of a sugary drink.
Other supplements that supports healthy blood sugar levels include:(4)
References
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-2037144
- ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/119537583
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17718288
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26829184
- https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769828/
- https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/type1.html
Diabetes Type 2 is an ever-increasing health condition. Not only can it be avoided by healthy lifestyle habits like those mentioned in this article, but diabetes Type 2 can be reversed. This ultimately will prevent the onset diabetes Type 3. I hope you implement all the resources I presented into your life so that you can spend more time living and less time being sick.
