Diabetes
Diet & Lifestyle Protocol
I was talking to my acupuncturist the other day about the holy grail of living a healthy lifestyle and she gave me this.
- Exercise
is the most important thing you can do to reverse diabetes. Diet will slow the progression of the
disorder, but exercise can actually reverse the condition. The optimal exercise regime includes
aerobic exercise for 40 minutes, five days a week. This means having your heart rate
elevated for 40 straight minutes, five days a week.
- Cut
out all forms of refined sugar. A
good natural substitute is stevia,
which is sweet, but is not a sugar.
The best tasting stevia is “Sweet Leaf”, available at Whole Foods
Market.
- Cut
out all forms of refined carbohydrates including breads, pasta, white
rice, most breakfast cereals, rice cakes or any starchy, low fiber
food. Avoid soda, fruit juice, and
any drink that rapidly raises the blood sugar.
- Consume
adequate amounts of protein, either in vegetarian form or in the form of
lean meat that has not been treated hormonally. Avoid meat alternatives that are heavily
processed with a long list of ingredients.
- It
should be noted that a vegetarian diet can be a causing factor of
diabetes. This is because the
vegetarian diet is almost entirely carbohydrates: veggies, grains,
legumes, and fruits all turn into sugar in the blood stream. Diabetes is caused by an excess of
sugar in the diet, and too many carbohydrates will exacerbate the
condition.
- Eat as
many fresh vegetables as you wish.
- Eat
fruits like berries, which are not too sweet.
- Cut
out tropical fruit.
- Eat
only complex, whole grains like steel cut oatmeal, brown rice, and quinoa. These better forms of carbohydrates still
need to be kept in great moderation.
- Increase
your intake of dietary fiber. Start
with a 1 tsp per day of psyllium husk, and take it will a large glass of
water. If your body has no
side-effects from the psyllium, such as bloating or constipation, then
increase to 1 tsp 2x per day.
Psyllium works to lower cholesterol and increase insulin
sensitivity.
- When
eating foods, such as berries, root vegetables, whole grains, and sprouted
wheat products, which have more naturally occurring sugar in them, combine
them with a high quality fat (like avocados) or protein to slow the release of glucose
into your system. This step alone
will lower the food’s glycemic index.
Nuts such as almonds or walnuts are a great food to add.
