The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally

by Jason Fung

There are many different types of diabetic nerve damage. Commonly,

diabetic neuropathy affects the peripheral nerves, first in the feet, and then progressively in the hands and arms as well, in a characteristic stocking-and-glove distribution.

No current treatment reverses diabetic nerve damage. Drugs may help the symptoms of the disease but do not change its natural history. Ultimately, it can only be prevented.

MACROVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS

Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)

ATHEROSCLEROSIS IS A disease of the arteries whereby plaques of fatty material are deposited within the inner walls of the blood vessel, causing narrowing and hardening. This condition causes heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral vascular disease, which are collectively known as cardiovascular diseases. Diabetes greatly increases the risk of developing atherosclerosis.

Heart disease

Diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular disease two- to fourfold, and these complications develop at a younger age compared to nondiabetics. Sixty-eight percent of diabetics aged sixty-five or older will die of heart disease, and a further 16 percent will die of stroke.12 Reducing the risk of macrovascular disease is therefore of primary importance. The extent of death and disability resulting from cardiovascular diseases is many times greater than that resulting from microvascular diseases.

Stroke

Symptoms vary depending upon which part of the brain is affected, but the devastating impact of stroke cannot be underestimated. In the United States, it is the third leading cause of death and the biggest contributor to disability.

Diabetes is a strong independent risk factor in stroke, meaning that, on its own, diabetes increases a

person’s risk of having a stroke by as much as 15...

Peripheral vascular disease

Diabetes, along with smoking, is the strongest risk factor for PVD. Approximately 27 percent of diabetic patients with PVD will progressively worsen over a five-year period, and 4 percent of them will need an amputation.

OTHER COMPLICATIONS

Alzheimer’s disease may reflect the inability to use glucose normally, perhaps a type of selective insulin resistance in the brain. The links between

Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes have grown so strong that many researchers have suggested Alzheimer’s disease can

be called type 3 diabetes.19 These arguments go far beyond the scope ...

C...

Fatty liver disease

Infections

There are many contributing factors to the higher rates of infection. High blood glucose may impair the immune system. As well, poor blood circulation decreases the ability of

infection-fighting white blood cells to reach all parts of the body.

Skin and nail co...

Erectile dysfunction

Diabetes is a key risk factor, increasing the risk of erectile dysfunction more than threefold and afflicting patients at a younger age than usual. Poor blood circulation in diabetics is the likely reason for this increased risk. The risk of erectile dysfunction also increases with age and severity of insulin resistance, with an estimated

50–60 percent of diabetic men above the age of 50 having this problem.25

Polycystic ovarian syndrome

AN IMBALANCE OF the hormones can cause some women to develop cysts (benign masses) on the ovaries. This condition, called polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), is characterized by irregular menstrual cycles, evidence of excessive testosterone, and the presence of cysts (usually detected by ultrasound). PCOS patients share many of the same characteristics as type 2 diabetics, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance. PCOS is caused by elevated insulin resistance26 and increases the risk

of developing type 2 diabetes three-to fivefold...

TREAT THE CAUSE, NOT TH...

We focus obsessively on lowering blood glucose. But high blood glucose is only the symptom, not the cause. The root cause of the hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes is high insulin resistance. Until we address that root cause, insulin resistance, the epidemic of type 2 diabetes and all of its associated complications will continue to get worse.

DIABESITY IS THE unification of the words diabetes, referring to type 2, and obesity.

Diabetes and obesity are truly one and the same disease. As strange as it may now sound, physicians did not always recognize this seemingly obvious and basic connection.

Height2 (m2) A body mass index of 25.0 or higher is considered overweight, while a body mass index of between 18.5 and 24.9 is in the healthy range.

Body Mass Index Classification < 18.5 Underweight 18.5–24.9 Normal weight 25.0–29.9 Overweight 30.0–34.9 Obese 35.0–39.9 Severe Obesity > 40.0 Morbid Obesity

Dr. Willett5 showed that, once

again, the single most important risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes was obesity.

Maintaining a normal weight, getting regular physical exercise, not smoking, and eating a healthy diet could prevent a stunning 91 percent of type 2 diabetes.

But the million-dollar question is: What is a “healthy” diet? Dr. Willett’s healthy diet was defined as high in cereal fiber, high in polyunsaturated fats, low in trans fat, and low in glycemic load.

His diet was about reducing sugar and refined carbohydrates, not reducing dietary fat.

No proof had ever existed that natural dietary fats worsened cardiovascular disease.

The evidence for the low-fat guidelines was simply a great work of fiction.

Today, we understand clearly that obesity is the main underlying issue behind type 2

diabetes. But the problem isn’t simply obesity. Rather, it is abdominal obesity.

However, body mass index is not the best indicator of type 2 diabetes risk. The waist circumference, a measure of body fat distribution around the trunk, is a far superior predictor of type 2 diabetes.

Visceral fat accumulates inside and around the intra-abdominal organs such as the liver, kidneys, and intestines, and can be detected by an increased waist circumference. This pattern of obesity, where most of the fat is carried around the abdomen, is also known as central obesity, or central adiposity.

In contrast, subcutaneous fat is the fat deposited directly under the skin.

The different health risks associated with the different fat distributions explain how roughly 30 percent of obese adults are metabolically normal.9 These healthy-fat people carry more subcutaneous fat rather than the more dangerous ...

the same metabolic abnormalities as in obesity10 because of exc...