The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally

by Jason Fung

Acarbose is essentially the drug equivalent of a low-carbohydrate diet.

Acarbose,

consuming lots of eggs reduces the risk of diabetes by 42 percent.16

Low-carbohydrate diets have proven more effective at reducing body weight, waist size, and blood glucose.22

we need to make a further distinction between unrefined carbohydrates, such as potatoes and fruit, and refined carbohydrates, such as added sugars and flour, because the higher the intake of refined carbohydrates, the higher the risk of diabetes.25 The reason is that refined carbohydrates increase blood glucose higher and faster than unrefined ones.

Due to its unique metabolic pathway, fructose is many times more likely to cause insulin resistance than glucose.

Remember that every single cell in the body can help disperse glucose, but the liver is the only organ that can metabolize fructose. Thus, fructose is many times more likely to cause fatty liver than glucose. Since sucrose is composed of equal amounts of glucose and fructose, it is the primary cause of fatty liver, bar none.

Some obvious foods to eliminate are sugar-sweetened beverages, including sodas, iced tea, sports drinks, mixed alcoholic drinks, juices, smoothies, coffee drinks, and “enhanced” water. These liquids are loaded with sugar. Cookies, cakes, desserts, muffins, cupcakes, and ice cream are other obvious sources.

My best advice is to avoid eating excessive amounts of fruit, especially as many modern varieties are now available year-round and have been bred to be sweeter than in the past.

I advise patients to avoid all sweeteners, whether they contain calories or not. The logic is simple. If non-caloric sweeteners could truly reduce diabetes and obesity, then we would not have an epidemic on our hands.

the empirical evidence is clear: artificial sweeteners are no better than sugar. Avoid them all.

Replace those refined carbohydrates with fatty fish, olive oil, avocados, and nuts. The natural saturated fats found in beef, pork, bacon, butter, cream, and coconuts are also healthy fats. Eggs are an excellent choice, as are most seafoods.

highly refined seed oils that are high in omega-6 fat are not recommended because they can cause inflammation

These oils include sunflower, corn, canola, safflower, and vegetable oils. In particular, do not use these vegetable oils at high heat because they release harmful chemicals called aldehydes when heated. Stay away from deep-fried foods and all hydrogenated (trans) fats.