Diabetes. Where do I begin. This is an emotional issue for me. I get very upset at the toll this disease has taken on our population. I have spent the past few years doing considerable research on this topic and I find some of the activity in our country criminal. Therefore, in this post I am going to try and explain what is going on and why more and more of our population is needlessly suffering with this disease.
America's diabetes rate is increasing at such a rate that the Wall Street Journal calls it a growth industry. Public health officials estimate that by 2050 one third of all Americans will have diabetes.
Diabetes trade shows and expos display the latest prescription drugs and devices for diagnosing and treating the illness. TV commercials feature celebrity endorsements, there are diabetes magazines, newsletters, blogs, on line forums for articles, food blogs, classes. Despite all this few Americans improve enough to avoid the nerve damage, foot pain, frozen shoulder, vision loss, confusion, digestive disorders, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol profiles, fatigue, heart disease, chronic infections, and gangrene that are all considered normal complications. Why?
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has for years touted the low calorie, low fat, low protein, high carbohydrate diet, that emphasized fruit, milk, bread, and very little fat and be sure to measure everything you eat. A typical suggested breakfast was non fat milk, banana, orange juice. The body recognizes all of these as sugar and therefore glucose levels would rise after eating this meal. This diet was basically supporting the diabetes, keeping the glucose levels high, as we now know. And the emphasis on measuring does no good when you're eating the wrong foods to begin with.
Some wellness practitioners were wise to this and starting putting their clients on low to no carb diets eliminating potatoes, rice, cereals, breads, fruits, low fat items like milk and yogurt and refined sugar. They started to see glucose levels go down and people started losing weight. Many were able to go off their medications.
Gary Taubes is a journalist who wrote the books Good Calories, Bad Calories and Why we Get Fat and through his extensive research discovered that the low fat, high carbohydrate diet recommended by the ADA, the American Medical Association, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has never been supported by scientific research. The diets they recommend might be ok for people with normal blood sugars but for those who are overweight or have insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, or diabetes these diets can be disastrous.
Unfortunately most doctors follow these guidelines mentioned above and as we have seen, the rate of diabetes continues to rise. Doctors are following the advice of these organizations, and it is clear that doctors are not helping people reverse this disease. As long as we continue to follow these flawed guidelines the disease will continue to escalate.
Another issue is with our insurance programs. Insurance won't pay for many diabetes prevention programs and therefore people do not get the help they need. It's mind boggling to me that insurers won't pay the $150 for a diabetic patient to see a podiatrist who could help them prevent foot ailments from the disease, but they would pay for the amputation costing more than $30,000. Patients have trouble getting reimbursement for $75 to see a nutritionist who can counsel them on their diet but will pay for the $315 per dialysis treatment for patients who have destroyed their kidneys. We spend far more money on the effects of the disease than we can ever spend on prevention. It's important for people to understand that if they are willing to spend a few hundred dollars out of their own pockets they can get help with this disease. Don't let your insurance company keep you from getting the help you need.
If you suffer with this disease do not make the mistake of only following your doctors orders when it comes to this disease. It has been proven time and time again that the people who go outside their doctors office and find other forms of assistance are the ones that beat this disease. Our medical doctors are not trained in nutrition. They do not have the latest diabetes information nor do they have the time to coach you and follow up with you. Many are afraid of lawsuits so they stay with the status quo. All they can do is give you medication to help manage the disease. (In fact many of these medications make the disease worse and cause other complications, but that's another article.) You must take it into your own hands to find a program that can teach you what changes you need to make in your diet. Then you work the program, along with seeing your doctor and making adjustments to your medications as you improve your numbers. With changes to your diet, you can lower your glucose numbers rapidly and this will in turn allow you to reduce your medications and finally get off them for good.
But this takes work and you must be prepared to do the work. There are a number of very good books out there now that give people the information they need to make life changes. I can recommend a couple for you if you are interested.
Resource: The Well Being Journal March/April 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment