Diabetes Solution In Detail

Antioxidants neutralize free radicals. The solution is increasing antioxidants made by the body, taking a supplement of omega 3, and following a vegetarian diet to keep free radicals to a minimum.

Some vitamins are antioxidants but all vitamins that are antioxidants are weak antioxidants. It’s a big secret in the nutrition world. The ability of an antioxidant to neutralize free radicals is its ORAC value (sometimes called TAC value). Many supplements of vitamins are advertised as strong or powerful antioxidants but the ORAC value for the different vitamins are not given in the advertising nor on the label - because the ORAC for vitamins is pretty low. For example, the ORAC value for 100 mg of vitamin C is 5 while the ORAC value for 2/3 cup of fresh blueberries is 6,000. So 1200 100mg doses of vitamin C has the ORAC value of 2/3 cup of blueberries. Of course, vitamins are needed by the body for many reasons unrelated to their antioxidant value. If a product advertised as an antioxidant supplement doesn’t list the ORAC (or TAC) value, don’t buy it.

Many people try to make use of the low antioxidant values of vitamin C by taking mega doses. The blood stream can only hold 200mg or so of vitamin C, the rest is pushed out. Even if the blood stream could hold all the vitamin C taken, mega doses of vitamin C hides symptoms because of its natural antihistamine quality. When you’re sick you need to know you’re sick. Mega doses of vitamin C can hide early symptoms of cancer, parasite infections, and just about anything else. Two hundred milligrams a day is plenty of vitamin C.

No mineral is an antioxidant. Manganese, zinc, and selenium are necessary components of powerful antioxidants made by the body. There are three types of antioxidants made by the body.

Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) neutralizes the free radical called super oxide. Manganese is a component of Mn-SOD which is used by the cell in the mitochondria - where most free radicals are created by the breaking of bonds of food molecules. Zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) are components of CuZn-SOD used in the cytoplasm of the cell. Zinc is also a component of EC-SOD (extra cellular SOD) used in extra cellular (outside of cells) fluids including plasma. (Zinc is also a component of insulin.) Most people get all the copper (Cu) they need from their incoming water copper plumbing.

Catalase neutralizes the free radical hydrogen peroxide (created in the body during metabolism) by breaking it down to water and oxygen. Iron is a necessary component of catalase, but more iron than needed by the body increases free radicals.

Glutathione peroxidase neutralizes lipid hydroperoxide free radicals (including lipids of the cell membrane). A selenium/amino acid complex (selenoprotein) is a necessary component of glutathione peroxidase. Glutathione is not short for glutathione peroxidase. According to the National Institutes of Health,

“Selenium is incorporated into proteins to make selenoproteins, which are important antioxidant enzymes. The antioxidant properties of selenoproteins help prevent cellular damage from free radicals. Free radicals are natural by-products of oxygen metabolism that may contribute to the development of chronic [degenerative] diseases such as cancer and heart disease.”

The RDA for selenium for the average adult is 70mcg. Two hundred mcg of selenium from food or supplement is plenty. The RDA for zinc for the average adult is 15mg. The amount of zinc by supplement should not exceed 25 mg daily or 50 mg every other day. The RDA for manganese for the average adult is 2mg. Five milligrams of manganese daily is plenty.

Two nutrients just as necessary as vitamins and minerals are the essential fatty acids, omega 3 and omega 6. Most plant foods contain plenty of omega 6 fatty acids, but few foods contain plenty of omega 3 fatty acids. Great sources of omega three are perilla oil and flax seed oil supplements. (They look like vitamin E supplements.)

The cell membrane (cell wall) is a little like a chain link fence where the cell can change the size and shape of the diamonds as needed to allow different atoms and molecules in and out. Cells need omega 3 to repair and make new cell membranes. Cells maintain and repair cell membranes with omega 3 fatty acids. When properly made with omega 3, cell membranes open and allow glucose to enter the cell when signaled by insulin, causing blood glucose to drop to a normal level, causing the pancreas to stop releasing insulin.

When there’s an omega 3 deficiency, omega 6 fatty acids are used to maintains and repair cell membranes. The cell membrane does not function normally when repaired or made using omega 6, especially when the omega 6 has been changed from its original structure by high heat, for example, cooking, manufacturing of margarine and salad dressing products. Cell membranes made with omega 6 are sticky and stiff and do not open to glucose consistently when in contact with insulin, causing blood sugar to accumulate in the blood.
Physician’s Guide to Natural Health Products That Work, Dr. James A. Howenstine, Internal Medicine

Changing to a vegetarian diet is easier said than done. Not eating the right vegetables and fruits can cause a potassium deficiency, which will prevent the liver from storing enough glucose (as glycogen) to maintain blood sugar level between meals - causing a drop in blood sugar between meals. Orange juice and bananas contain a lot of potassium.

The form of vitamin D in plant food (D2) is not used by the body as well as the animal form (D3). Salmon, herring, mackerel, egg yolks, contain plenty of vitamin D3. Most store bought cow’s milk is fortified with vitamin D3. If these foods are not a regular part of the diet, a supplement of vitamin D3 is definitely needed.

When protein is eaten, it is broken down into amino acids and the amino acids are recombined to form different proteins the body uses. Each animal food contains all the amino acids needed by the body. Few plant foods contain all the amino acids needed. A protein deficiency can develop if the right plant foods are not eaten together. A little research on complete protein vegetarian meals will be needed.

A diabetic friendly vegetarian diet includes avoiding foods that raise blood sugar too high. How high a food raises blood sugar is the glycemic index of the food. A glycemic index of 100 means the food raises blood sugar as high as glucose. A slice of white bread raises blood sugar as high as glucose. Foods high in flour, white rice, and potatoes, have a glycemic index over 70. Milk, apples, legumes (beans), pasta, and all bran cereal have a glycemic index level below 55. Of course the more you eat of a high glycemic index food the higher blood sugar can rise.

Sugar and Body Fat

It’s important to know the blood stream can hold only about 2 teaspoons worth of sugar. A bottle/can of soda contains 8-10 teaspoons of sugar. Excess sugar is sent to fat cells where it is turned into body fat making fat cells fatter. Excess sugar also causes the body makes more fat cells.

Berberine and HJD

Berberine and particularly Huanglian Jiedu (HJD) have been used for improving, and eliminating for some people, type 2 diabetes. Pomegranate juice has been shown to be very useful in reducing atherosclerosis in diabetics.

Vinegar, Cinnamon, and Insulin

Several Studies have found vinegar (acetic acid) significantly improves cellular sensitivity to insulin in type 2 diabetes. But acidosis is already a problem for diabetics and vinegar (pH about 3.3) will push pH further down, so pH should be watched with pH test strips or a digital pH meter and pushed back up if it drops too low. Apple cider vinegar measures at pH 3.3, but is completely broken down during digestion and actually raises pH (maybe too high for some).

A recent study found that half a teaspoon of cinnamon daily mimics insulin in lowering blood sugar. Cinnamon increases sugar metabolism in fat cells twenty fold and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities.

Drugs For Diabetes

Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that a study of 42 clinical trials shows Avandia increases the risk of heart attack by 43% and heart death by 64%, “Unfortunately, Avandia (rosiglitazone) appears to increase, rather than decrease, the most serious complication of diabetes (heart disease),”

Worried Avandia could be another Vioxx, a congressional committee scheduled a hearing on Avandia. “Both the drug company and the FDA have some major explaining to do about what they knew about Avandia, when they knew it, and why they didn’t take immediate action to protect patients.” said Senator Max Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. University of Washington researcher Bruce M. Psaty, MD, PhD said, “The Nissen study means there’s no good reason for most patients to take Avandia.”

The Flow of Glucose

Glucose is extracted from food during digestion and moved to the blood stream and into cells where the bonds of glucose are broken to extract the energy of the bonds. If glucose is coming into the blood stream and cells are not receiving the glucose, the glucose has no where to go and accumulates in the blood. Glucose accumulating in the blood is rising blood sugar.

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas and when released signals cells to allow glucose through the cell membrane and into the cell. The pancreas of a person with type 1 diabetes is unable to make insulin, causing too much glucose to accumulate in the blood stream. Insulin shots signal cells to receive glucose.

The pancreas of a person with type 2 diabetes makes plenty of insulin but either the insulin is not properly made and cell membranes do not readily respond to the improperly made insulin, or the cell membranes themselves are not responding normally to properly made insulin. In either case, glucose that normally moves into the cells instead accumulates in the blood.

The pancreas releases insulin when it detects blood sugar is too high. A second problem in type 2 diabetes is that since blood glucose remains higher than normal, the pancreas is continually releasing insulin trying to lower blood sugar. So in type 2 diabetes insulin level in the blood is also higher then normal.

Too much glucose and too much insulin in the blood hour after hour, day after day adversely affects normal body chemistry resulting in worsening of a diabetes condition and a much greater chance for developing other illnesses, especially heart disease. Over 90% of diabetics have type 2 diabetes.

One Solution For Type 1 Diabetes

One cause of diabetes is a malfunctioning immune system attacking or altering one or more tissues of the body (autoimmune disease). Researchers in Canada recently found that in many diabetics sensory nerves of the pancreas causes inflammation of islet cells (which causes the loss of blood sugar control of diabetes). By injecting a certain peptide (a molecule of two or more amino acids) into the pancreas, researchers have been able to patch sensory nerve cell malfunction, stopping the loss of blood sugar control. The treatment (peptide injection) does not correct the malfunctioning immune system that damages sensory nerve cells of the pancreas, but preventing loss of blood sugar control is great news for diabetics.

Cure For Type 1 Diabetes

A small Brazilian study used chemotherapy to destroy the immune system of type 1 diabetics and then implanted stem cells from the patients own blood to allow the body to make new islet cells. The patients haven’t needed treatment for three years so far.

Buying A Blood Sugar Monitoring Device

Government lawyers refer to cigarettes as a “nicotine delivery device”. Nicotine addiction is used to create repeat business. Cheap printers are ink delivery devices. Repeat business is created by making the ink cartridges for the cheap printers small and expensive. The lure is the cheap printer. A representative of Hoover said it should have bought the Dyson vacuum cleaner (no bags needed) and shelved it when it had the chance, because now it’s losing money on repeat business - sales of millions of expensive paper bags - vacuum cleaner bags.

Glucose monitoring devices are not any different. The distraction-in-advertising in glucose monitors is accuracy. The consumer cannot tell if one glucose monitor is significantly more accurate than another, let alone know if the supposed increased accuracy is of practical use. Blood glucose monitors have been in use for over 10 years and work very well. Before even considering a glucose monitor, get prices on the test strips for as many different glucose monitors as you can and buy the glucose monitor device that uses the lowest priced test strips.

High Tech Device Measures Blood Glucose Without Drawing Blood

Diabetics unable to turn vegetarian should be seeing relief in the near future from having to draw blood time after time. An Israeli company, with a branch in Boston Massachusetts, found a way to determine blood glucose level from outside the body using a very small laser beam and an ultrasound sensor. The device, called Aprise, looks like a wristwatch and works by sending several different laser frequencies through a donut shaped ultrasound sensor where the beam reacts with glucose in the blood which happens to create ultrasounds. The ultrasounds are measured by the ultrasound sensor connected to a computer chip of algorithms. In January 2005 Ron Nagar and Benny Pesach, founders of Glucon, Inc., received a patent for their high tech glucose meter.