The real cause of diabetes is food

I know some doctors may not like this at all. Not only doctors, but also all those who believe that any opinion on the subject of health and wellness should only be given by licensed medical doctors!

Well, they are wrong. Our health is basically our responsibility; therefore, we need to be as open-minded as possible when it comes to anything that may benefit or hurt our well-being.

We live in an era in which drugs, supplements, surgery, and radiation dominate the health and wellness landscape. However, these techniques are only good for the sick! If you plan to get sick, then these are for you. However, if you believe that getting sick is a result of not doing something right, then take charge of your health now.

Start with nutrition. You should not be foolish and believe that all foods are universally safe for all people. What is safe, healthy, and nourishing for one person may be very toxic for another person. To be safe and healthy all the time, we have to understand and map out what foods really work for us (individually) and what harm us.

Because of this, the concept of metabolic typing, though not widely promoted, is actually very important. Metabolic type testing helps us to identify what food categories are safe for us and what we should avoid. If this type of testing could be applied widely, many noncommunicable diseases could be avoided, and the economic burden of disease would be relatively low for individuals, families, employers, and even nations.

Let us get back to why the real cause of diabetes is food. I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2005. That whole week I was feeling somewhat sick. One morning I woke up, and my eyes felt like someone had thrown sand on them. On top of that, my whole body ached terribly. I thought I had malaria and decided to go to the hospital. I sat on the hospital bench and waited for my turn to see the doctor. It took some time, but eventually the nurse told me it was my turn. I told the doctor I suspected I had malaria and narrated my symptoms. The doctor instructed me to visit the lab for some tests.

After the tests I went back to the waiting area. At that time it was already in the afternoon, and many patients had already left. I got a whole bench for myself, and as I was feeling terrible, I decided to lie down on it. After what felt like an hour or so, the nurse approached me and told me to see the doctor. The doctor looked at me thoughtfully and said,

‘You indeed have malaria. But after you left here, I decided to instruct the lab technician to test your blood sugar. It was very fortunate that I did because it turns out you are diabetic. Your blood sugar currently stands at 26 mmol/L. You need to take care’.

The doctor told me not to worry, as there were many diabetes medications, and as long as I took them as instructed, life would be normal. I didn’t believe him. Awhile back I had read about how AVANDIA (rosiglitazone), a drug for type 2 diabetes, had caused harmful side effects to hundreds of thousands of people over the years since it was approved for use. The manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), at the time faced lawsuits in various countries worth billions of dollars. However, I didn’t argue with the good doctor. I thanked him and left with my prescription.

It was already 3.00 PM in the afternoon. I was feeling very hungry, so I entered a restaurant. I ordered some rice and beef stew, ate, and went back to my office. I didn’t feel any physiological changes in my body; therefore, I hung around doing small chores until it was 7.00 PM in the evening. Before heading home, I decided to visit a nearby health center and test my blood sugar again. The results were shocking! The testing gadget showed a red line on the screen, underneath which was written ‘HIGH.’ I didn’t know what it meant; therefore, I asked the technician. ‘It means your blood sugar is higher than what it can read on this machine! It is beyond 33 mmol/L. That is the highest graduation in this machine!’ The technician answered me.

THAT PLATE OF RICE I ATE AT 3.00 PM pushed my blood sugar that high in a space of 4 hours!

I didn’t panic, and instead I smiled. The technician looked at me as if I were a madman. ‘You may actually drop dead right now and still you are smiling?’ He asked in consternation.

‘Take it easy. I’m not going to drop dead or anything like that,’ I assured him.

The following day I went straight to the bookshop and bought some books on how to deal with diabetes naturally. I was determined to avoid medication. From the books I got tips on how to adjust my diet and did it without delay. In three days time my blood sugar was down to 6.5 mmol/L!

Since then I have come to understand that it is the food, not anything else, that is responsible for causing diabetes. Eating highly inflammatory foods causes systematic cellular inflammation. Inflammation shuts down your cell receptors, and thus nutrients cannot get inside the cells as they should. Unutilized sugar in the blood is just too destructive, and that is why it cannot go unnoticed.

When I say sugar, I mean any food that converts to glucose quickly and in substantial quantity when consumed.

In my opinion, diabetes should be a disease of the poor. Rich people can afford to stay away from carbohydrates (the primary cause of glucose in the blood) without starving. When it comes to diabetes and other diseases promoted by systemic inflammation, a keto diet is highly protective. Unfortunately, a keto diet is also expensive.

So, what can the poor do?

The poor can also reduce the intake of refined carbohydrates and replace them with legumes. Like carbohydrates, legumes too have the potential to induce a sense of fullness without loading the blood with too much glucose too quickly.

If you are not yet diabetic, it is not too late to avoid it. Just make the necessary adjustments in your diet, and diabetes will stay away from you forever. Start by checking out the glycaemic index. Focus on foods that have a glycaemic index of 40 and below.