Diabetes is the fasting growing disease in the United Stated with an estimated 50 million official cases diagnosed and as much as another 10-20 million undiagnosed. Pre-diabetes, which is almost as dangerous in the long-term, effects as many as 60 million more Americans. Compare this to 1960, when the amount of Americans diagnosed with the disease was a mere 1.59 million people.
That’s a whopping 2000% increase in less than 60 years. How is that possible? Why is this happening? And why is this not the front-page story in the NY Times? What can we do about it? To understand the answers to these important questions, we need to understand some of the fundamental aspects of our body and our historical progression as humans.
What is Diabetes?
Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes mellitus (or Type II diabetes, over 90% of cases) is a condition in which our bodies do not properly convert food to energy. This energy requirement is far reaching for us. We require it for doing things and thinking. If our organs are working well, we have energy for doing things. If our brain is working well, we have energy for thinking. The brain, however, gets its energy in a different manner than cells of the body: i.e. through the bloodstream.
To make sure this process stays in balance, nature has given us a sophisticated mechanism, which is very adaptable. This mechanism involves the use of a hormone, called insulin. Insulin helps usher glucose molecules (energy) into each cell via a special pathway we call a receptor. The amount of these receptors is carefully numbered by evolution to represent the correct amount of glucose required by that particular cell (e.g. heart, liver, kidney etc.) to function properly.
This system was developed throughout a time when foods were all from natural sources; meaning they had no processed, refi ned qualities. Therefore, the amount of sugar they contained was next to nothing. Then came modern food processing, with its abundance of refi ned sugars, high fructose corn syrup, flavored drinks and all the modern conveniences.
Diabetes is a very dangerous condition, especially long term. It leads to complications like heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and amputation of the extremities. Left alone, it can even cause people to go into a coma from which they may not return.
Is Diabetes Genetic?
In the first paragraph of this article, I referred to the NIH reports that there has been over a 2000% increase in official cases of diabetes in the last 60 years. It is virtually impossible to imaging the human genome permanently mutating in a 60- year period. In reality, the genetic association comes from epidemiological observations that people of the same family (the same food, environment, culture, lifestyle etc.) tend to have diabetes. If diabetes is caused from excess sugar consumption and sedentary lifestyle (which we know), it makes perfect sense this condition would ‘run in the family’.
There is also an epigenetic component that makes the bad health of one generation effect the health of those that follow. However, this is by no means an indication you would contract this condition regardless of your lifestyle. Remember, very few diseases are directly inherited from one generation to the next. And diabetes is not one of them.
What can I do about it?
You can reverse the direction of the condition. That’s right, reverse it. By doing the opposite of the lifestyle that caused the progressive degeneration in the first place, you can make significant progress. But diet alone is not always enough. You will need a form of natural internal medicine to restore organ function, which has been lost in the process.
This is critical because diabetes, once it has reached a certain level, has caused the body to manufacture glucose continually. This mechanism must be restored if we are going to have a normal process.
It takes a serious commitment to understand and reverse this condition and the disease process. Fortunately, there are some groundbreaking protocols that have been shown clinically effective in restoring this process to normal or near normal levels.
If you or a loved one are suffering from this condition, you can schedule a free consultation in my clinic to understand your true options going forward.
Dr. Michael Forman, DOM is a functional medicine practitioner who uses natural medicines to reverse conditions like high blood sugar levels. His office is at the MCH Medical Center, 8740 N. Kendall Dr., Suite 210, Miami, FL 33176. The telephone number is 305-741-2102.
