The End of Diabetes Read Free Page A

those from southern European countries, the Middle East, or Asia. Type 1 is also called insulin-dependent diabetes because people who develop this type need to have daily injections of insulin.
    Approximately 80 percent of our at-rest energy is used by the brain. Under normal situations, the body can only function on glucose; however, when there is insufficient insulin, the brain and other tissues are unable to utilize the glucose in the bloodstream. When the body is unable to utilize glucose stores normally, free fatty acids will rise in the bloodstream. The body can make ketones from these fats, and then the brain and heart can use the ketones as an emergency fuel, when unable to get sufficient glucose. Glucose and ketones build up in the blood and can have devastating consequences. For example, type 1 diabetics are more prone to developing ketoacidosis, which can be life threatening if left untreated, leading to coma and death. Ketones are moderately elevated in blood and urine during fasting or significant carbohydrate restriction, but they can get to dangerously high levels in decompensated or untreated type 1 diabetes. Ketosis (high ketones in the blood) and ketoacidosis can occur in type 2 diabetics in some circumstances as well. It is the combination of the high glucose level in the blood along with the high level of ketones that can lead to dangerous acidosis and dehydration.
    Type 1 diabetes is not caused by weight gain or obesity, and people with type 1 diabetes will always require insulin to prevent serious issues with high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) and other life-threatening conditions. Even so, a superior nutritional diet is essential for health and longevity of a type 1 diabetic, and even though excess body fat is dangerous for everyone, it is more dangerous for the type 1 diabetic.
    I am often asked, “Is your program appropriate for type 1 diabetics? Will insulin be required forever, no matter what?” The answer to both questions is yes. Unlike a type 2 diabetic, if you are a type 1 diabetic, you can never stop taking insulin entirely. However, after adopting this high-nutrient dietary approach, you will need much less insulin, in most cases about half as much as before, following the typical ADA approach. The need for less insulin is not the only major reason for type 1 diabetics to follow this diet style. The vital reason is that it can save a type 1 from serious health complications later in life.
    I have helped several patients with type 1 diabetes completely recover from their condition by flooding their body with micronutrients, fortifying their immune system, and resting the pancreas. This opportunity, however, is only available when the disease is just starting, usually in an adolescent or young adult. This is the exception, not the rule. Unfortunately, most type 1 diabetics have to live with the disease for the rest of their lives.
    But here’s the important news: With conventional care, the long-term outlook for a type 1 diabetic is dismal. More than one-third of all type 1 diabetics die before the age of fifty. This does not have to be the case. Type 1 diabetics need not feel doomed to a life of medical disasters and an early death sentence. Type 1 diabetics can lead a normal life and have a better-than-average life expectancy. It is true that type 1 diabetics are more sensitive to the damaging effects of the SAD diet, but if they eat a vegetable-based diet with plenty of beans, nuts, and seeds, they are no longer at risk for heart disease.
    Scientific studies reveal that death due to early-onset heart disease in type 1 diabetics is linked to insulin resistance. That means weight gain, poor dietary choices, and therefore the need for excessive amounts of insulin is dangerous for type 1 diabetics. But when type 1 diabetics follow my nutritional advice, they require substantially less insulin and take it in physiologic dosages—the amount of insulin will not be excessive and will not