Re: Strategy for Curing Diabetes

Let me update everyone on the "Strategy for Curing Diabetes" that I sent out June, 2002. Wow, I can't believe that it's been that long!

At that time I was in Phase 2 of my plan: I had reduced my need of insulin to 0 and my average Blood Glucose (BG) was 99.3, with a standard deviation of 14.5.

Based on my next set of blood tests, my average BG level was 93.5, with a standard deviation of 9.4. Also, my Hb A1C was down to 4.5%. My doctor was simply amazed. He asked me to write down some of the things I did, so he could help his other diabetic patients, which appears to be working.

But, I had another hurdle to overcome: my serum cholesterol level, which had been in the 300+ range in the past, was still high, 260+. Despite my success with the diabetes, my doctor wanted to put me back on Lipitor. But, I refused, based on the following rationale: statin drugs cause muscle deterioration, liver damage, reduced levels of CoQ10, which lowers your cell energy level and acerbates heart disease; statin drugs also reduces your cells' sensitivity to insulin, which increases your insulin resistance! Statin drug sales are a multimillion dollar industry now, but heart disease is still on the increase as our No.1 killer -- something is wrong with that picture!

So, I further modified my nutritional profile (see Phase 2, 3 of my last e-mail) to do the following:
-- Reduce the saturated fat (primarily animal fat) and trans fat (hydrogenated oil), which is hidden in many products: potato chips, cookies, frozen dinners, snack foods, baked goods, margarine, etc.
-- Increase the monounsaturated fat (Omega-3 EFAs) with salmon, extra virgin olive oil
-- Implement the concept of a 'super breakfast' (e.g. a cup of spinach, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1-2 garlic cloves, 1-2 pinches of cayenne powder, 1 oz baked salmon) -- if you do this for 30 consecutive days, it will change your blood chemistry and your life -- guaranteed! (also, try the 'super smoothie': 1 cup of blackberries, 4-5 cherries, 8-10 dark grapes, 2-3 strawberries, 8 oz. distilled water, 1 small banana. Add a quality protein powder to turn the 'smoothie' into a protein shake. Also, add a tsp. of extra virgin olive oil (or flax oil) to create a 'liquid meal'.
-- Identify gaps within current nutritional profile, research/identify nutritional supplements (this was a major undertaking, but I uncovered a lot about vitamins, herbs, what works/doesn't work, attributes of high quality vitamins -- I'll have to write a separate e-mail about that!)

Based on my next set of blood tests, my average BG level was down to 86.4, with a standard deviation of 8.1. Also, my Hb A1C was down to 4.3%. In addition, as I continued to stabilize my blood glucose level (as measured by the low standard deviation), I continued to lose weight (fat). More importantly, my serum cholesterol was down to 225, within the next month or so, I was below 200. But, I have mixed feelings about my progress -- based on my current research, your cholesterol level isn't as critical as doctors make it out to be. I have reverse-engineered and developed a 'functional flow' diagram that depicts the ' 4 stages/progression of heart disease in the body', and, based on those stages, you can reverse heart disease at any point with the appropriate nutrients such as Vitamin E, Vitamin C, CoQ10, alpha/beta carotenes, garlic, etc. Cholesterol does not cause heart disease as many of you know, but the oxidation of the LDL (bad) cholesterol can lead to plaque formation, increase in fibrinogen which leads to an increase in clot formations, fissures, etc. Consequently, it is critical to destroy the free radicals that can cause the LDL oxidation. Also, it is important to address why the body is making cholesterol to 'plug' the artery walls -- this is due to the body turning acidic, which can be addressed by eating alkaline-based foods (vegetables) and staying away from acidic foods such as meat, dairy. Bottom line, it's not the Total Cholesterol number that's important -- it's the ratio of the Total Cholesterol to your HDL (good) cholesterol and how much of the bad cholesterol that gets oxidized that's really important. (I need to write more about this also!)

In the meantime, I was asked by the American Diabetes Association to run a diabetic support group, which I have been doing for several months now. In addition, to try to get the message out to people that diabetes can be cured, I have participated in a couple kidney screenings, a stroke conference held by the American Heart Association (AHA); plus presentations to a few local churches, but, I do not believe I am getting to enough people about the insidiousness of this disease diabetes and it's role as a silent killer.

Unfortunately, when I talk with doctors, they believe that most of this is just an anomaly, unique to my situation. However, my mother, who was struggling with high blood pressure, weight issues, high cholesterol, etc. was being led down that path of drugs by her doctor. So, I reviewed her blood work over the past 5 years and determined that she had a combination of symptoms (similar to Metabolic Syndrome X), including low levels of magnesium, potassium and calcium that could lead to arterial rigidity and high blood pressure. So, I put her on a regimen of foods rich in those minerals; with some supplementation (e.g. CoQ10, Omega-3 EFAs); and, within 60 days, her blood pressure, cholesterol and weight were all on the decrease -- her doctor, nutritionist, etc. were all amazed that she has improved her health -- without the drugs . . . God is good . . .

So, now I'm trying to document all of this with some sense of order and logic, but, it's very difficult to 'generalize' some of these events into a set of procedures and best practices that would be applicable to everyone. The Number 1 question that I'm asked is "What should I do to get started?". So, let me try to answer that question the best I can -- but, please keep in mind that these steps would change if I were talking to individuals separately. This is a shortened version of the "Get Well" Plan that I'm trying to document:

1. Evaluate your current health state -- what's working/not working. Obtain a copy of your blood test results from your doctor. If you don't have any, get a physical. Some doctors may be resistant, but tell them that you want to take more control of your health; and, that you need to review your numbers to come up with specific questions, so that your appointment is more productive. Also, understand your family's health history -- this will give you some insight into the areas where your body may be predispositioned to be weak.

2. At a minimum, review the "5 Critical Health Parameters" (CHPs) with your doctor. They are (1) Blood Glucose, ideally should be less than 105, (2) Hemoglobin A1C % (for diabetics, potential diabetics only), ideally should be 4.2-5.5%; (3) Blood Pressure, ideally should be less than120/80; (4) Blood Cholesterol (Total Cholesterol, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides), ideally should be less than 200; and, Body Mass Index (705 times Weight in pounds) divided by (Height in inches times Height in inches), ideally should be 20-25. If the BMI is greater than 25 and less than 30, you're overweight; if your BMI is over 30, you're obese. Of course, if you're health situation is more seriousness, you may have additional health parameters for your enzyme levels, waste products (function of your liver, kidneys), electrolytes, minerals, blood count, bone density, cardiac risk factors (homocysteine, C-reactive protein), etc. All of these parameters should be tested, at a minimum, when you have a complete physical. for others, you may need to be tested on a more frequent basis to track your progress.

3. Identify those parameters that are outside the normal range. Compare them with the numbers from previous tests to see if there is a trend. (This is how I find out how I 'contracted' diabetes over a period of years!) If you don't know how to read the blood tests, go to one of many medical websites for an explanation of every blood/health parameters. Here's a couple:
http://www.bloodbook.com/ranges.html
http://www.amarillomed.com/howto.htm

4. Review these parameters with your doctor to understand what it means -- for each parameter that is outside the range. Also, understand what is the doctor's regimen (and alternatives) for addressing these specific conditions.

5. If you are taking any medications (prescription, over-the-counter, herbs), make a list, including the name, dosage, purpose, how long you have to take it, drug interactions, side effects, etc.

6. Work with your doctor (and other health care professionals) to develop your “Get Well” plan; learn to take more responsibility during your meetings, come prepared with specific questions. This will let the doctor know you’re taking more responsibility; and, therefore, your doctor will (should) be more responsive to your needs.

7. Ensure your “Get Well” plan includes a strategy that will wean you off most, if not all, the drugs/meds you’re taking. Drugs impede the body’s ability to heal itself; plus, over a long period of time, the drugs send a message to the body to “stop working”.

8. Ensure your plan addresses the 3 factors that affect the health & wellness of your Body, Mind and Spirit energy: (1) hormonal balance, (2) oxidation level, (3) toxicity.

9.Develop a plan that induces changes gradually to your (1) nutrition, (2) exercise regimen, and (3) lifestyle - unless your health situation is more severe.

10. Determine your health goals, based on your current health level and your personal level of commitment to make the necessary changes to improve your health. Ensure that your health goals are measurable and achievable so that you can see how well you are doing/not doing to provide motivation/incentive to move forward. Also, ensure that God is included as part of your plan.

11. Implement your plan and monitor your critical health parameters (CHPs). Make changes to your plan accordingly.

Here are just a few of the key points I've discovered during my journey:
1. Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, acid reflux, etc. are all connected, but, unfortunately, are usually treated separately by traditional medicine.

2. Type I and Type II diabetes are reversible, curable and preventable -- neither of these diseases should exist in our society!

3. Type II diabetes is driven by the blood glucose-insulin "doom" feedback loop that leads to insulin resistance, driving the pancreas to 'ramp up' , which, in turn, leads to the vicious cycles of insulin spikes, high/low blood glucose levels, hormonal hunger, and more insulin spikes. Insulin resistance and hormonal hunger trigger other metabolic "doom" feedback loops that lead to obesity, high blood pressure, extreme fatigue, high acidity, LDL oxidation, heart disease, and other systemic diseases.

4. These "doom" feedback loops create a significant hormonal imbalance that must be corrected at the cellular level. Taking insulin and other similar drugs helps initially, especially if you're facing death as I was. But, long term use of insulin leads to 'shutdown' of the pancreas and the body staying in a fat-building (lipogenic) state instead of a fat-burning (lipolysis) state -- consequently, the majority of diabetics will become even heavier! The cell receptors of the many billion cells in our body must be re-sensitized to allow glucose to enter each cell! This is accomplished with the nutritional elements discussed earlier.

5. Weight issues fall into 2 major categories: emotional, chemical. Unfortunately, more than 60% of us fall into the emotional category -- if you do not address the issues, the pain, the hurt, that causes you to eat, calorie-counting won't work. If your problem is chemical, there are many ways to address this issue: calorie-counting, macronutrient balancing, super meal concept, etc. Also, there are 2 major types of metabolic/macronutrient models: 'carb-sensitive', not-carb-sensitive. If you're 'carb-sensitive', this will trigger the high/low blood glucose levels and insulin spikes which will lead to weight (fat) gain. A couple quick tests that can help determine if you're 'carb-sensitive': if your triglyceride level is greater than 150 and/or you have a lot of visceral fat in your abdomen.

6. Drugs do not heal - they help to place your body in state where it can begin to repair and heal itself - if it is properly nourished and maintained. In fact, over time, drugs may actually impede the body’s ability to repair and heal itself.

7. Exercise does not directly help weight loss as much as a proper nutrition. Exercise primarily improves the cardiovascular, muscular and skeletal systems; also, there are physiological benefits. Indirectly, via muscle toning/development and hormone releases, exercise helps.

8. Vitamins and other supplements are big business, but, the quality of how they're manufactured leaves a lot to be desired! Please remember this!: It's not the amount (mg, IU) of vitamins you take, it's how much is absorbed by your body. That can only be accomplished if you have a sound, balanced nutritional profile; and, your small intestines, colon, liver and bladder are all working properly.

9. Once you are consuming the right foods as a foundation (e.g. vegetables, fruits, pure water, seafood, monounsaturated fat, whole/sprouted grains), your body becomes very efficient and requires less food! Then, the following nutritional supplements can be helpful, especially as antioxidants:
-- CoQ10 -- First line of defense, provides energy for every cell!
-- Vitamin C (calcium ascorbate, not ascorbic acid) -- Next line of defense, Regenerates Vitamin E, works better in concert with bioflavonoids; water-soluble, protects outside of cells
-- Vitamin E (all 4 tocopherols, not just alpha, definitely not alpha-dl, it's synthetic) -- Synergistic with Selenium; fat-soluble, protects inside of cells
-- Alpha, beta carotenes
-- Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) -- crosses the blood-brain-barrier, Recharges Vitamin C, E
-- Selenium -- triggers Glutathione Peroxidase (Antioxidant enzyme)
-- Carnitine -- helps to transport fat to the mitochondria where it's burned (lipolysis)

There are so many other areas to discuss, but I cannot include everything I've done and concluded -- this e-mail is already too long . . .

People ask me why I'm doing this -- I consider myself blessed that I did not die and that I was given access to all this knowledge . . . I'm not sure why I was spared . . . in the meantime, I continue to meet people who are suffering with diabetes . . . and, now, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, acid reflux, extreme fatigue, weight issues, cancer, etc. I tell them about this website and other references, books, etc. but, they usually come back with more questions . . . so for people in the area, I invite them to the support group meetings; but, we need to expand it to help more people . . . this website is a big help, but many people do not own PCs . . .
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