Diagnosed With Diabetes? It’s Time To Act
Type 2 diabetes is epidemic in the U.S. The CDC reports that it now affects nearly 26 million people, and the number of children with the disease is spiking dramatically. (That’s why it’s no longer referred to as “adult-onset diabetes.”) If you’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes, here are 7 things you should know…
1
There is no cure, per se, for type 2 diabetes, but there is much you can do to control it and live well.
The National Institutes of Health is currently investigating “cures” such as pancreas transplantation, artificial pancreas development, and genetic manipulation, but each of these approaches still has a lot of challenges.
The good news is that several studies have affirmed that many people with type 2 diabetes can control their blood glucose – and have glucose ranges very similar to non-diabetics – by following a healthy eating plan and exercise program, losing excess weight, and, if needed, taking medications.
2
For many, a healthy lifestyle alone (little or no medications needed) can prevent or control diabetes.
In fact, a healthy lifestyle has been found to be more effective than medications. In a landmark study, the NIH-sponsored Diabetes Prevention Program, scientists tracked 3,234 pre-diabetic men and women for three years.
A third of them adopted lifestyle changes.  Another third took a drug – metformin (Glucophage®).  The remaining third, the control group, took a placebo.
Those on the lifestyle-change plan reduced the progression to full-blown type 2 diabetes by 58% compared to the control group.  The reduction was even greater – 71% – among adults aged 60 years or older.  Treatment with the drug metformin reduced the risk by just 31% overall.1
The lifestyle changes in the study were similar to the Pritikin Program and focused on eating low-calorie-dense, high-fiber foods, exercising five days weekly for at least 30 minutes, and a 7% weight loss.
3
Quick action to control diabetes with a healthy lifestyle can be especially beneficial.
In a study by UCLA scientists of 652 people with diabetes who came to the Pritikin Longevity Center to learn how to eat well and exercise, those in the early stages of diabetes (not yet on medications) achieved the greatest benefits. Within three weeks, an impressive 76% lowered their blood glucose to levels where they were no longer defined as having diabetes.2
Among those on oral drugs, 70% were able to get off their medications.
456
Exercise is one of medicine’s most powerful “drugs.”
Exercise directly impacts insulin resistance – the key precursor of type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance occurs when our body’s cells, bloated with glucose from excess calories, “shut their doors” so that insulin can’t ferry more glucose into them, which means glucose builds up in the blood.
Regular exercise reduces our cells’ resistance to insulin by using up glucose as fuel for muscles, which means there’s less glucose in both our bloodstream and cells. Our cells, no longer stuffed with glucose, are much more inclined to “open up” and let insulin send more glucose in.
Bottom Line: With regular exercise, our bodies are “burning up” glucose before it has a chance to build up in the blood.
Regular exercise also aids in the loss of body fat – and helps keep the weight off. In fact, the best predictor of long-term weight-loss success is a lifestyle that includes regular exercise.
Regular physical activity also helps lower blood pressure and reduce triglycerides (fats in the blood), thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular-related diseases such as heart disease and strokes, as well as diabetes.
In most cases, the following guidelines, taught by the exercise physiologists at the Pritikin Longevity Center, will greatly improve blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride control, and enhance success at losing excess weight:
- Aerobic exercise daily, a minimum of 30 minutes and optimally 60 to 90 minutes, alternating moderate-intensity days with vigorous-intensity days;
- Full-body resistance (strength) routine two to three times weekly; and
- Stretching exercises at least three times weekly.
Do make sure that you make an appointment with your doctor before starting a new exercise program. At Pritikin, all guests begin their stay with a comprehensive physician review and exercise tolerance testing.
7
Diabetes is not just about blood sugar abnormalities. It involves hormonal abnormalities.
And it often starts with something many people across America do. They overeat at night, then skip breakfast the following morning, thinking, “I’ll save my calories for later.” But the body is likely interpreting that long 10-hour stretch of no food as famine, and it starts saving fat. It also pumps out hormones, like ghrelin, which scientists call a hunger hormone. High levels of this hormone drive you to “EAT, AND EAT NOW.”
Hormones, in effect, thwart your efforts to shed weight not only because they send out “BINGE” signals but also because they alter the way your body burns calories. They induce your body to store fat rather than burn it.
And these hormones work hand in hand with belly fat. Fat in the abdominal area produces chemicals, including steroid hormones, which make you more likely to gain fat.The more fat your body gains, the greater your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
With belly fat, another important fat-storage hormone – insulin – is negatively affected. As discussed earlier, insulin is directly involved in the onset of diabetes.
Now for the good news: A healthy eating and exercise plan like the Pritikin Program is one of the best things you can do to straighten out hormonal dysfunctions, “and we’ve found at Pritikin that it often starts happening within a few days. Daily exercise and optimal nutrition can reverse these hormonal abnormalities,” states Dr. Danine Fruge, Medical Director at the Pritikin Longevity Center.
“Guests at Pritikin feel it. Within days, they’re actually starting to feel hungry in the morning. They wake up eagerly anticipating the gorgeous fresh fruit and hot whole-grain cereals in the breakfast buffet. They’re also losing their afternoon and evening food cravings. Their metabolism is revving up. They have a renewed energy and start to ‘feel like’ working out.
“Within two to three days, they notice that their blood pressure and blood sugar have already begun to lower after each exercise workout. And their brains, because they’re getting a steady infusion of healthful carbohydrates, are far more alert throughout the day. Last but not least, the excess weight, even stubborn belly fat, is starting to come off.”
Summing Up:
If you’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes, do take action. Consider not only drug therapy but lifestyle changes as well.
Efforts you make now can have profound benefits.
And the more effort you put in, the more rewards you’ll likely achieve.
“Give yourself the best chance for success,” counsels Dr. Fruge. “If you can, take time off for a comprehensive lifestyle-change vacation like the Pritikin Longevity Center. Everything you need is here – physician monitoring, exercise training, good food, a complete education in healthy living, and, maybe most importantly, time away from salt, sugar, and fat so that your palate has a chance to discover how delicious healthy food can be.”
Several studies published over the past three decades have found that the food and fitness guidelines of the Pritikin Program have proven remarkably successful in helping thousands of individuals with type 2 diabetes:
- Lower blood glucose to near-normal or normal levels
- Reduce or eliminate the need for medications
- Lose weight safely and permanently, and
- Reduce the risk of complications associated with diabetes, including heart attacks and strokes
Yes, even with the diagnosis of diabetes, you can live well. Make it happen. Make plans to come to Pritikin today.
Sources
1 New England Journal of Medicine, 2002; 346: 393.
2 Diabetes Care, 1994; 17: 1469.