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6.2 Million don’t know they have diabetes
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Incidence of diabetes are increasing by 6%/year. 600,000 new
cases each year.
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A newborn baby who lives to age 70 has a 1 in 5 chance of
becoming diabetic.
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Diabetes kills over 300,000 people each year making it the #6
killer.
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Diabetics have a 2 to 4 times greater risk of heart disease.
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Diabetics have a 2 to 6 times greater risk of stroke.
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Diabetes in the #1 cause of adult blindness. (More than 5,000
cases/year)
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Diabetes can also cause kidney failure, leg ulcers,
amputations, and much greater susceptibility to infections.
Diabetes Definition:
Simply put, Diabetes Mellitus is a disorder of the
body’s means of utilizing sugar, or glucose, which is the body’s basic fuel.
The measure of diabetes is blood glucose (sugar) levels
in milligrams/deciliter of blood (mg/dl). Normal blood sugar is 60 –
110mg/dl; Pre-diabetes, often called Syndrome X, is 110 – 125mg/dl. Above
125mg/dl is considered diabetic. (NOTE: It is estimated that the
percentage of people in the USA who are Syndrome-X could be as high as 40%)
Two major forms of diabetes are:
Type 1, or “juvenile diabetes”. Symptoms often become
apparent in childhood. Also called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM)
because the insulin-dependent person must take daily injections of insulin
to stay alive. This group comprises about 10% of all diabetics.
Type 2, or “adult onset diabetes.” Most often occurs
around middle age. Also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM)
because type 2 is not necessarily a lack of insulin production, but rather
the inability of the body to use it effectively. Some 90% of all diabetics
are type 2.
Insulin
and Diabetes Types:
Insulin is made in scattered areas of our pancreas
called Isles of Langerhans, which were named in honor of German pathologist
Paul Langerhans who first described them in 1869. Ironically, insulin wasn’t
discovered until the 1920’s. These “islands” contain specialized cells
called beta cells.
There are many forms of sugar in our diet (sucrose,
lactose, etc.) but before the body can use them they must all be converted
into glucose. Once in the blood, glucose must enter individual cells where
it is used for energy and to run the cellular machinery. Insulin is the only
hormone in the body with the function of allowing glucose to enter each
cell. There are two exceptions for having glucose enter cells without
insulin:
1.
Glucose can enter brain cells without insulin, and,
2.
While exercising, muscle cells can remove glucose from the blood
without insulin.
The pancreas, when working properly, responds to every
fluctuation in blood sugar. When sugar goes up, insulin is released, when
sugar drops, insulin is stopped. Imagine that each of your cells has a door
that must be opened for glucose to get in. All doors have a knob, this is
the insulin receptor. Think of insulin as the door opener. It is then
easy to see that there are two blocks that can keep glucose from getting
into the cell. First, insulin, the door opener, is absent or inefficient;
and, second, the doorknob (insulin receptor) is missing or cannot be easily
used for one reason or another.
When the beta cells are damaged and do not
produce insulin, type 1 diabetes is present. This beta cell damage
can occur for a variety of reasons. Genetics play an important role, however
type 1 diabetes is not absolutely and inherited condition. Diseases like
flu, mumps, chickenpox and measles are all associated with type 1 diabetes.
There are also reports of environmental chemical compounds such as
pesticides being a factor in type 1. Further, some type 1 diabetics report
an extremely stressful event occurring 6 to 8 months before the onset of
their diabetes. Classic symptoms of type 1 are:
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Frequent urination (Polyuria)
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Excessive thirst (Polydipsia)
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Weight loss
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Increased appetite
Quite often, type 2 has none of the classic symptoms of
type 1. The typical patient is overweight, middle aged, and inactive. In
about 85%, a parent or close relative has (or had) diabetes. Generally there
is no problem with insulin production; rather the problem is with the
insulin receptor. Glucose gets to the cell “door”, but the “door knob” is
broken, or sometimes, just too slippery. Fat is definitely involved.
Sometimes, just by losing a few pounds, type 2 diabetics can control their
problem.
There are 5 key
lifestyle changes that both type diabetics should incorporate immediately.
In some cases, just these modifications will control type 2 diabetes.
1.
Sugar Level: This is #1. Maintain your sugar as close to
normal as possible at all times.
2.
Diet Modification: This is key. Diet modification can alter
insulin sensitivity and help prevent complications. This includes the
appropriate use of food supplements.
3.
Obesity: Fat in the body has a direct effect on insulin
receptors.
4.
Exercise: Keeps sugar under control by lowering the level of
glucose circulating in the blood and thereby lowering insulin requirements.
In one study at Yale University Medical Center a 50% increase in insulin
receptors and a 30% increase in insulin sensitivity was demonstrated after a
six-week program of daily exercise.
5.
Smoking: Don’t smoke anything! Diabetics have a much greater
tendency toward heart and other vascular diseases and smoking exacerbates
these problems.
Diabetic Complications and the Nutrition Connection
To some degree or another, nearly all diabetics
eventually have problems due to complications of the disease. The problems
of the diabetic are no different from the rest of the population, but they
occur earlier in life and more often in the diabetic. Here is the main
listing:
1.
Heart disease (arteriosclerosis): Cause of death in about 46%
of the general population, but 75% of the diabetic population.
2.
Eye Problems (retinopathy): Nine out of ten diabetics within
20 years show some vascular changes in their retinas.
3.
Neurologic problems (neuropathy): Affects nerve function with
symptoms like tingling, pins and needles, burning, itching, numbness and
sometimes, severe pain.
4.
High blood pressure: Seems to go along with the narrowing of
the diameter of the blood vessels.
5.
Renal problems (kidney failure): About 35% develop kidney
problems around 15 to 20 years after diagnosis. Kidney failure accounts for
48% of all deaths in diabetics who acquire the disease before age 20.
6.
Infections: A diabetic must keep his or her immune system in
optimal condition.
Supplementation
Traditionalists will argue that we should get all our
nutrition from our diets, and we all agree with that. EXCEPT, depending upon
which study you read, only from 3% to 9% of Americans eat according to the
food pyramid. (visit
www.mypyramid.gov for the most current food guide pyramid. Also, the
American diabetes association has updated the diabetic food guide pyramid as
shown here. More information is available at
http://www.diabetes.org/nutrition-and-recipes/nutrition/foodpyramid.jsp 
That
means that a whopping 91% of us don’t! Additionally, it has been shown that
some nutrients consumed at levels well above the Daily Value (DV) can have
beneficial effects on our health. Little attention is given to clinical
nutrition in medical school. As a result, physicians graduate with little
idea that what people eat, or do not eat, can have such a profound effect on
their health. Few realize that altering the nutritional intake can be an
extremely powerful tool in preventive healthcare. Exacerbating this issue is
the fact that nutritional quackery seems to be everywhere you turn. The
outlandish claims, and the way they are made by some manufacturers and their
representatives, are so offensive to most medical professionals that they
make the entire nutritional supplementation business look like a bunch of
rip-off artists. Most physicians, not being gullible, totally disregard the
use of all food supplements and react with predictable contempt when a
patient asks a question concerning food supplements. It is critical to use
supplements from a reliable and credible source. Insist that your supplement
manufacturer provide you with a listing of the clinical studies done on
their products. Look for a company that develops their products based on
solid scientific data, not on “fad marketing”. Ask your manufacturer to
provide you with this data. If they can’t…find one that can and will. To
date, Shaklee Corporation is the leader in this area with over 100 clinical
studies published in referenced, peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal
of The American Medical Association (JAMA). Discuss this with your doctor
and develop a program that’s right for you.
Now let’s look at some specific nutrients that may
provide some benefit.
The foundation is a quality multi-vitamin/mineral.
The multi should contain at least 100% of all the recognized vitamins and
minerals. An exception here would be Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus,
which are very bulky and hard to get in one tablet. Taking these as an
additional supplement is advisable. Look for a balance of all 8 essential B
vitamins and at least 100% (5000 IU) of vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential in
bolstering the immune system.
Fiber is number one for the diabetic. Fiber is
in two forms, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber prevents drastic shifts
in blood sugar levels. Foods high in soluble fiber are fruits, vegetables,
oats, and dried beans. Increasing soluble fiber also helps lower total
cholesterol. Insoluble fiber helps regular elimination and helps prevent
constipation. Couple insoluble fiber along with 8 glasses of pure water each
day and this should no longer be a problem.
The average American consumes only about 9-13 grams of
fiber a day. The recommendation is an astounding 30 - 45 grams/day. Most
people won’t make the dietary changes necessary to add that much fiber, so
using a fiber supplement makes good sense. Other benefits from a fiber
supplement are that you can control the amount, the time of day, the caloric
intake, etc. much more accurately than by adding the necessary amount and
types of foods.
Glucose Regulation Complex (GRC): An essential
combination of Chromium, Vanadium, Colosolic Acid, Alpha Lipoic Acid and
much more. GRC provides natural support for normal glucose metabolism. It
helps to transport glucose into cells, making your system more efficient and
effective at utilizing blood sugar, and helping to retain normal blood sugar
levels. (NOTE: Call or e-mail us and we can send you an
information sheet on GRC that will provide your medical specialist with the
information they need to understand this critical supplement.)
Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) is an essential
fatty acid. EPA is an omega-3 acid found in cold-water fish such as
mackerel, haddock, sardines, anchovies and some salmon and tuna. The
American Heart Association has urged us to add these fish to our diets.
However, not many of us will eat enough of these fish to get the amounts of
EPA we require, so adding it in a supplement form makes good sense. EPA has
been shown to have a beneficial effect on the vascular system. EPA lowers
triglycerides, and makes the blood platelets less sticky so they flow
through the small capillaries better. EPA has lowered blood pressure if
high.
Lecithin contains choline, inositol and
essential fatty acids. It has been shown to lower cholesterol and helps
prevent dry skin.
Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA). It is well accepted
that the conversion of dietary linolenic acid (the main unsaturated fat from
vegetables) to GLA is inadequate in diabetic patients. Lack of GLA causes
problems with the sheath covering the nerves (myelin sheath) and reduces
blood flow. Various studies on GLA indicate it can have some very positive
effects on diabetic neuropathy by affecting the nerves and helping blood
supply.
Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant and reduces
the risk from heart attack and coronary disease and, let’s not forget, that
diabetics have two to four times the cardiovascular problems of the rest of
the population. The Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E is 30IU. The minimal
amount for optimal disease protection is 400IU. An ongoing Harvard
University study of 87,000 female nurses found that those who took the
highest levels of vitamin E had 41% less risk of heart attack or death from
coronary disease. Harvard also reported on 46,000 male health professionals.
Over a four-year period, those who took daily vitamin E supplements had the
same results as the nurses.
Vitamin C is another strong antioxidant. There
are reams and reams of data concerning the impact of this essential
nutrient. The DV for vitamin C has just been increased from 60 milligrams
to 90 milligrams/day. Vitamin C has to be obtained from our diet since we
cannot manufacture it within our bodies. The Food and Nutrition Board of
National Research Council sets the DV for us….and for other animals. The DV
for a 154-pound monkey is 3,859 milligrams, but the DV for a 210-pound
American adult is only 90 milligrams! (That’s a lot of monkey business, if
you ask me!) Vitamin C is involved in the production of adrenal hormones,
protects us against a number of airborne pollutants, reduces the duration
and severity of colds, protects against cancer and heart disease, bolsters
the immune system and provides numerous other benefits.
B-Complex, the whole complex, is intimately
involved in sugar metabolism and energy release. In neuropathy, about 80%
have some improvement with B-complex. Always be sure to take the whole
complex, that is, all 8 essential B vitamins in balance. (Balance implies
100% of the DV for each B) Taking large amounts of a single B can cause you
to be deficient in some of the other B vitamins. Always take the whole
complex unless under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
Zinc is the most valuable mineral to diabetics.
Insulin contains an amazing amount of zinc. A diabetic pancreas contains
only about half the amount of stored zinc of a normal pancreas. Zinc can
also stimulate the immune system and it promotes faster healing.
Calcium/Magnesium taken in a supplement can
ensure DV’s are met while cutting down on fatty dairy products. The average
American consumes on about 450 milligrams of calcium/day while the DV is
1200 mg. Magnesium has a fundamental role in carbohydrate metabolism and a
very specific role in the efficient action of insulin. In one study at St.
George’s Hospital, London, H.M Mather of the Department of Medicine found
that diabetics had significantly lower levels of magnesium than
non-diabetics. Low levels of magnesium are associated with heart disease.
Dr. Takeo Takemura of the Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City
University, Japan reported to the Japan Diabetic Society that low levels of
Magnesium are definitely associated with an increase in diabetic
retinopathy.
Garlic is an amazing herb that can dramatically
lower the blood levels of both cholesterol and triglycerides. It has a
tendency to thin the blood and is an immune system enhancer. Garlic is a
natural, nontoxic antibiotic.
Echinacea works best for illnesses that come and
go, such as colds and the flu. Studies suggest that echinacea works best
during a 10-day course. Peppermint, thyme and hyssop increase the positive
effects of echinacea. Since diabetics are prone to infections, so having
echinacea handy can be invaluable.
Final note concerning supplementation. Diabetes is far
too serious a condition to be dealt with alone. All of these supplements
should be discussed with your doctor and a specific regimen designed for
your condition should be developed. Always ensure that the supplements you
take are from a reputable company, are clinically tested to ensure
absorption. All of the supplements listed
here are specific to Shakleeâ
Corporation since these are the only products we’ve found to consistently
provide the science and clinical testing for efficacy. The following
is a list of specific products which have been proven beneficial:
