Hello to all…
An overweight friend of mine shared with me that she was recently diagnosed with adult onset diabetes. She is looking to make a positive change in her life regarding this as the disease runs rampant in her family. She wishes to avoid or minimize dependency on medication and asked if I knew of things she could do to help her condition. So I am turning to this forum. Is there anyone who has some helpful knowledge of nutritional stategies she could implement or supplements that could help and how to incorporate them into her lifestyle. She has pledged to get more active physically so I think that is a great and vital step. Any help with the other parts of the picture would be of immense help. This is a wonderful person that wants to fight back, so thanks in advance for any assistance. Or, are there any articles you could point me to for this info.? Stay well…
Sorry to hear this. I’m sure there’s people here that can give some great advice, but I think checking out mercola.com would be a good idea. Some radical ideas, yes, but I think his advice on fish oil supplementation is a good one and there may be some more there that might be of benefit.
*Emphasis on low glycemic index carbs (=<40% of total calories).
*Both aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
*Replace saturated fats with healthy fats, especially fish oil.
*Frequent meals.
*High fiber and protein (along with fats, increasing these will increase satiety and prevent overeating).
*Watch out for caloric dense carbs late in the day (stick with fibrous veggies at dinner).
*Avoid caffeine.
*Learn, learn, learn! She needs to learn why she’s eating certain things rather than just becoming a robot with a digestive system.
Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any more questions, as I’ve been down this road with my father before.
Use the search engine to the left of the screen. Type “insulin resistance” as your search in the subject box. Check out the thead by Free Extropian called facts and myths about diabetes and insulin. There is a ton of info in that thread to get you started.
If you cannot find it post again, and I will bump it up for you.
Most of what I have read about diabetes says it is caused by insulin. Have her read the book Protein Power and she might want to also read this article: www.mercola.com/ 2001/jul/14/insulin.htm Anyways, getting her more insulin resistant should be a big step in the right direction.
Err, correction on that last post, she should be more insulin sensitive. Sorry about that.
First of all, listen to Eric’s advice. Like he said, he’s been down that road before.
But I did want to add that the goal of a lot of those changes is to drop excess body fat. Oftentimes even small drops in body fat can lead toward significant improvements in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. So along with correcting the types of foods she is eating, she also needs to decrease energy intake and increase energy expenditure with the goal of a permanent fat loss.