I only have a minute to write this...
I recently saw the film Raw for Thirty. Several diabetics went to the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center and did raw for a month and reversed their diabetes.
I just re-read my posts regarding the diabetes diet offered by Richard Berenstein M.D.. I still LOVE Dr. Berenstein for letting people know they can have perfect blood sugars and that what the American Diabetes Association is pushing is complete garbage (if you don't want to burn out your pancreatic cells and you want to heal.)
But- after reading Rainbow Green Living Cuisine by Cousins M.D., I have a much better understanding of how raw food really makes a difference. I understand the importance of living enzymes to heal the body.
Unfortunately for me a whole food diet that uses a lot of grain or fruit also elevates my blood sugars. The key is to peice something together that works. It can be as simple as - more salads! That works.
Rainbow Green Living Cuisine gives a much better explanation of the Raw diet for diabetics than the Diabetes Cure by Cousins does. Now, I have to figure out how to make it habit, make it automatic, make it easy, make it affordable. And, I'd like to help others do the same.
Showing posts with label Diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diabetes. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Sunday, May 25, 2008
There is a Cure for Diabetes
A letter to the universe straight from my heart-
Aaaarrrrghhh.... I'm loving the book There is a Cure for Diabetes. But- the cure really doesn't allow high-glycemic fruits???
I just had an apple with some raw sesame butter. Delicious. If that had to be celery with sesame butter- I think I would need something to balance the bitterness (mix some stevia into the sesame butter?)
Anyway- I am serious about doing this. I generally feel so healthy and energized. But it is really hard. And- it is all hard. No coffee is hard. No fruit is insanely hard. It comes down to vegetables, nuts and seeds. (He has a few recommended grains and beans- but for me those are only sometimes foods. See my earlier posts regarding whole foods to know why. I have already gone that route and my blood sugars were not perfect.)
I have a big glass or two of juice every morning: celery, cucumber, spinach, parsley, ginger and a big salad with everything for lunch. I've been eating "whole food, but often cooked, for dinner." I'm OK with that- but see myself mentally preparing to move away from it. But - no fruit? What the hell? (OK- so he allows blueberries and raspberries, etc) but short of placing raspberries on a real homemade shortbread crust topped with a layer of sugary raspberry jam, and serving it with a cup of coffee to cut all that sweetness- this is feeling like major deprivation. Just saying. Aaarrrgghh...
I wrote to Russell James and told him how much I appreciate him for creating the beautiful food he does. (He doesn't know me.) But- he is such an inspiration!!
I really want to do this and it's going to require some major shift.
Shift.
When I feel like yelling "sh*t" I should just yell SHIFT!
Ruth
P.S. If someone is serious about curing their diabetes through raw foods- actually there is a lot of support out there. Dr Gabriel Cousins book is wonderful. My husband is so awesome!!! He is phenomenally supportive of me (he just called me from the store, they are OUT OF CELERY.) My friend Vanessa- thank you for turning me on to this in the first place. My dearest Josie- again- just holding the biggest possible vision for me. My dear brother- totally supportive. I have to say- in that I am so lucky. It is sicko to read reviews of There is a Cure for Diabetes at Amazon where people say their family and friends are not supportive. Time for new friends, time to talk about support!
I'd love to offer support to anyone on this journey, and make some more wonderful friends who are living these choices- I know I am drawing that to myself right now...
Aaaarrrrghhh.... I'm loving the book There is a Cure for Diabetes. But- the cure really doesn't allow high-glycemic fruits???
I just had an apple with some raw sesame butter. Delicious. If that had to be celery with sesame butter- I think I would need something to balance the bitterness (mix some stevia into the sesame butter?)
Anyway- I am serious about doing this. I generally feel so healthy and energized. But it is really hard. And- it is all hard. No coffee is hard. No fruit is insanely hard. It comes down to vegetables, nuts and seeds. (He has a few recommended grains and beans- but for me those are only sometimes foods. See my earlier posts regarding whole foods to know why. I have already gone that route and my blood sugars were not perfect.)
I have a big glass or two of juice every morning: celery, cucumber, spinach, parsley, ginger and a big salad with everything for lunch. I've been eating "whole food, but often cooked, for dinner." I'm OK with that- but see myself mentally preparing to move away from it. But - no fruit? What the hell? (OK- so he allows blueberries and raspberries, etc) but short of placing raspberries on a real homemade shortbread crust topped with a layer of sugary raspberry jam, and serving it with a cup of coffee to cut all that sweetness- this is feeling like major deprivation. Just saying. Aaarrrgghh...
I wrote to Russell James and told him how much I appreciate him for creating the beautiful food he does. (He doesn't know me.) But- he is such an inspiration!!
I really want to do this and it's going to require some major shift.
Shift.
When I feel like yelling "sh*t" I should just yell SHIFT!
Ruth
P.S. If someone is serious about curing their diabetes through raw foods- actually there is a lot of support out there. Dr Gabriel Cousins book is wonderful. My husband is so awesome!!! He is phenomenally supportive of me (he just called me from the store, they are OUT OF CELERY.) My friend Vanessa- thank you for turning me on to this in the first place. My dearest Josie- again- just holding the biggest possible vision for me. My dear brother- totally supportive. I have to say- in that I am so lucky. It is sicko to read reviews of There is a Cure for Diabetes at Amazon where people say their family and friends are not supportive. Time for new friends, time to talk about support!
I'd love to offer support to anyone on this journey, and make some more wonderful friends who are living these choices- I know I am drawing that to myself right now...
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Berenstein Principal
PostScript to Original Post:
Simply put, I am convinced that the Bernestein Diet saves lives. If I'd have found out about it within a year of learning I had Type 2 diabetes, I believe I could have reversed my diabetes (since I am still only borderline.) You CAN reverse diabetes (if you catch it in time.) I am really hoping (trying to believe) you can cure it at anytime. Curing it is defined by a year of perfect blood sugars (as was defined by Dr Mehmet Oz on an Oprah show.) People (the medical establishment that has a stake in you being unhealthy) say you can't cure diabetes because you will always have this faulty pancreas. But the point is that it isn't the faulty pancreas that causes problems- it is out of control blood sugars. If you maintain perfect blood sugars then you can live as healthy a life as anyone.
The Berenstein Diet is about seriously curtailing your carbs and filling out your menus with protein. But, I am allergic to milk and I seriously want to throw up at the smell of eggs. O.K. so I love crisp bacon, but I don't really want to eat a pig that never harmed anyone and is at least as smart and loving as a guide dog (or my worthy dog, who has never worked a day in his life.)
Anyway- I am trying to find a way to do Berenstein without it being an eggs-meat-cheese-fest. I don't know that I actually believe there's any benefit to eating your vegetables raw. What I do know is that when I am doing a lot of green vegetable juicing- I get compliments- so you know, it works with my vanity! And, when I eat like this I have no cravings for food that raises my blood sugar. Perfect blood sugar just feels so good.
------------------
Original Post Begins Below:
Again, it is important to note that diabetics cannot go wild eating fruit or starchy vegetables even if they are eating a completely raw diet. (And this is in contrast to the teachings of most raw food practitioners.)
Berenstein says
Fruit:
Avoid sweet fruit entirely, although many people doing his plan eat small amounts of berries, a slice of tomato in a salad.
Remember that lemons and grapefruit are sweet fruit by sugar content, it is a bitter flavor that makes them seem as if they are not.
Eat the non-sweet fruits (plants with pits and seeds that people don't usually consider fruits.) Eat eggplant, summer squash, cucumber, green and red bell pepper, avocado.
Vegetables:
Restrict your amounts of starchy vegetables to 1/4 a cup per serving.
Corn is not a vegetable, it is a grain.
Restrict your overall amount of vegetables to no more than two cups of salad, or 1.5 cups of cooked vegetable per meal.
Nuts- eat small quantities. Learn which nuts are lower in carb
---------
How can I combine what I know of Berenstein, with Raw? It is completely within the bounds of a berenstein-raw diet to start the day with a green juice made of two cups of spinach, a squeeze of lemon, a slice of ginger. A few hours later have two thirds of a cup of nuts in the shell for a snack. Then a few hours later have up to two cups of raw green salad (for example spinach, celery, red bell pepper, cucumber, raw mushroom) with a quarter of an avocado and a raw oil and raw vinegar, for lunch. Then have a dinner which incorporates a small amount of vegetables and nuts (such as Ani Phyo's 'That Chicks' Pate with Spanish Vegetables'.)
Simply put, I am convinced that the Bernestein Diet saves lives. If I'd have found out about it within a year of learning I had Type 2 diabetes, I believe I could have reversed my diabetes (since I am still only borderline.) You CAN reverse diabetes (if you catch it in time.) I am really hoping (trying to believe) you can cure it at anytime. Curing it is defined by a year of perfect blood sugars (as was defined by Dr Mehmet Oz on an Oprah show.) People (the medical establishment that has a stake in you being unhealthy) say you can't cure diabetes because you will always have this faulty pancreas. But the point is that it isn't the faulty pancreas that causes problems- it is out of control blood sugars. If you maintain perfect blood sugars then you can live as healthy a life as anyone.
The Berenstein Diet is about seriously curtailing your carbs and filling out your menus with protein. But, I am allergic to milk and I seriously want to throw up at the smell of eggs. O.K. so I love crisp bacon, but I don't really want to eat a pig that never harmed anyone and is at least as smart and loving as a guide dog (or my worthy dog, who has never worked a day in his life.)
Anyway- I am trying to find a way to do Berenstein without it being an eggs-meat-cheese-fest. I don't know that I actually believe there's any benefit to eating your vegetables raw. What I do know is that when I am doing a lot of green vegetable juicing- I get compliments- so you know, it works with my vanity! And, when I eat like this I have no cravings for food that raises my blood sugar. Perfect blood sugar just feels so good.
------------------
Original Post Begins Below:
Again, it is important to note that diabetics cannot go wild eating fruit or starchy vegetables even if they are eating a completely raw diet. (And this is in contrast to the teachings of most raw food practitioners.)
Berenstein says
Fruit:
Avoid sweet fruit entirely, although many people doing his plan eat small amounts of berries, a slice of tomato in a salad.
Remember that lemons and grapefruit are sweet fruit by sugar content, it is a bitter flavor that makes them seem as if they are not.
Eat the non-sweet fruits (plants with pits and seeds that people don't usually consider fruits.) Eat eggplant, summer squash, cucumber, green and red bell pepper, avocado.
Vegetables:
Restrict your amounts of starchy vegetables to 1/4 a cup per serving.
Corn is not a vegetable, it is a grain.
Restrict your overall amount of vegetables to no more than two cups of salad, or 1.5 cups of cooked vegetable per meal.
Nuts- eat small quantities. Learn which nuts are lower in carb
---------
How can I combine what I know of Berenstein, with Raw? It is completely within the bounds of a berenstein-raw diet to start the day with a green juice made of two cups of spinach, a squeeze of lemon, a slice of ginger. A few hours later have two thirds of a cup of nuts in the shell for a snack. Then a few hours later have up to two cups of raw green salad (for example spinach, celery, red bell pepper, cucumber, raw mushroom) with a quarter of an avocado and a raw oil and raw vinegar, for lunch. Then have a dinner which incorporates a small amount of vegetables and nuts (such as Ani Phyo's 'That Chicks' Pate with Spanish Vegetables'.)
Monday, January 14, 2008
Testing for Piece of Mind
If you want to know what your blood sugar is doing- just test. If you have prediabetes and the glucometer isn't covered by insurance, you can buy one at the pharmacy. They are not that expensive. This devise gives you the power to adjust your course and maintain perfect blood sugar.
Today, more than ever, diabetics have the power to achieve perfect blood sugar. Many people will be able to do this through diet alone, without medication of any kind. If you haven't already, I suggest you read The Berenstein Principal by Dr. Richard Berenstein. It will give you so much useful information and reason to hope.
I want to know if I can successfully control blood sugars using raw food, as was done at the Tree of Life Rejuvination Center in the movie Raw for 30.
Today, more than ever, diabetics have the power to achieve perfect blood sugar. Many people will be able to do this through diet alone, without medication of any kind. If you haven't already, I suggest you read The Berenstein Principal by Dr. Richard Berenstein. It will give you so much useful information and reason to hope.
I want to know if I can successfully control blood sugars using raw food, as was done at the Tree of Life Rejuvination Center in the movie Raw for 30.
Transitioning to Raw
Depending on what you're diet is like now, transitioning to eating a whole foods vegan diet first can be helpful in transitioning to a raw diet. And when you're eating a raw diet, you're also continuing to eat only whole foods. Eating a raw diet means you just elinate cooked foods.
First- what is Whole Food? Can you imagine it growing in nature? Even a fish swimming is a whole food. (Some pople think a fish is food for a bear.) Artificially pink fish-paste with artificial onion flavor that comes in a tube to squeeze onto crackers is not a whole food, because you cannot imagine it existing in nature.
If you choose to eat grains (Berenstein thinks diabetics generally shouldn't,) the less processed the better. You might prepare brown rice or quinoa for a side dish. Eat a lot of vegetables, and make half of them raw salads. Find whole foods to replace special ocassion things you might have eaten before and you will completely lose your desire to eat processed, artificial food.
When you are ready, transition to raw foods. Begin the day with green juice and have a salad for lunch. Work up the courage to try some simple raw recipes for dinner.
If you are going to "fall off the all-raw-wagon" do it with whole food. Have slow-cooked oatmeal with organic apple grated in it and unsweetened almond milk for breakfast, a home-made vegetable soup with sunflower seed crackers for lunch, some brocolli salad with a side of carrots and cooked spinach in an almond butter sauce (also known as bathing rama) for dinner. These are good foods that help you transition back to raw because they do not throw your body as far off balance as much as highly processed, artificial, sweetened food.
First- what is Whole Food? Can you imagine it growing in nature? Even a fish swimming is a whole food. (Some pople think a fish is food for a bear.) Artificially pink fish-paste with artificial onion flavor that comes in a tube to squeeze onto crackers is not a whole food, because you cannot imagine it existing in nature.
If you choose to eat grains (Berenstein thinks diabetics generally shouldn't,) the less processed the better. You might prepare brown rice or quinoa for a side dish. Eat a lot of vegetables, and make half of them raw salads. Find whole foods to replace special ocassion things you might have eaten before and you will completely lose your desire to eat processed, artificial food.
When you are ready, transition to raw foods. Begin the day with green juice and have a salad for lunch. Work up the courage to try some simple raw recipes for dinner.
If you are going to "fall off the all-raw-wagon" do it with whole food. Have slow-cooked oatmeal with organic apple grated in it and unsweetened almond milk for breakfast, a home-made vegetable soup with sunflower seed crackers for lunch, some brocolli salad with a side of carrots and cooked spinach in an almond butter sauce (also known as bathing rama) for dinner. These are good foods that help you transition back to raw because they do not throw your body as far off balance as much as highly processed, artificial, sweetened food.
Gestational Diabetes
If you have a family history of diabetes get tested for it before you get pregnant. Don't wait until late in the pregnancy when many doctors do the gestational diabetes test to find out. Controlling your blood sugar is an important part of having a healthy pregnancy.
Many years ago I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I went to the bookstore and bought every book I could on gestational diabetes. The books were so frustratingly light on information. There is not one I would recommend. I do recommend asking for a visit to a nutritionist. If your insurance doesn't pay for this, you can find a nutritionist on your own. This is not very expensive, $60 or so.
Luckily, my doctor sent me to the Joslin Diabetes Center for nutritional counseling very early in my pregnancy. My diet was already good but the purpose was to learn how to count carbohydrates to keep my blood sugars steady. The other women in the group were at eight months before they'd been diagnosed.
We were asked what we regularly ate. The diets of this little group were so poor! The worst was of a woman who claimed she'd been living on nothing but ground beef, white rice and ice cream. The nurse stared at her in shock. Finally she said "You didn't know you had diabetes but you did know you were pregnant and that's not a healthy pregnancy diet for anyone."
I was eating a whole foods diet. Most of the recipes I used came from, Feeding the Whole Family. A typical dinner for me was a spinach salad with lemon-olive oil vinaigrette, a piece of wild salmon, some broccoli and half a small baked sweet potato. This diet worked well for me at the time.
During a later pregnancy, I was not able to tolerate carbohydrates (even the healthy kind) without insulin. I ate a whole foods diet again, and supplemented with injected insulin.
I hope you will make wise choices after discussing with your doctor about the use of insulin. Please do not let a fear of needles prevent you from using this treatment if you think it would be beneficial.
Ask your doctor if you are a high-risk pregnancy. If you are a high-risk pregnancy- because of your age, weight, health-history, having a pregnancy with multiples or any other factors, you need to know. Your doctor may refer you to someone who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. Managing your blood sugars is not something you can play at, the health of your child or children depends on you.
All three of my kids were born healthy, at term and at a perfect birth weight. My heart goes out to anyone who has a difficult pregnancy or difficult birthing. I realize that some women experience so much guilt, often for things that are truly out of their control with regards to pregnancy and birthing.
Many years ago I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I went to the bookstore and bought every book I could on gestational diabetes. The books were so frustratingly light on information. There is not one I would recommend. I do recommend asking for a visit to a nutritionist. If your insurance doesn't pay for this, you can find a nutritionist on your own. This is not very expensive, $60 or so.
Luckily, my doctor sent me to the Joslin Diabetes Center for nutritional counseling very early in my pregnancy. My diet was already good but the purpose was to learn how to count carbohydrates to keep my blood sugars steady. The other women in the group were at eight months before they'd been diagnosed.
We were asked what we regularly ate. The diets of this little group were so poor! The worst was of a woman who claimed she'd been living on nothing but ground beef, white rice and ice cream. The nurse stared at her in shock. Finally she said "You didn't know you had diabetes but you did know you were pregnant and that's not a healthy pregnancy diet for anyone."
I was eating a whole foods diet. Most of the recipes I used came from, Feeding the Whole Family. A typical dinner for me was a spinach salad with lemon-olive oil vinaigrette, a piece of wild salmon, some broccoli and half a small baked sweet potato. This diet worked well for me at the time.
During a later pregnancy, I was not able to tolerate carbohydrates (even the healthy kind) without insulin. I ate a whole foods diet again, and supplemented with injected insulin.
I hope you will make wise choices after discussing with your doctor about the use of insulin. Please do not let a fear of needles prevent you from using this treatment if you think it would be beneficial.
Ask your doctor if you are a high-risk pregnancy. If you are a high-risk pregnancy- because of your age, weight, health-history, having a pregnancy with multiples or any other factors, you need to know. Your doctor may refer you to someone who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. Managing your blood sugars is not something you can play at, the health of your child or children depends on you.
All three of my kids were born healthy, at term and at a perfect birth weight. My heart goes out to anyone who has a difficult pregnancy or difficult birthing. I realize that some women experience so much guilt, often for things that are truly out of their control with regards to pregnancy and birthing.
What is Diabetes?
If your doctor has told you that you have diabetes II, diabetes mellitus or pre-diabetes it is important that you realize you can be completely healthy with this condition.
Your pancreas produces the hormone insulin. That insulin starts working from the moment a bite of food enters your mouth to convert any carbohydrates present in the food into glucose. This glucose provides your cells with energy, and helps fat cells store fat.
Everything you take into your mouth is made up of carbohydrate, fat, protein, water and micronutrients. Fat, protein, water and micronutrients in normal amounts do not pose much of a problem. In fact some studies have shown that even dangerous "saturated" fats are not as unhealthy for diabetics as uncontrolled sugars. But, too much carbohydrate will raise blood glucose levels in a negative way. It makes you feel unwell in the short term. Left unchecked it can have serious long-term consequences such as blindness and stroke. And, meanwhile it will make you fat.
Some people don't even know when they are running high blood sugars. Having high blood sugars can be a little like having poor eye sight. It feels normal, until you put on glasses and suddenly realize what you were missing. When you get your blood sugars are under control, you will feel better.
Diabetes is a condition where your body is genetically predisposed to store carbohydrates as fat, more so than other people. This really benefits you in times of famine. Your pancreas is working perfectly- if your goal is to store as much fat as possible for the upcoming grain shortage. Although this is a situation you will work around- it is not different than having color-blindness or being left-handed. It is something genetically true of you- which in itself is neither good nor bad. In itself, it is not a cause for dis-ease.
Some people say "I am allergic to peanuts", or "I have lactose intolerance." to explain why they don't eat those foods. You can learn to say "Carbohydrates don't agree with me." Instead many people think of their diabetes as something wrong with themselves, and set themselves up for a lot of nonsense by trying to deny it and to live as though they don't have it. Of course, everything that is neither a fat nor a protein is a carbohydrate. Because you must eat some carbohydrates, and it isn't as simple as just eliminating peanuts or milk.
Again, diabetes is in itself neither good nor bad. All of the ailments that are supposed to go along with diabetes are ailments caused by uncontrolled blood sugars. You don't have to experience any of that! If you don't believe me - ask your doctor.
Your pancreas produces the hormone insulin. That insulin starts working from the moment a bite of food enters your mouth to convert any carbohydrates present in the food into glucose. This glucose provides your cells with energy, and helps fat cells store fat.
Everything you take into your mouth is made up of carbohydrate, fat, protein, water and micronutrients. Fat, protein, water and micronutrients in normal amounts do not pose much of a problem. In fact some studies have shown that even dangerous "saturated" fats are not as unhealthy for diabetics as uncontrolled sugars. But, too much carbohydrate will raise blood glucose levels in a negative way. It makes you feel unwell in the short term. Left unchecked it can have serious long-term consequences such as blindness and stroke. And, meanwhile it will make you fat.
Some people don't even know when they are running high blood sugars. Having high blood sugars can be a little like having poor eye sight. It feels normal, until you put on glasses and suddenly realize what you were missing. When you get your blood sugars are under control, you will feel better.
Diabetes is a condition where your body is genetically predisposed to store carbohydrates as fat, more so than other people. This really benefits you in times of famine. Your pancreas is working perfectly- if your goal is to store as much fat as possible for the upcoming grain shortage. Although this is a situation you will work around- it is not different than having color-blindness or being left-handed. It is something genetically true of you- which in itself is neither good nor bad. In itself, it is not a cause for dis-ease.
Some people say "I am allergic to peanuts", or "I have lactose intolerance." to explain why they don't eat those foods. You can learn to say "Carbohydrates don't agree with me." Instead many people think of their diabetes as something wrong with themselves, and set themselves up for a lot of nonsense by trying to deny it and to live as though they don't have it. Of course, everything that is neither a fat nor a protein is a carbohydrate. Because you must eat some carbohydrates, and it isn't as simple as just eliminating peanuts or milk.
Again, diabetes is in itself neither good nor bad. All of the ailments that are supposed to go along with diabetes are ailments caused by uncontrolled blood sugars. You don't have to experience any of that! If you don't believe me - ask your doctor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)