Diabetes and Veganism
Diabetes is a disorder of the metabolism where the body has too much sugar in the blood because the pancreas cannot (Diabetes Overview, 2008). When people eat, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to move glucose from the blood into the cells (2008). However, for people with diabetes the pancreas either produces little or no insulin, or cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced (2008). This causes glucose to build up in the blood and pass through the body resulting in the body losing its main source of fuel (2008). There are two types of diabetes: Type I and Type II (2008).
Type I diabetes an autoimmune disease that results when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, causing the pancreas to produce little or no insulin (2008). A person who has type I diabetes must take insulin daily to live (2008). Type I diabetes develops from a younger age in comparison to type II diabetes (2008). Type II diabetes is typically associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, and physical inactivity (2008). When type II is diagnosed the pancreas is producing insulin but for various reasons the body cannot use the insulin effectively, a condition called insulin resistance (2008). After several years, insulin production decreases and sugar builds up in the blood and the body cannot make efficient use of its main source of energy (2008). Type II diabetes is more preventable than type I because it is something that evolves over time due to a person’s diet, exercise, and genetics (2008).
Dr. Neal Barnard explained in his interview in the film Forks over Knives that it was believed that diabetics had too much sugar in their system, so they should not eat sugar. However, Dr. Barnard and his colleagues identified how people in East Asia have the lowest diabetes rates in the world but eat a high carbohydrate (vegetables, rice), low fat diet (very few animal products). Dr. Barnard explained how, it’s not the sugar in the body, it is the fat. By eating food that is high in fat content—meat, eggs, cheese, cream--people allow the food’s fat to get into cells and cause insulin resistance. Insulin resistance then leads to diabetes because the insulin is not allowing the body’s cells to take in the sugar in the blood, taking away the body’s main source of fuel.
Dr. Barnard and his team did a study funded by the United States government to test a vegan diet. The participants were people living with diabetes and insulin resistance and they had to omit animal produces for the study. The results were extremely positive; people lost weight, their blood sugar levels came down, and their choseterol came down (Jenkins 2003). And surprisingly, the participants said how the diet was much easier for people to follow because they did not have to restrict their calories, unlike other recommended diets (2003).
You can watch more of the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxFai4iVOtk
And you can watch all of Forks over Knives on Netflix!