Type 2 Diabetes and Carbohydrates

Researchers make link between carbs and Type 2 diabetes –  I haven’t seen the abstract for this study, so I can’t give a whole lot of commentary on it. And to be fair, I want to remind you that correlation is not causation. That being said,  assuming it was done correctly,  this conclusion is not in the least surprising. We’ve been asserting for years that decades of pushing carbohydrates, and reducing fats, has made us a nation that’s fatter and sicker than ever. Diabetes is on the rise at an alarming rate. And yet the dietary recommendation insanity continues, much to the glee of pharmaceutical companies who would otherwise lose business. (Boo hoo. Cry me a freakin’ river.) The low-carbohydrate lifestyle can eliminate the need for medications in most  type 2 diabetics.   But will the ADA acknowledge that? Up to this point, no. At the least though, I can applaud them for talking about it. In this article from Diabetes Forecast, the ADA brings up the much debated subject. But here’s where I go from taking them seriously, to laughing myself into a stupor, and this is only the first paragraph:

Some insulin users in particular find that their blood glucose is far easier to control when they limit the carbs in their diet. Others think people with diabetes deserve to eat (and enjoy) the same healthy diet recommended for all Americans.

Did you catch that? They DESERVE to eat all the high-carb processed crap that everyone else eats. Huh. I personally think they DESERVE to live a long and healthy life free of retinopathy, neuropahthies, heart disease, kidney failure and a host of other complications that diabetics face. But what do I know. I’m just a pre-diabetic blogger myself, who has so far managed to escape the diagnosis because I don’t listen to the ADA.

Another favorite quote from this malleable piece of journalism:

Not only that, but carbs are an efficient source of energy. “Like gasoline powers a car, glucose powers your body,” says Neal Barnard, MD, adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and author of Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes. “The idea that carbohydrate is a problem is, in my opinion, a mistaken one.”

Neal Barnard? Would that be the Neal Barnard that is founder and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which is anything but responsible? Yeah. He’s one and the same. There is so much PETA and pro-vegan propaganda behind this recommendation I could choke on it. For those who are insulin resistant, like myself, powering ourselves with carbs is the same as putting unleaded in a diesel engine. Things quit working and eventually we seize up. As anyone who has actually looked at the science knows, the body functions quite well without an excess of carbohydrate in the system, thanks to this little process called gluconeogenisis. And if anyone should be utilizing this process, it’s type 2 diabetics. Without all the carbohydrate mucking up the system and causing the insulin to malfunction, diabetics can manage their blood sugar quite well and feel energized while doing it.

The next bit literally has my jaw hitting the floor:

According to Franz, as long as people eat less or cover their carb intake with medications, they can keep blood glucose levels in check with a healthy diet. “What determines the blood glucose level,” she says, is “certainly the amount of carbs you eat, but it’s the balance between carbs and insulin.”

So she thinks it’s better to eat whatever you want and just take drugs to cover it. Seriously? This is the kind of thinking that astounds me. Then there is this attitude to contend with:

What’s more, she points out, the moderate diet is all about freedom. “If someone told me you have diabetes but you can’t eat carbs, I’d be floored,” says Franz. “I would cry out in alarm and say, ‘But I deserve the right to eat healthfully, and I can keep my blood glucose in control by watching my portion sizes and, if necessary, taking medication.’ ”

Again, she’d be alarmed if she couldn’t have her beloved carbs. Now keep in mind that carb-restriction does not mean you can’t have berries or non-starchy veggies. It means avoiding corn products, starches like potatoes, sugars and grains. So it’s not like telling diabetics they can only eat meat for the rest of their lives. There are plenty of food options in a low-carb plan. I’m alarmed that she’d rather take medications and watch portion sizes than give up non-nutritive foods for her health. This is a trend in our society that worries me deeply. So many people would literally rather die than give up their addictive breads, pastas and donuts. It’s sad.

I’m at least relieved to see that they gave some credence to Dr. Bernstein’s expertise and experience, as well as William Yancy, who reminds us that “replacing carbs with protein and fat is a smart alternative”. Of course then they move to the same old tired argument that a low-carb diet is not sustainable in the long run. It’s sustainable if you care enough to make it so. I know many who have successfully stuck with this lifestyle for a decade or more, yours truly included.

Farther down you’ll find the debate about saturated fats.

Yancy points to the long-term Nurses Health Study, which didn’t find a link between saturated-fat consumption and heart disease. “Fat is something that we’ve demonized for 30 years now,” he says. “People have realized the unsaturated fats are healthy. The new observational studies don’t show saturated fat is bad.”

Barnard, for one, disagrees. “I would never prescribe a low-carb diet for people with diabetes because they raise their risk for coronary artery disease,” he says.

Again, as Yancy reiterates, there is NO PROOF that saturated fat causes heart disease. There is not one study to back up this poorly conceived notion that demonizes saturated fat and cholesterol.  It’s a fabrication, from a very sketchy study, that Ancel Keys used to catapult himself to title of “Father of the Lipid Hypothesis”. Let’s step back into science class for just a moment. What is a hypothesis? It’s an assumption, which you work to prove or disprove to make it fact. The lipid hypothesis has yet to be proven, and in many instances has been disproved, yet it’s treated like fact. This is the sad state of our scientific community my friends.  Thank goodness we have a few real researchers and doctors out there who are willing to stick to scientific integrity and share the truth in the face of staunch opposition.

I can say that the following paragraph gave me a small sigh of relief. It’s a start anyway.

People with diabetes looking for a one-size-fits-all “right” way to eat are going to come up short. There probably is no one way to eat that works for everyone. For some, all but nixing carbs is the ideal way to normalize blood glucose levels. For others, eating a higher-carb diet and covering the carbs with insulin or oral medications wins. This is all part of the reason that the American Diabetes Association  stresses that meal plans should be geared to fit each person’s individual lifestyle.

I’m glad they are at least acknowledging that low-carb is an option, but this is the first time I’ve heard anything about the ADA stressing meal plans geared to the individual. I hope this is true and diabetic patients start receiving more than the standard American diet recommendations with their diagnosis. They seem to be backing into the admission, but I guess it’s a start. I’d rather see their backsides going in the right direction, then witness them continually and blindly run forward in the wrong direction.