My doctor told me that there is no cure for type 2 diabetes and I will have it for the rest of my life and there was not a thing I can do about it. This may be true for type 1 diabetes. As far as type 2 diabetes, the truth is that THEY do not have a cure. I have found a cure.
The following is a very simplified description of diabetes for a better understanding.
What is Diabetes?
To cure diabetes, we must understand it. Type 1 diabetes was often referred to as “juvenile” diabetes because it is usually diagnosed at early onset. It is a dysfunction of the cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin. Type 1 is no longer referred to as “juvenile” onset anymore because type 2 diabetes that used to be predominantly adult onset but because of the recent obesity epidemic and sedentary lifestyles, more children are being diagnosed with type 2.
A common misnomer about type 2 diabetes is that it is a dysfunction of the pancreas and the secretion of insulin. The truth is that at first the pancreas makes plenty of insulin. The problem is that the insulin no longer works. Your body becomes “insulin resistant.”
What is Insulin?
Insulin has been described as the hormone that lowers blood sugar (glucose). I do not like this description. Insulin does NOT lower blood glucose. It is merely a messenger that tells your body cells to take up and store glucose; especially your muscle cells. Insulin also tells your liver cells to stop converting more glucose. The majority of glucose is stored in your muscles.
Insulin Resistance
When blood glucose gets too high, your body compensates by negative feedback mechanism & secretes insulin. The insulin then travels to your cells like the muscle cells like a door-to-door salesman and tells the muscle cells “I have a lot of glucose here in the blood, take some in and store it for me.”
The muscle cells say: “sure! I can use it for energy anyway.” Then it takes it in and makes ATP energy to move the muscles or stores it. However, in today’s modern times, the American diet is very excessive and physical activity is rare if at all. The muscle cells no longer need as much energy and are overwhelmed with glucose. So, when insulin comes around selling glucose, the muscles say: “Go peddle your goods elsewhere, I have neither the need nor the room for all that glucose!” So all the glucose stays in the blood.
So? What’s wrong with blood sugar?
In moderate amounts, blood glucose is important to feed your cells especially the brain and nerves. In low amounts, the body can shut down as you starve your brain. In excessively high amounts, the glucose can bind with proteins in your body. The H-A1C test is a measure of percentage of your hemoglobin in red blood cells have been bound with glucose. The negative effects of excessive glucose are substantial.
What about diet?
Most diabetics will go through the drive-thru and consume the double bacon cheeseburger, French fries and “Diet” soda and think to oneself: “I didn’t consume any sugar so I’m Okay.” WRONG! First of all the bread and potatoes are carbohydrates which are complex forms of sugar. Second, your body can convert any food into sugar.
The CURE
The most common medication for type 2 diabetes is Metformin. It is a drug that activates an enzyme in your cells called AMPK. AMPK is the cell signaling pathway that makes the cell activate the GLUT-4 glucose transporter in the cell wall take up glucose for energy. AMPK is normally activated during cardiovascular exercise and it takes up glucose because it needs more for the increase metabolic activity in the muscles. When an artificial activation of AMPK is initiated by a drug, the cells are slammed with glucose it’s not using.
I’m sorry to tell you the cure is not as easy as a pill or drug. The cure is very simple but will take a bit of effort. Instead of activating your AMPK (and other enzymes) artificially, do it the ol’ fashion way; exercise. The cure for diabetes is… diet & exercise. The diet will reduce the amount of glucose going in and the exercise will take up the excessive glucose in storage form. The exercise will also create a demand for glucose in the muscles so that when insulin comes around, muscles will take up the glucose. As you become more fit, your muscles will adapt and become more efficient at taking up glucose. One of the adaptations muscles make is mitochondrial biogenesis (making more mitochondria). Mitochondria are the organelles in the muscle cells that convert glucose (and other macronutrients) into ATP (energy).
Since diabetes should be taken very seriously, professional intervention is indicated. Most medical doctors do not administer this type of intervention. Your doctor should supervise and monitor your diabetes and refer you to an exercise physiologist and a registered dietitian. This cure requires hiring personal trainers who specialize in obesity and diabetics. Only regular and consistent exercise will work. As a Clinical Exercise Physiologist, I specialize in training special populations such as diabetics. I like cinnamon, fennel and asparagus as good supplements to help your body regulate glucose. Chromium is known to help but I do not like picolinate version. That’s why I like the asparagus because it contains natural chromium. Consult a registered dietitian and start eating micronutrient dense foods rather than macronutrient
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