BLOG POSTS BY GABRIEL COUSENS M.D.
Posted by: The Culture of Life on 12/31/2013
- Categories: HEALTH & WELLNESS
Type 2 diabetes is a worldwide pandemic. There are approximately 400 million people in the world who now have type 2 diabetes. As outlined in my book, There Is a Cure for Diabetes: Revised Edition, the high success of my live-food vegan cure stands as clear evidence that type 2 and, surprisingly enough, type 1 diabetes is curable, contrary to what is taught in almost every medical school in the world that diabetes is incurable and a downhill descent into an accelerated death. In the allopathic teaching, type 2 diabetes may take as much as 10-19 years off one’s lifespan. In this context, diabetes is accelerated aging. My research with the last 120 diabetes to come through my Diabetes Recovery Program at my clinic at Tree of Life Center, US in Patagonia, AZ, shows that in a 21-day period 61% of type 2 non-insulin dependant diabetics (NIDDM), 24% of type 2 insulin dependant diabetics (IDDM), and 21% of completely documented type 1 diabetics, were cured; and 31.4% of type 1 diabetics also came off all medication. The definition of cured means a fasting blood sugar of 99 or less and taking no oral hypoglycemic medication or insulin. By 3 weeks 86.4% of type 2 insulin dependant diabetics were off all medication. One hundred percent of NIDDM type 2 diabetics were medication-free after 3 weeks. In summary 97% of all type 2 diabetics were off all medications in 3 weeks. A collective percentage of 39% of all type 2 diabetics were healed in 3 weeks. No statistical results for any diabetic program have come close to my particular vegan live food approach. These positive results increased over the course of a year following our program. The remaining 68.6% of type 1 diabetics who remain on insulin had an average of a 67.5% drop in their use of insulin.
In 1999, a study in Great Britain showed a diet high in salad and vegetables throughout the year had an 80% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who ate vegetables less often. A high level meta-analysis of 12 studies from around the world cited in Diabetologia in 2009 showed that meat eating increases the incidence of diabetes by 35-50%. The only other study that suggests that diabetes may be partially reversed with a vegan diet was Dr. Neal Barnard’s excellent study showing that people eating a natural vegan diet over a 12-week period, were able to have a 46% average reduction in medication (with no actual cures noted).
Dr. Cousens with Claudia, A Diabetes Recovery Program Participant. October 2013
There are two levels of insight that help me design a program that would get these unusual results. The first is a social-spiritual insight – “There is never enough food to feed a hungry soul.” In an effort to feed their hungry souls in our modern world people have taken to over-eating and especially over-eating of junk food and sweets in a futile attempt to bring sweetness into their lives and fill their emptiness. This certainly is contributing to why in the U.S. we are seeing an epidemic of obesity. Eighty-two percent of diabetics are overweight, and 48% are obese. Some people call this pandemic “diabesity”. An important part of my 3-week program was to create a teaching and psycho-spiritual processes aimed at helping people let go of their eating and sugar addictions and fill that emptiness of the soul with meaning, value, and spirit.
The second aspect of this approach is a basic theory for understanding diabetes, which in essence is a new definition of diabetes that I called the chronic diabetes degenerative syndrome (CDDS). In this context, diabetes can be understood as an accelerated chronic degenerative aging process that is primarily a genetic and epigenetic toxic downgrade, resulting in leptin, insulin, and other hormonal and metabolic dysregulations, including protein, lipid, and carbohydrate imbalances. CDDS also involves a chronic inflammatory, accelerated aging process as a driving force. This degenerative process arises from a diet primarily high in sugar (including both simple and complex carbohydrates), trans-fatty acids, processed and junk foods, and cooked animal fat and protein. It is made worse from a diet low in fiber combined with a lifestyle of stress; obesity; lack of exercise; lack of sleep; and general toxic exposure including pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and environmental toxins. It is an insufficient diet that adds to the vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant deficiencies found in type 2 diabetes. The degeneration syndrome is associated with insulin and leptin resistance. The tendency for developing CDDS increases with age. It is driven by a toxic degenerative epigenetic memory program. To heal diabetes type 2, one has to turn off the toxic metabolic memory and the chronic para-inflammation associated with it.
Based on my theory, I designed a program that was specific for upgrading the genetic and epigenetic program back to normal and for turning off the toxic metabolic memory, and which reversed the leptin, insulin, and other hormonal metabolic dysregulations. A key to this was switching from the relatively high complex carbohydrate diet, that both Dr. Barnard used in his study and that I previously used, to a moderately low complex carbohydrate diet. This was a key breakthrough that explains the difference between the classic vegan approach and my upgraded approach for curing diabetes. I have seen a rapid reversal of the main chronic degenerative symptomology. Some people have been legally blind and unemployable and within three months their vision returned. People arrive with significant abnormal kidney function tests, with our program being the “last chance” before they were to go on kidney dialysis, and within 3 weeks their kidney function tests have either returned to normal or close enough to normal that they no longer need kidney dialysis. Many had significant neuropathy with an inability to feel feet, sexual organs, and decreased vibratory sense throughout the body. Many of the neuropathy symptoms disappeared over the course of the three weeks. Ninety-five percent of those with high blood pressure went to normal blood pressure in three weeks. Many experienced improved digestive function from gastric paresis to normal digestive and bowel function. Many had significantly improved clarity of mind and memory and decreased general confusion. Diabetes increases the rate of glycation, which disturbs mental functioning; and diabetes often creates insulin resistance of the brain, which seems to be associated with hippocampal degeneration that is very much a part of the memory disturbance and general confusion. Over the course of the 3 weeks much of the mental confusion and memory loss generally cleared entirely.
The secret to this success is a 100% organic, live-food, plant-source-only diet organized along a macronutrient design that was/is different than the traditional vegan macronutrient paradigm of a low fat, low protein, and high complex carbohydrate diet. I designed a moderate low carbohydrate diet of 25-35% initially and up to 30-50% in the long term. This is a slightly ketogenic diet. During healing the phase, clients avoid all simple and complex carbohydrates except leafy greens, non-starchy, low-glycemic vegetables, sprouts, and sea vegetables. This includes the avoidance of all grain, all sugars, white flour, sweets, and sweeteners, except for stevia and naturally derived birch tree xylitol and their various forms. This moderate-low carbohydrate diet significantly decreased and/or healed both insulin resistance and leptin resistance, which are the two driving hormonal imbalances in type 2 diabetes. The fat intake was 25-45% with a high emphasis on omega 3 foods like nuts, seeds, oils, and purslane. All the fats were raw and plant-based. No trans fats were used. The overall holistic effect of this 25-45% raw, plant-based fat diet resulted in a drop in total cholesterol to 159 and a cardio-protective triglyceride count of 82. This drop in triglycerides is primarily due to the moderate-low carbohydrate diet as carbohydrates raise triglycerides. The protein intake was 10-25% of the diet. The clients also were taught how to individualize their diets for their particular constitutions.
The power of a 100% live-food, plant-source-only diet also created a significant anti-inflammatory effect by decreasing para-inflammation by as much as five-fold, as measured by the C-reactive protein (CRP). This is important because inflammation is a driving force behind aging and thus diabetes. Use of all organic food minimized the negative effects of pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals on insulin, leptin, and pancreas beta-cell function in general. In addition, the third week of the program and the follow-up program included the use of high-potency proteolytic enzymes for decreasing para-inflammation, peri-ductal scaring and beta cell scaring and destruction. Other herbs and supplements were used such as chromium, vanadium, magnesium, B vitamins, calcium, zinc, potassium, and manganese, and herbs such as gymnema sylvestre, curcummin, fenugreek, cinnamon, cayenne, holy basil, parsley, banaba, shilajit, bitter melon, goat’s rue, and bilberry. These herbs were added later in the program and were clearly not the cause of the healing, but they have been used for centuries for the amelioration of diabetes and decreasing blood sugar. Their role was to support the activated healing process. People were kept on them for three months after their fasting blood sugar was 99 or less and they were free of all diabetic medications. Moderate exercise and moderate sleep (7-8 hours nightly) was emphasized. People were advised not to return to fish, chicken, meat, or dairy. After people were healed for three months they moved to a maintenance diet of 80-100% live-food, plant-source-only, healthy carbohydrate of 30-50%, including moderate non-gliadin/non-gluten grains, cooked beans, and legumes. They remain on this maintenance diet indefinitely. Part of our program in the third week is teaching people how to prepare tasty organic, vegan, live-food meals for both healing (1.0) and maintenance phases (1.5). This empowers them to maintain this diet long term successful way.
In each generation we are given the medicine for the healing of that generation. In the context of the current diabetes pandemic a 100% organic, 80-100% live-food, plant-source-only diet is the medicine for healing this generation and future generations.
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