The Diabetes Cure

Many doctors tell their patients how to manage diabetes, but why should they simply manage it when they can be rid of it once and for all? In the Diabetes Cure, Alexa Fleckenstein presents a groundbreaking plan to do just that by targeting the real cause of diabetes: inflammation.

The book instructs readers on how to use the five essentials of health to achieve a diabetes-free life. Through easy, quick exercises (how does 5 minutes a day sound?); tasty, anti-inflammatory recipes; and many other innovative tips, Dr. Fleckenstein lays out a clear, manageable plan to leave diabetes behind. And ending the struggle with blood sugar is just the start, as this 5-step plan also teaches readers how to shed 5, 10, or even 50 pounds along the way.

Complete with success stories featuring people who followed the plan and not only lost weight (up to 50 pounds) but were also no longer diagnosed as diabetic, The Diabetes Cure teaches readers what's really causing their diabetes, shows them how to banish cravings once and for all, and provides the tools to help them take back control of their lives. | Alexa Fleckenstein, MD, is board certified in internal medicine and also holds a degree in natural medicine. She practiced integrative medicine in the Boston area for more than 30 years, using both conventional and natural treatments. Dr. Fleckenstein has been a featured health expert on radio and TV shows and has contributed to magazines such as Body and Soul and Bottomline Health. She is the author of Healthy to 100 and Health20. She lives in Brookline, MA. | 1

The Real Cause of Diabetes

As I see it, every day you do one of two things: Build health or produce disease in yourself.

—A DELLE DAVIS (1904-1974)

You're in the doctor's office for a routine physical exam when you receive the diagnosis: type 2 diabetes. Sure, you have heard of diabetes before and may even have a general idea of what led to this diagnosis—maybe you have family members with diabetes or have been fighting your weight and a sweet tooth unsuccessfully for years. Or perhaps you've just been living a sedentary lifestyle. In fact, your doctor may have even warned you that in most cases, developing the disease is a direct result of poor nutrition and lack of exercise. But you didn't really listen, because you've been living this way for years and things seemed fine. How did you miss the warning signs? And what exactly went wrong? To find the answer, we need to go back to the basics and look deep inside your body at its building blocks: your cells.

Diabetes and Inflammation

Contrary to popular belief, diabetes is not just the result of having high blood sugar and an insulin-deficient pancreas. Instead, it is a chronic state of widespread inflammation—a direct result of your body not being used to its original design. We have ancient bodies and ancient souls, and in these modern times, we don't use them in the way in which they were intended. The little-acknowledged truth is that our bodies are made for outdoor living (i.e., hunting and gathering), not for sitting in a cubicle day in and day out, eating fabricated "food," and watching TV until late in the night. Did you ever think that this kind of lifestyle hurts your body—and that it deprives you of productivity, creativity, and happiness?

Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes

There are several risk factors linked to the development of diabetes. Take a look at the list below to determine how many apply to you.

• Family history. Both your genes and your childhood environment (learned eating habits, outdoor activities, sleeping patterns, reward mechanisms, etc.) can increase or decrease your risk of developing diabetes.

• Weight and fat distribution. The more fat you have (especially around your middle), the more resistant your body becomes to insulin and the hunger-regulating hormone leptin.

• Sedentary lifestyle. Prolonged periods of sitting increase your chances of developing diabetes. Why? Working your muscles squelches the fire of inflammation. Not using your muscles leads to the development of diabetes. And when you sit, you barely use any muscles.

• Race. Certain races are more prone to the ravishments of the Western diet than others: Hispanics, blacks, Hawaiians, Native Americans, and Asians have an increased risk of developing diabetes.

• Age. Beginning at age 45, your risk for diabetes grows considerably. At this time in your life, you have likely eaten too many cupcakes with icing and walked too few miles—and the effects of this lifestyle are beginning to show. And retirees have an even higher risk of developing diabetes because they can easily fall prey to the damages of a sedentary lifestyle.

• Gestational diabetes. Diabetes during pregnancy is like an early warning shot: You have the genes, and if you are not careful with what you eat and how you live, you will eventually develop diabetes.

• Giving birth to a large baby. Having a baby who weighs more than 9 £ds puts you at risk for developing diabetes later in life.

• Prediabetes. When your hemoglobin A1c hovers close to 6.0, consider yourself at risk.

• An overweight peer group. People have a tendency to adopt the lifestyle habits of those closest to them, including family members, friends, and co-workers.

• Hypothyroidism. An elevated TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) level and/or antibodies against thyroid tissue are often found in patients with diabetes. And many have gluten intolerance. Be sure your doctor addresses all of these problems.

• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). This syndrome manifests itself more in your ovaries and your skin, but it still has many features of diabetes. And the treatment is also the same: improved lifestyle.

• High blood pressure. This is part of the metabolic syndrome (overweight, hypertension, high lipids, and insulin resistance), so having one of them sets you up for developing the rest.

• A history of stroke. If you've experienced a stroke, your odds of developing diabetes automatically increase.

• Acanthosis nigricans. This is a skin condition in which skin located under the armpits and in folds of the body is dark, thicker, and velvety.

• Gluten intolerance. Those who are gluten intolerant are at an increased risk of developing diabetes as well.

• Poor sleeping habits. Lack of sleep promotes weight gain and obesity.

You may wonder how so many different things go haywire in a diabetic's body, all seemingly unconnected, like high blood pressure, arthritis, and cancer. What is the unifying process underlying all of those divergent diseases? It is inflammation. And a January 2013 meta-analysis of 10 studies with more than 19,000 participants showed that raised levels of inflammation markers were significantly associated with an increased risk of having type 2 diabetes. Included in this meta-analysis was a 2001 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that the levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein (two of the major markers of inflammation) were considerably higher in women who subsequently developed diabetes. Researchers found that women with higher baseline levels of interleukin-6 were at 7.5 times greater risk of becoming diabetic than those with the lowest levels of inflammation. Furthermore, women with higher levels of C-reactive protein were at 15.7 times greater risk of developing diabetes. After adjusting their findings for known risk factors, the researchers reported that the women with the highest levels of interleukin-6 were 2.3 times more likely to become diabetics, while those with highest levels of C-reactive protein were 4.2 times more likely to develop diabetes.

But where does all of the inflammation come from? This widespread and sneaky inflammation stems from an accumulation of fat and waste debris in and around every cell in your body that affects every single organ in your body. It also prevents your mitochondria (those specialized subunits in all of your cells that produce energy like little batteries) from generating the energy you need. Mitochondria are intimately involved in the insulin secretion process and are affected negatively by a too-nutritious (or high-calorie) diet. As a result, your damaged mitochondria hinder proper insulin secretion, which leads to the development of diabetes. And sooner or later, the breakdown of your mitochondria will cause all kinds of other diseases as well, including heart disease, stroke, and even cancer.

How you choose to live your life either increases or decreases the inflammation in your body. Every day—every moment—you are making a decision to either put out the fire of inflammation or stoke it.