Table of Contents

What Do The Current Stats Tell Us About Diabetes? ........................................... 3

What Really Causes Type 2 Diabetes? ................................................................. 5

Why Are High Blood Sugar Levels DANGEROUS For Cardiovascular Health? ...... 6

How Can Exercise Help With My Diabetes? ........................................................ 8

Is Diabetes Actually Reversible? ........................................................................ 10

Ok, I’m Convinced And More Optimistic But How Can I Overcome My Sugar Addiction? ................................................ 11

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 3

What Do The Current Stats Tell Us About Diabetes?

The global prevalence of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes (T2D) continues to rise at an astronomic rate. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2004 an estimated 3.4 million people died from the consequences of having high fasting blood sugar levels.

From 1983 to 2008, the number of individuals with diabetes rose from 35 million to 240 million. Moreover, in the 3 years between 2008 and 2011 alone the total grew by 110 million.

It is estimated that by 2020 1 in 2 Americans will either be diabetic or pre-diabetic.

Even more alarming, is that the term “adult onset diabetes” which has long been used as a synonym for T2D is no longer relative since more and more children are being diagnosed with the disease.

Furthermore, the decline in health associated with diabetes accounts for $130 billion dollars in healthcare costs for the United States alone.

The following statistics set forth by the WHO will hopefully shed some light on just how detrimental diabetes is to the body:

9 People with diabetes are twice as likely to have depression, which can complicate diabetes management, than people without diabetes.

9 Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20–74 years.

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 4

9 In 2005–2008, 4.2 million (28.5%) people with diabetes aged 40 years or older had diabetic retinopathy, and of these, 655,000 (4.4% of those with diabetes) had advanced diabetic retinopathy that could lead to severe vision loss.

9 Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting for 44% of all new cases of kidney failure in 2008.

9 About 60% to 70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage. The results of such damage include impaired sensation or pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion of food in the stomach, carpal tunnel syndrome, erectile dysfunction, or other nerve problems.

9 More than 60% of non-traumatic lower-limb amputations occur in people with diabetes.

9 In 2006, about 65,700 non-traumatic lower-limb amputations were performed in people with diabetes.

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 5

What Really Causes Type 2 Diabetes?

While there are risk factors such as age and family history that are not controllable the truth is all of the other risk factors for T2Dsuch as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity are completely under our control.

As a whole, we are fatter and more sedentary than ever before, couple this with the copious amounts of prepackaged, man-made foods, laden with sugar, preservatives and you have a recipe for diabetes disaster.

The simple answer to this question is that bad eating habits (prepackaged, high sodium, high sugar, high fat, man-made foods, and over eating) along with low activity levels are the main causes of diabetes.

This will become clearer as you read the answers to the remaining questions.

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 6

Why Are High Blood Sugar Levels DANGEROUS For Cardiovascular Health?

When we eat foods that spike our blood sugar levels like high glycemic white bread, pasta, candies, and cakes the beta cells in the pancreas secrete the hormone insulin.

Insulin’s man function is to lower blood sugar levels, by “shuttling” the excess sugar to the muscle, fat, and liver cells for storage. In order for insulin to do this the cells must be “sensitive” or responsive to insulin.

If the cells are not insulin sensitive they will not uptake the extra sugar so it forced to remain in the blood. If you eat a lot of high glycemic poor quality foods, the beta cells in the pancreas are forced to continuously secrete insulin to try to keep your blood sugar at a safe level.

This continuous production is not a good thing because constant exposure to insulin causes the cells to become desensitizes leading to a condition called insulin resistance. When the cells become insulin resistant, insulin is no longer able to “shuttle” excess blood sugar into the cells for storage.

This is extremely detrimental because high levels of sugar in the blood eat away at the blood vessels, which can cause a myriad of cardiovascular issues such as arteriosclerosis (the hardening and thickening of arteries) and atherosclerosis (an accumulation of plaque in the arteries).

Insulin also shuts down the activity of hormone sensitive lipase, which means that less fat is broken down for fuel, and instead is kept stored in your body.

At the same time certain enzymatic processes in the liver are pushed to favor the conversion of the excess sugar into FFAs.

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 7

This results in the transformation of FFAs into more triglycerides. High blood triglyceride levels in the blood (aka. VLDL) is a risk factor for heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends a triglyceride level of 100 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L) or lower.

Thankfully, this level is easily attained through lifestyle changes such as diet, weight loss, and exercise. To give you even more insight on how diabetes/high blood sugar levels effect cardiovascular health below are the current statistics:

9 In 2004, heart disease was noted on 68% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older.

9 In 2004, stroke was noted on 16% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older.

9 Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes.

9 The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher among people with diabetes.

9 In 2005–2008, of adults aged 20 years or older with self-reported diabetes, 67% had blood pressure greater than or equal to 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) or used prescription medications for hypertension.

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 8

How Can Exercise Help With My Diabetes?

Sedentary lifestyle is a primary risk factor associated with T2D. Increasing physical activity is a key element for controlling diabetes yet sadly many individuals who have pre-diabetes or T2D remain sedentary.

At rest, insulin is required to move excess blood sugar into the cells and out of the blood.

But amazingly, during exercise muscular contractions increase blood sugar uptake into the muscles independent of insulin so the muscles can use it to fuel the workout.

Since these 2 pathways are distinct (one requires insulin and one does not) blood sugar uptake into exercising muscles will occur at a normal rate even your insulin-mediated uptake of blood sugar is impaired by insulin resistance or T2D.

Another important thing to point out is that muscular blood sugar uptake remains elevated for up to 72 hours after the workout has been completed.

And exercise not only improves the non-insulin dependent pathway, it also improves the insulin-mediated pathway. Insulin activates GLUT4, which is a protein that helps insulin bring sugar into the muscle, however, muscular contractions also trigger GLUT4 without the presence of insulin through the activation of 5-AMP–activated protein kinase.

This is important because insulin’s ability to activate GLUT4 on its own is impaired in insulin resistance and T2D and exercise increases GLUT4 and in turn blood sugar uptake in the muscles via insulin for these individuals.

Studies have shown an improvement in whole-body insulin sensitivity in T2 diabetics after as little as one week of moderate aerobic training. Resistance training is also beneficial for blood sugar control. One study found that when T2 diabetics preformed resistance training 2x/week for 16 weeks their insulin sensitivity increased by 46.3%.

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 9

Another study found that when T2 diabetics, participated in either resistance or aerobic exercise 3x/week for 10 weeks they improved their overall blood glucose control, but those doing resistance training had significantly lower A1C values making resistance training a valuable addition to any exercise program.

The Da Qing study out of China reported that doing as little as 20 minutes of mild or moderate, 10 minutes of strenuous, or 5 minutes of very strenuous exercise one to two times a day, reduced diabetes risk by 46%.

The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study in conjunction with the U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program, (which included nearly 75,000 participants), found that lifestyle modification (including diet and exercise) reduced the incidents of diabetes by 58% while metformin alone (a common drug given to T2 diabetics) only caused a 31% reduction. Now that is good stuff!

Do you really another reason to get more active?

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 10

Is Diabetes Actually Reversible?

I am happy to report that YES you can you reverse diabetes and you can do so without the use of pills or injections.

A recent study in the journal Diabetologia proved that when specific dietary changes are made, diabetes can begin to reverse itself in as little as one week! In this study researchers had test subjects (those with diabetes) switch from their normal “western” style diet to a mostly plant, healthy protein, and low glycemic load diet.

Through a number of sophisticated tests researchers found that after participants changed their diet the beta cells in the pancreas (where insulin is produced) began to work more efficiently and the cells became insulin responsive again.

The researchers also noted that the fatty deposits in the pancreas and liver that are commonly found in diabetics also began to disappear. Incredibly after just 8 weeks of the modified diet the measurements collected from test subjects (diabetics) looked exactly like the non-diabetic control subject’s measurements!

It is important to point out that this study was independent of exercise. Based on the answer to our early question about exercise it should be easy to see just how reversible this disease is without the help of pharmaceuticals. As a matter of fact the results of this study prove that our diet is more powerful than any diabetes drug on the market today! That is awesome stuff!

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 11

Ok, I’m Convinced And More Optimistic But How Can I Overcome My Sugar Addiction?

I’m glad you asked. What follows are 2 sugar substitutes and one nutritional strategy that I’ve used with thousands of clients to resurrect healthy blood sugar levels and help them overcome crippling sugar cravings…

Xylitol is a great sugar alternative for anyone who is concerned about controlling their blood sugar levels (which we all should be). Xylitol is just as sweet as table sugar (sucrose) but it has about 40% fewer calories and 75% fewer carbohydrates.

It is also metabolized slowly it won’t cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin secretion. Since xylitol’s sweetness is nearly the same as regular sugar and it doesn’t break down with heat it can easily be used in place of sugar in any recipe at a 1:1 ratio.

Your other “sweetener” option is my personal favourite – Stevia. It has no calories and doesn’t affect your blood sugar and that’s why it’s a great option of diabetics.

However, as with any sweetener don’t go crazy with Steiva. Because of its intense sweetness (and often lingering aftertaste) you only need to add a small amount to sweeten your food or beverage.

And here’s some priceless advice:

Get and use liquid Stevia (not the powdered version) since it does not contain inulin, which is known to cause uncomfortable bloating and gas.

Now that we’ve covered 2 excellent sugar substitutes which should help on your way to getting over sugar cravings, the most important nutritional strategy you can implement is the following:

Eat and drink more greens!

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 12

Green vegetables (via smoothies, salads, green powders, etc…) are the most powerful foods for eradicating sugar cravings because they purify your blood through the alkaline minerals that they deposit once digested.

This is a very important step since you crave what’s in your blood. So, clean up your blood by eating/drinking more greens and you can say goodbye to those dreaded sugar cravings for good!

© S

uper

Nut

rition

Acad

emy.

com

Diabetes: Your Questions Answered 13

Are You Ready To Defeat Your Diabetes… Once And For All?

Now’s your chance to step up and take control of your health – for good! As you’ve seen in this FAQ guide, you CAN reverse your diabetes. It’s not too late…

but you have to act now. Otherwise, your body will continue to fall apart and your health will deteriorate.

And don’t worry, we’ve got the nutrition and easy exercise plan that will help you do just that…

Click Here to See How Our Defeating Diabetes Kit Can Help YOU!