Welcome admirable viewers
to Healthy Living
on Supreme Master
Television.
The World Health
Organization reports
that globally more than
220 million people
have diabetes and
more than one million
die each year
from the condition.
In short diabetes is
a global epidemic.
To raise awareness of
how to prevent diabetes
and ways
those with the condition
can live life to the fullest,
the US-based
non-profit organization
the American Diabetes
Association started
American Diabetes Month
which is observed
each November
in the USA.
In honor of the Month,
we feature
a two-part program with
highly respected doctors
and nutritionists
speaking about
the causes of,
and cure for,
this chronic condition.
To start, what is diabetes?
Key to understanding
this disease is insulin,
a necessary hormone
produced in the pancreas.
Insulin helps our bodies
utilize glucose
from the food we eat
to generate energy.
Diabetes occurs
when insulin in the body
is not used properly,
is insufficient,
or is not produced at all.
When the red blood cells
cannot uptake
nutrients and oxygen,
the pancreatic function
starts to be impaired
and then the sugar
starts to elevate.
What blood sugar means
is exactly what it says,
you have sugar in the blood
versus in the cell
where it’s used as a fuel.
Diabetes is a condition
where there’s too much
sugar in the blood.
The sugar is glucose
and it’s there normally
to go into the cells
to provide energy,
so that if I’m going
to run a marathon
all my muscle cells
are using that glucose
for energy.
The problem
in diabetes is the glucose
can’t get into the cells.
It stays in the blood,
and in the blood
it can be toxic.
It can hurt the eyes,
the tiny little blood vessels
of the eyes or the kidneys
or other parts of the body.
Type-1 diabetes
used to be called
“childhood onset.”
And in this condition
the pancreas,
which normally makes
the insulin that brings
the sugar into the cell
is no longer making insulin
so the sugar
can’t get into the cell.
Type-2 diabetes used to
be called “adult onset.”
There’s still insulin there,
but the cells
resist its action.
If I had a patient
who had diabetes, and I
pulled out one muscle cell
from their leg or their arm,
and I looked at it, blew it
up big with a microscope,
we’d see
the cause of diabetes.
Keep in mind what
this glucose that’s built up
in the blood is there for.
It’s supposed
to power our cells;
it’s supposed to keep
our muscle cells moving.
Well, if
the insulin key arrives at
the surface of the cell, and
it can’t open the channels
to let glucose in, why not?
Well if I look
at this big muscle cell,
I see that it looks different
from a muscle cell
from somebody who
doesn’t have diabetes.
It’s different because it’s
full of little fat droplets.
Imagine if I have
a perfectly good key
for my front door,
and I go away and
I come back and my key
no longer opens the door.
Those with type 1 or 2
diabetes may experience
blurred vision, fatigue,
slow-healing infections,
increased appetite,
excessive thirst,
or frequent urination.
Diabetes is very dangerous
as it can lead to
serious complications.
According to
the National Institutes
of Health,
the US government
agency in charge of
national health research,
one who is diagnosed
with diabetes
has the same risk of
a heart attack as someone
who has previously
had a heart attack.
Kidney disease or failure
is a possibility for diabetics
as their kidneys
are overworked by
filtering the large amounts
of sugar in their blood.
These individuals
may have to undergo
kidney dialysis
or having their blood
filtered of impurities
by a machine
for the rest of their lives.
Various eye-related
conditions may develop
including glaucoma,
cataracts, and
even blindness.
Nervous system disorders
can arise including
numbness or loss of
sensation in the limbs,
particularly
in the feet and legs.
As a consequence, diabetics
may not notice injuries
to this part of the body.
A cut on the foot
could develop into
a major infection because
the body cannot heal itself
in part due to
poor blood circulation,
a trait common in diabetics.
If the infection
progresses too far,
a foot or leg amputation
may become necessary.
Diabetes is
an expensive disease.
The number of diabetics
who go blind,
who need hemodialysis
because their kidneys are
no longer functioning,
who are losing a toe,
and then another toe,
and then the lower leg,
upper leg, amputations.
Those with diabetes
face a shortened lifespan.
In a study published by
the Journal
of the American Medical
Association, it was found
that in those over 50
with diabetes,
there was an average
reduced life expectancy
of 7.5 years in men
and 8.2 years in women
as compared to men and
women without diabetes.
What is the primary cause
of this condition
which is becoming
ever more common
across the world?
I’ve been a physician
for almost 40 years
and my viewing of
the whole disease process
has undergone
quite an evolution.
And I see many diseases
are the manifestation of
putting the wrong fuel
into our bodies.
By analogy
if you were driving a car
and the gas tank indicator
said empty and you pull
into the gas station,
but instead of
going to the gas pump,
you went to the diesel pump
and filled your car up
with diesel fuel,
it’s kerosene
and it’s too oily and
you pull out of the station.
There’s black smoke
coming out of the exhaust
and it shudders to a stop.
What was the problem
in the first place?
Did the car have a disease,
or was it the wrong fuel?
We’re meant to be
plant-burning carbohydrate
utilizing mammals.
We’re not meant
to run great bolts
of fat and protein
into our bloodstream.
And when we do that it,
it winds up
clogging up the system,
like the kerosene does
in a car.
So what is diabetes?
As we now know
people eat high-fat diets,
that fat finds its way
into the cells and clogs up
the mitochondria.
And as societies become
more and more affluent,
they want to emulate
other affluent societies
and increase their meat
and dairy consumption
accordingly,
and get sicker and sicker.
And suddenly, we see
how major societies
which changed
their position from being
Asian and becoming
European or American,
suddenly
they start having
all these diseases that
they never had before,
cancer, diabetes,
cardio-vascular diseases,
autoimmune disease.
Diabetes does not happen
in all those countries
in the world that
eat lots of carbohydrates,
they eat lots of sugar.
They're not necessarily as
healthy as they could be,
but they don't
develop these diseases
that I mentioned earlier.
But when they increase
their animal protein,
that's when they
start getting all these
cardiovascular diseases
and diabetes
and autoimmune disease
and cancer.
Fish has become
the most polluted meat
in the world.
Fish is a meat
which has the tendency to
diminish life expectancy,
as it increases chances
of type 2 diabetes.
There are proteins in milk,
and these proteins
for some people
trigger diabetes.
Researchers are showing
that early exposure
to those dairy proteins
might be the cause,
or at least a contributor
to the kind of diabetes
that starts in childhood.
No matter how
you flavor it, color it,
ferment it, whip it,
whatever you do,
cow’s milk is
baby calf growth fluid.
It is designed by nature
to turn a 65-pound calf
into a 400-pound cow
in a year,
that’s what the stuff is.
And even if
you take the fat out of it,
it’s still full of hormones
and growth promoters
and proteins that turn you
into a great big cow.
I’ve seen it
again and again in
my nutritional counseling
and my medical practice,
people love their cheese,
I did too, and the ice cream
and the yogurt.
It’s sold to us
as healthy food.
So this veneer of health
is plastered on it.
But it’s still
baby calf growth fluid
and it makes people
big and fat and sick.
And in children,
may well be a cause
of juvenile diabetes.
I just can’t see
cow’s milk products
as health foods.
The rates of type 1 diabetes
are highest in
Scandinavian countries
where dairy product
consumption is very high.
And there have been
several studies
linking early introduction
of cow’s milk
into children’s diet
with an increased risk of
developing type 1 diabetes.
Obesity, often a
consequence of consuming
animal products, also
puts one at high risk of
becoming diabetic.
In fact a new term
has emerged in medicine
– diabesity – to describe
cases of diabetes
caused by obesity.
Now diabetes mellitus is
skyrocketing in the USA,
because so many of us
are gaining weight.
There are
two types of diabetes.
One is the genetic form
that you get in
usually under 20 years
or at least under 30,
often in teenage, seven,
eight (years of age).
And then there is
the acquired form
after age 50.
Now the acquired form is
an obesity-related problem.
So if we keep
our weight down,
we don’t develop diabetes
later in life.
Diabetes is
a frightening condition,
but not only
is it preventable;
those with the disease
can cure themselves
and regain their health.
Please join us next Monday
on Healthy Living for
part two of our program
commemorating
American Diabetes Month
to find out
how simply transitioning
to a plant-based lifestyle
can lead us
to a diabetes-free world.
Trusted viewers,
thank you for your presence
on today’s show.
Coming up next is
Science and Spirituality,
after Noteworthy News.
May vitality and longevity
always be yours.
Welcome beautiful viewers
to Healthy Living
on Supreme Master
Television.
The World Health
Organization reports
that globally more than
220 million people
have diabetes and
more than one million
die each year
from the condition.
In short diabetes is
a global epidemic.
To raise awareness of
how to prevent diabetes
and ways
those with the condition
can live life to the fullest,
the US-based
non-profit organization
the American Diabetes
Association started
American Diabetes Month
which is observed
each November
in the USA.
In honor of the Month,
today we feature
the concluding episode of
a two-part program with
highly respected doctors
and nutritionists
speaking about
the causes of,
and cure for,
this chronic condition.
Key to understanding
this disease is insulin,
a necessary hormone
produced in the pancreas.
Insulin helps our bodies
utilize glucose
from the food we eat
to generate energy.
Diabetes occurs
when insulin in the body
is not used properly,
is insufficient,
or is not produced at all.
Diabetes is a condition
where there’s too much
sugar in the blood.
The sugar is glucose
and it’s there normally
to go into the cells
to provide energy,
so that if I’m going
to run a marathon
all my muscle cells
are using that glucose
for energy.
The problem
in diabetes is the glucose
can’t get into the cells.
It stays in the blood,
and in the blood
it can be toxic.
It can hurt the eyes,
the tiny little blood vessels
of the eyes or the kidneys
or other parts of the body.
Type-1 diabetes
used to be called
“childhood onset.”
And in this condition
the pancreas,
which normally makes
the insulin that brings
the sugar into the cell
is no longer making insulin
so the sugar
can’t get into the cell.
Type-2 diabetes used to
be called “adult onset.”
There’s still insulin there,
but the cells
resist its action.
How would one know
if they have diabetes?
The test is quite simple.
First you should always
get checked by your doctor
for type 1 or type 2
diabetes which is
a very easy finger prick
blood test and something
that should be done
on an annual basis.
But the warning signs
and symptoms are
going to the bathroom
frequently,
extreme thirst, fatigue,
and things of that nature.
The conventional
treatment for those
with type 1 diabetes
is injecting insulin
several times
over the course of a day
or using an insulin pump.
Similarly, those
with type 2 diabetes
are typically directed to
take drugs or inject insulin.
There is a simple solution
at hand
to the diabetes crisis.
This disease
can be prevented
and also reversed
without the need of drugs
or insulin injections.
With lifestyle
modifications, specifically
dietary changes, lives can
be profoundly altered.
If a person eats
a plant-based diet,
with lots of fruits and
vegetables and no salt,
their blood pressure
will drop.
Of course exercise
is important too.
I have thousands of
patients all over the world
who become
non-diabetic,
their diabetes goes away,
their high blood pressure
goes away,
their chest pains go away,
their heart disease
goes away,
they don’t need medicines
and they don’t need
medical interventions.
They stay in control
of their health destiny
as opposed to
just taking a medication.
In your diet,
focus on legumes
compared to cereals
because legumes have
a lower glycemic index.
The glycemic index
is the ability of a food
to raise the blood sugar
in the blood.
If there is a diabetes
epidemic of type 2
in Western countries
it’s because we eat foods
that are much too sweet,
food that have a sweetness
that is much too strong.
In scientific terms,
we say that these foods
have a glycemic index
that is too high.
Legumes have
a good supply
of proteins, and
can have a good intake
of complex carbohydrates
that have
a low glycemic index,
and a diet high in legumes
is the secret to
not getting type 2 diabetes.
Stay away
from taking drugs,
don’t take soda,
don’t eat fast foods.
Make healthy foods
at home, that’s going
to be your avenue
to live a long life
and protect yourself.
We’ve been
literally brainwashed
to think that we can
purchase our health
by going to doctors
and going to hospitals
and taking drugs.
We think that our health
is going to come from
taking pills. It’s not true.
There is really
rock solid evidence now
from scientific literature
that a diet based on
unrefined plant foods
helps to prevent and
reverse type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Neal Barnard is
president of the US-based
non-profit public health
organization
Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine
(PCRM).
PCRM has published
several studies about
using the vegan diet
to control and reverse
type 2 diabetes.
Our research
shows several benefits
of a vegan diet
for people with diabetes.
Number one,
you lose weight, and
you lose about a pound
per week and add that up,
52 weeks per year,
you’re talking
serious weight loss.
Cholesterol levels fall
and blood sugars fall.
The need for medication
drops, many people
get off their medications
completely
and blood pressure
comes down as well.
We have
a 21-day program.
In one to four days,
really one day,
practically we get people
off all their insulin,
and all their other
diabetic medications.
In two to three weeks,
even if their blood sugar
started with 500 or 400,
returning their
blood sugars to normal
which is less than 100.
I’ve never seen
a type 2 diabetic
not be able to recover.
Again,
it’s a lifestyle choice.
Do I want to be diabetic
and be out of control
and eat and live
like everyone else?
Or do I not want to be,
and become a vegan,
exercise, get rid of
the sugar in my life,
even the natural sugars
in my life?
These diseases
are all correctable.
All you have to do
is to live properly;
starting with your mind,
starting with the food,
starting with the movement
and strengthening of
the anatomy of the body.
Women in general are
still the primary cooks
in the family.
So what we eat affects
what our children eat,
what our partners eat,
even our
extended family members
when we have
family gatherings,
and our friends
and loved ones.
So we are the ones who
can take control
over our family’s health.
You can be the one
that makes the difference
if you eat more
plant-based foods.
My mother became a vegan
more than 20 years ago
when she was in her fifties.
Of her siblings
who are surviving
in their senior years,
she is the only one
who is healthy and
free of chronic disease –
so no arthritis,
no overweight,
no diabetes,
no high blood pressure/
cholesterol, no cancer.
Dr. Baxter Montgomery,
a cardiologist from
Houston, Texas, USA
is founder of the Houston
Cardiac Association.
The Association offers
a wellness program
that heals patients
with a variety of
chronic conditions,
including diabetes,
through a plant-based diet.
Here are two of his patients
speaking about
reversing diabetes
with a vegan lifestyle.
My name is Gene Flores.
I had diabetes.
I'm cured now.
I was scheduled
for amputation
of my left leg due to
an infection in the bone.
And for that reason
I came to Dr. Baxter
and I was cured.
So when you say
you're cured, you mean
you don't take any insulin
or anything anymore?
Right. The first day
Dr. Baxter asked me
if I was ready
to get off my medication,
and I said, “Well, yes!”
I said, “But, are you sure
it's going to work?"
He said,
“If you do what I tell you.”
And I stuck to it, and
I'm off all my medication
except for one pill.
I was on 12, twice a day,
and now
just one pill twice a day.
I’ve lost 50 pounds
since I started. It's been
not quite five months,
and I’m more active.
Just so many things
have changed.
I'm involved now;
I'm up and around;
I’m excited,
no longer depressed.
A lot of good things
are happening.
And every morning
I was taking about 11 pills
and now I only take
two (pills) and (vitamin) B12.
And it's just amazing
and it's better;
it's almost three months
and it's like
my life has changed.
I feel so good about
what's happened that
any time anyone asks me,
they get a mini seminar
from me.
I mean,
I'm doing this every day,
everywhere I go.
Because I'm excited and
I want to see other people
have the same type
of experiences.
Did you have
a certain condition
when you came in?
Oh yes, I was diabetic.
I no longer take any
medication for diabetes.
And I had been taking
diabetic medication
for around 12 years.
During a July 2008
climate change
videoconference with
Supreme Master Ching Hai
in West Hollywood, USA,
Luke Crosby,
great grandson
of legendary American
singer and actor
Bing Crosby and son of
vegan Hollywood actress
and stuntwoman
Spice Williams-Crosby
asked a question related
to managing diabetes
with a plant-based diet.
I have been
a vegan for my entire life.
When I was
18 months old, I got
the Coxsackie virus from
a newly vaccinated child
and from that
I got type 1 diabetes.
But my question is,
since being a vegan
keeps all diabetics’
blood sugar regulated,
how come doctors don’t
tell people
about being vegan,
like diabetics for instance,
about vegan diets
to keep their blood sugar
regulated?
Now, you’re right, Luke,
I think the doctors should
inform all their patients
about the helpful factor
of being a vegan
to cure diabetes,
as well as to prevent it
to further development.
Maybe they
don’t know it, Luke.
Maybe they don’t know
about vegan diet
that helps diabetic people.
So, what we do is,
we can put this
in our website, on the
for people to look up to.
And you, yourself,
or anyone here or
anyone out there, please
put it on your website
as information
for the diabetic people,
so that they know
they can cure themselves
by turning into vegan.
Thank you, Luke, for
the beautiful information
and you look beautiful
yourself.
Your mother
must be proud.
To close, diabetes need
not be a global epidemic
any longer.
If we take charge of our
lives and remember that
plant-based nourishment
is the answer,
this serious health condition,
along with many others
such as heart disease,
can be made history.
We look forward to
a time soon in coming
where the entire world
has adopted the healthy
and humane vegan diet.
For more information
on diabetes,
please visit
the following websites:
Dr. Joel Fuhrman
www.DrFuhrman.com
Dr. John McDougall
www.DrMcdougall.com
Physicians Committee
For Responsible Medicine
www.PCRM.org/health/diabetes
Tree of Life
Rejuvenation Center
www.TreeofLife.nu
Thank you for joining us
today on Healthy Living.
Coming up next is
Science and Spirituality,
following
Noteworthy News.
May everyone always
enjoy vitality and vibrancy
in their daily lives.