THERE IS ONE driving factor that contributes, above all else, to the epidemic of diabesity and other chronic illnesses we see today. By addressing this one problem you may reverse many of your health problems, even if you don’t do anything else. In today’s blog, the last in my three-part series on diabesity, I will tell you what that problem is and how you can effectively treat it. Here’s a hint: You won’t find the solution in a pill bottle …
Remember, in the last blog on diabesity, we learned what doesn’t work to treat the condition — namely conventional, outdated approaches to medicine that focus on treating symptoms with medications instead of addressing the underlying causes of illness. Now that we know what doesn’t work, I want to spend some time in this week’s blog explaining what DOES work.
If we want to effectively treat this epidemic of diabesity, we must start focusing on the underlying causes that are driving these problems in the first place. You see, ALL of these phenomenon we see in diabesity are the result of the same thing: Imbalances in the seven underlying key systems in your body that are at the root of all health and illness.
The main driving factor of our diabesity epidemic is our nutrient-poor, calorie-rich diet. It has led to a nation of overfed but undernourished people.
Today you will learn what those seven systems are and how you can use this exciting new field of medical research and practice known as functional medicine to help you prevent and even reverse Diabesity.
Introducing the 7 Keys
In the last 20 years an emerging body of scientific knowledge points to a number of factors that are the true drivers of diabesity and most chronic disease. While genetic predisposition may play a role in diabesity, what we now know is that it is the ways in which your lifestyle and environment wash over your genes to create changes in your moment to moment biological functioning that leads to health or disease.
These changes in gene expression or function are what result in the symptoms we see in diabetes. But your symptoms — your high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the rest — are NOT the cause of diabesity. They are simply clues to help us find the real underlying causes.
The fundamental causes of diabesity are imbalances in key systems of the body that results in insulin resistance, problems with blood sugar control, and all the other complications and associated problems. There are seven fundamental systems in your body. These keys form the basis of Functional medicine. I also call them the 7 Keys to UltraWellness.
Understanding these basic systems, how they get out of balance, and how to get them back in balance, allows us to create a personalized medicine program for each person. This is the medicine of the future.
To heal from diabesity, or overcome any of the other chronic illnesses you suffer from, you must rebalance the 7 key systems in your body that are at the root of health and illness. They are: optimize nutrition, balance your hormones, cool off inflammation, fix your digestion, enhance detoxification, boost energy metabolism, and calm your mind.
Imbalances in these underlying key systems are at the heart of all chronic illness, including diabesity. Today I want to focus on one of the most important keys — Key #1: Optimize Nutrition — and explain how it contributes to diabesity.
Nutrition is just one of the seven keys to preventing and reversing diabesity. The main driving factor of our diabesity epidemic is our nutrient-poor, calorie-rich diet. It has led to a nation of overfed but undernourished people. In fact, there are so few nutrients in our diet that we now have an epidemic of nutritional deficiencies that promote the development of diabetes in including vitamin D, magnesium, chromium, zinc, and antioxidant deficiencies.(i),(ii).
The solution is simple. Whole, real, fresh food that you have to cook is the most potent medicine to prevent, reverse and treat diabesity.
First let’s look at some of the major dietary shifts that have driven the diabesity epidemic, and then we will explore the exciting new science of nutrigenomics which promises to help us fix the problem for good.
The #1 dietary shift that leads to diabesity is sugar in all its forms.
The average American today eats 150-180 pounds of sugar per year. That’s over half a pound of sugar a day! And I’m not eating that much, so that means some of you are eating a lot more!
We evolved eating 22 teaspoons of sugar per year.(iii) So we are no longer eating in harmony with our genes. In the last 30 years our sugar calories increasingly come from high-fructose corn syrup. This mostly in the form of liquid calories from sodas, soft drinks, sweetened beverages.
In fact, Dr. Walter Willett from the Harvard School Public Health stated at a recent White House meeting on Prevention and Wellness at which I also spoke, that the two most important factors driving our obesity epidemic are sugar-sweetened drinks (iv) and the number of hours of television watched per day.(v) These correlate more with obesity than any other factors in the research.
We need to stop eating (and drinking) so much sugar. It’s killing us.
The #2 dietary shift that leads to diabesity is our low-fiber diet.
As our sugar consumption has increased, our fiber consumption has decreased. We now eat less than 8 grams per day. Yet our Paleolithic ancestors ate 100 grams of fiber per day.(vi) This is another indication of how we are no longer eating in harmony with our genes …
Fiber is important because it slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream from our gut and reduces cholesterol. It mostly comes from fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and beans.
Those who eat a refined, processed, diet that comes from boxes, packages, or cans get less fiber than those who eat whole, real foods. The lack of fiber in our diet has enormous implications for our health. It causes heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancers and many other chronic diseases.(vii) In fact, studies show that adding high levels of fiber to the diet is as effective as diabetes medication without any of the side effects.(viii)
And the #3 dietary shift that leads to diabesity is our epidemic of nutritional deficiencies.
A number of nutrients are particularly important to prevent and treat diabesity. These include vitamin D,(ix) chromium,(x),(xi) magnesium,(xii) zinc,(xiii) biotin,(xiv) omega-3 fats,(xv) and antioxidants such alpha lipoic acid.
These nutrients are necessary for proper control and balance of insulin and blood sugar. When these are deficient, our biochemical machinery slows down and grinds to a halt. And these happen to be the very nutrients most of us are deficient in.
What’s critical to understand is that the solution to the whole diabesity epidemic can be found at the end of your fork! What you put on your fork is the most powerful medicine you have to correct the fundamental underlying causes of chronic disease and diabesity. That is true for one simple reason: Food is more than calories; it is information. Here’s what I mean …
We generally think of food as a way to get energy; a means to feed our bodies the fuel they need to function. However, new science has shown that food literally speaks to your genes. The information your body receives from the foods you eat turn your genes on and off.
This provides your body with instructions about how to control your metabolism from moment to moment and day to day, every time you take a bite of food. This is the science of nutrigenomics, or how food talks to your genes, and it is the nutritional approach that underlies this program. Food is more than calories – food is information.
By feeding your body the right information, you can turn off the genes that lead to diabesity and turn on the genes that lead to health. The key lies in the quality and type of food you eat, not necessarily the calories you consume or the ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrate in your diet.
Dr. Dean Ornish proved that you could reverse blockages in clogged arteries and increase blood flow in the heart by simply changing the quality of the food you put in your body and engaging in some simple lifestyle changes. He also showed that you could beneficially affect over 500 genes turning off the disease-causing genes and turning on the health promoting genes by changing diet and lifestyle in just three months. This is more powerful than ANY medication ever invented.
So what should you eat? The optimal diet to prevent and treat diabesity includes:
- • Fruits
- • Vegetables
- • Nuts
- • Seeds
- • Beans
- • Whole grains
- • Healthy fats such as olive oil,nuts, avocados, and omega-3 fats
- • Modest amounts of lean animal protein including small wild fish such as salmon or sardines.
This is commonly known as a Mediterranean diet. It is a diet of whole, real, fresh food. It is a diet of food you have to prepare and cook from the raw materials of nature. And it has broad-ranging benefits for your health.
Our common ideas about food only being a source of energy are very limited. Nutrigenomics and its role in diabesity is the future of medicine. It will help us both understand and successfully treat this burdensome condition that affects over 1 billion people worldwide.
That is only one of the seven keys you need to prevent or reverse diabesity … but now I’d like to hear from you …
Are you ready to take the steps needed to treat the underlying causes of your health condition?
Do you want to learn more about how food is medicine and what the other keys to treating diabesity are?
Have you tried any of the techniques in the blog? How did they work for you?
Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
P.S. Nutrition is just one of the seven keys to preventing and reversing diabesity.
References
(i) Kligler B, Lynch D. An integrative approach to the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Altern Ther Health Med. 2003 Nov-Dec;9(6):24-32; quiz 33. Review.
(ii) Kelly GS. Insulin resistance: lifestyle and nutritional interventions. Altern Med Rev. 2000 Apr;5(2):109-32. Review.
(iii) Cordain L., et al. 2005. Origin and evolution of the Western diet: Health implications for the 21st century. Am J Clin Nutr. 8 (2):341–54. Review.
(iv) Ludwig DS, Peterson KE, Gortmaker SL. Relation between consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and childhood obesity: a prospective, observational analysis. Lancet. 2001 Feb 17;357(9255):505-8
(v) Hu FB, Li TY, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Manson JE. Television watching and other sedentary behaviors in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women. JAMA. 2003 Apr 9;289(14):1785-91.
(vi) Eaton SB, Konner M. Paleolithic nutrition. A consideration of its nature and current implications. N Engl J Med. 1985 Jan 31;312(5):283-9. Review.
(vii) Robson AA. Preventing diet induced disease: bioavailable nutrient-rich, low-energy-dense diets. Nutr Health. 2009;20(2):135-66. Review.
(viii) Chandalia M, Garg A, Lutjohann D, von Bergmann K, Grundy SM, Brinkley LJ. Beneficial effects of high dietary fiber intake in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med. 2000 May 11;342(19):1392-8.
(ix) Reis JP, von Mühlen D, Miller ER 3rd, Michos ED, Appel LJ. Vitamin D Status and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in the United States Adolescent Population. Pediatrics. 2009 Aug 3.
(x) A scientific review: the role of chromium in insulin resistance. Diabetes Educ. 2004;Suppl:2-14. Review.
(xi) Lau FC, Bagchi M, Sen CK, Bagchi D. Nutrigenomic basis of beneficial effects of chromium(III) on obesity and diabetes. Mol Cell Biochem. 2008 Oct;317(1-2):1-10. Epub 2008 Jul 18. Review.
(xii) Chaudhary DP, Sharma R, Bansal DD. Implications of Magnesium Deficiency in Type 2 Diabetes: A Review. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2009 Jul 24.
(xiii) Masood N, Baloch GH, Ghori RA, Memon IA, Memon MA, Memon MS. Serum zinc and magnesium in type-2 diabetic patients. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2009 Aug;19(8):483-6.
(xiv) Albarracin CA, Fuqua BC, Evans JL, Goldfine ID. Chromium picolinate and biotin combination improves glucose metabolism in treated, uncontrolled overweight to obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2008 Jan-Feb;24(1):41-51.
(xv) Flachs P, Rossmeisl M, Bryhn M, Kopecky J. Cellular and molecular effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on adipose tissue biology and metabolism. Clin Sci (Lond). 2009 Jan;116(1):1-16. Review.
(xvi) Shay KP, Moreau RF, Smith EJ, Smith AR, Hagen TM. Alpha-lipoic acid as a dietary supplement: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2009 Oct;1790(10):1149-60. Epub 2009 Aug 4.
Hi Dr. Hyman,
Thanks for your “cure the cause” approach. I fully believe that this is the best way for humans to get real health. I suffer from diabesity and a heart disease in which the heart muscle has weakened and does not pump as it should and is also very erratic. I have only limited access to health practitioners that practice or believe as you do and I need to make use of someone like that so that we can turn my health around. I am 67 years old and just this year ave been in the hospital 3 times (since 3/31) for issues with my heart and my ICD discharging. I feel certain there is a better way to treat my conditions than my current MD is doing. Is there anyone near me in central NY (Syracuse area) that practices as you do? Can you give me guidance and direction about how to proceed to restore the heart muscle and reverse my diabesity? Again thanks for your refreshing and encouraging information.
Thank you for your message and your interest in Dr. Hyman’s work. To locate a practitioner of functional medicine in your area see the “Find a Functional Medicine Practitioner” link at the Institute of Functional Medicine’s website. Here you will find a place to enter your zip code and look for practitioner’s in your area that have completed the institute’s five-day training course in functional medicine. Understand that not all of the doctors listed here will fit your particular needs. Many different medical professionals complete this training, and you will have to do additional research on your own regarding a particular practitioner’s approach and whether or not it fits your specific medical requirements. This may include calling the practioner’s office, visiting his or her website, and/or scheduling a consultation.
Wishing You the Best of Health!
Dear Dr. Hyman:
I am at my wit’s end. I care for my 92 year old mother who presents with Parkinson’s disease, Lewy Body dimentia, knee, eye and ear problems. I suffer from Type 2 Diabetes, heart problems, sleep apnea, underactive thyroid. I am constantly moving, lifting my mother with a gait belt, preparing her meals, helping her with all of her needs. I try to prepare us nutritous meals. I can’t seem to lose weight; in fact, I feel I am gaining weight rapidly due to my taking insulin and cortisol building up from the stress of caring and worrying about my mother. I feel so tired and run down and might be suffering from neuropathy in my ankles, feet, toes, thighs. I have so many books on diabetes, which I have had for 11 years. I try to educate myself. I have one of your books as well. I have followed you for years. I was so impressed by your expeditious trip to Haiti and all of your care you gave to those poor people. I know you to be a highly intelligent man with a big heart. I wish I had a doctor like you; I have such poor doctors who I have been to here with the county. No one will refer me to a good Endocrinoligist. With my 2005 heart attack and other health issues, I take 10 pills a day and two types of insulin. I know these are all toxic and are probably fighting against each other. If you have high blood pressure, take a pill. If that causes depression, take a pill for that. I take so many pills, colognes don’t smell the same on me as they once did. Limited funds have kept me from going to a good doctor; I am on disability; I don’t work. I really feel my life is slipping away at only 58. If I were to slow down and think about my aches and pains and how my quality of life has been so greatly compromised, I would never stop crying.
Can you offer me some suggestions? Thank you and God bless you.
Respectfully, Carol Felix
Thank you, Carol, for your message and your interest in Dr. Hyman’s work. Your question and constellation of symptoms represents a complex medical condition. Questions regarding conditions like these cannot be answered in a responsible manner via the Internet.
If you would like information on becoming a patient at The UltraWellness Center please see “How to Become a Patient” at http://www.ultrawellnesscenter.com. That site is designed to give prospective patients a comprehensive source of information about The UltraWellness Center. You may also feel free to call The UltraWellness Center at (413) 637 9991.
You can also take a look at local doctors for assistance, to locate a practitioner of functional medicine in your area see the “Find a Functional Medicine Practitioner” link at the Institute of Functional Medicine’s website. Here you will find a place to enter your zip code and look for practitioner’s in your area that have completed the institute’s five-day training course in functional medicine. Understand that not all of the doctors listed here will fit your particular needs. Many different medical professionals complete this training, and you will have to do additional research on your own regarding a particular practitioner’s approach and whether or not it fits your specific medical requirements. This may include calling the practioner’s office, visiting his or her website, and/or scheduling a consultation.
Regardless of becoming a patient at The UltraWellness Center, it sounds like you need to consult with a doctor. Please seek medical attention for the issues that you outlined in your message.
Wishing You the Best of Health!
I believe your article. I am 48 years old and am experiencing
Some health issues. I followed your seven day detox and lost 7 pounds.
The biggest problem I see is our rushed lifestyles make this hard.
It can be done, just takes some time.
Thanks for your information. It is valuable.
Donna
In September 2010 I began the ‘Eat Right for your Blood Type ‘ diet. By December my eyes had improved to the point that the optician wondered if I had a new opthamologist. No more cataracts for me and my prescription had to be made less like it had been 4 years earlier! In addition to that, I effortlessly lost 23 pounds weight. No hunger, no pain, no extra exercise needed and the bonus was supple joints like I had a long time ago. All this was due to eliminating that which was a problem to me and living on the fresh fruits, vegetables and meats that I can get. I have had no sick days this winter and feel great. How can the chemistry of our foods not affect us?? There is no going back for myself. I strongly recommend that diet and with patience. With no cheating added in, the pounds will drop off for sure! By the way, I am soon to be 68. It is harder to change the body as it gets older.
Can you reverse insulin resistance or pre-diabetes without having to go low carb? I would love to eat mediteranean style like this article advises, but feel hesitant about adding even fruit, letalone wholegrains, after so many ‘experts’ saying carbs are the cause of diabetes and that humans have zero requirements for carbs.
I been following your diet for 10 months. I feel great. I lost 30 pounds .My blood sugar is almost normal. Thanks E.A. M.
Thank you, Dr. Hyman, for this easy-to-understand explanation of this growing epidemic of diabesity, and how we can all take control of it in our own lives. It seems easy to do, on the surface… but it’s actually difficult in the execution.
We’re all so addicted to the sugar and other processed crap, that we feel like we’re depriving ourselves when we try to do the right thing and eliminate the ‘bad’ stuff from our diets. And, deprivation does not feel good. After several weeks of tolerating those feelings of deprivation, one gets angry at having to deny oneself the food we love to eat, that we finally come to the conclusion that the horrible feelings, which prevail with deprivation, are worse than the health issues created by eating the ‘bad’ stuff!!! And, so we fall back into the old ways.
That seems to be my story, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
I have recently started working with a naturopath and she informed me I have metabolic syndrome, which sounds very much like what you describe as diabesity. So, I am now back off the ‘bad’ foods. For the most part, I enjoy eating whole foods. But, I do miss some things terribly! However, I am not about to mess up the program I’ve embarked on with my naturopath as that would be a waste of the fairly large dollars I’m spending on supplements and organic foods! lol
I would like to make an observation about your Mediterranean diet, Dr. Hyman. I agree that we would benefit by matching, as closely as possible, the diet of our ancient ancestors. But I don’t think you’ve gone far enough back.
The reason I think that, is your inclusion of grains and limiting of meat in your list of recommend foods.
Human beings evolved over several millions of years. It has only been the last 10,000 years that human have been consuming grains. Wouldn’t that suggest that our dna is not programmed to metabolize grains properly?
There are many scientists and doctors today who are reporting significant health benefits when removing grains from the diet. It makes sense to me.
As does the eating of meat. Once again, if you’re going to make the suggestion that we eat more like our ancient ancestors… and I agree with you…. you need to include the fact that we evolved eating lots of meat… not just a little. Sometimes, meat was the only food our ‘caveman’ ancestors’ existed on. So, in fact, we ought to be eating more meat than we do.
The trouble is finding meat like our ancestors ate… organic and free of the toxic soup that includes injected hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, insecticides, et all….. and, meat from animals that are eating their natural diet rather than some factory-produced mixture of ingredients that are completely contrary to their natural diet.
Of course, everyone knows it’s difficult to get the nutrition our dna and our bodies want from any food in today’s world of depleted soils and rampant ‘chemicalization’.
So, we do what we can do. And, we’re getting there. Organic foods are more prevalent in the mainstream stores now. The general public is becoming more educated about the benefits of eating whole foods vs packaged foods, thanks to people like yourself, Dr. Hyman.
So, thank you for all you do to ‘spread the word’!
I agree with you until your list of what to eat. In the middle of this article, you mention “Paleolithic”, and then you recommend grains, beans, and not much meat! Please read a book, “The Paleo Solution”, written by Rob Wolf, a former molecular biologist. I myself will never eat grain of any kind for the rest of my life. This is science, not the FDA.
I have had great success with decreasing pain by changing my diet. Significantly reducing sugar and avoiding food dyes and prepackaged foods have decreased my pain levels by about 90%. I was to the point that it was extremely painful to even be touched. I was feeling like a failure because at 37 years old I felt I could not physically do my job as a nurse in long term care. I was in tears thinking I would have to stop working. Now, I no longer sleep 10-12 hours and wake up in a fog, instead I wake up refreshed and energized after only 7-8 hours of sleep without an alarm. I have trouble avoiding sugar and can tell a huge difference in how I feel when I have too much. I figured this out on my own despite my family doctor looking at me like I sprouted a second head and told me there was no way this would have decreased my pain. After reading your books I now understand why this works and the additional things I need to do. Thank You.
I have read your book the Ultra Mind Solution, and have been following your recommendations to lower my blood suger levels, my HBP and my weight. I am now down 23 pounds over the past eighteen months, and have had two blood tests over the past year showing the my blood sugar is now in the normal range. I have been diagnoised with type two diabetesand metabolic syndrome. My doctor wishes me to continue taking Metformin as she believes it is causing my good results. I am at present waiting for the results of my third test taken just before Memorial Day weekend. I have high cholestestrol, and have stopped taking 80 mg of Zocor due to muscle aches and pains and currently taking 500 mg of Niacin in the form of “Slo Niacin (rtm)” while under the care of my cardiologist. I am in total agreement that we are indeed being treated for the symptoms of our disease and not the root cause. My father dead at 57 years of age, from a combination of his second heart attack along with a stroke. This was back in 1977. I am 61 and with the help of Doctors like you that can teach us about functional medicine and how to eat and be aware of what we put into our bodies. I still have about twenty eight more pounds to loose, and now I have the tools to help loose those extra pounds, and become healther and not to become a victum of misinformation. Thank you for you guidence!
Sincerely, Christine Rowlands
I have read your book, The Ultra Mind Solution, and have been following your recommendations to lower my blood sugar levels, my HBP and my weight. I am now down 23 pounds over the past eighteen months, and have had two blood tests over the past year showing the my blood sugar is now in the normal range.
My doctor wishes me to continue taking Metformin as she believes it is causing my good results. I am at present waiting for the results of my third test taken just before Memorial Day weekend.
I totally agree that we are indeed being treated for the symptoms of our disease, and not the root cause.
I believe that with the help of your book on how to eat whole foods to become healthier, I will continue to lose the weight and live a healhier lifestyle. Thank you for you guidance and caring!
Sincerely, Christine Rowlands