Diabesity Epidemic Part III: Treating Causes Versus Symptoms
The two most important factors driving our obesity epidemic are sugar-sweetened drinks and the number of hours of television watched per day.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 seven 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 number one: Optimize Nutrition--and explain how it contributes to diabesity. Key #1: Optimize Nutrition 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 number one 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 number two 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 eight 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.
The solution to the whole diabesity epidemic can be found at the end of your fork! What you eat is the most powerful medicine you have to correct the fundamental underlying causes of chronic disease and diabesity.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 number three 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.(xvi) 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
Related Longevity Articles
-
7 min read time
The Real Story on Sunscreen, Sunblock, and Supercharging Your Sun Protection with Antioxidants.
Diet & Nutrition Longevity -
-
6 min
This "Oil Change" Could Add Years to Your Life—The Fascinating Science of Plasmapheresis.
Brain Health Longevity -
7 min read time
Are You Ignoring This Powerful Longevity Secret? How the “Roseto Effect” Can Help You Live Longer.
Longevity -
-
-
7 min read time
Unlocking the Secret to Longevity: The Transformative Power of Sleep
Lifestyle Longevity
1
/
of
8
Your weekly
wellness schedule
wellness schedule
Join my weekly newsletter channels to level up your health with a comprehensive weekly schedule packed with longevity insights, expert interviews, personal picks, and cooking in my kitchen.
Login
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
- Opens in a new window.