What happens when you add massive amounts of carbohydrates in the form of whole grains to the daily diet of people with type 2 diabetes?
Why do macrobiotic diets seem so effective? Reducing Diabetics’ blood sugar levels in a few weeks? The diet centers around whole grains — brown rice, barley, and millet — as well as a high fiber intake to improve The gut microbiome, the friendly flora in our colon, which then lead to lower insulin resistance? Or maybe because the diet is also rich in vegetables Correct A type of low-grade acidosis from high levels of animal protein in their normal (non-macrobiotic) diets. Regardless of the cause, the researchers have found Big difference after only 21 days. Can macrobiotic diets also help control blood sugar in the long term? I check this out in my video Flashback Friday: Benefits of a Macrobiotic Diet for Diabetes.
What about a six-month nutritional intervention with out-of-control blood sugars? As you can see at 0:51 in my video, hemoglobin A1c Offers Feeling your average blood sugar over the past few months. For example, an A1c level of 5 means that your blood sugar has been in the double digits most of the time over the past few months, indicating that your sugars were at a normal, healthy, non-diabetic level. But, an A1c of 6 is a region for pre-diabetes and a 6.5 could be a sign of full-blown diabetes. An A1c of less than 7 is considered to be controlled diabetes—which is what diabetics seek through pills and insulin injections—and a level of more than 7 is considered to be out of control diabetes. In the Macrobiotic Diet Study, the average A1c level I started off the charts at 12.6. The subjects had averaged blood sugar in the high 30s for several months, even though they were all taking insulin injections.
What happened when study participants were put on the so-called Ma-Pi 2 diet, a strict macrobiotic-based vegan diet centered around whole grains, vegetables, and beans, with some sesame seeds and green tea? After just six months on the diet, their A1c levels dropped from an average of 12.6 Not diabetic 5.7 Furthermore, even though the subjects were getting daily insulin injections when their A1c was an astronomical 12.6, they achieved a non-diabetic 5.7 on the diet. After, after They were all able to get rid of insulin. In just six months, 100 percent of study participants started on insulin with out-of-control diabetes and finished with 0 percent on insulin and non-diabetic average blood sugar. This is the power of plants. Also during those six months, three-quarters stopped taking all diabetes medications completely. Any side effects? LDL cholesterol decreased by 20 percent and triglycerides decreased by nearly 40 percent. (And, of course, let’s not forget that anyone starting a strict vegan diet should ensure a regular, reliable source of vitamin B12.)
All we needed was a randomized controlled trial, and we I got One: Type 2 diabetics were randomized to a macrobiotic diet versus the American Diabetes Association’s recommended type 1 diet. You can see an example of a typical day on the macrobiotic diet below and at 2:59 in my post videoAnd the Which includes a delicious wholegrain muffin for breakfast; brown rice sesame balls for a snack; vegetarian millet soup with a brown rice salad, plenty of side vegetables, and azuki beans for lunch; more whole grain snacks; and like lunch, a dinner of vegetable barley soup with lots of vegetables and chickpeas; And green tea all day. On a standard diabetic diet, participants might eat low-fat milk and whole-wheat bread for breakfast. Mediterranean lunch with vegetables and beans. Fruit for a snack and bean and vegetable soup, whole grain bread, agretti (green leafy vegetables), and grilled fish for dinner. I have to say, this is a very healthy control diet. The researchers could have compared the macrobiotic diet to the MSM diet, but wanted to stack it with the diet recommended by diabetes groups. so what happened?
The macrobiotic diet triumphed on every measure of glycemic control. You can view the numbers in the chart below and at 4:00 in my country video. At the start of the study, the participants It was Fasting blood sugar in the 120s. That sucks, but they were diabetics, after all. Normal fasting blood sugar, such as getting up in the morning before eating breakfast, should be at least double digits and less than 100. When subjects were put on a relatively healthy, standard diabetic diet, their blood sugar improved more than in a 2-year study Three weeks, from 120 to 110. (This is the best type of diet the American Diabetes Association can do.) Compare that to an equivalent macrobiotic diet, that is, with the same number of calories. On the macrobiotic diet, the subjects improved within days and achieved their fasting blood sugar within a week. 100 percent of those on a macrobiotic diet had a fasting blood sugar of less than 110, while less than half of those on a diabetic diet had it. This was achieved with fewer medications. In the control group, one participant was able to reduce oral hypoglycemic medications, while five of the seven who took such medications in the macrobiotic group had to stop taking them. Otherwise, if they continue to take the medications, their blood sugar will drop very a little. Therefore, the macrobiotic diet gave better results with fewer medications. This is the power of a file truly healthy diet.
As an aside, what a poke in the eye with a sharp stick this study was for the low-carb crowd! Researchers took diabetics and put them on a 73 percent carbohydrate diet, adding 100 grams of carbohydrates—in the form of grains, no less—to their daily diet. What happened? Did their blood sugar rise out of control? No, they improved significantly in a matter of days, with average fasting blood sugar starting at 129 and dropping to 95. In just three weeks, LDL cholesterol had dropped to 62, nearly 48 percent.
Is the macrobiotic diet ideal? No, but I make some suggestions to improve it in my video Friday flashback: The pros and cons of a macrobiotic diet.
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