What Causes Diabetes?

The simplest answer as to what causes diabetes is lifestyle -- and dietary factors are the most important. Diabetes was almost non-existent a hundred years ago and the average diet was also vastly different.

Also, even after you understand what causes diabetes, you want to know how to control it with natural methods and we can help with that, too!

Inadequate/poor nutrition sets more than one factor in motion with the end result being not a single factor, but multiple factors being responsible for "what causes diabetes".

The terms high blood sugar, hyperglycemia and diabetes are all used to describe the same condition, although you can have high blood sugar levels and not have diabetes, although constant high blood sugar results in diabetes. The dietary factors affecting the different systems and organs of the body, results in fluctuations of the blood sugar levels and this level must be kept in a narrow range for the body to function, absorb nutrients and get rid of waste efficiently.

Body systems that can no longer keep a constant blood sugar level are what causes diabetes symptoms to manifest and since this involves multiple body functions, it takes a multiple pronged approach to treat it effectively.

A high blood sugar level is called diabetes -- a low blood sugar level is called hypoglycemia or reactive hypoglycemia. High blood sugar symptoms and symptoms of low blood sugar are very similar and are also treated similarly regarding dietary changes.

Most people don't realize that there are herbs for diabetes that work very well, modifying blood sugar levels thru the digestion and absorption process -- thereby helping to deal with high blood sugar symptoms (symptoms of diabetes) in a natural way without drugs!

Major Dietary Causes of Diabetes

Now -- as to what causes diabetes regarding diet, the following factors are considered the most important in alternative health.

* Regular consumption of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils can increase your risk of diabetes by 40% or more.

* Eating too many omega 6 fats relative to omega 3 fats can significantly increase your chances of getting diabetes. Increasing your consumption of omega-3 oils can play a key role in reversing the problem. Eliminate heavily refined vegetable oils from your kitchen, and cook with virgin coconut oil, since it retains its healthy benefits after normal cooking temperatures.

For dressings, dips, etc. use a cold pressed oil from your local health food store or farmer's market.

Most common supermarket oils have chemical residue as well as being rendered nutritionally dead due to high heat processing. These oils are very hard for the body to process and have also been implicated in cancer of the colon.

* As refined grain and sugar consumption has increased in the industrialized countries, the incidence of diabetes and obesity has become epidemic. Health experts say that eating whole grains dramatically reduces the chance of getting diabetes compared to those who consume refined grains and sugars. Also, those who make whole grains and fresh fruit a significant part of their diet still have a higher incidence of diabetes than those who make these carbohydrates a much smaller part of their diet. In the end, a diet of proteins, fresh vegetables (not potatoes), and natural fats (with low grain and sugar consumption) are best.

* Also, a Harvard's Nurses' Health Study reported that women with diabetes had almost a 50% higher risk for colon cancer. Scientists suspect that higher insulin levels may be responsible for both. But natural healers have long proposed that correcting colon dysfunction reduces the rates of both. Anecdotal evidence indicates very strongly that periodic colon detoxes reduces the incidence of colon cancer and diabetes.

* Finally, liver dysfunction is directly linked to increased risk of diabetes. Periodic liver detoxing can be a significant factor in preventing and reversing diabetes.

Diabetes is Self Inflicted

Conclusion:: a self-inflicted epidemic like diabetes can never be completely controlled with advances in medicine -- only by fundamental changes in lifestyle. Lifestyle -- mainly diet is what causes diabetes and many who have taken action for themselves have discovered this. Understanding what causes diabetes and reversing it also means understanding the role insulin plays in this process.

Despite long intervals between meals and the erratic intake of high glycemic carbohydrates, blood sugar levels normally remain within a narrow range. In most humans, this range is from about 70-110 mg per dl. (Note: a blood sugar reading of 100 equates to about 1/5 of an ounce of sugar in an average male) High blood sugar levels are regulated by the hormone insulin, which is produced by beta cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. These cells are extremely sensitive to variations in blood glucose levels and, under normal circumstances, respond extremely fast to any variation.

When you eat high glycemic foods, you suddenly increase the amount of sugar in your blood. This increase triggers the beta cells in the pancreas to release insulin, which travels in the blood to cells throughout the body, where it assists the uptake of sugar into the individual cells so that it can be quickly converted to energy. If you eat too much sugar, insulin tells the body to store the excess sugar as glycogen in the liver and also, some in the muscle tissue. When the blood glucose (sugar)comes down to proper levels, this triggers the beta cells in the pancreas to halt the release of insulin, since no more insulin is required to control blood sugar levels.

When blood glucose levels drop too low, however, the hormone glucagon is released from alpha cells in the pancreas, which triggers the release of sugar stored in the liver as glycogen; thus, once again bringing blood sugar levels back to normal. One important note: release of insulin is strongly inhibited by the stress hormone, noradrenaline, which is why blood sugar levels increase so dramatically during stress, instead of drugs. In summary: It's foods that raise blood sugar levels, eventually resulting in high blood sugar symptoms (symptoms of diabetes) that are the problem and should be controlled.

Regarding a regular diet, foods that lower blood sugar levels are actually neutral foods regarding blood sugar - they don't affect blood sugar levels.

The exception to this is herbs for diabetes that actually directly work to lower blood sugar levels because of the role they play in the digestive system. Now you have an idea what causes diabetes, and this information will help you correct the problem of high blood sugar symptoms.

Diabetic Diet Sample Chart

Herbs for Diabetes

Insulin Resistance

Diabetic Meal Plan

Blood Sugar & Anti-Aging

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