nutritional progress against diabetes
Type I (Juvenile Onset, Insulin Dependent) Diabetes
B-Complex Vitamins
One of the first nutrition zingers I ever read was Dr
Carlton Fredericks comment (in Food Facts and
Fallacies) to the effect that diabetics could be
weaned off of insulin with extremely high doses of
B-complex vitamins. I am a conservative person and I
have my sincere doubts if a Type I diabetic could ever
be free of the need to take insulin. On the other
hand, I have personally seen diabetics require
significantly less insulin when they take a 100 mg
balanced B-complex tablet every two to three hours.
The potential benefits are so great that I think
diabetics should demand a suitably cautious
therapeutic trial of megavitamin therapy with insulin
dosage adjustment made and supervised by their
physician.
Niacin/Niacinamide, one of the B-complex vitamins
A daily dosage of 1,500 to 2,500 mg of niacin or
niacinamide may improve carbohydrate tolerance in
diabetics. Niacin or niacinamide diminished the
requirements of insulin needed to keep the blood sugar
of the diabetics within normal limits. The dosage was
of the order of 500 mg three to five times daily to
begin with, the dose being subsequently reduced as the
blood sugar came down. The Vitamins in Medicine, 3rd
edition, p 378, 1953, references cited in the text.)
Persons with vitamin B-3 (niacin) deficiency may show
hypersensitivity to insulin, becoming hypoglycemic
more readily than normal subjects after an injection
of insulin. (p 342)
Dr. R., a chiropractor in Pennsylvania, writes:
I recently had a pharmacist take one of my female
diabetic patients off niacin (after an extremely
successful course of therapy with niacin that
eliminated years of insomnia) because he told her that
it would mess up her blood sugar. I had another female
diabetic patient who got some decent results with
niacin for depression but was told by her pharmacist
not to use it with diabetes. Yet I cannot seem to find
anything to support NOT using niacin in diabetics.
It is not difficult to monitor your glucose at home.
How to simply and safely self-test your blood sugar is
nicely described on p 154-155 of Balch, J. F and
Balch, P.A. (1990) Prescription for Nutritional
Healing (Avery Publishing).
For more information about vitamin B-3:
Hoffer A. (1990) Vitamin B-3 (Niacin) Update. New
Roles For a Key Nutrient in Diabetes, Cancer, Heart
Disease and Other Major Health Problems. Keats Pubs.,
Inc., New Canaan, CT.
Vitamin C
Professor of Oral Medicine Emanuel Cheraksin, M.D.,
D.M.D., in his recent book Vitamin C: Who Needs It?
says (on page 98):
"So, what do the experts tell us about a vitamin C
connection in the control of sugar metabolism? We
turned to five of the leading textbooks dealing with
diabetes mellitus published during the last five
years. Would you believe? There was not one word
indicating any connection or a lack of correlation
between ascorbic acid and carbohydrate metabolism!
This is even more incomprehensible when one realizes
that reviews of the literature as far back as 1940
showed that blood sugar can be predictably reduced
with intravenous ascorbate."
One case study suggests that for each gram of vitamin
C taken by mouth, the amount of insulin required could
be reduced by two units. (Dice, J. F. and Daniel, C.
W. (1973) The hypoglycemic effect of ascorbic acid in
a juvenile-onset diabetic. International Research
Communications System, 1:41.
Vitamin C has been shown to reduce levels of
complication-causing sorbitol in diabetics. In a 58
day study carried out in 1994, researchers
investigated the effect of two different, and rather
low, doses of vitamin C supplements (100 or 600 mg) on
young adults with Type I diabetes. Vitamin C
supplementation at either dose normalized sorbitol
levels in 30 days.
(Cunningham JJ; Mearkle PL; Brown RG Vitamin C: an
aldose reductase inhibitor that normalizes erythrocyte
sorbitol in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. J Am
Coll Nutr, 1994 Aug, 13:4, 344-5)
Vitamin C may also help to keep tiny blood vessels
(capillaries) from bursting, a major cause of diabetic
complications. Vitamin C supplements increase the
elasticity of these smallest of blood vessels.
(Timimi FK; Ting HH; Haley EA; Roddy MA; Ganz P;
Creager MA Vitamin C improves endothelium-dependent
vasodilation in patients with insulin-dependent
diabetes mellitus. J Am Coll Cardiol, 1998 Mar, 31:3,
552-7)
Also of interest::
Pfleger R, Scholl F. (1937, note the date) Diabetes
und vitamin C. Wiener Archiv für Innere Medizin 31:
219-230.
Setyaadmadja, A.T.S.H., Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf,
W.M., Jr.
Ascorbic acid and carbohydrate metabolism: II. Effect
of supervised sucrose drinks upon two-hour
postprandial blood glucose in terms of vitamin C
state. Lancet 87: #1, 18-21, January 1967.
Som S, Basu S, Mukherjee D, Deb S, Choudhury PR,
Mukherjee S, Chatterjee SN, Chatterjee IB. (1981)
Ascorbic acid metabolism in diabetes mellitus.
Metabolism 30: 572-577.
If there are Musts to Avoid for a diabetic, they may
well include the following:
ONE: Eliminate Sugar
No one would tell a child with a broken leg to jump
off the garage roof. But perhaps we should not even
let children without broken legs jump off the garage
roofs. Dieticians would never recommend that diabetics
regularly eat lots of sweets. Yet the vast majority of
us overconsume sugar to the Nth degree. Can this not
only aggravate diabetes, but actually CAUSE it? In the
case of Type II, it is almost certainly so. And with
Type I, the risk is there. There is no downside to
avoiding sugar except, perhaps, for putting your local
dentist on unemployment.
Medical Evidence that Sugar Causes Diabetes, among
other things
Cleave, T. L. The Saccharine Disease (Keats, 1975)
To begin with, this book has nothing to do with the
artificial sweetener known as saccharin. The
Saccharine Disease refers to excess sugar consumption
as a key cause of chronic disease in our time. Dr.
Cleave, formerly a Surgeon-Captain of the British
Royal Navy, wishes us to pronounce it "saccar-RHINE,"
like the German river. That we can do. What we will
have a harder time doing is admitting that he is
correct in ascribing colitis, peptic ulcer, varicose
veins, coronary heart disease, and diabetes to excess
intake of simple carbohydrates. A theory like that
one needs a book to explain it and a lifetime of
experience as a doctor behind it. Here are both.
It is party line medicine (and dietetics) that sugar
consumption is pretty much connected only with tooth
decay and obesity. Since the 1950’s, Dr. Cleave has
been a voice in the wilderness, informing doctors of
what they do not want to believe and patients of what
they do not want to do. Only the sturdiest readers
want to tangle with a book that relentlessly takes
them to task one sweet tooth at a time. References
are provided with each chapter, and suggestions for
improved diet are compactly set forth in an Appendix.
The Saccharine Disease is somewhat dry reading,
although this is compensated for by its overwhelming
scientific importance. If there is indeed a root
cause of illness, and that cause is our everyday use
of sugar, it will take plenty of straight science to
convince us to change our ways. Even then, really
innovative science has a way of being kept from the
public, not by being disproved, but by being ignored.
If Dr. Cleave has been largely unsuccessful in
influencing health policy so far, perhaps you will
want to take up the banner after reading this book.
There was a time when the director of the FDA (known
then as the Bureau of Chemistry) was willing to state
that sugar consumption could indeed cause diabetes.
(Wiley, H. A History of a Crime Against the Food Law,
1929).
TWO: Avoid Milk
It has been shown that milk consumption in childhood
contributes to the development of Type-I diabetes.
Certain proteins in milk resemble molecules on the
beta cells of the pancreas that secrete insulin. In
some cases, the immune system makes antibodies to the
milk protein that mistakenly attack and destroy the
beta cells Even so august an authority on children as
the late Dr. Benjamin Spock changed his
recommendations in his later years and discouraged
giving children milk. (Dr. Julian Whitaker’s Health &
Healing Newsletter, October 1998, Vol. 8, No. 10.)
THREE: Avoid Fluoride
(T)he concentration of fluoride recommended for
fluoridation programs (the sacrosanct "1.0
part-per-million") is deemed to be entirely safe. An
examination of the scientific literature reveals that
this is not the case. Dr M A Roshal, in a 1965 issue
of the journal issued by the Leningrad Medical
Institute, reported that intake of fluoride - even at
the apparently "safe" concentration of 1.0 part per
million - caused derangements in blood sugar balance.
The Question of Fluoridation, by J. R. Marier, Ottawa,
Canada.
Inorganic fluoride is a persistent bioaccumulator, and
the ever-increasing use (and release) of fluoride
compounds in the environment should be of long-term
concern in population sub-groups who are most
susceptible, and therefore, most at risk. One of these
sub-groups consists of people with impaired kidney
function, including subjects with nephorphatic
diabetes. The diabetes factor is of particular
relevance, not only because the incidence of diabetes
has increased by 6%/yr during the period 1965-1975,
but also because subjects with nephropathic diabetes
can exhibit a polydipsia-polyurea syndrome that
results in increased intake of fluoride, along with
greater-than-normal retention of a given fluoride
dosage. People with inadequate dietary intakes
(particularly of Ca and/or Vitamin C) are also likely
to be more at risk as a consequence of low-dose
long-term fluoride ingestion. Evidence is presented,
showing that there has been an escalation in daily
fluoride intake via the total human food-and-beverage
chain, with the likelihood that this escalation will
continue in the future. Recent observations, relating
to an increasing incidence of chronic fluoride
intoxication among humans, is also emphasized.
Dental Fluorosis Associated With Hereditary Diabetes
Insipidus. Oral Surgery 40(6):736741, (1975)
Existing data (1993) indicate that subsets of the
population may be unusually susceptible to the toxic
effects of fluoride and its compounds. These
populations include the elderly, people with
deficiencies of calcium, magnesium, and/or vitamin C,
and people with cardiovascular and kidney problems.
… Because fluoride is excreted through the kidney,
people with renal insufficiency would have impaired
renal clearance of fluoride … Impaired renal
clearance of fluoride has also been found in people
with diabetes mellitus. (Emphasis added) Toxicological
Profile for Fluorides, Hydrogen Fluoride, and Fluorine
(F), (April 1993), U.S. Dept. Health and Human
Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, p.112
(from Darlene Sherrell and Andreas Schuld, Vancouver,
B.C. Canada www.bruha.com/fluoride 
Fluoride is an acute toxin with a rating slightly
higher than that of lead. According to "Clinical
Toxicology of Commercial products," 5th Edition, 1984,
lead is given a toxicity rating of 3 to 4, and
Fluoride is rated at 4 (3 = moderately toxic, 4 = very
toxic). On December 7, 1992, the new EPA Maximum
Contaminant Level (MCL) for lead was set at 0.015 ppm,
with a goal of 0.0ppm. The MCL for fluoride is
currently set for 4.0ppm - that’s over 250 times the
permissible level of lead.
At the level of 0.4 ppm renal (kidney) impairment has
been shown. (Junco, L.I. et al, "Renal Failure and
Fluorosis", Fluorine & Dental Health, JAMA 222:783 -
785, 1972)
Professor William R. Stine of Wilkes College, Wilkes
Barre, PA, in chapter 19 of Applied Chemistry (second
edition, p 413 and 416) states that world scientific
opinion on this (fluoridation) issue is far from
unanimous. He then quotes Dr. Albert W. Burgstahler,
Professor of Chemistry at the University of Kansas,
who says:
Children with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus or
untreated pituitary diabetes have been found to
develop severe dental fluorosis from drinking water
containing only 1 or even 0.5 ppm fluoride Persons in
poor health and those who have allergy, asthma, kidney
disease, diabetes, gastric ulcer, low thyroid
function, and deficient nutrition are especially
susceptible to the toxic effects of fluoride in
drinking water. In addition, fluoride in beverages
(especially tea), food, air, drugs, tobacco,
toothpaste, and mouth rinses can also precipitate or
contribute to such intoxication.
Add em up: do you know your total daily fluoride
consumption ?
FOUR: Avoid Caffeine
Caffeine is a drug, and can interfere with normal
blood sugar levels.
Cheraskin, E., Ringsdorf, W.M., Jr., Setyaadmadji,
A.T.S.H. and Barrett, R.A. Effect of caffeine versus
placebo supplementation on blood glucose
concentration. Lancet 1: 7503, 1299-1300, 17 June
1967.
Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W.M., Jr. Blood glucose
levels after caffeine. Lancet 2: 7569, 689, 21
September 1968.
FIVE: Question Immunization
Be very cautious of vaccination. Harris Coulter, PhD
in Vaccination and Violent Crime, writes: The number
of cases of diabetes has risen from 600,000 in the
mid-1940s to 13 million today; since the population of
the country has about doubled, the (true) increase in
diabetes is about 10 times. In Vaccination and Social
Violence, Dr. Coulter mentions that The pertussis
vaccine, in particular, has an impact on the
insulin-producing centers in the pancreas (the Islets
of Langerhans). Over-stimulation of these islets, with
their subsequent exhaustion, can lead to diabetes or
its opposite — hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
The risk of Type I diabetes may be increased if the
Hepatitis B vaccine is given to babies at about the
age six weeks from birth. USA TODAYs Anita Manning
(Aug 3, 1999) discussed a possible connection between
diabetes and the Hib vaccine. More on this subject
will be found in Childhood immunization and diabetes
mellitus, New Zealand Medical Journal, May 1996
Type II, or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus
(NIDDM)
Corica, F., A. Allegra, A. Di Benedetto, et al. 1994.
Effects of oral magnesium supplementation on plasma
lipid concentrations in patients with
non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Magnes. Res.
7:43-46.
Mather HM et al. (1979) Hypomagnesemia in diabetes.
Clinical and Chemical Acta 95: 235-242.
McNair P et al. (1978) Hypomagnesemia, a risk factor
in diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes 27: 1075-1077.
Snowdon, D.A., and R.L. Phillips. 1985. Does a
vegetarian diet reduce the occurrence of diabetes? Am.
J. Public Health 75:507-512.
Barnard, R.J., L. Lattimore, R.G. Holly, S. Cherny,
and N. Pritikin. 1982. Response of
non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients to an
intensive programof diet and exercise. Diabetes Care
5:370-374.
Bennett, P.H., W.C. Knowles, N.B. Rushforth, R.F.
Hammon, and P.J. Savage. 1979. The role of obesity in
the development of diabetes of the Pima Indians. In J.
Vague and P.H. Vague, eds. Diabetes and Obesity.
Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam.
Williams, S. R. Nutrition and Diet Therapy, 6th ed.,
Ch 19. St. Louis: Mosby
Stress Reduction/Meditation
Kirtane, L. Transcendental Meditation: A multipurpose
tool in clinical practice. General medical practice,
Poona, Maharashtra, India, 1980. (Cites improvements
in a wide variety of physical and mental disorders
including diabetes mellitus.)
Chromium
The trace mineral chromium is found in skin, fat,
muscle, brain and adrenal glands. There is only about
6 mg in you, but is it ever important! Absorption by
way of your intestine is poor; it is excreted in
urine. Chromium is an essential component of Glucose
Tolerance Factor (GTF). GTF helps insulin to work
better by "bridging" it to cell membranes.
Chromium as GTF improves glucose tolerance in
diabetics whether they are children, adults or elderly
(Williams, S. R. Nutrition and Diet Therapy, Ch. 9,
p. 301) "Deficiency signs include resistance to
insulin AND OTHER SIGNS OF DIABETES." (p 313, emphasis
added)
Food Sources of Chromium
By far and away the best food source of chromium is
BREWER’S YEAST. You can also use "Nutritional Yeast,"
which is nutritionally similar and better tasting.
Brewer’s yeast is a by-product of beer-making and
tends to be a bit bitter. Nutritional yeast is
primarily grown to be a food. Try nutritional yeast
flakes on popcorn. It tastes so much like "cheese
corn" that you may well like it. Even some really
finicky friends of mine happily munched popcorn
genorously laced with nutritional yeast while they
trounced me at euchre.
Aside from teaching them when to lead the left bower,
one of the best things you can do is give your family
a teaspoon or two of this stuff every day. It is a
good source of B-12 and other B-vitamins, as well as
protein. Way too much, by the way, may cause temporary
and harmless skin irritation in some especially
sensitive people. If you start low and increase slow,
this will probably not occur.
Other food sources of chromium include nuts, prunes,
mushrooms, most whole grains and many fermented foods
including beer and wine. (Now those last two are
certainly popular supplements!) Please remember the
negative social, and negative nutritional, aspects of
alcohol, and instead go for the yeast. Or if you
simply must tip a few, at least try to select
additive-free, organically grown beverages and use
them in moderation.
If you are a teetotaler, and if your interest in yeast
is rapidly waning, the best supplements usually
complex Cr with niacin, which seems to greatly enhance
uptake. An example is chromium polynicotinate, which
has been demonstrated to be especially well absorbed
and retained. Chromium picolinate is a good second
choice.
I would ALWAYS supplement with 200 to 400 micrograms
(mcg) Cr daily if there is any breath of a hint of
hypoglycemia (thats most of us). In fact, I take (and
recommend) that much every day for those in good
health. The US RDA is between 50 and 200 mcg of Cr
daily. Even traditional dieticians textbooks admit
that the conventional US diet does not reliably supply
even this amount. For the diabetic, chromium
supplementation is essential… unless you are a big
fan of yeast.
Fiber
There is a well-established reduction of hyperglycemia
with consumption of extra dietary fiber. This means a
probable decrease in insulin requirement for Type I
diabetics, and even better news for Type IIs.