[Special Report]
How you're being mislead about the world's #1 health crisis
by Dr Stefan Ripich ND, CNP and Jim Healthy
“Your mind is like a parachute;
it only works when it’s open.”
Anthony J. D'Angelo
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS about diabetes do you believe are correct?
- Prediabetes, or insulin resistance, is a common blood sugar abnormality you can live with “normally” as long as you monitor your glucose levels and keep them controlled with medications.
- Right now Type 2 diabetes is incurable and irreversible but researchers are closing in on a cure.
- Type 1 diabetes is a purely genetic misfortune. There's nothing you can do about it except take your insulin injections and hope for a new research breakthrough.
- Diabetes is no big deal these days. By closely monitoring your blood sugar and following your doctor's orders, you can enjoy a normal life and escape the horrific complications of diabetes, including nerve damage, going blind and losing limbs through amputation -- not to mention heart attack, stroke and Alzheimer's disease.
SURPRISE: THEY'RE ALL FALSE!
Not only are all of these statements false, they're extremely dangerous if you have diabetes or are on your way to developing it.
Now I realize you've probably heard each of these pronouncements from numerous respected sources: Your doctor ... the American Diabetes Association (ADA) ... the pharmaceutical industry ... and the mainstream media.
But every one of these popular beliefs about diabetes is dead wrong, and I'll show you clinical research that disputes them all in my new book, The 30-Day Diabetes Cure. (To learn more about my book and the step-by-step diabetes-reversing plan it describes, please visit to www.30daydiabetescure.com.)
Furthermore, my book will introduce you to actual patients of mine who are living proof that modern medicine’s beliefs about (and treatment of) diabetes are unnecessarily complicated, expensive, risky and doomed to fail.
I can say with impunity that using the plan described in The 30-Day Diabetes Cure, I’ve never had a Type 2 patient who I failed to get off their diabetes medications and related drugs. And in almost every Type 1 patient, I’ve been able to significantly reduce their insulin dose – usually by 80% or more.
So why aren’t more physicians adopting this successful approach? The reasons are both disturbing and dangerous…
THE TRUTH IS BEING HIDDEN FROM YOU
The fact that the medical establishment has failed to halt, contain and reverse the global epidemic of dreadful diabetes is a colossal embarrassment to what I call The System -- and de facto evidence that something is very, very wrong with the current "official" approach to the diabetes problem.
Indeed, nearly everything The System is telling you about diabetes is false and potentially dangerous. Since unimpeachable scientific studies have proven that Type 2 and prediabetes can be halted and reversed without drugs, insulin or medical interventions (research which has been published in respected medical journals), I can only conclude that the public is being lied to about the underlying causes of diabetes, the safety and effectiveness of current medical treatments, and the simple, inexpensive, non-drug way to halt and reverse this condition.
Powerful forces in our society are in on the lie, including the medical establishment …the pharmaceutical industry … insurance providers … food manufacturers ... Big Sugar … agribusiness lobbyists … the mainstream media which depends on advertising from all of the aforementioned) ... and just about everybody else who stands to profit from the explosive Diabetes Boom that is currently rocking the globe. The combined wealth, influence and sheer clout of these special interests are mind-boggling.
I'm not suggesting there’s a conspiracy per se -- merely that every party involved recognizes the staggering profit potential of the status quo and none of them wants to rock the boat, regardless of how many people have to perish to preserve their bottom lines.
Harsh criticism? Rash judgment? Paranoia? I've been accused of all that and more. But one thing I'm not is naïve.
MY MEDICAL JOURNEY
I've worked inside the medical industry long enough to witness the warped politics, egotism, corruption, cover-ups and influence-peddling that guides its policy and practices. While there are many compassionate and devoted people in healthcare today, The System is broken and can crush the spirit of even the most altruistic medical professional.
That's exactly what happened to me early in my clinical career. On my way to becoming a young physician, I worked in several hospital facilities and couldn't help but notice that very little real healing was going on. I also witnessed the hugely restrictive political red tape that prevented creatively curious doctors from deviating from the official, recipe-like treatment protocols that merely “managed” symptoms but rarely addressed the underlying causes for virtually all of today's chronic and degenerative diseases. Why was this occurring? A corporate takeover of the medical profession had shifted physicians from their role as healers to a new one: distributors of pharmaceutical drugs. And I wanted no part of that.
SOMETHING WAS MISSING IN MY TRAINING
I didn't want to completely reject conventional medicine. After all, I recognized that its treatments are appropriate in many instances, especially for acute and critical medical care. Yet I had been interested in holistic health all along because I saw the importance of including both mind and body in health care. I stitched together a dual master’s degree as both a nurse practitioner and a clinical specialist in psychiatric and mental health nursing. When I passed my certification exams in both areas I was one of only 40 people nationwide who had done so.
After graduation, I went to work at some of the most prestigious hospitals in the world and held clinical faculty positions at three universities. I was in constant company of some of the country’s greatest medical minds. At their urging, I returned to medical school, yet when I looked around, I saw the same problems perpetuated in medical school as in the hospitals. I understood medicine inside and out – but I’d also witnessed the amazing power of the body to heal itself if we just give it a chance. I was disturbed that conventional medicine was all but ignoring this near-miraculous power in its midst; and quite often obstructing it with drugs and interventions.
I'm telling you all this so you'll be reassured that I'm not a fringy medical heretic when I say you're being lied to about diabetes. I've been a licensed clinical practitioner for about 20 years and have treated thousands of patients. My eclectic training and background allow me a unique perspective on today's serious health problems – and the solutions Big Medicine isn't telling you about.
I WANTED TO BE A HEALER – NOT A DEALER
What I did want was a medical path that would train me in the art of true healing, so I switched my studies to naturopathy. This was no shortcut. Working toward my Doctorate in Naturopathy required as much time and study as becoming an MD would have. But these two orientations are as different as night and day.
Naturopathy focuses on stimulating the body's inherent ability to heal and repair itself, using a holistic approach and a minimum of surgery and drugs. This is the true tradition of the physician, hailing all the way back to Hippocrates (400 BC), the ancient Greek referred to as "the father of Western medicine" and the first advocate of naturopathic medicine. Besides using a wide variety of natural remedies, naturopaths emphasize nutrition, prevention and patient education as pathways to body-mind health and well-being.
Naturopathic doctors are some of the most rigorously trained and educated healers in the world. Rather than apply "band-aid" treatments for symptoms, we seek to correct the underlying cause of health problems so they can be resolved permanently. In doing so, we address the patient's psychological/emotional state as well as the physical.
Our orientation to the healing process is summed up in the oath we take upon graduation:
- First, do no harm -- and provide the most effective health care available with the least risk to patients at all times.
- Recognize, respect and promote the self-healing power of nature inherent in each individual.
- Identify and remove the causes of illness, rather than eliminating or suppressing symptoms.
- Educate, inspire rational hope and encourage self-responsibility for health.
- Treat the whole person by considering all individual health factors and influences.
- Emphasize the principles of healthy living to promote well-being in order to prevent diseases in the individual, the community and our world.
These changes were primarily economic considerations. What else might we expect from a pharmaceutical industry that has enormous influence on the curriculum of America's medical schools? Modern medicine, as a result, has become more of a business and less of an art.
WHICH BRINGS ME BACK TO DIABETES...
So exactly what is The System not telling you about diabetes, or should I say, how are they misleading you? Let me count the ways...
Lie #1: "We're not exactly sure what causes prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes." Some experts attribute it to obesity. Others say it's our modern sedentary lifestyle. Still others blame the patients themselves, implying they are lazy and slothful. Rarely does The System place the responsibility where it deserves to be: On the foods you've been taught to crave, believing they are a safe part of your diet. What you're not being told is how terrible they are for your health and how they constitute a causal link to this terrible disease.
The Truth: The global pandemic of Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes is caused directly by our modern diet and its highly-processed foods. These include high-carbohydrate/low-nutrient junk, overly-processed refined foods and metabolism-distressing ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, refined vegetable oils and artificial sweeteners. Factor in hidden allergies to wheat and other substances (which stress and weaken the human immune system) and a catastrophic absence of high-fiber, nutrient-dense whole foods – fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans, and humanely-raised, hormone-free meat, eggs, fish, and dairy products – and you have a perfect recipe for diabetes.
The Reason: If this truth were widely revealed, and if public health officials openly condemned this diabetes-causing diet, the economic repercussions would be devastating for the giant agribusiness corporations that grow the raw materials for these commercial “food products”, a term I prefer because much of what’s produced doesn’t qualify as real food in my book.
The truth would also hit the manufacturers and marketers who stock these products in our supermarkets, the supermarkets themselves, and the media, which thrive on the advertising revenue these products generate. I assure you that unimaginable sums of money are being generated as diabetes develops and spreads.
Were the medical community to point a finger directly at the foods and beverages causing today's tsunami of Type 2 and prediabetes in unaware adults and defenseless children, it would trigger a massive cry from the billion-dollar industries involved … and a lobbying barrage more colossal than Washington and other capitals around the world have ever seen.
Placing the blame on obesity, lack of exercise or the patients themselves is a deceitful distraction from the true cause. That the medical and scientific communities are complicit in this deceit — or remain silent — borders on malpractice.
Lie #2: "The American diet (like our medical system) is the best in the world." We’ve been conditioned to believe our supermarkets and dinner tables are the envy of the world. And that our doctors and hospitals are the best on the planet.
The Truth: All our food-related government watchdog agencies, which are supposed to be protecting our health, are obstructed by contradictory goals and objectives, as well as by massive special-interest lobbying. This includes the USDA (safety of agricultural products), the FDA (effectiveness and safety of pharmaceutical drugs), the EPA (environmental quality) and the FTC (quality of broadcast programming and advertising). Literally billions of our tax dollars in the form of federal agriculture subsidies are pumped into price supports for sugar, corn, wheat, soybeans and feedlot beef – the raw materials from which many diabetes-causing food products are made. Almost nothing goes to small farmers struggling to raise organic fruits, vegetables and livestock.
US agricultural capacity, which politicians love to boast about, is based on volume, not quality. In actual fact, America's bountiful harvests are the result of copious applications of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics and a host of other dubious chemicals that are linked to numerous health problems in our population. Many studies show that these agricultural chemicals depress the body's immune system, compromise the liver (our most important organ for detoxification) and attack the beta cells of the pancreas (which produce insulin). These facts are well known but the scientific community overall remains hauntingly silent. Just one example: 83 active pesticide ingredients known and shown to cause cancer in animals or humans are still in use today.
The Reason: Cleaning up our agricultural system would result in hundreds of billions of dollars in lost profits for every industry involved. As for the superlative quality of our food and medical systems, both are misconceptions. The US is 33rd out of 195 nations in infant mortality, 47th in life expectancy of 226 countries and 13th in heart disease mortality. It is the 16th highest in the incidence of breast cancer, ninth in cancer deaths, and we have nearly four times the incidence of diabetes compared to the world average. When it comes to the incidence of preventable diseases US is 17th in the world, right behind Portugal (number 16); which means it's healthier there than it is here. The one health statistic that we do lead every other nation on earth in? Obesity.
Lie #3: "Type 1 diabetes is a genetic phenomenon and there isn't much we can do about it." The mainstream belief is that Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body immune system destroys its own insulin-producing beta cells. Once the cells are wiped out, doctors say, they're gone forever and the patient must rely on lifelong insulin injections.
The Truth: Fascinating new research is questioning this belief. For one thing, Type 1 diabetes is rapidly rising right along with Type 2. Relatively rare 200 years ago, Type 1 is now twice as common among children as it was in the 1980s and five times greater than after World War II. Epidemiologists say the incidence of Type 1 diabetes is 1000% higher than it was 100 years ago.
How can this be true if genetics are responsible? Human genes don’t change that rapidly, but our lifestyle and environment certainly have. One emerging theory is that Type 1 isn't an autoimmune malfunction at all, but rather the immune system disposing of beta cells that have been damaged in some way – by a virus, environmental toxins or food chemicals, including alloxan in white flour and bread (read more about this beta-cell killer in The 30-Day Diabetes Cure).
Research is also disproving the "once they're gone, they're gone" theory about beta cells. Preliminary studies show that certain foods and supplements may indeed regenerate beta cells in the pancreas so they can produce insulin again. Other nutrients have been found to strengthen the remaining beta cells in Type 2 diabetics so that they can once again produce insulin naturally. Finally, simple lifestyle modifications described in The 30-Day Diabetes Cure can increase the body's insulin sensitivity, allowing Type 1 patients to dramatically reduce their insulin dosage. My Type 1 diabetes patient Jay F. is a good example. He was able to cut his dose by 80% by following The 30-Day Diabetes Cure. Insulin reductions like these allow patients to avoid diabetic complications later in life.
The Reason: Call me cynical, but I'm not seeing any mainstream curiosity about reviving the strength of beta cells – or about getting Type 1 patients on lower doses of insulin (even though this could greatly improve their outcomes). The global insulin market is currently worth $3 billion and growing at 14% annually. Need I say more?
Lie #4: "Managing your blood sugar with drugs is the most successful treatment for Type 2 and prediabetes."
The Truth: I'll discuss this misconception in more detail in another Special Report I’ve written (Mistakes Doctors Are Making with Diabetes). Suffice it to say that diabetes drugs are unnecessary for a majority of prediabetes and Type 2 patients. The only instance in which I even consider drugs for these patients is in emergency situations, and even then I withdraw them as soon as possible. Not only are they unnecessary, but many of these drugs are dangerous -- and have been proven so for years.
The Reason: Vigilant glucose monitoring does nothing to prevent diabetic complications, and this is being proven conclusively. Furthermore, self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) encourages the same bad diet and poor lifestyle habits that allowed the disease to get a foothold in the first place.
Glucose monitoring is very useful in Type 1 patients who take insulin – and occasionally for certain Type 2 patients prone to low blood sugar(hypoglycemia), particularly those on sulfonylurea drugs. But in general, Type 2 diabetes can be managed effectively with the simple diet and exercise you'll discover in The 30-Day Diabetes Cure.
Two studies published in the British Medical Journal confirmed this. The first study split a group of newly diagnosed Type 2 patients into equal self-monitoring and no-monitoring groups. After 12 months, the diabetes (as measured by hemoglobin A1C testing) was no better in the self-monitoring group. The second study divided a separate population of Type 2 patients into three groups: No monitoring, moderate monitoring, and intense monitoring. Not only did self-monitoring fail to improve diabetes control, it also cost more. More importantly, monitoring actually decreased the patients’ quality of life.
Despite this well-published research, most doctors and the ADA continue to recommend self-monitoring. One has to wonder if the cost of test strips and glucose monitors has anything to do with this.
THE BIGGEST LIE OF THEM ALL
Lie #5: "Type 2 diabetes can be managed successfully, but it isn’t reversible." This is the biggest lie of them all – and the most damaging. Why? Because it keeps patients powerless and dependent on The System. It turns them into cash cows to be regularly "milked" by the diabetes industry, even as the purveyors of junky, diabetes-causing food products continue to create more patients for it.
The Truth: Plenty of scientific research proves that both prediabetes and Type 2 can be reversed with a few simple diet and lifestyle modifications, just like those presented in The 30-Day Diabetes Cure. For example...
In 1982, nutritional researcher Kerin O’Dea restored a group of severely diabetic Australian aboriginal men to good health simply by getting them off the typical Western diet of refined carbohydrates and its accompanying sedentary lifestyle (the two major causes of Type 2). Not a drop of medication or insulin was required.
The men were badly overweight and insulin-resistant, with seriously elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and high blood pressure (all major risk factors for heart attack and stroke). They were headed for a shortened lifespan with miserable complications, including gangrene, blindness, heart failure, various cancers and amputations of digits and limbs caused by nerve damage.
After just seven weeks on her plan, O’Dea drew blood samples and discovered these dramatic changes…
- Blood triglycerides, glucose and cholesterol levels had plummeted into the healthy range.
- Blood pressure had dropped significantly and normalized.
- The men had lost an average of nearly 20 pounds each.
The Reason: This discovery, in my view, was as significant as some of the most famous in medical history, ranking right up there with Lister (sterilization), Pasteur (germ theory), Fleming (antibiotics), and other medical super-heroes. Like the work of these brilliant earlier medical pioneers, O’Dea’s discovery could have prevented unnecessary suffering and saved millions of lives had it been heeded and adopted in mainstream practice. Instead, her research got buried because of medical politics and food industry pressure.
Other research has confirmed O’Dea’s finding regarding the prevention and reversal of Type 2 and prediabetes, notably…
- In 1984, the journal Diabetes reported on a clinical study done at the University of Vermont College of Medicine proving that increased physical activity boosts cell sensitivity to insulin – thus reversing the insulin resistance that is the precursor to (and underlying cause of) Type 2 diabetes. These findings were confirmed by a 2003 study published in Diabetes Care demonstrating that sedentary adults who simply added walking to their daily routine cut their risk of developing insulin resistance (prediabetes), even if they didn’t lose any weight.
- Researchers at the UCLA School of Medicine found that 50% of Type 2 patients were able to reverse their diabetes in just three weeks by making small changes in their diet and adding moderate exercise. "The study shows, contrary to common belief, that Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome can be reversed solely through lifestyle changes," according to lead researcher Dr. Christian K. Roberts.
- In 2001, the New England Journal of Medicine published research showing that even the simplest dietary changes can reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by nearly 60%. Subsequent studies (which included switching to the delicious, healthful foods you’ll discover in The 30-Day Diabetes Cure) improved this reduction in diabetes to greater than 95%.
- In 2001, the largest study ever conducted to test the ability of diet and exercise to prevent prediabetes from turning into full-blown Type 2 proved to be a smashing success. Doctors at 27 medical centers around the country enrolled 3,234 people and assigned them to receive the drug metformin (Glucophage), a placebo or a lifestyle program involving classes and coaches who kept track of their progress. After three years, the lifestyle program cut the participants' risk of developing diabetes by more than 50% -- a much better result than metformin provided. “I don't see this as out of reach for the 10 million people who are at high risk for diabetes," said the study's director. (That figure today is closer to 60 million Americans alone.)
- A Duke University Medical School study found that Type 2 diabetics who reduced their consumption of carbohydrates achieved better blood sugar control and more effective weight loss than those who went on a typical calorie-restricted diet. After just six months, the low-carb group had lower hemoglobin A1C results, lost more weight with 95% being able to reduce or even completely eliminate their diabetes medications. Plus, as little as a five percent weight loss – about 10 pounds for most people in the study – reduced the risk of diabetes by 58%. That is truly remarkable.
"It's simple," says Eric Westman, MD, director of Duke's Lifestyle Medicine Program and lead author of the study. "If you cut out the carbohydrates, your blood sugar goes down, and you lose weight, which lowers your blood sugar even further. It's a one-two punch."
ACTRESS HALLE BERRY REVERSES HER TYPE 1 DIABETES
Another big misconception about diabetes is that Type 1 is hopelessly irreversible. This assumption may not be entirely correct. Promising new research in which dead insulin-producing beta cells have been revived and regenerated is making some scientists doubt this assumption. (You’ll read more about this in The 30-Day Diabetes Cure). Then there is the inexplicable mystery of how Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry reversed her Type 1 diagnosis…
"One day, I simply passed out, and I didn't wake up for seven days, which is obviously very serious." That was how Halle Berry found out she had Type 1 diabetes at age 39.
When she awoke, doctors told her she’d need daily insulin injections for the rest of her life to avoid passing out again. Berry was an improbable diabetic: No family history, slim and athletically active. But she accepted her diagnosis and treatment plan -- and even became a celebrity spokesperson for the insulin manufacturer Novo Nordisk.
Then came her "miracle cure." She changed her diet, cutting out sugar, desserts, junk food and refined carbohydrates. "I started to eat loads of wonderful fresh vegetables, chicken, fresh fish and pasta."
She also upped her activity level, doing yoga daily, rollerblading and working out in the gym. "I needed to pay attention to everything that could affect my blood sugar level, including diet and exercise and stress," she said.
Then, in October 2007, she told reporters: "I've managed to wean myself off insulin, so now I like to put myself in the Type 2 category."
Her statement was met with universal skepticism. "Impossible!" medical journalists responded. "It must have been a misdiagnosis," diabetes specialists concluded. ABC News ran an article stating: "Despite her claims to the contrary, Halle Berry did not cure herself of Type 1 diabetes for one simple reason – Type 1 diabetes is incurable."
You'd think doctors would have been eager to study the actress more closely, in an open minded attempt to see if her experience might, in some way, help other Type 1 patients. But the diabetes community wasn't interested. Meanwhile, Halle Berry continues to live a happy, healthy, drug-free life without diabetes.
WHY AREN'T MORE DOCTORS GETTING THE MESSAGE?
Until now, a handful of doctors believed that diet and lifestyle modification might improve diabetes, but they had little experience and even less time to educate their patients. Given the amount of time needed for adequate patient education and ongoing support and motivation, the preference for a quick fix involving drugs is far more convenient. Sadly, profit driven insurance providers have turned physicians into businesspeople.
That's why I wrote The 30-Day Diabetes Cure. It empowers you to use education, the most potent medicine on earth, to help you improve and even reverse your diagnosis. Step-bystep and day-by-day, you'll read how to heal your diabetic or prediabetic condition ... balance your blood sugar ... stabilize and rebuild your insulin production ... lose the weight that aggravates your condition, without dieting ... strengthen your cardiovascular system ... protect yourself from diabetic complications ... and lengthen your life.
The 30-Day Diabetes Cure has succeeded with my patients and it will help you succeed, too. I've never had a Type 2 patient I haven't been able to move completely off medications. Ever. Nor have I had a Type 1 diabetic for whom I haven't significantly reduced their insulin dose and dramatically improved their outcome.
You can do this! In The 30-Day Diabetes Cure, you can read case studies of my patients who did it, too.
HERE'S MY PROMISE TO YOU:
You can significantly improve your current condition without medications, finger sticking, bariatric surgery, weight-loss dieting, slavish exercise or a strict food regimen. On The 30-Day Diabetes Cure, you’ll eat delicious food ... shed pounds without trying ... and nurture your body back to health.
The best news is that my book contains a simple, natural, inexpensive and proven way out of today’s distressing diabetes conundrum. (To discover exactly how it achieves this goal, please visit www.30daydiabetescure.com.)
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