Diet, exercise may treat Type II diabetes
By Ben Gilmore
A UCLA researcher has found a treatment for what he calls the
most catastrophic disease in America. Even more impressive is that
the treatment costs virtually nothing and is something everyone can
practice.
Researcher Dr. R. James Barnard, a UCLA professor of
physiological science, conducted a study on Type II diabetes, a
serious illness characterized by high blood glucose levels.
Barnard’s "revolutionary" conclusion recommended a treatment with
no medication, only a healthy diet and consistent aerobic
exercise.
The disease, which affects 13 million Americans, reduces life
expectancy by 10 years because of its tendency to cause heart
problems, blindness and kidney failure.
Barnard conducted a study of diabetes patients at the Pritikin
Longevity Center in Santa Monica, where they started a low-fat,
high-carbohydrate diet combined with daily aerobic exercise. Within
three weeks, 76 percent of the patients reduced their glucose
levels so significantly that they were no longer defined as
diabetics.
These results were particularly impressive because only 39
percent of patients given insulin, the most well-known medication
for diabetes, returned to normal glucose levels, said Barnard.
But even though diet and exercise were shown by the study to be
more effective against diabetes than insulin or oral medication,
the public still relies on drugs to treat the disease, Barnard
added.
"It’s amazing how resistant people are to change. People think
that drugs are the answer to the health problems in this country,
but they’re not," he said.
Barnard said the public overlooks changes in lifestyles as a
means to solving health problems, a belief echoed by groups such as
the Pritikin Longevity Center. The organization advocates changes
in lifestyle as superior to drugs in solving many health
problems.
"Our goal is to introduce to people the many benefits of regular
exercise and a low-fat diet," said Ruth Westholme, Pritikin’s
marketing director. "Many diseases such as high blood pressure,
heart disease and certain types of cancer have been linked to a
high-fat diet," she said.
Barnard said his mission is to spread the message that healthy
diet can fight disease.
"If we want to prevent a whole host of health problems that are
common in this country, I think people should get on a healthy diet
as soon as they get off the breast," he said. "We should switch the
emphasis from high-fat foods such as meat, oils and dairy products
to vegetable and fruit-based meals."
Conversely, eating high-fat foods can cause Type II diabetes in
people with a genetic predisposition, said Eric Sternlicht, a UCLA
physiological science professor.
But even people with strong genetic predispositions can prevent
the onset of diabetes by leading a healthy lifestyle, Barnard said,
citing a study of the Pima Native American tribe. The group has a
long genetic history of diabetes where 65 percent of adult males on
U.S. reservations develop Type II diabetes.
"The Pima on the reservation lead a typical modern American
lifestyle, consuming way too much fat. They show the usual 65
percent rate of diabetes. Pimas in Mexico lead a traditional
lifestyle with a very low-fat diet, and only 15 percent get
diabetes," he said.
Like the Pima in Mexico, participants in Barnard’s study ate a
predominantly carbohydrate diet, consisting of pasta, rice, beans,
potatoes, vegetables, salads and fruit, he said, but ate
substantial portions and were not hungry.
The aerobic exercise consisted of mostly walking about 90
minutes a day, although Barnard says that walking about 30 to 45
minutes a day is enough for most people.