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Fri, 13 Feb 2009

Vegetarians and Vegans: Diabetes Can Be Prevented and Cured

Dr. Gabe Mirkin talks a lot about plant based diet and exercise, as an effective way to prevent and control diabetes. Savvy Veg hears from a lot of diabetics and pre-diabetic people with questions about going vegetarian, and I recommend his site as an excellent resource for diabetes info

From the 2.15.09 issue of Dr. Mirkin's Health and Fitness Ezine

"In 2007, 233,619 Americans died from diabetes. 60 percent of the U.S. population over 65 suffers from diabetes or pre-diabetes and most have not even been diagnosed (Diabetes Care, February 2009). Four important reports should spur you to act if you have any of the risk factors for diabetes: "Diabetes Doubles Your Chances of Suffering from Dementia" (Diabetes, January 2008); "HBA1c Test Predicts Which Diabetics Will Lose Brain Function" (Diabetes Care, February 2009) "Rigorous Workouts Lasting as Little as Three Minutes May Help Prevent Diabetes by Helping to Control Blood Sugar" (BioMed Central Endocrine Disorders, February 2009); and "Exercise Capacity Predicts Which Diabetics Are at High Risk for Dying Prematurely" (Diabetes Care, March 2009)."

Dr. Mirkin suggests that if you have any combination of the following risk factors, suspect that you may be diabetic and check with your doctor:

• store fat predominantly in your belly, rather than your hips
• family history of diabetes
• overweight
• exercise less than three times a week
• high blood pressure: 140/90 mm/Hg or higher
• HDL cholesterol lower than 35 mg/dL
• triglyceride level greater than 250 mg/dL
• history of diabetes during pregnancy or birth to a 9-pound baby
• thick neck
• polycystic ovary syndrome
• dark, thick skin around neck or armpits
• history of blood vessel disease to heart, brain, or legs
• HBA1C greater than 5.8
• fasting blood sugar greater than 100
• sugar two hours after eating greater than 100
• member of a high-risk ethnic population (e.g., African-American, Hispanic/Latino- American, American Indian, Alaskan Native or Pacific Islander)

"You can become non-diabetic by losing weight, exercising, avoiding refined carbohydrates, and treating vitamin D deficiency so D3 blood test is greater than 75 nmol/L. Read more Dr. Mirkin on diagnosis and treatment of diabetes."