Why the American diabetes diet is short and "short changing"
The American diabetes diet must be a low carbohydrate diet, according to one notable 2005 Nutrition and Metabolism publication. The researchers described such a diet as "effective for improving glycemia and reducing medications in patients with type 2 diabetes."
Their conclusion was made from working with about 28 overweight diabetics. Now, that's great! But what happens when these overweight diabetics have had their initial weight loss and no longer need a low carb diabetes diet?
American diabetes Diet...
Commercial like everything else.
Check out these topics related to diabetic diets:
- American diabetes diet
- Anti-diabetes diet
- Best diabetes diet
- Diet recommendations
- Diabetic meal plan
- Diabetic vegetarian diet
- Glycemic index list
- Healing foods pyramid
- Healthy eating pyramid
- Low glycemic food
- Meal planning
- New food pyramid
- No-carb food
- Vegetarian diets
- Vegetarian food
- Weight control diet
- Whole food market
The point here is that the American diabetes diet - whether it is the exchange diet or any carbohydrate counting diabetes diet is not a permanent solution. Therefore, we will continue to find that managing diabetes is an uphill battle which binds us permanently to pills and pumps.
Falls short and short changing...
Again, going back to what we know is the root cause of the diabetes syndrome, viz. lifestyle; any intervention must incorporate a permanent lifestyle change. Carbohydrate restrictions will only go so far. If you are in your 40's, 50's, or 60's, you can't go on living on low carb food for the rest of your life if you are really active. I can't.
Had I still stuck with the recommended low carb diabetes diet I might still be taking metformin or Actos. That carbohydrate counting diabetes diet was just too short for me. I would be short changing myself. HOWEVER, THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION AND EXPERIENCE.
There is a reasonable alternative to the American diabetes diet. It's the anti-diabetes diet and lifestyle. This is a wholistic approach to stemming the cause of type 2 diabetes. All other measures are costly temporary fixes at best.
Why is an "alternative" necessary?
Because the recommended and popular is not working and has not worked. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes, even among children, continues to increase at alarming rates. It is obvious that a change is necessary in the diet and in our lifestyle, in general.
Recommending low carbohydrate formulations on which it is impractical to base full metabolic sustenance for the rest of our lives is odd. Why not the alternative? Why not a lifestyle makeover that better promotes recovery rather than the difficult incline of "control" that leads most of us to complications and side effects - some of which - we could avoid?
I am qualified to to be an advocate of a viable alternative to the American diabetes diet. My diet and other simple choices have helped me roll back to a decade of youthfulness, without reliance on pills or pumps. An A1c of 5.3% and "an excellent metabolic profile" (according to my doctor) do say it clearly.
References
(NOTE - Web content changes are made continuously. We cannot guarantee that all external links are in tact. Please send us a note if you have the unfortunate experience of a broken link. Thanks.)
A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet to treat type 2 diabetes - An article in Nutrition and Metabolism that describes the commonly held notion of what the American diabetes diet is.