The 2 Meanings of "Reversing Diabetes"

I was reading an article on another blog last night on how to reverse diabetes. As I read the article, it really struck me how different their usage of the phrase "reversing diabetes" was from the way I use the phrase. We're using the same words but we are meaning something very different. Please allow me to explain as this is not simply a semantic issue but actually gets at the heart of healing your diabetes.

When someone develops type 2 diabetes, their body is damaged, usually from years of abuse and mainly from an assault from industrial foods in the modern food supply. Most importantly, cell membranes in a type 2 diabetic are usually severely damaged to the point that they are not responding to insulin properly. The common term for this is "insulin resistance."

When cell membranes become damaged in a type 2 diabetic, the primary symptom is high blood sugar. This occurs because the cell membrane will not allow insulin to "escort" glucose molecules in the blood after eating food inside the cell. Insulin brings the glucose to the cell but the cell membrane is so badly damaged structure wise it can't work with insulin properly and the glucose is not allowed inside the cell. Glucose on the outside of the cell can not nourish the cell so even if you eat, your cells starve. The glucose that can't get inside the cells starts to build up in the blood and can reach levels that are much higher than normal. Over time, this high blood sugar causes extensive damage to almost every organ in the body because it attacks the tiny blood vessels.

When I am talking about "reversing diabetes," I am talking about healing the cell membranes and the rest of the damaged body (such as the liver) so that it can function normally again and regulate the blood sugar levels in the body. I am NOT just talking about temporarily reducing blood sugar. However, I believe that this is what many other people mean when they say "reverse diabetes." In fact, they are sometimes just talking about the temporary reduction of blood sugar when they use the term "reversing diabetes." I believe this is usually because they don't really understand the underlying mechanisms involved in type 2 diabetes.

There are foods you can eat such as cinnamon that have been scientifically proven to lower blood sugar. However, in all my research I have not found anything to indicate that cinnamon can heal your cell membranes or your liver or any other part of your body that could be contributing to type 2 diabetes.  In fact, it doesn't make any sense from a biological perspective how this could happen. Please note that I'm using cinnamon as an example because it is so widely known as being a food that can lower blood sugar and it is one of the best studied examples but there are many other foods that would also fall into the category of lowering blood sugar but not actually healing the cell membranes and other damaged parts of the body.

Lowering blood sugar, even if only temporarily, is a good thing of course but if you really want to reverse your diabetes permanently then you need to focus on HEALING the underlying problem that is causing the high blood sugar in the first place. Otherwise you just get a yo yo effect of high blood sugar being interrupted by lower blood sugar when you happen to eat a food that can lower it. Eating TOO much cinnamon can also have a toxic effect by the way.

This is why I recommend so strongly that diabetics get this diabetes information (this is the same information you'll find if you click on the red button at the top of the page) that shows you exactly how to truly reverse diabetes. It was developed by scientists and back by actual research. It does not just focused on just lowering blood sugar temporarily. It focuses on a natural method you can use to actually heal your body. This is the only way you will truly reverse your diabetes. Focusing on lowering blood sugar only will result in the yo yo effect when what you actually need is for your body to be healed so it can holistically regulate your blood sugar at all times.

How California Prop 37 Will Effect Everyone - Diabetics In Every State

This is high priority article so please help me spread the word (see below how!)

Prop 37 is of the utmost importance to ALL diabetics - NOT just those that live in California.... read on to learn why....

In fact, it is extremely important to all consumers who want to eat healthy food, prevent diseases like type 2 diabetes from developing, and provide healthy food to their families... read on to learn why...

Prop 37 is a "yes" or "no" California State ballot measure. The vote will take place in November during the presidential election! Californians will be deciding whether or not state law will REQUIRE food manufacturers to tell the consumer ON THE FOOD LABEL if the food contains GMO ingredients. It will also require a special sign for all GMO produce sold in stores.

Remember readers, it is believed by many that GMO foods cause elevated high blood sugar (i.e. type 2 diabetes) and many other health issues. GMO foods may not kill you instantly but they can certainly contribute to chronic diseases that kill you slowly, ruin your quality of life, and erase 15 years off your lifespan!

If you want to reverse diabetes naturally, you need to know if there are GMO ingredients so you can avoid eating them!

I was discussing this with a friend of mine who is diabetic the other day. She lives on the East Coast of the US and at one point during the conversation she said, "I guess it's not going to affect me."

Well, I hate to tell my friends they are wrong and I usually avoid it... but this is such an important issue, I just had to inform her that she was wrong and explain how if this law passes in California, it will indeed affect every consumer in the nation... and in fact, it may very well affect every consumer in the world -- for the good because we truly NEED to know when there is GMO in our food!

The State of California is a very large economy, the largest in the US in fact. Most of the food sold in the US is now controlled by only a few super large multi-national corporations. It's not like these corporations are going to want to just stop selling in California. They'd lose too much money! And... if they have to label food as GMO in one state, the largest state economy in the nation, it will be more cost effective for them to just do it for all states because to create a special labeling for just California and send special shipments to one state would cost too much and would be too complicated.

So, if California voters pass the GMO labeling law, it WILL affect every diabetic and every consumer in the entire nation and perhaps in the entire world.

Of course the food industry is up in arms about this and they have spent more than $25 million so far to try to defeat this proposition. Monsanto tops this list (no surprise!) and as of Aug 15th, had already spent $4,208,000. Dupont comes in at a close second spending $4,025,200. Other companies that have spent more than a million dollars to defeat Prop 37 include ConAgra Foods, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Pepsico, and Bayer. The amount of money they are spending should tell you how very important this potential new law is for EVERYONE, not just Californians.

This is VERY personal to me. I know that my poor diet was one of the main reasons I developed type 2 diabetes. How do I know? Because I've been able to REVERSE my diabetes by changing my diet and get my HbA1c back to normal! One of the most important things I do is avoid all gmo foods! I get so frustrated when I read silly reports telling diabetics to avoid foods like shrimp and coconut oil when it is really things like GMO foods, trans fat, and high fructose corn syrup (all products of the modern industrialized food process) that they should REALLY be worried about! People by and large are still unaware of how much GMO food they are really eating. It is in almost all processed food as some form of GMO corn, GMO soy, or as the supposedly "healthy" (ha) GMO canola oil!

We all need to pitch in to make sure Prop 37 passes! This is especially true for those of us who either have a chronic disease we are trying to reverse or have a beloved family member or friend who is going through this. Also, I would think that parents in particular would want to make sure that in the future all our packaged foods are labeled with whether or not they contain GMO ingredients. This is already done in every European nation. The only reason it hasn't been done here yet is how powerful the food lobby is! It is high time that the power of the consumer is heard more loudly than the lobbyists!

How can you help get Prop 37 passed if you live in another state? We can all help by spreading the word. I have written this article on my "Reverse Diabetes Naturally - How To Cure Diabetes Like I Did" blog and placed a prominent link on the sidebar so that it will be seen on every page of the site... you are welcome to link directly to my site from your blog, site, twitter account, facebook wall, newsletter, or through private emails. I will be tweeting out messages about Prop 37 as well. If you follow the link and follow me @diabetes1933 you can retweet my tweets -- let's get these messages to go viral!!!. Then of course word of mouth is also very important. One friend talking to another friend is always one of the most effective methods in any grassroots effort -- and that's exactly what we need: a grassroots effort only with a new modern spin added to the effort: social media!! Please help me by retweeting. Also, if you leave a comment with your tweeter account and tweet about this, I will try to retweet yours as well.

Another thing we can all do is talk to each other about the deception that is being spewed out right now by the food industry and the biotech companies who are spending millions to try to fool the California voters and others into thinking that GMO labeling would actually be a bad thing. For diabetics who are trying to reverse their diabetes through food and other natural means it is absolutely imperative that we KNOW exactly what is in our food so we can avoid this frankenfood which has become part of the industrialized food supply that is poisoning us and making diseases like heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and type 2 diabetes skyrocket.

Remember to visit my twitter page and retweet. I'm going to try to tweet about this as much as possible. Also, please do include a link to this information as widely as possible. We can all party with a big non-GMO feast when Prop 37 passes!

Reverse Diabetes With Greens & Save Hundreds Of Dollars While You Do It

In my article, "Diabetics - Eat Your Greens, Kale, Spinach, etc...," I explained how beneficial eating greens can be for someone in the process of reversing diabetes. Even though I have already reversed my diabetes, I still eat greens almost every day. Greens are simply one of the healthiest foods anyone can eat. However, it is particularly important for a diabetic or a former diabetic to eat their greens religiously. If you haven't read the the article I linked above, I highly encourage you to do so!

Since I started eating more greens to reverse diabetes, I have found that I crave them if I don't eat them for a day or two. I believe like many believe that cravings are simply your body telling you what it needs. For example, many women crave chocolate during their menstrual cycle. Makes sense because they are losing so much iron and chocolate is loaded with iron. Guess what else is loaded with iron, by the way? Greens! For my female readers, don't be surprised if you start craving greens around your time of the month! But I digress a bit...

Another reason I love greens is how quick and easy they are to prepare. You can throw together a healthy salad with greens as a base in just a few minutes. You can saute them in just one to two minutes. You can very easily add them to soups, stir-fries, or just about any other dish. I often add greens to my eggs. You can check out my diabetic recipes site for more ideas.

While there are other foods you need to know about if you are interested in reversing diabetes, greens like kale and spinach are certainly at the very top of the list. This year I have been growing my own greens and saving tons of money doing so. It tickles me pink every time I walk down the produce isle at the store and see organic Lacinato kale (also known as black kale or dinosaur kale) selling for more than $3 a bunch. Don't get me wrong, that's a real bargain for the nutrients and antioxidants you get out of that one bunch of kale. But.... I now get the same thing for practically free growing it myself.

While some gardening tasks such as growing vine ripe tomatoes can be a bit of a challenge and even an art form sometimes, growing greens are so simple anyone can grow them, even if you have never raised a garden before. In fact, it takes very little effort and you don't need a green thumb. You just poke some seeds into some dirt (about 1/8 an inch) and water them every day and watch them grow almost as if by magic. 2-4 weeks later, you can start harvesting! Sometimes they grow so fast I swear you can almost see it happening. Right now I have several pots of greens growing out on the patio and it has become a fun morning ritual to walk out there with my coffee and see how much they've grown overnight. Right now I have 2 types of kale, 2 varieties of spinach, and 2 salad mixes growing plus a bunch of green herbs. It takes me only a couple of minutes to water them and I harvest some almost every day, sometimes multiple times in a day.

You don't even need any yard space to grow greens. Greens like kale, spinach, and salad greens grow very easily in containers as do herbs. So even if you live in an apartment and all you have is a small balcony or a bright sunny window, you can grow greens very easily in containers. For kale, you need a pot at least 8 inches deep. For spinach, you need a pot at least 6 inches deep. Herbs and salad greens will grow in a container of just about any size. The seed packages usually tell you to plant kale 8 inches apart but you can crowd them in much closer if you want and they still grow like a charm (they just won't grow as tall if you crowd them). Spinach can easily grow to full size if planted 2 inches apart. So you see it doesn't take much space at all to grow enough greens for 1 or 2 people and that's even if you eat greens every single day - which you should if you want to reverse diabetes!

Growing your own greens can save you hundreds of dollars a year too! The other day, while helping a friend figure out how to grow her own greens, we did some math. You can get a packet of very high quality organic seeds for about $2-$3. You can buy some organic dirt for about $3 or if you look under the free section of CraigsList, you can often find organic compost/dirt for free. You can get containers for $1 a piece at one of those everything's a dollar stores or you can often get them for free if you ask at larger nurseries. I've also found some amazing pots discarded on the side of the road and some people will give them away on CraigsList. At any rate, for less than $10, and if you really penny pinch for maybe only $2, you can start raising your own greens and raise enough for the entire year for no more than $10.

That's how to reverse diabetes at a bargain.

If you were to buy one bag of organic salad greens, one bunch of organic kale, and one bag of organic baby spinach a week you'd spend between $8-$12 so let's say that's an average of $10 per week. In one year, you'd spend 56 x $10 = $560 on healthy greens. Now, given that food is medicine and that greens are one of the healthiest foods a diabetic that is trying to reverse diabetes can eat, that is still one heck of a bargain (especially compared to Big Pharma prices). However, if you plant your own, you can get all the greens you can eat for an entire year for maybe $6 - $20 maximum. Plus of course, you'll have the joy of watching them grow which somehow helps to lower stress that would be hard to explain to anyone who has never raised their own food before. It's almost as fun as collecting food from the wild, but not quite :)

Here's another reason diabetics should consider raising their own greens. The fresher the greens, the more nutrients they have. I've read if you buy a bag of organic baby spinach, it will lose about half the nutrients and antioxidants in 3 days. Now, regardless of the specifics of the study, the point is that the fresher the greens, the more they can help you reverse diabetes! The more nutrients you'll be able to pass along to your family too!

If you can't grow your own greens, then by all means buy them and try to get the freshest ones you can find. It's still an amazing bargain and the healthiest food you can buy at the store. However, I just wanted to point out to my readers how easy it is to grow greens. It's much easier than growing other vegetables. My kale seeds sprouted in 3 days! My spinach sprouted in 4-7 days. My salad greens (I got seed packages that contained mixtures) sprouted in 1-2 days. I was starting to eat baby greens in 2-3 weeks and now I just rotate new ones in. Plus, as you harvest your greens, new leaves appear on the same plant so you can just keep harvesting from the same plant until it finally goes to seed.... unlike when you buy a bunch of kale at the store!

Of course, I haven't mentioned flavor yet! The fresher the greens, the better the taste in my opinion. There's nothing better than walking out on the patio, cutting some greens, and eating them a few minutes later! Kale gets sweeter as it gets colder as does other brassica family greens like mustard greens and collard greens! In fact, they taste the best after a frost!

Again, I want to emphasize that eating greens is one of the most important things you can do to reverse diabetes. However, you really do need to know the other foods you need to eat and you need to know the foods you simply MUST avoid to reverse diabetes. Also, the details about the foods you eat matter a great deal and it isn't always obvious (there is lots of misleading information out there). What I recommend to you and to all my friends is to get this guide and make sure you read it very carefully. It is a very comprehensive reference for reversing diabetes and has all the information you will need and then some. It is also written in a very easy to understand way.

1% Drop In HbA1c Reduces Eye, Kidney, Heart, and Nerve Complications 40%

Having type 2 diabetes can be really depressing sometimes. One of the main reasons for this is that diabetics have to constantly deal with all the potential medical complications that plague diabetics. These complications iclude heart disease (cardiovascular disease), decreased kidney function (nephropathy) leading to kidney failure and dialysis, nerve damage (neuropathy) leading to ulcers and amputations, weakening eyesight (retinopathy) leading to blindness, compromised immunity system, chronic infection, and blood vessel damage (microvascular disease) that can damage every organ in the diabetic's body.

The complications listed above are caused by the higher than normal levels of blood sugar (glucose) circulating in the diabetic body. This high glucose directly damages the nerves and the smaller blood vessels that lead to these health complications. Prolonged periods of high blood sugar almost guarantee that the diabetic will have one or more of these terrible complications. In fact, the #1 cause of death in diabetics is heart attacks caused by vessel damage due to high blood sugar and this is one of the primary reasons that diabetics have on average a shorter lifespan.

These complications can directly very much lower the quality of a diabetic's life and even the knowledge that diabetics carry around that they could at any moment develop one or more of these complications is more than enough to depress them!

However, I do have some VERY GOOD NEWS!

If a diabetic reverses his or her diabetes (YES, you can!), they can avoid these complications all together! In fact, if a diabetic lowers their blood sugar just a little on average, the risk of these complications is very significantly reduced.

The United States Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this very important statistic on their 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet.

If a diabetic lowers his or her HbA1c (the most accurate measure of your average blood sugar) just 1%, the probability they'll develop complications like the ones described above is lowered 40%! So to make this more clear, if a diabetic that has an average HbA1c of 8 can lower that to 7, he or she will have 40% less chance of getting complications due to high blood sugar. One percentage point for a forty percent drop in complications is HUGE.  Now, what if the diabetic reduced their blood sugar even more? Reducing their blood sugar 2 or more points can really have an amazing impact on the quality of their life!! If the diabetic can lower their blood sugar significantly, and better yet totally reverse their diabetes, they can live a normal lifespan. What may be even more important is they can live a higher quality life. You can review how the HbA1c test works here.

To learn how to lower your blood sugar, you should definitely get out this reverse diabetes guide. It is the most complete reference I've seen anywhere on how to reverse diabetes naturally. I've reviewed almost every resource out there and most only give you part of the formula and it's tough to reverse diabetes if you're missing steps. The guide I linked above is very comprehensive and will take you through every step you need.

Let's Bring Back Popeye and Reverse Diabetes!

I'm on a mission to help as many people as I can reverse diabetes. So it irks me to no end when I see commercials like the latest Tyson chicken nugget commercial. In this day and age when diseases like diabetes are skyrocketing due to our poor diet, they disparage spinach as a totally undesirable food and glorify an overly processed food that does more harm than good to the human body. And... what's driving this? Money of course!

If you haven't seen the Tyson nugget commercial yet, they are interviewing different kids one at a time on what they like to eat. The kids are all extra cute of course. One little boy is asked if he likes spinach and he wrinkles up his nose and says, "Spinach? not a big fan." Then they show how all the kids love the nuggets. They make some kind of statement at the end about how parents can be assured that all kids like Tyson nuggets (but not spinach of course).

This sends the wrong message to not only kids but the adults too. And.. this is what we're up against! We get these kinds of messages blasted at us none stop all the time and our kids are growing up seeing this as well.


Yes, I know I'm ranting but please bear with me as I have something very important to say to all those who wish to reverse diabetes.

As a kid I loved spinach. Why? Well, it started out because of Popeye. I'd sing, "I'm Popeye the sailor man.... toot toot" and show my bicep muscle like Popeye (I was a tom girl). Of course, I learned to love spinach for other reasons later on but it was that positive cartoon message that initially got me hooked.

We need to bring back Popeye!! and send our kids and our society the right message when it comes to food. Foods like chicken nuggets and other processed food are slowly killing us with diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, autoimmune diseases, and cancer.

When Popeye first became popular, it was the Great Depression years of 1931 - 1936. Popeye increased spinach consumption by about 33% with just a comic strip and that was with no TV appearances. Now, what do we tell people:

Basically we say spinach is bad. Eat overly processed and very unhealthy chicken nuggets instead.

How do we combat a food industry that has billions of dollars to spend on advertising blasting us with the wrong message?

I know the answer to my question is complicated but we need to collectively make our voices heard because our modern diet is killing us.

Spinach is one of the healthiest foods on Earth and it is one of the very best food choices you could eat if you are trying to reverse diabetes. Gram for gram, calorie for calorie, spinach is one of the most nutrient dense foods in the world.

Spinach contains a heavy does of magnesium and chromium, both of which help lower blood sugar in the body. It also has lots of fiber which, as you probably already know, also helps lower blood sugar.

In addition to lowering blood sugar, spinach also combats the negative effects of having too much sugar in your blood. High blood sugar causes the heart muscles and other cardiovascular muscles to weaken by making the mitochondria have less energy. The nitrates in spinach combat this effect. The nitrates also make nitric oxide which helps to dilate the blood vessels, lower blood pressure, and improve blood circulation.

The chlorophyll in the deep green leaves of spinach help build new red blood cells faster and this is important because red blood cells become damaged faster in diabetics. The glycoclycerolipids in spinach help build cell membranes which are also badly damaged in diabetics. Copper, zinc, and selenium help build up the immune system and type 2 diabetics usually have a compromised immune system. Spinach is also loaded with other antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and CoQ10, a vital co-enzyme needed for the heart to function properly.

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with spinach. If you are serious about reversing your diabetes, eat spinach often and eat a lot of it! Eat other green leafy vegetables closely related to spinach such as chard, amaranth, quinoa greens, dandelion greens, and lambsquarter (an enemy of Big Agriculture but delicious and nutritious). In fact, diabetics should eat lots of other greens too.

One of the biggest hurdles to reversing diabetes is the crazy messages you get blasted with on TV and in other media sources. I am living proof that eating the right food and avoiding the wrong food can reverse diabetes. If you have type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, I highly suggest that you get this comprehensive guide and learn how to cure yourself with food and other natural means.

I love you Popeye! Way to go Elzie Crisler Segar!

Beware Of Granola Bars If You Want To Reverse Diabetes & Stay Healthy!

When you're headed out on a road trip and you want to take along a healthy snack, what do you choose? Many diabetics take along granola bars.

Since the hippie decade, the word "granola" has been synonymous with "healthy." Food companies, or should I say food empires, know this and they love to stick the word "granola" on their food packages. It helps sell their product. I mean something that tastes like a candy bar but is labeled as healthy "granola" is a guaranteed profit maker in the food industry. It also doesn't hurt that they are super quick to grab and easy to eat.

This is why half a grocery isle is now dedicated to granola bars. My personal favorite used to be the "sweet and salty" bars with nuts and yogurt on the bottom. I couldn't believe that something so healthy could taste so darn good!

But guess what?

I was TOTALLY WRONG!

There weren't healthy!

Granola bars in general, with only rare exceptions, are NOT healthy. This is especially true for anyone who is working on reversing their diabetes, preventing diabetes, or making sure diabetes doesn't come back into the picture.

Now, if you are like me, I was totally addicted to both the taste and convenience of granola bars and it took me literally months before I stopped craving them. But I have to tell you that you really must stop eating them if you want to reverse diabetes. You can probably find some that are healthier than others, but even the organic ones all (hard to find) seem to be full of sugar. There are certainly better things for you to eat.

As I type this paragraph, I am holding a Kellogg's Special K Granola Bars box in my left hand. Yes, I'm typing with one hand and holding the box with the other hand so I can read the ingredients label. Oh wait, the list of ingredients is so small, I need a magnifying glass to read them. Be right back...

Ok... I'm back with my magnifying glass and having now scanned the ingredients I can see why they would want to make them so small it is difficult to read them.

But... before I discuss the ingredients, I need to let you know that the biggest word on the front of the box is "Granola." The picture of the granola bar looks absolutely delicious and there are some oats spilling out of the crunchy chewy bar which has been broken in half. How deceptive is that? Looks healthy but reading the ingredients I can assure you it isn't.

Ok, here we go. The first ingredient is "soluble corn fiber." In case you don't already know this, the first ingredient is the most abundant ingredient. So the most abundant ingredient in these granola bars are not oats or some other healthy grain but rather "soluble corn fiber," a highly processed "corn" derivative (probably chemically processed). Since this is not an organic product, this means the soluble corn fiber is derived from GMO corn (genetically modified), most likely from grown from Monsanto seed. If you want to reverse diabetes, you need to avoid GMO corn and other GMO foods completely. GMO is not something you should just cut back on or reduce. It is something you should eliminate 100% from your diet.

At this point, I'm wrinkling up my nose and sticking out my tongue at these bars but let's continue...

Sugar is the third ingredient and each bar contains 7 grams of sugar. There's also fructose and corn syrup, both most likely derived from GMO corn.

These granola bars also contain "isolated soy protein." This is most likely another GMO ingredient because most non-organic foods that contain soy contain GMO soy. Nowadays, the only way to get non-GMO soy is to buy organic or buy a product that very specifically states it is non-GMO soy (very very rare). Lots of soy isn't good for you anyway, regardless of whether or not it is GMO but GMO soy is by far worse. The idea that lots of soy is healthy is a myth perpetuated by the food industry that wants you to buy food that they can make a bigger profit on. Soy is cheap for them to add as a "filler," especially GMO soy. Diabetics should generally speaking avoid all soy. A little non-GMO soy won't hurt you but it should only be occasional. Diabetics trying to reverse diabetes should eliminate ALL GMO soy.

These delicious looking granola bars also contain one of the most toxic artificial foods the industrial revolution ever produced: hydrogenated oils!!! This is one of the very worst things a person trying to reverse diabetes could put into their mouth.

Specifically, they contain "hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated palm kernel, palm, canola, and/or coconut oil" AND "hydrogenated rapeseed and/or cottonseed oil." The canola oil is most likely GMO because if the product isn't organic and it contains canola oil, it is most likely GMO canola oil. Rapeseed and cottonseed oils are two of the most toxic oils used in the world. Both are very cheap and are known to produce health effects like heart legions. Truly toxic but cheap to buy which is why the food industry uses it. It certainly isn't added for your health!

Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils means TRANS FAT and this is a recipe for damaged cell membranes which leads to insulin resistance, i.e. type 2 diabetes. If you want to reverse diabetes, it is absolutely imperative that you eliminate ALL trans fat, not just reduce it. Don't eat anything that says hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated on the label. When I see this I immediately think of a skull and cross bones poison label because that's essentially what it is to your body's cell membranes: POISON. It won't kill you fast but it can kill you slow.

There are other undesirable ingredients too like soy lecithin which is probably GMO and things like "artificial flavors" which who knows what that is but do you trust it is safe from a company that is putting GMO foods and trans fat into your supposedly healthy "granola bars?" I certainly don't.

Here's the bottom line to what I am saying here:

Virtually all granola bars contain ingredients you should not have if you want to be healthy. This is especially true for anyone who wants to reverse diabetes as these ingredients not only hinder that goal, they can cause diabetes.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news because I know how tasty and convenient granola bars can be. There are days I wish I was still under the illusion that they are actually healthy but when you get diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and it really sinks in what all that can mean if you don't reverse it (15 years shorter lifespan on average, heart problems, kidney problems, high risk for amputations, general fatigue all the time, etc, etc...), you begin to search for the the real truth about things. I dug deep and I am appalled at what the food industry gets away with. How they trick us into believing certain foods are healthy when in fact they are very unhealthy. When in fact they are the very foods we need to avoid eating.

If you are serious about reversing diabetes there is knowledge that you absolutely must have or you won't be successful and you must know how to read food labels. The best thing you can do for your health is to get a comprehensive guide on how to reverse diabetes like this one at this link. I recommend this one because it is 1) cheap and 2) comprehensive and 3) a very easy read. Overall, it is one of the best resources I have encountered on teaching someone how to reverse diabetes.

How I Faced My Diabetes Diagnosis and Why I Decided To Reverse Diabetes Naturally

Getting diagnosed with diabetes is a rude awakening! I remember how stunned I was when I was first told I had it. The person who told me did so in a rather cold way as almost an afterthought since I was there for an entirely different reason. Once the news sunk in and I got over the initial shock, I went into a period of denial. 2 months later, I remember sitting in the doctor's office and watching several people enter the office in wheelchairs because their feet and lower limbs had been amputated. I remember seeing some very scary looking diabetic ulcers. I remember seeing a woman who got winded just walking from the parking lot into the office. I remember thinking to myself that I did never wanted to be in their shoes and then I realized I was well on my way to being them. I would be the one in the wheelchair if I didn't take drastic steps. I would be the one winded after only a few steps if I didn't change my ways. I also remember seeing a very over-weight and very sweet 14 year old girl with type 2 diabetes ask her Mom if it was time get her insulin injection. I remember thinking, "What is the world coming to?!"

That waiting room probably did more to motivate me than anything the doctors or the nurses said to me. It was actually seeing with my own eyes where diabetes can take you. It was actually witnessing how low the quality of life can become if you don't reverse your diabetes. It also showed me that insulin and oral medication doesn't do much to put you back on the right track. The doctor and the nurses kept urging me to learn how to "control it" and "manage it" but never once did I hear them say learn how to "reverse it" or "cure it."

All I can say now is thank goodness I became determined that I wasn't going to let my type 2 diabetes ruin the rest of my life or shorten my lifespan significantly. I was over-weight and out of shape with a bad diet that was slowly killing me. I remember thinking that I absolutely needed to turn over a new leaf and make some major changes to my life before it was too late. As a person who had always been interested in home remedies and the natural power of food, I remember thinking that I needed to do some independent research and not just accept the "sentence" the medical community had given me to me. I felt like they were sentencing me to 15 years shorter lifespan, chronic fatigue, joint pain, eventual heart problems, eventual kidney problems, eventual eye problems, and the yo yo effect of the diabetes medication they wanted to put me on for the rest of my life.

I did not want the above. I took the medicine temporarily but I knew in my mind that I rejected the traditional medicine approach. I wanted the diabetes gone. I wanted to cure the diabetes completely. I was convinced by my preliminary research that you COULD cure diabetes, not just manage it! Thus began my serious quest to dig deep and read all the literature I could find on how to cure type 2 diabetes naturally. I was like a woman possessed and would talk about it with anyone who would listen! I made up my mind that I was going to reverse my diabetes naturally.

I remember how resolute I was when I told the first doctor that I was going to reverse diabetes naturally and that I did not want to be on medication for the rest of my life. The look on his face made me know in an instant that he was not on board with this idea. I tried to talk with him about it but as I did I began to realize that there would never be any way to sway him. If I stayed with this doctor it would be an ongoing struggle to get him to cooperate with my goal. I remember telling him that I did not like the fact that he was assuming that my diabetes would progress to the point where I would have to have insulin injections instead of just taking oral medication. I remember leaving his office that day determined to find a new doctor. And... I remember shopping around for a new doctor because the first one did not seem like he was going to be supportive of my reversing my diabetes through diet and other natural means.

I did find a very good doctor that was willing to work with me on reversing my diabetes naturally. In fact, every time I met when him and he saw the results he became more of a believer. He became one of my biggest cheerleaders and I appreciated his support more than he'll ever know.

The success I had in reversing my diabetes was very rapid and very motivating so I charged ahead. I wasn't satisfied with just lowering my A1c. I wanted it in the normal range. My doctor told me that most type 2 diabetics are really happy if they can get their HbA1c (A1c) under 7. He said he would be really happy if I could get it to under 6.5. I WAS happy to get there but I also wanted to keep going... and I did. My A1c has been between 5-6 for a very long time now! This is square in the normal range, not borderline.

As I began to talk to others, including both my friends and complete strangers, I realized that one of the worst things about getting the dreaded type 2 diabetes diagnosis is how depressed you can get. Having to be tied to taking medicine and picking your finger all the time is no fun. Then the way you feel is not good either. The idea that it seems to be a foregone conclusion by the medical establishment that once you are diagnosed with diabetes, you ARE going to get worse. All you can do is slow it down seems to be the message they give diabetics. HOW DEPRESSING!!!

What people need is hope. And... I don't mean pretend hope but REAL hope. They need a straightforward recipe to how they CAN cure their diabetes through diet and other natural means.

What I suggest to anyone who has diabetes or pre-diabetes is to really study up BEFORE you talk with your doctor about reversing diabetes naturally. Arm yourself with solid well researched information. Start using food to cure yourself right away and schedule an appointment with your doctor. Let him or her know in advance that you'll need some extra time to talk with them. Then, if your doctor does not seem to be in favor of the natural approach or seems to believe there is no way you can reverse diabetes, I strongly recommend you leave that doctor (on good terms if at all possible) and shop around for a new doctor who will support the natural approach and work with you to get off your medications safely if you are already on them.

The easiest way to get all the information you need on how to reverse diabetes naturally is to get this report and read it very carefully. Read it more than once. Read it several times if you have to. But you need the right information all laid out in one source. The link I am providing is a comprehensive report that is extremely well-researched and has been reviewed by doctors. It is far better than others I've seen. Don't depend on trying to get pieces of the puzzle from various places around the internet. Yes, you can learn some valuable information (like on my site) but it will not be comprehensive and it will leave important steps out. I've also seen a lot of incorrect information on the net so be very careful of your source. Check out resource I've linked above. I think you will be very impressed.

HbA1c Test - An Important Tool In Reversing Diabetes

If you want to be successful in reversing diabetes, it is very important that you have an accurate way to gauge your progress and the HbA1c test is the best way. Most diabetics are used to checking their blood sugar, more accurately called blood glucose (BG), several times a day by pricking their finger to get a drop of blood to be read by a glucose meter. Unfortunately, this test is notoriously inaccurate. It can vary tremendously from one minute to the next even in a normal healthy person. In a diabetic, blood sugar measured this way varies even more. Moreover, it does not provide an accurate way to gauge your progress as you reverse your diabetes because it's just too variable and arbitrary.

A much more accurate way to gauge your progress in reversing diabetes is to take an HbA1c test at least every 3 months. You may even want to work with your doctor to get this test every month when you are first starting the process of reversing your diabetes naturally. This is especially true if you are on diabetes medication because as you reverse your diabetes using natural methods, you will not need as much medication and your doctor may need to ween you off it. If they don't lower the dosage as you reverse your diabetes, you could end up with low blood sugar which can be dangerous! Eventually, you won't need diabetes medication at all.

Please note that you may see the HbA1c test written as HgA1c or HgbA1c but neither of these are the standard way to refer to the test.

So why is a HbA1c test more accurate than a blood glucose reading?

The HbA1c test is an average reading of your blood sugar levels over the last 2-3 months, with more weight being on the last 2-4 weeks. A blood glucose reading measures your blood sugar level at that one moment right when you prick your finger. One minute later, it may be entirely different. If you get a reading in the normal range, it could very well be misleading if your blood sugar is actually high one minute later. The reverse would be true as well. The HbA1c test gives you a much more accurate picture of what is actually going on because it gives you an average reading across several weeks.

So how does an HbA1c test work?

As glucose circulates throughout the bloodstream, some of it attaches to the hemoglobin molecules found in the red blood cells. Once this happens, the new protein is called "glycated hemoglobin."  Once a hemoglobin molecule becomes glycated, it remains this way for the life of the red blood cell containing it. The more glucose that is present in the blood, the more glycated hemoglobin molecules will be present.

In a healthy person without diabetes, the percentage of glycated hemoglobin ranges between 4%–5.9%. However, in a person with elevated levels of glucose in their blood, the percentage can go much higher. Over 6%-6.5% is considered in the diabetic range. For reference, an HbA1c result of between 6%-7% is equal to a 127 -155 mg/dl blood glucose reading. An HbA1c result over 10% is considered extremely high and extremely dangerous.

Red blood cells live on average around 90-120 days. This is why it is suggested you get the HbA1c test at least every 3 months, especially when you need to gauge how well you are doing in your efforts to reverse your diabetes. However, you should remember that the results of the HbA1c test are skewed for the last 3 months so if you are on medication and you have radically changed your diet and lifestyle in an effort to reverse diabetes naturally, you should really consider getting the HbA1c test more often, perhaps once a month.

You should also know that even though the HbA1c test is very accurate, there are a few instances where its accuracy can be thrown off. If you have lost a lot of blood after surgery for example, the results can be thrown off. Also, if there is a higher than normal turn over rate for red blood cells the results can be affected. This can happen when a person is anemic or has renal disease or liver disease. It can also happen if you take a super high dosage of vitamin C. Tell your doctor if you fall into any of these categories.

Now that you know the best test to use to gauge your progress in reversing diabetes, you need to know exactly how to go about reversing your diabetes. What I have seen around the net is that many sites offer misinformation that could derail your most sincere efforts. There are other sites that offer bits and pieces of good information but they don't give you all the details you need. To actually reverse diabetes, you need a comprehensive set of instructions that will give you extremely accurate, precise, and complete information on how to reverse diabetes using scientifically tested methods. You can also access this information from any page on my blog by clicking on the big red button at the top of the page.... I know it's kind of ugly and big but I strongly believe every diabetic needs this information.

How Many People Have Diabetes In the United States?

I have ALARMING news!!! On average, approximately 8-10% of the adult population in the United has diabetes. The vast majority of this is type 2 diabetes, otherwise known as adult onset diabetes although the average age of onset is getting lower every year. In fact, the MOST alarming part of this alarming news is that children are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and this was virtually unheard of 20-30 years ago.

As you can see from the graph below, some areas of the country have a higher percentage of diabetes in their general population. This seems to be mostly true in the Deep South in states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. These stats are calculated using data collected by every counties in each state so it is the most accurate data available hands down.

The data is compiled by the CDC, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, which is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Resources. This source of data is considered one of the most trusted sources of for disease related data in the United States.

What's even more alarming is the CDC has predicted that by year 2050, the rate of diabetes will rise to approximately 33% of the adult population!

Why isn't this news on the front page of every major newspaper in the United States? Shouldn't this take the top headline on most days -- one-third of all adults will have diabetes in less than 40 years if the trends stay the same. That is devastating news and I feel like the news media has totally dropped the ball on reporting it. Of course, if you start paying more attention to who their advertisers are, it becomes more clear why they don't take a hard detailed look at this crisis, or at least they don't publish what they find.

One can only guess as to why some states have a much higher rate of diabetes than other states. However, these guesses I would call "educated guesses." Factors such as sedentary lifestyle, higher rates of obesity, eating more processed foods containing industrial food toxins, and the heavier use of environmental pesticides are 3 factors that spring to mind.

If you have diabetes, pre-diabetes, or any of the risk factors to get diabetes (family members who have it, over-weight, obesity, etc..), it is time to take a very serious look at your diet and lifestyle. It is possible to prevent diabetes in most cases and also to completely reverse diabetes. In fact, you can reverse diabetes even if you are already so advanced that you take daily insulin injections. Just be absolutely sure to ween yourself off insulin and oral medications and do so under a doctor's supervision! A proven method for doing this involves mostly changes to your diet but also changing other lifestyle factors. I should also say that the ingredients you need to reverse your diabetes are fairly straightforward. Of course, you also need to know exactly which foods and ingredients (including the ones hidden in processed foods) in order to reverse diabetes. For the most complete information I have found anywhere (online and offline) on reversing diabetes naturally, please visit this link or simply click on the huge red "click here" button at the top of every page on my blog. Please also share this page URL with all those who have any chance of developing diabetes.

Yes, you can find bits and pieces of some of this information (except perhaps the latest scientific research results that you can find in the link I provide) in other places but no where have I seen it all together in one place in an easy to digest/comprehensive format and you really need to have the whole picture to be successful at curing diabetes.

Why Diabetics Need To INCREASE Carbs, Not Lower Them!

One of the traditional approaches to "managing" type 2 diabetes is to eat fewer carbs. Diabetics are told to "limit your carb intake" or "go on a low carb diet." However, what I see happening far too often is diabetics eating less vegetables after being told this.  I actually see some diabetics avoiding vegetables altogether so they can lower their carbs! This is absolutely crazy if you want to cure diabetes. You HAVE TO eat vegetables and fruits to get the micronutrients ( like antioxidants and chlorophyll) that you need to cure diabetes!

And remember, supplements are a very poor substitute for veggies because your body can't absorb them as well and because they simply don't contain all the micronutrients you'd get from eating plants! This point can't be emphasized enough. I don't care how "complete" the supplement claims it is or how many "ingredients" they list on the bottle. In fact, most vitamins are now most in a lab and they are exactly the same chemical structure that you'd find in real foods/real vegetables. The best way to get most of your micronutrients (there are a few exceptions to this, see link at bottom) is the EAT them in high quality nutrient dense vegetables and other high quality foods (organic if at all possible).

If you are interested in reversing diabetes naturally, what's far more important than "lowering carbs" is learning what carb foods you need to INCREASE and what carbs you need to eat less of.

Yes, I am saying you need to INCREASE carb foods, not lower them! However, there is a caveat (isn't there always). You need to know which carbs to increase.

While there is a lot of nutritional science we could talk about here, what it all boils down to is this:

Low Nutrient Carbs vs High Nutrient Carbs

and

Low Fiber Carbs vs High Fiber Carbs

You want to eat lots and lots of high nutrient vegetable and fruits (carbs) and high fiber veggies and fruits.

This means that calorie for calorie, you need to concentrate on the carbs that give you the best nutritional bang and lower as much as possible the carbs that give you mostly "empty calories" or a lower density of nutrients. Don't worry, once you start thinking about it, it becomes quite easy to do this. In fact, it has almost become automatic for me to think about NUTRITIONAL DENSITY instead of total carbs (or carbs minus fiber) when I'm preparing a meal, shopping, and/or figuring out if I need to "make up for" the lower nutritional density food I ate earlier in the day/week. I never again want to allow myself to go very long without filling up my body with health building diabetes busting micronutrients! That would be like letting my car run on empty or going low on oil which of course can cause all sorts of problems.

Diabetics absolutely NEED carbs, especially if they want to reverse diabetes, not just "control" it as the traditional medicine folks will emphasize (hey, I want you to CURE diabetes, not just control your blood glucose). The trick though is you need to know which ones are the "good carbs" and which are the "not so good carbs." Notice I did not say "bad carbs" because no vegetable is all bad. Even bread and pasta (not technically veggies but derived from plants) isn't ALL bad even though these are both much much lower density nutrient foods than say spinach, kale, celery, green onions, or broccoli!

Let me first say that you need to eat greens, greens, and more greens. Did you get that -- think green! The more greens you eat the better. It would be near impossible for anyone to over-do on greens. Yes, I guess it is technically possible, especially if you happen to be on certain prescription drugs, but a huge heaping mound of kale or spinach is not over-doing it!

Notice I said GREENS, GREENS, and MORE GREENS.

Did I emphasize that enough for you? I hope so because you need to drill this into your head over and over.

Greens have the highest nutritional density of any food on Earth. No exaggeration!

Greens are full of micronutrients that haven't even been fully studied but that we know are extremely good for us.

Plus, greens are high in fiber as well as micronutrients and fiber lowers blood sugar naturally, cleans out the colon, and provides lots of other health benefits.

Also, try to eat as much diversity of greens as you possibly can. Don't just eat spinach or just eat kale. Throw in some variety as often as possible. Throw some beet greens, collards, chard, sprouts, lots of salad greens, and green herbs into the mix. In fact, some green herbs can become a vegetable instead of just a spice. For example, parsley and/or cilantro made into a nice tabouli can be one of the most nutritious meals you can prepare, especially if you substitute quinoa for bulgar wheat.

Wild greens like dandelion greens can be a special treat as well and if you don't poison your lawn with chemicals you can actually collect the greens right out of your yard. They are best when young as they are more tender and less bitter. However, even older ones that a little bitter have a very pleasurable taste with sauteed in some olive oil with a bit of garlic.

Quinoa is another one of those super good carbs that is as versatile as rice or pasta. Eat it as a breakfast cereal (with berries and nuts - YUM), turn it into an infinite number of salads (by adding veggies, fruits, and nuts), and serve your stir fry veggies and mushrooms on a bed of quinoa.

Try to eat more high fiber fruits than low fiber fruits -- there seems to also be a rough correlation between fiber and micronutrients - the more fiber the more micronutrients. Berries are the best choice for fruit, including wild berries you collect yourself as they have more micronutrients than the store bought/commercial varieties. Figs pack a really dense nutritional punch. Stone fruits like plums and peaches are good too. Apples fall in between. Citrus and melon are lower density BUT I encourage you to indulge at the peak of the season when the micronutrients in these fruits are at their highest (and of course they taste better too). Smell your melons for fragrance, thump your watermelons (a hollow sound is best), and above all don't buy those terrible melon platters full of off season not so tasty melon much lower in antioxidants!

As a little sidenote... our tastebuds and our sense of smell are there for a reason. Fruits that smell better and taste better are generally higher in nutrients. Follow your "monkey instincts" here.

Buy organic!

Let's talk potatoes. I LOVE golden yukon potatoes and red potatoes but sadly they have a lower density of nutrients than almost all other vegetables. That does not mean you shouldn't eat them at all but just be aware that eating spinach is giving you HUNDREDS of times more nutrients (not just double or triple). Having said this though, potatoes are more nutritious than most pasta and definitely less processed (if you start with a raw fresh potato).  Sweet potatoes and yams have more fiber and more nutrients than white, yellow, and red potatoes. Look for purple potatoes at farmer's markets and organic stores for a potato that is less cultivated and are much higher in nutrients. They are really tasty too. Leaving the skin on also makes the nutrient density go way up, especially if you are eating smaller potatoes, as most of the nutrients are concentrated in the skin.

Another tip on potatoes is to substitute turnips for potatoes. I used to totally turn up my nose at turnips when I was a kid but I have now learned that if you boil them and mash them up, they make a nice substitute for mashed potatoes. You can also roast them and they taste a bit like potatoes. They are higher in nutrients and lower in calories/carbs (more nutritionally dense than potatoes). Turnip greens are one of the most nutritious foods you can eat so if you buy turnips DO NOT THROW AWAY THE GREENS. You'd be throwing away the most nutritious part (same with carrot greens by the way).

Onions and garlic and all their relatives are some of the most nutritious foods you can eat. Beans are another great high nutrient veggie! Try to eat more black beans and other beans with color than white beans but all of them do contribute a nice dose of nutrients. If you make bean soup, instead of just beans, you can also throw in all sorts of herbs, greens, and other nutritious veggies. I sometimes call it an antioxidant witches brew.

There are many other healthy vegetables full of micronutrients: asparagus (one of my faves), artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc, etc.... plus all those delicious herbs.

Bottom line, diabetics who want to cure their diabetes should try to eat LOTS and LOTS of vegetables and skew this in the direction of greens (try to eat greens every single day if possible), and then next in priority eat other high fiber vegetables and fruits. You should limit the lower density vegetables like potatoes but you don't need to eliminate them altogether.

But PLEASE do not fall for the fallacy that you need to eat a "low carb diet" if you have diabetes. You need to eat a HIGH carb diet but you need much more of the right carbs! To learn EXACTLY what you need to eat and why to CURE (not just "control") diabetes, please follow this link and know that I believe this is the fastest way to learn everything you need to know. I truly mean that! I try to be as helpful as possible in my blog but you really need a comprehensive source like you'll find at this link.