I Have Type 2 Diabetes: What Can I Eat?

You have just received news that you have type 2 diabetes and there is no shortage of thoughts running through your mind, most of them discouraging at best. Rest assured, you are not alone in your condition or your thoughts. Diabetes rates have been increasing at an alarming pace with no sign of slowing down.

According to 7th edition of the Diabetes Atlas, 415 million adults (1 in 11 persons) worldwide have diabetes and this is expected to rise to 642 million by 2040.

Unfortunately, there is more bad news. The American Diabetes Association reported that in 2012 there were 29.1 million Americans with diabetes and of these 8.1 million were undiagnosed. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95% of all diabetes cases in America.

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What exactly is Type 2 diabetes?

When you eat, your body breaks down food into glucose (sugar) and other nutrients that are necessary for a myriad of bodily functions. The glucose and nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream via the gastrointestinal tract and your blood sugar levels rise. In response, your pancreas makes a hormone known as insulin.

Insulin is very much like a key that works to unlock cell doors to allow glucose to enter. Cells need glucose for energy. When insulin does not work properly the glucose cannot get into the cells and remains in the blood. Over time, levels of sugar become dangerously high, leading to what is known as insulin resistance. High blood sugar may promote serious health problems such as cardiovascular disease, nerve and kidney damage.

The Good News

If you are one of the millions diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, there are some things that you really need to know. First of all, there is good news, this is not a life sentence by any means. Type 2 diabetes is 100% reversible through proper lifestyle choices. Namely, diet, exercise and stress reduction. Yes, you can really eat to reverse diabetes!

What Can I Eat?

You might be wondering, if I have type 2 diabetes, what changes do I have to make to my diet? Will it be bland? Will I have to give up everything I have eaten for years? Will I actually be able to enjoy food again? What does a type 2 diabetes diet look like?

The great news is that the changes you need to make to your diet will not only taste great but will allow you to fully enjoy wholesome and real food. Perhaps, for the first time ever, you will have a new concept of what the word “food” really means. Contrary to what you might think, you won’t have to eat cardboard the rest of your life.

What if we told you that you could enjoy delicious meals like Linguine with Creamy White Clam Sauce or French Onion Beef Tenderloin and still be healthy? It is so easy to enjoy even those familiar comfort foods when you have diabetes.

What is Real Food?

Real food contains the nutrients necessary for your body to rebalance and transport glucose (AKA energy) into cells where it can be used properly as fuel for important functional processes. Real food is not refined or complicated; it is simple and highly nourishing. And yes, real food does not taste like cardboard, but rather entices the senses and appeases the palate. Real food is often referred to as food that nourishes, sustains, or supplies. It is not artificial, not created in a laboratory and not a sum of parts but rather a whole within itself. Real food is the high-octane fuel that your body needs to look and feel its best. It is real food that you can eat to reverse diabetes.

Gas vs. Soda

Although the manufacturers of cars are coming up with some incredible prototypes that use a wide array of fuel types, there has yet to be one that runs on soda. When you pull into a gas station you fill your car with fuel in order that it can run as efficiently as possible between point A and B. If you were, let’s say, to put soda into your gas tank, how far do you think that the car would actually run? The obvious answer is that it probably would not run at all.

When it comes to the human body, real food is the gas that is necessary for optimal performance. Anything less (like food) will result in drastically reduced efficiency and put a terrible strain on all of your bodily systems.

Real Food is For the Whole Family

Real food can be fun and is not just limited to those with diabetes. Everyone in your home will benefit and even come back fro seconds on many delicious breakfasts, lunches, and snacks you can easily prepare. Often, all it take is a few simple modifications to make your favorite family meals healthy for everyone.

Conventional Methods of Healing

Conventional methods of treatment for type 2 diabetes often include the use of a pharmaceutical drug. Drugs, however, are much more of a Band-aid approach rather than a solution. It is now being discovered that diabetes drugs don’t work well because they consider diabetes a malfunction with blood sugar rather than an insulin problem. A typical drug used for type 2 diabetes is focused on fixing the symptom of elevated blood sugar rather than addressing the underlying condition. This can lead to a host of other medical problems and side effects.

This is Where It All Begins

Your journey to wellness and recovery from type 2 diabetes begins with the most powerful medicine on earth, food. By removing the foods that disrupt the glucose-insulin response system, namely those that are processed and refined, and replacing them with whole foods such as vegetables, nuts, seeds, organic meat, wild caught fish, coconut oil and avocado oil, you are out of the starting gate and well on your way to achieving optimal health.