What I’m about to tell you will seem radical to the mainstream government-medical-industrial complex. But for those of us who have been paying attention to the recent science, it’s obvious.
For decades, we were told that these diseases were a one-way street — that once you’re diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or heart disease, that’s it. There’s no going back. There’s no cure.
But in recent years, there’s growing evidence that this fallacy is simply not true. Study after study is showing how, with proper diet, nutrition, and dietary supplementation, the body can actually reverse heart disease and diabetes.
And, of course, when you reverse a chronic condition like diabetes…or heart disease (or Alzheimer’s, as I discuss in my Complete Alzheimer’s Cure online learning protocol) then we can call that a cure.
How you can help your body rejuvenate itself
Sadly, many doctors still believe this type of cure is impossible — because they rely on looking at tissues under a microscope for “end-stage” disease.
But the body is a living, dynamic organism, carrying on metabolic activities in every cell at every moment. And it’s replacing its old, tired cells with “new models” on a periodic basis.
And a balanced diet and proper nutrition (from food and, in many cases, nutritional supplements) is critical for that process.
Of course, if you’ve been reading Insiders’ Cures for a while, this comes as no surprise to you. But mainstream medicine insists on over-complicating the picture, focusing on single-ingredient drugs to address disease symptoms without reversing or curing the underlying conditions. They simply don’t seem to understand that this approach is in fact a dead end, and will virtually ensure that your condition remains “end-stage.”
Major new study shows strong links between diet and diabetes and heart disease
Maybe a new study of more than 700,000 people, published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association, will change these deluded doctors’ minds (although I’m not holding my breath in anticipation).1
Why is this study so important? Well, it all has to do with mortality.
When it comes to medical research, there are lots of statistical observations and manipulations regarding clinical goals and assessments, as well as “intermediate endpoints” and the ability of various treatments to affect them.
However, as I have said before, there is nothing more clear and concrete than mortality — and the ability to prevent demise from chronic diseases. When a factor or treatment reduces death rates, it is showing the ability to prevent and reverse that condition.
That’s just what the new JAMA study does. It provides definitive medical evidence for what has long been obvious — about half of all deaths from diabetes, heart disease, and stroke are linked to diet and nutrition.
Diet should be more about do’s than don’ts
The study authors noted that “insufficient healthier foods/nutrients remained at least as substantial as those related to excess unhealthful foods/nutrients.”
In other words: It is just as important to include the right foods as it is to simply avoid or eliminate the wrong foods — if not more so.
This finding brings home several points, starting with the importance of a balanced diet.
But that doesn’t mean you need to run screaming from every “unhealthful” speck of food that may appear on your plate. Your body is equipped to handle some unhealthy foods, as long as you consume adequate amounts of healthy nutrients as well.
Having a frantic attitude about whether a food is “good for you” can create anxiety, fear, and loathing when it comes to eating — which is one of the most normal and necessary behaviors that all of us can and should enjoy.
And what is “unhealthy” food anyway? The mainstream government-industrial-medical complex certainly can’t seem to get that definition right. For decades, all of their long-term dietary recommendations have been shown to be completely wrong, mostly wrong, or partly wrong.
So while they continue to dither about what foods to avoid, you and I should instead focus on what we have known all along: We need food that provides optimal levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients for good health.
And when it comes to diabetes and heart disease prevention — or reversal — we particularly need more B, C, D, and E vitamins; magnesium; selenium; and omega-3 fatty acids.
Of course, today, thanks to a number of factors, it can be difficult to get optimal levels of all these nutrients from food alone — which is where nutritional supplements come in. But it can be difficult to know where to start.
That’s why I’ve started developing two new, in-depth protocols that can not only help prevent heart disease and diabetes, but may even reverse these so-called “chronic” conditions in many cases.
And a significant portion of my new diabetes protocol in particular will be based on the latest scientific evidence regarding diet. I’m still in the early stages of gathering all of the research for these new protocols, but will continue to keep you posted on my progress. And you will be the first to know when they’re ready.
In the meantime, I can give you a sneak preview of some of the specific foods you should be eating on a regular basis to keep your heart and your blood sugar healthy.
My top 8 cardio-metabolic disease-fighting foods
Hopefully you’re already eating many — if not all — of these foods on a regular basis. But there are a few surprise foods that I’ve discovered during my extensive research into diabetes and heart disease cures.
So let’s dive in, starting with…
Seafood. The JAMA study recommends that everyone get 250 mg of omega-3 fatty acids daily from fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, sardines, and trout, and seafood like oysters, mussels, clams, crab, and lobster.
So how much fish does that mean you need to eat? I like to consult Seafood Health Facts, a handy guide developed by the nonprofit Community Seafood Initiative along with Oregon State, Cornell, Delaware, Rhode Island, Florida, and California universities, for omega-3 counts in specific types of seafood.2
But a good rule of thumb is two servings of wild — not farmed — seafood a week.
Along with the omega-3s you get from eating seafood, you’ll also be getting vitamins A, B, and D. Not to mention a whole host of minerals, including selenium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, copper, and iodine.
Meat. Mainstream medicine doesn’t like to admit it, but both seafood and meat are sources of most of the same complete proteins and bioavailable vitamins and minerals.
As I first pointed out to National Institutes of Health researchers back in the mid-1980s, seafood was a more “natural” source of nutrients, compared to most meat, in light of the artificial circumstances for producing meat products. In other words, meat is farmed, and frequently processed, and seafood was not. But since that time, we have seen the advent of farmed and processed seafood as well, which severely diminishes its nutrient content.
The JAMA researchers still seem to be stuck in the past when it comes to the health value of meat, however. They claim that eating unprocessed meat led to 0.4% more deaths from cardio-metabolic diseases. While I doubt that their data even allows that level of precision with any meaning, they should probably have rounded it off to zero effect. But the politically correct war against meat must continue regardless of the data, or lack of it.
I recommend 3 to 4 servings of organic, grass-fed meat per week to boost your levels of omega-3s, vitamins B and E, and calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Fruit. The JAMA study results dismantled the myth that people with diabetes and heart disease need to reduce fruit consumption because of the natural fructose, or fruit sugar.
As I discussed at length in the May Insiders’ Cures article “The metabolic poison hiding in plain sight,” there is a world of difference between fructose and sucrose (table sugar). And the JAMA study backs me up. Its recommended daily fruit consumption (300 grams per day — about 2 cups) is nearly as high as for vegetables (400 mg a day).
Bottom line: Fruits are nutrition powerhouses, rich in vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber — which makes them essential for preventing or curing diabetes and heart disease…not to mention virtually every other health condition.
My recommendation has always been to eat plenty of both fruits and vegetables. Don’t undermine this optimal goal by worrying about having “too much” fruit. Just eat whole fruits and berries, and not juices.
Avocados. Along with other fruits, avocados are particularly powerful in the fight against cardio-metabolic diseases.
You may be surprised by this recommendation. After all, because they contain natural fats and oils, and are higher in calories than other “greens,” avocados had long been regarded with suspicion by mainstream nutrition “experts.”
But recent research is showing the remarkable metabolic benefits of this food. In fact, a new study reports that the nutrients in avocados can help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, blood clots, and heart disease.3
Avocados are a good source of carotenoids; fatty acids; vitamins A, B, C, E, and K1; and the minerals calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium. They’re also high in betaine, which, as I wrote in the November 2015 issue of Insiders’ Cures (“The heart hazard throwing aging into overdrive”), helps protect against heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. And avocados contain phytosterols and phytostanols, which are important for prostate health.
In other words, if you want a real daily multivitamin, try eating an avocado instead of taking those useless once-per-day pills.
I recommend you eat 2 to 3 avocados a week. Try them in guacamole with lime, tomatoes, and peppers. Or cube an avocado and add it to any fresh salad for a double dose of disease-fighting nutrients.
Vegetables. Of course, you already know that vegetables are chock full of disease-fighting nutrients. But they also contain another powerful weapon against cardio-metabolic disease: fiber.
While all vegetables (and many fruits) have some fiber, you’ll get the most fiber from dark leafy greens, artichokes, carrots, beets, broccoli, and potatoes.
Why does this matter?
It all has to do with the importance of your gastrointestinal microbiome (probiotics). The GI microbiome ensures proper digestion — and nutrient distribution — of the food you eat. To keep your microbiome healthy, you need beneficial bacteria, also known as probiotics.
There is a lot of marketing hype about probiotic supplements. But the concept and the evidence for taking probiotic pills has never impressed me. Instead, I believe in foods that support your natural probiotic microbiome. These foods contain components known as “pre-biotics.” Fiber is a key prebiotic. Which leads me to a new study from Finland.
The researchers found that probiotic bacteria in the GI tract produce a metabolite that helps protect against diabetes. And they discovered a strong link between dietary fiber intake and the development of this metabolite.4
The study looked at 200 overweight people with impaired blood-sugar metabolism. Over a 20-year period, the researchers compared the study participants who developed type 2 diabetes with the participants who didn’t get the disease. They discovered that the people who developed diabetes had lower levels of the anti-diabetic, probiotic metabolite. These findings matched those of two earlier studies, including the Metabolic Syndrome in Men (METSIM) study.
But here’s the caveat: You can’t take the anti-diabetic metabolite, nor the probiotic bacteria that produce it. Instead, you need to “feed” your naturally occurring probiotics with prebiotic dietary fiber from vegetables, fruits, and legumes.
To prevent or cure diabetes and heart disease, I recommend you eat at least 400 grams of vegetables a day. That equals about 6 cups of leafy greens, or about 3 cups of other types of veggies.
Legumes. I’ve written before about how legumes — including beans, lentils, peas, and chickpeas (garbanzo beans) — can reduce the risk of diabetes. And I’ve also reported on the PREDIMED study, which was started to assess the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet.
So I paid special attention to a new finding from the PREDIMED researchers. After analyzing 3,349 people for four years, the researchers concluded that the people who ate the most legumes had a whopping 35% lower risk of diabetes.5
And here’s the factor that really caught my eye — these people had high risk of heart disease. Meaning they likely already had metabolic syndrome — a huge risk factor for diabetes. But legumes protected them from the disease.
Higher consumption of legumes in this study was defined as about 30 grams per day, which is the equivalent of about 1 cup of cooked beans, lentils, peas, or chickpeas per week. You could eat that in just two meals!
It’s true that legumes are higher in carbohydrates and calories than vegetables. But they also contain more protein. And when you swap them out for a carb-heavy side dish like rice, they pack a lot of nutritional — and disease-fighting — punch.
Nuts and seeds. Like avocados, nuts have traditionally gotten a bad rap because they can be high in calories and fats. But ounce for ounce, few foods contain as many essential nutrients — especially the ones that are critical in the fight against heart disease and diabetes.
Seeds like pumpkin, sesame, chia, and flax, along with most nuts, are high in vitamin E and omega-3s. In fact, nuts and seeds have the most potent combination of essential fatty acids and vitamin E of any food. This is key because these two nutrients work synergistically. The oils help the body absorb vitamin E from foods. In turn, vitamin E helps the essential fatty acids do their job in the cell membranes.
Almonds, cashews, and Brazil nuts are rich in magnesium, which helps fight both diabetes and heart disease. And in a September 2014 Daily Dispatch (“Keep these four kinds of foods in your kitchen”), I wrote about research showing that tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazlenuts, macadamias, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, pine nuts or walnuts) improve heart health in people with diabetes.
And the best part is you don’t need a lot of nuts or seeds to stay healthy — just a handful (about 1/8 of a cup) a day.
An easy way to eat a balanced diet
So that’s it — 8 foods that can actually help cure diabetes and heart disease. And they couldn’t be simpler to work into your daily diet.
For instance, you could start your day with an egg (you should always have some protein for breakfast) and a handful of berries.
For lunch, load up a leafy-green salad with fiber-rich broccoli, carrots, and beets, add a few avocado cubes or slices, some garbanzo beans, and a handful of sliced almonds and pumpkin seeds, and drizzle it with a homemade oil-and-vinegar or oil-and-lemon salad dressing.
For dinner, what could be tastier than a grilled salmon filet or a black pepper and herb-crusted steak accompanied by steamed vegetables (maybe with some garlic, curry powder, or other spices for extra flavor) and a bowl of fresh fruit and berries for dessert?
Add plenty of water (preferably mineral) and a glass or two of heart-healthy wine — and avoid sugar-sweetened, or artificially sweetened, beverages (soft drinks and so-called sports and hydration beverages), which are never good for your health.
Combine this healthy, balanced diet with moderate daily exercise, stress reduction techniques, and smart dietary supplementation and you’ve discovered what continues to flummox mainstream medicine — an actual cure for diabetes, heart disease, and other so-called “chronic” cardio-metabolic disorders.
Of course, that may seem easier said than done. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, I’ll outline the specific, step-by-step instructions for preventing — and even reversing heart disease and diabetes — in my two new, upcoming online learning protocols. I’m hard at work on them right now, as I write this newsletter, and will be sure to let you know when they’re ready. So stay tuned for more information!
[SIDEBAR 1]
The natural wonder that helps your blood sugar reach its final destination
A new study out of Norway found that elderberry extract had positive influences on enzymes that help prevent diabetes and other metabolic conditions.6 And even more importantly, elderberry increased uptake of glucose (blood sugar) into skeletal muscles.
Why is this important? It’s a little complicated, so I’ll explain.
I often discuss the importance of not letting glucose spike in the blood (which is common when you eat sugar or simple carbs). Well, the other side of the equation is that the glucose in the blood must get into the tissues, where it is needed as fuel for every cell in your body. Sugar does no good when it simply circulates in the blood — it damages the blood vessels in the eyes, heart, kidneys, and peripheral nerves.
Muscles represent the single largest mass of tissue in the body, so measuring the uptake of blood glucose into skeletal muscle (as was done in this study) is a good way of assessing metabolic health.
Along with its benefits for blood sugar, elderberry has also been shown to boost immunity and reduce the severity and duration of colds and flu. Rather than trying to swallow capsules, I prefer elderberry extract brewed in a tea or an infusion with fresh lemon, honey or ginger.
[SIDEBAR 2]
How much do you really need to eat?
Nuts/seeds: About 1/8 cup per day
Seafood: Two 3-ounce servings per week of wild-caught fish or seafood
Meat: 3 to 4 servings of organic, grassfed meat per week
Vegetables: 6 cups of leafy greens a day, or 3 cups of other cooked or raw vegetables
Fruit: 2 cups per day
Legumes: 1 cup, cooked, per week; or 2 half-cups twice per week
Avocados: 2 to 3 per week, cubed or sliced in salads, or salsas
Sources:
1“Association Between Dietary Factors and Mortality From Heart Disease, Stroke, and Type 2 Diabetes in the United States.” JAMA. 2017 Mar 7;317(9):912-924.
2http://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/seafood-nutrition/healthcare-professionals/omega-3-content-frequently-consumed-seafood-products
3“Effects of Avocado (Persea americana) on Metabolic Syndrome: A Comprehensive Systematic Review.” Phytother Res. 2017 Apr 10.
4“Indolepropionic acid and novel lipid metabolites are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study.” Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 11;7:46337.
5“Legume consumption is inversely associated with type 2 diabetes incidence in adults: A prospective assessment from the PREDIMED study.” Clin Nutr. 2017 Mar 24. pii: S0261-5614(17)30106-1.
6“Phenolic Elderberry Extracts, Anthocyanins, Procyanidins, and Metabolites Influence Glucose and Fatty Acid Uptake in Human Skeletal Muscle Cells.” J. Agric. Food Chem., 2017, 65 (13), pp 2677–2685.