Type II diabetes is a massive problem in the U.S. And — as I’ve been saying for years — faulty diabetes dietary recommendations to eliminate whole grains, fruit, and even meat are only making things worse for millions of Americans.
And now, we can add another disastrous government recommendation to the list: cutting salt.
Turns out, eliminating salt from your diet may actually increase your risk of developing Type II diabetes, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (of all places)!
I’ll tell you all about that eye-opening study — and what you should do — in just a moment. But first, let’s talk a bit about why the government is such a big part of the problem when it comes to the Type II diabetes epidemic…
Government slams the door on natural approaches
Type II diabetes is a complex metabolic-hormonal-nutritional disorder that ultimately stems from too much sugar in the blood.
But a few years ago, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — the government agency charged with researching natural approaches to chronic diseases — stated that there’s “no evidence” for the role for nutritional supplementation in preventing or treating Type II diabetes!
This ignorant statement blatantly disregarded basic biology and ignored the countless studies that show how nutrients and botanical remedies do indeed lower blood sugar.
The NIH’s nonsensical proclamation also effectively halted new scientific research on nutritional approaches for combatting Type II diabetes.
Fortunately, independent research has begun to uncover the important role of the GI microbiome, in influencing blood sugar, metabolism, and absorption of sugar. The GI microbiome is the environment in your gut where billions of healthy probiotic bacteria thrive.
And we’re now learning that many active botanical and herbal remedies actually work directly in the GI tract to control blood sugar — before they even enter the bloodstream. These types of natural-working remedies possess what I’ve coined as having “biome-availability.”
In the meantime, mainstream medical research continues to plow full speed ahead, researching the metabolic and hormonal aspects of Type II diabetes. And recent findings inadvertently turned up something very useful about nutrition…
Case in point — the new study that showed cutting salt may increase your risk of developing this dreaded disease…
Researchers uncover key link between a major hormone and Type II diabetes
For the new study, researchers looked at data for nearly 1,600 adults, ages 45 to 85, participating in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
The participants had no clinical cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.
Over an average 10.5-year follow-up period, there were nearly 120 newly diagnosed cases of Type II diabetes.
Turns out, levels of a key hormone called aldosterone were independently associated with a greater risk of developing Type II diabetes.
Produced by the adrenal gland, aldosterone is the hormone responsible for regulating sodium in your body. And elevated aldosterone is linked to high blood pressure and impaired insulin sensitivity.
In this study, for each standard statistical increase in aldosterone, there was a whopping 44 percent increased the risk of developing Type II diabetes. Specifically, the evidence linked having double the standard level of aldosterone with a 2.6 mg/dL increase in fasting blood sugar.
The researchers observed these associations even after adjusting for all known risk factors for Type II diabetes.
Still, that persistent finding didn’t stop researchers from looking for far-fetched explanations…
Racial differences don’t explain these findings
Certain “racial-ethnic” population groups were also seen to have up to 10 times greater risk of diabetes if their aldosterone levels were high. And there were differences in the extent of aldosterone’s association with blood sugar among different “racial-ethnic” groups.
And because of these supposed racial-ethnic differences, researchers went looking for “genetic factors” to explain differences in salt sensitivity, aldosterone production, and/or other physiologic factors.
In fact, there’s more overlap among cultural-social groups than genetics for each group…
The researchers also went looking for ways to “target” aldosterone with drugs. Ah yes, more drugs are always mainstream medicine’s answer.
Tragically, the researchers missed the real answer hiding in plain sight…
Researchers miss the forest through the trees
In the report, no one discussed the basic biological fact that the reason the body increases production of aldosterone is in order to retain fluid and electrolytes, like sodium.
Of course, the government continues to perpetuate the myth about the dangers of “high” sodium, leading many people to severely restrict their sodium intake. Which, according to this study, may lead to a cascade of problems. Including heart disease and even Type II diabetes.
This conclusion makes sense — as prior studies have shown that low-sodium diets actually lead to more cardiovascular disease, as I’ve reported before. And now we know that low sodium and high aldosterone could also actually be leading to more Type II diabetes.
That conclusion also fits with what we’re now seeing as the causes of linked “cardio-metabolic” diseases of Type II diabetes and heart disease. And there appears to be many more metabolic/hormonal links to this deadly combo than mainstream medicine understands.
So — what you can do?
- First off, make sure to follow a healthy, balanced diet with meat, seafood, plenty of green, leafy vegetables, fruits, and nuts. These foods will give you adequate levels of nutrients and minerals, including sodium, which is naturally present in foods.
- Cut out sugars and processed carbs, which can lead to blood sugar problems all on their own.
- Make sure to include good sources of potassium, such as apricots (dried or fresh), avocados, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, grapefruit, oranges, potatoes, salmon (wild-caught Pacific only), spinach, squash (acorn), sweet potatoes, and white beans. High aldosterone can cause the kidney to excrete potassium as it works to retain sodium.
- Consider supplementing with curcumin (1,000 mg), chromium (200 mcg), ginger (120 mg), and vanadium (5 mg). As I recently discussed in the November 2018 issue of my monthly Insiders’ Cures newsletter, new research shows these nutrients, in combination, can safely and effectively lower blood sugar… and keep t low without resorting to dangerous new drugs. To read more about this powerful combination and to access my entire archive, click here to become a subscriber.
Source:
“Renin‐Angiotensin‐Aldosterone System, Glucose Metabolism and Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: MESA,” J Am Heart Assoc. September 4, 2018; 7(17)