Stuart A. Seale, M.D., board-certified family physician and co-author of The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle, has helped thousands of patients over the past quarter century. He serves as the medical director for Ardmore Institute of Health, and is the medical director, physician, and educator for Lifestyle Center of America’s Stopping Diabetes ProgramTM in Sedona, Arizona. He conducts an advanced wellness and healthy lifestyle workshop called The Well ExperienceTM, and also maintains a private, mobile medical practice, Room Calls Sedona. Dr. Seale has also received the 3-year AMA Physician Recognition Award eight times, most recently in 2007.

There has been an explosion of obesity in America over the last 3 decades. It is estimated that by the year 2015, 75 percent of America will be overweight and 45 percent will be obese (Ideal body weight for an adult male 5 feet, 10 inches is less than 175 pounds, and he is clinically obese at a weight of 209 pounds or above. An adult female 5 feet, 4 inches tall is obese if she weighs 175 pounds or more, and her ideal body weight is less than 145 pounds.) For those who are overweight or obese, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and its associated devastating complications of premature heart attack and stroke, blindness, kidney failure, neuropathy, and amputations is increased by nearly 40 times that of someone who maintains an ideal body weight. This is because metabolic changes occur as body fat accumulates. Fat causes cells to resist the pancreas’ attempt to regulate blood sugar. This metabolic abnormality is called insulin resistance, and it is currently affecting 57 million Americans. Diabetes is not diagnosed until fasting blood sugar levels exceed 125 mg% - however, insulin resistance is usually present much earlier, perhaps for years, even when fasting blood sugar levels remain normal. The danger with insulin resistance is that damage to eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart, and even the pancreas itself can occur while the condition goes untreated. Usually, only when a diagnosis of diabetes is made, is treatment formally started, and that treatment most often is in the form of medications, which do nothing to treat the underlying cause—excess fat in the body.

A recent study, to be published in October in the American Diabetes Association’s journal Diabetes Care, examined the effects of weight loss on the blood sugar control of type 2 diabetics who had been recently diagnosed. Nearly 2,600 patients were divided into one of four groups – those who had high weight (group average 283.3 pounds), but remained stable over a 3-year period; those who had lower weight (group average 194.7 pounds) and remained stable for 3 years; those who gained weight during the 3 years; and those who initially lost weight in the first 18 months after being diagnosed (an average loss of 9.8 percent of initial body weight), and then gained all of their weight back by the end of the 3 years. This study found that despite the last group’s weight gain back to their original, the blood sugar control of the group was better than the other three groups at year 4. The conclusion of the researchers was that significant improvement in diabetes control can be achieved on an ongoing basis when weight loss is accomplished shortly after the diagnosis of diabetes is made, even if initial weight loss is subsequently regained.

While it is certainly not a new revelation that losing weight will help control type 2 diabetes, the study is interesting in that the benefits of weight loss seem to have some lasting effects, even if weight is regained. However, there is an important point that should be made regarding the benefits of weight loss as it pertains to diabetes and its precursor, insulin resistance. Waiting until a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes before significant weight loss is accomplished allows damage to occur in the body due to the effects of insulin resistance. If you are a male with a waist circumference greater than 40 inches (35 inches for females), or if your BMI (body mass index) is greater than 25, then you are very likely suffering from insulin resistance and damage may be occurring even as you read these words. To determine your BMI, use your favorite internet search engine and type in the words “BMI calculator.” You will be directed to numerous free sites where you can simply enter your height and weight, and the calculator will give your BMI number. The message is this – you do not need to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes before complications of the disease begin! And you do not – make that should not – need to wait until that time before you lose weight and therefore reverse insulin resistance. You do not need to be a victim of type 2 diabetes or its ravages. Quite simply, you are in control of your health future – it is not your doctor, or a pharmaceutical company offering the latest, greatest medication.

So what is the best way to take control of your health, lose weight and keep it off (unlike the study group!), reverse insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and prevent debilitating complications or premature death? Here are some simple tips to get you started: begin eating more fruits, vegetables, 100% whole grains, and beans; reduce, or completely eliminate, meat, eggs, milk, and cheese (there is no nutrition in these products that cannot be obtained in a healthier manner from plant sources); eat a large breakfast – make it the biggest meal of your day; eat a moderate lunch; skip supper completely, or make it a very light meal if you must eat; get a step counter (available at discount stores for less than $10) and set a goal to walk at least 10,000 steps per day; be more active in general – take the stairs and not the elevator, park where the RVs park in the parking lot, hide your TV remote – you get the picture. By starting with these simple steps you can be on your way to a healthier, thinner future, without the worry of insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes!

The Cost of Obesity In The United States

The Real Cure For Type 2 Diabetes

Update on Aug 18, 2008 by At Basil & Spice

Reuters!