Diets to Reverse Diabetes

The most effective diets to reverse diabetes are natural food regimens based on whole, not processed, foods for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. These diets increase the metabolism and increase the absorption of insulin by fat and muscle tissues to maintain blood glucose levels (BGL) in the normal range and increase the production of insulin from the pancreas. There is no one-size-fits-all type of diet for 100 percent success in reversing diabetes. Each individual has to find what works best for her or him and ask for qualified help when necessary.

Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

It is fundamental that you combine exercise with proper nutrition to help your body, metabolism and immune system strengthen and heal. Thirty to 60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per day is ideal.

When you start nutritional and lifestyle changes to reverse diabetes, pay attention to your BGL and adjust your medication intake as your pancreas produces more insulin and your metabolism maintains good BGL. If unsure how to proceed and how to adjust and decrease your medication intake, consult a specialist that can help and follow you.

Low Calorie Diet

Every day combine your food intake to achieve these proportions: Fiber (40 grams/day), high, unrefined carbohydrates (65 to 70 percent of calories), moderate protein (15 to 20 percent of calories), low fat (12 to 15 percent of calories). Use natural foods.

Choose whole grains (five or more servings/day, small amounts), vegetables (four or more servings) and fruits (three or more servings) as your main sources of daily carbohydrates.

Your best sources of protein come from plants (like beans, nuts and soy). Also non-fat dairy (no more than two servings/day) and fish and poultry (use free range, healthy farmed poultry). Use a three-and-a-half ounce portion once a week of fish and poultry, or twice a week in soups and casseroles.

Fat makes up the reminder of your daily calorie intake with a polyunsaturated-to-saturated fatty acid ratio of 2.4 to 1.

Vegan Diet

Vegan means eating no animal meat or fish or animal products (like dairy products of any kind or eggs). Have a high fiber, low fat, vegan diet. Have three meals and two snacks if necessary every day. Exercise every day.
For your typical meal, eat vegetables, grains, beans and fruit without refined ingredients (like white flour, white sugar, white pasta, bars, vegetable oil). For each meal combine foods to have 80 percent (of the total daily calorie intake) complex carbohydrate and 10 percent of fat, with a 60 to 70 grams of fiber per day and no cholesterol, preferably.

Low Carb Diet

Get a low carbohydrate diet of no more than 20 grams of carbs per day, according to Duke University. Focus on minimizing your carbs per day at or below 20 grams. Choose healthy natural foods and exercise regularly.

Raw Food Diet

You can do this diet for one month and reverse diabetes. Many choose it as their standard food regimen once they try it. Eat vegan, organic, live raw foods. Since the foods are raw it is most important that they are grown in a healthy way, possibly without chemicals that alter your immune system. Completely avoid meat, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, refined foods, junk food, fast food, candies and sugar. Eat directly from nature.

Macrobiotic Diet

This diet is also effective for Type 1 diabetes. It is based on the yin yang principles applied to food reflecting their alkaline/acid composition. The basic idea is to eat in balance with nature, within the season using local seasonal products and in balance with your lifestyle. Because of these principles there is really no one diet that fits all needs, because each location is different and each individual is different. Learn about macrobiotic principles and apply them to your life. The following are general guidelines. Eat not refined, natural, whole, organic foods in season. Drink bancha, green and kombucha teas. The typical macrobiotic diet breakdown is composed of whole grains, vegetables and seaweed, beans, fish, nuts, seeds, miso soup and fruit. The composition of each meal for each type of food depends on where you live, the climate, the lifestyle and the local foods available.

Diet for Type 1 Diabetes

One of the most effective ways to reverse Type 1 diabetes, especially a recent onset when the pancreas is still producing some insulin, is the macrobiotic approach.

Your daily nutrition must be low in fat, have protein and simple carbohydrates. Your main foods include brown rice (short, medium or long grain. Short better in cold climates, long better in warm climates), millet, buckwheat, and combinations of rice/millet/buckwheat, sweet brown rice, azuki beans and rice and gomashio (roasted sesame seeds and sea salt, in a three-to-one or five-to-one proportion). Several side dishes are available, like shio kombu (seaweed), tekka miso, kabucha and other winter squash, miso pickles.

Avoid shellfish, all dairy foods, all animal food including red meat and fish, all sweet foods and drinks, fruit, vinegar, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, melons and all mushrooms.