After weeks of wracking my brains out, reading, researching, trying to make head or tails out of what’s going on with so many people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I am convinced of several things. I will refrain from saying anything more about the test and Big Pharma, because I think I have already expressed my feeling on that. (Ya think??) I will say that I revisited The China Study, specifically the chapter on this disease, and am reminded of one of the many reasons I chose a plant-based diet. In study after study, from continent to continent, culture to culture, those who develop diabetes are those who consume the most animal protein. While I will not bore you with all the details of the many studies, “all the findings support the idea that both across and within populations, high-fiber, whole, plant-based foods protect against diabetes, and high-fat, high-protein, animal-based foods promote diabetes.“ Western medicine is prescribing a diet that neglects these findings, (for several different reasons) and we are being made to feel that we are doing all we can and still “failing” at our efforts.
While radically changing our diets is incredibly impractical and often rather undesirable, how practical or desirable is it to have a lifelong condition such as diabetes? The big bonus is the same “diet” that can prevent diabetes can prevent so many other dread diseases. I am a firm believer that The China Study should be required reading for EVERYONE. No, we don’t always want to know, as ignorance can be bliss…but illness definitely is NOT and knowledge is power.
And never, ever underestimate the power of exercise. What a beautiful thing to lunch yesterday with almost 100 of our students. The SilverSneakers program has done so much to improve the quality of life of senior citizens…and me!
