Raw for 30 Days - Documentary On Healing Diabetes with Raw Foods
by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 09. 6.07
Check out the trailer of a fascinating new documentary entitled Raw for 30 Days, a clever twist on the Super Size Me concept. The film chronicles six Americans with diabetes who typically subsist on junk food as they switch to a 30-day diet consisting entirely of vegan, organic, live, and raw foods. The hope is that they will be able to reverse their diabetes naturally without any medication.
We won't give away the end but the results are pretty interesting. No doubt this documentary will spur major controversy in the medical world when it hits theaters in spring 2008.
Sounds a little dangerous...But many diabetes can be controlled by diet. Type 1 and Type 2.
I really hope that the people involved in this film were type 2 diabetics. Type 1 diabetics usually are diagnosed in early childhood, and are not typically overweight. In fact they are often thin kids who have a genetic problem.
Type 2 diabetics are typically those who acquire the disease due to health habits and usually have a graet deal of excess weight. Some people are even considered "pre-diabetics".
My mother has type 2 diabetes, and is so rigid in her healthy eating and exercising that she has to watch for low sugar attacks. I think that type 2 diabetics or those with "pre-diabetes" symptoms might be able to benefit from this raw foods diet to reduce symptoms or learn to control sugar levels in a slightly more natural way.
However a type 1 diabetic wouldn't have a chance, and also would NEVER subsist on junk food unless they had an insulin needle right there, and were looking to destroy body parts by overloading themselves with insulin.
Type 1 can not be cured by diet alone, you have a physiologic lack of insulin and require insulin replacement
How can it be dangerous? Just eating fresh natural foods is what the body wants to do. How do you feel eating a banana or an apple versus a trip to McDonalds?
Cooked food is a human invention, not made by nature. I'm a lot more worried about the stuff we have made up in the past 100 years that never existed before and now ask our bodies to process versus natural foods that have been around for ages.
The only issue is the body rapidly detoxing and you might have some symptoms from detoxification but it will always leave you feeling healthier if done right.
I basically cured my type II NIDDM by a low-carb diet (similar to Atkins). Quit eating crap that makes your blood sugar high, and the problem goes away.
The low-fat and 'vegan' fads just made my problem worse.
I can't wait for this documentary to come out. I was super excitied the first time I saw the trailer :)
I was demonstrating a Raw food demo (Moroccan Gazpacho - have the recipe posted on my blog - address below) at Whole Foods in Paradise Valley , AZ a month back and bumped into one the people who was in the documentary. He fueled my excitement for the documentary even more!
Cheers!
Kristen Suzanne
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www.KristensRaw.blogspot.com
The statement "Cure" is a little misleading.
There are two types of diabetes.
Type 1 - You need medication to mange your sugar.
Usually diagnosed early in life.
Type 2 - Due to lifestyle choices and eating habits
your body has has trouble maintaining sugar levels.
If you eat healthy and exercise it's possible for you
to not experience the symptoms of Diabetes.
So to clarify this film's program may allow Type 2 diabetics to live a life free of their medication as long as they continue to watch their diet and exercise. However, (I haven't seen the film) I don't think it will "Cure" them and allow them to eat whatever they like after the 30 days are up.
I don't think anyone would expect they could eat whatever they wanted after participating in this! That misses the entire point of the film! Did the guy in Supersize Me think he could continue to eat McD's and improve his health again? Of course not.
The entire point of this is "You are what you eat." Our doctors don't believe this, and most people in this country don't either. If you walk through a typical grocery store, most of the food is full of chemical crap and dyes. Most of it is processed.
Everything we are taught to eat (food pyramid, etc) is dictated to us by the mega food industries of this country. It is not what's actually healthy. Eating a raw diet can be a totally reasonable and healthy way for someone to live as long as they understand the diet (I've see vegan parents let their kids eat tons of sugar, etc). That corporate investment in our food chain has led to a huge nutrition education gap in this country.
I do know you can control type 1 by diet if it is mild. So severity is another issue.
I've been RAW for 6 months and lost 50 pounds (~247 >> ~197).
I am the healthiest I have ever been. It's a lifestlye worth looking into.
Start with the book "A Way Out":
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Out-Dis-ease-Deception-Health/dp/0970966008/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6283299-2414429?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189190185&sr=8-1
Type 1 just can't handle sugar, whether it is from a candy bar or from an apple.
So let's say they're taking their insulin (otherwise they'll probably go into a coma and die) and they eat an apple. What happens? If they "can't handle" it, what happens? Does an apple put them in a coma?
to clear things up here, I am the mother of a type 1 diabetic. Type 1 diabetes CAN NOT BE CONTROLLED BY DIET ALONE, they need insulin to live. Their pancreas no longer produces insulin, the beta cells were attacked by their own immune system, this is an autoimmune disease. It's not developed from eating junk food. My son actually developed it when we were still introducing solids to his diet (he was only 20 months old). He eats a set amount of carbs to balance the insulin. The carbs can come from anything, we don't count the sugar. Of course it's wise to eat smart, type 1's have a risk for heart disease so it's not a good idea to clog the arteries with fast food. Talking about "handling sugar" is rather old school. There's no types of "severity" with type 1 diabetes. They all take insulin everyday to live. There's a difference of severity with type 2's since some need insulin while others take pills, others diet and exercise and don't need meds. But with type 1 you will die without insulin, no doubt about it-google "diabetic ketoacidosis". If anyone in the film is type 1 and managing it without insulin, they are "honeymooning", meaning their beta cells haven't died-yet.
they have a home page at www.rawfor30days.com and they are selling a new 2 disc "how to" dvd set called "Raw For Life".
Take a look at:
www.rawfor30days.com
I am a type 1 diabetic. I am also a university student and have spent a good bit of time studying diabetes and diet. There are such sweeping accusations and misinformation being presented in people's comments that I felt the need to offer a little bit of information.
When an individual is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, they typically still have 15-20% of the insulin-producing beta cells. If the remaining beta cells can be saved, and the auto-immune response stopped, the pancreas has the opportunity to repair itself and replace the destroyed beta cells. There is currently a lot of research being done using anti-immune drugs (like those used when an individual is receiving an organ transplant)- and they are having a good bit of success halting further beta-cell destruction.
A low gi raw food diet (as raw for 30 is advocating) could likely be eaten by a t1 diabetic using little or no insulin (since most of the carbs are from fiber and therefore not counted in calculating insulin dose). Eating this diet gives the body a "break" from the foods which are most difficult to process (meats & dairy), "freeing up" the body to heal and restore itself.
I am NOT saying that this will DEFINATELY cure a t1 diabetic- I do however believe that if one follows the diet, their body will have the best chances to naturally heal itself.
And for further clarification, there are different "severities" of t1 diabetes- the severity is dependent on factors such as the individual's weight, height, activity level, remaining beta cells and insulin receptivity-- these things are the reason that some individuals need significantly less insulin than others (insulin:carb ratios can be drastically different; like 1:1, 1:5, 1:15, 1:20... and so on).
to add a new side i am the mother of a type 1 diabetic who has been eating raw for afew months and has not been cured of diabetes but his blood sugar levels have dramaticly inproved and his a1c gone way down. there is a difference in sugars and raw natural sugars seem to be easier for the body to handle. also many intestinal problems can come with diabetes as with my son and his stomach is much better on a raw diet