El Proceso de Definir en la Geometría Sólida

Fasting can play an important part in the recovery from adult-onset diabetes. In fact, early in this century, many years before insulin was ever used to treat diabetics, fasting was used as an important therapeutic modality to prolong life in diabetic patients.21 _{It was reported at that time that even in severe cases of}

adult diabetes, the signs and symptoms of the disease resolve with fasting. Glycosuria and acidosis resolved with recovery occurring even in the weak and emaciated patients.

In these early studies on fasting done at the Hospital of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York, the physicians employing this therapy noted that "fasting has not appeared harmful even in these few cases where it has not been successful." Even in these early investigations the importance of keeping the patient permanently "below weight" after the fast and the importance of restricting the quantity of fat in the diet to maintain the benefit gained from the fast were repeatedly emphasized. The authors stated, "Anyone can readily convince himself that, in a suitably severe diabetic who is symptom-free for days or weeks (after a fast) and on a fixed diet, the addition of some quantity of butter or olive oil to the diet will bring back the glycosuria, ketonuria and other symptoms immediately or within a short time."

Unfortunately, now that physicians are able to control these symptoms with drugs, these pearls of knowledge gleaned by researchers from the days when no drugs were available are largely ignored.

More recent studies reporting on the fasting of diabetic patients have likewise shown excellent results,22,23,24 _{and confirm the changes I see with my patients.}

They concluded that, following a prolonged fast, the diabetic patient shows a substantial improvement in insulin function independent of the degree of weight loss, and restoration of pancreatic function can occur that does not occur with weight loss alone. Complete remission of diabetes was reported in many patients.

Fasting should not be used early in the treatment, but rather after many months on the diabetic reversal diet, when the person has lost most of the excessive weight. At this point an extended fast can remove the last bit of

difficult-to-lose weight and, more important, can give the pancreas a chance to rest so it can reset its sensitivity to glucose and recover its normal function. The fast is useful especially when the person is doing fairly well, but still has mildly elevated fasting glucose levels after following the optimal diet and having restored normal or near normal weight.

If the fast is used correctly in the type II diabetic (type I diabetics should not fast), it increases beta cell sensitivity to glucose, which can restore integrity to the pancreas and allow it to reestablish its sensitivity to glucose. This is an important therapeutic modality to bring diabetics whose sugar levels are relatively well controlled with optimal diet to the point where, after a fast is completed, the blood sugars remain entirely within the normal range while the same diet is continued.

Using fasting in a later phase of the treatment program results in restoration of pancreatic function so that patients regain normal blood sugar levels and, in many cases, have no further findings indicative of diabetes. Fasting too early in the treatment program may temporarily slow the metabolic rate, actually making further weight loss more difficult, especially if the individual is not lean after the fast.

When Bill first came to see me, he had already suffered from one heart attack. He was taking an oral hypoglycemic medication for his diabetes, as well as other drugs. I stopped his oral diabetic medication at the first visit, and he began my recommended diet for diabetes. When Bill returned two weeks later his blood sugar levels were around 140, much better than they had been on the medication, with his previous diet. His blood pressure remained high, however (180/95 while taking the Tenormin, a bloodpressure-lowering medication), and we decided to begin a fast rather than add further medication at this time. When he arrived a week later to begin his fast, he already had lost about 10 pounds since I had first seen him about three weeks earlier. All medications were stopped and he fasted 20 days. When Bill completed his fast, he had lost 20 more pounds, and not only did his blood pressure remain around 110/70 without medication, but also his fasting glucose levels stayed under 120, within the normal range.

Occasionally, a diabetic patient who is significantly overweight may need to eat correctly, exercise appropriately, fast, continue to eat correctly for a few months, and fast again. In this manner the overweight diabetic grows lean and strong. By combining exercise and extremely low fat, high-fiber, plant diets with fasting, the patient builds a new body. Both the patient and I develop excitement at the new, lean, trim, muscular body that eventually reveals itself from under the old cloak of fat. Like training for and competing in the Olympic Games, these patients reach their own sustained triumph as they recover and maintain their health.

The combination of fasting, which places the least demand possible on the patient's overworked pancreas, with the lower insulin demands of the new diet gives the pancreas its well-earned rest and enables the body to accomplish internal house-cleaning and to repair cells damaged by years of diabetes.

Importantly, since all diabetics have significant blood vessel disease with hardening of the arteries diffusely throughout their vessels, the fast is able to address the damage already done. Like no other therapeutic modality, fasting removes the risk of a cardiovascular accident or other complication that was practically inevitable without this intervention.

Before insulin was discovered earlier in this century, many patients with diabetes were treated in the manner described—by very low fat diets and fasting. The medical profession abandoned the practice after insulin was discovered because physicians of the time thought diabetes was licked and that no one should have to deprive him- or herself of food in order to get well. Insulin gave diabetics the freedom to continue to be fat, to continue to abuse their bodies, and to continue to allow their body to age and weaken from the effects of diabetes without having the immediate symptoms of dry mouth, frequent urination, and weakness. But now we know better.

So we must get diabetics off their treatments. If the sugars are not adequately controlled with diet alone, then fasting must be used. If the diabetic is motivated and truly wants the best opportunity for a long healthy life, we should not use medication at all in type II diabetes; instead, we should utilize aggressive nutritional intervention with fasting, the most effective treatment for these patients.

My results, obtained from diabetics adopting this natural approach, show that over 95 percent of type II diabetics can come off medications with much better blood sugar control than they had on insulin or oral medication. With the dietary modifications alone, type I, or childhood-onset, diabetics are able to reduce their insulin requirements by almost half. But more important, they can improve their overall health, retard the destruction of their bodies, and significantly reduce complications and the risk of early cardiac death.

All physicians should inform their patients about the optimal recommendations to maximize their life span and minimize their risk of suffering from disease complications. Then at least the patient can make an educated and informed choice. If this prescription is followed, heart attacks and strokes will become rare. Diabetes will diminish in incidence and practically disappear from our society.

We can help ourselves, our friends, and our children adopt eating habits they can live with so that they can be free of the fear of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and many other serious illnesses. Passing on to you this valuable information gives you the power to free yourself from medical treatments, to control your own life, and to choose your own health destiny.

NOTE: No patient on medication should make dietary changes without the assistance of a physician, as medication adjustment will be necessary to prevent excessive lowering of the blood sugar level, or hypoglycemia.

Chapter 7

Autoimmune Disease: