I have previously talked about Diabetes and Health Risk Factors and today, I’m going to be talking to you about the three common myths about type two diabetes. For those of you who have suffered or are currently suffering from type two diabetes, this may resonate with you. When you go to the doctor and usually, they’re gonna run some blood work. The doctor will then say, “I’m sorry to tell you, but we have the results of your bloodwork and you have type two diabetes.” Now right away, most people are gonna be pretty shocked when they hear that because most people tend to don’t have any symptoms in the early stages of type two diabetes. So you get the diagnosis and the doctor says “Here’s your first medication, I want you to go to fill the medication and by the way, I’d also like you to change your diet, lose some weight, and exercise.” 

Now, what’s frustrating is that when most individuals hear this, they’re not sure what to do. “What type of exercise? How much exercise? What type of food should I eat? How much do I need to lose?” They’re kind of left on their own. I am certain you had this similar situation. Maybe you had to go out and read some books or go to a diabetic class. Now, most of us know that we need to make some changes in the way we eat. If you’re eating too many sugars or whatever else, those are simple, easy changes. But what does it take for an individual to essentially reverse their diabetes? Well, I can tell you that those three things are not going to reverse your diabetes but these are the three common myths that I want to talk about today.

Myth Number One: Diet’s Component 

When you go to a diabetic class, these classes are pretty interesting because they will tell you to eat the same things that everyone else is going to be. Maybe it helps, maybe it starts to reduce your blood sugar, maybe your hemoglobin looks a little better, and the doctor is happy, seems everything’s great. The problem is after some time when you eat that way, things start to balance out and you don’t see the changes continue to happen. Sometimes the blood sugar starts to go up over time. Now, you’ve made the changes in the way you eat. But you’re not seeing the significant changes anymore, your blood sugars are going up. Now, what do you do? See, the myth is that we can eat a certain way if we just reduce our carbohydrates and we increase our proteins or whatever, unfortunately, it doesn’t fix the problem.

Now, if you’re looking just to lower your blood sugars, then that is a good choice, I’d recommend you do that. But if you’re looking to get down to the root cause of why you have diabetes, well, the food may be an underlying mechanism, it could be a problem you’re dealing with. Meaning, there’s more to it than just the way you eat. And I know many of you have experienced this. When we analyze patients in our practice, we have to know exactly what is going on with them and what they need to do. That includes what they should be eating. We never have two diabetics eating the same way. There’s always going to be uniqueness in what they’re eating. There is no one size fits all diet. There are lots of books out there, “I reversed my diabetes doing this,” but it may not ft you.

Myth Number Two: Losing Weight

How often have you heard, “Oh, the cause of your diabetes is because you’re overweight, you need to lose 20 pounds or 100 pounds”? Well, if that were truly the case, then why do we see diabetics who are skinny? Why do we see people who are completely obese and have no diabetes? The point is that not all diabetes is going to be caused by weight. The weight can be a contributing factor, but it’s not the cause. I can tell you from my perspective, I have seen patients lose pounds, and their doctors still keep them on the medications because their blood sugars are not low enough. Losing weight will help you lower blood sugars, it may help you with energy, feel better, less pressure on your joints, but it is not going to fix your diabetes. It is not the cure and it is not the cause. 

Myth Number Three: Exercise

Exercise is beneficial, but is exercise going to help you reverse your diabetes? We know that exercise can burn sugar and calories, help with weight loss, and reduce blood sugar, but it will not fix the problem. In our office, we don’t have a metro size because most are just way too unhealthy to be exercising and they’re going to cause more harm. They can increase injuries because they’re trying to push themselves to exercise. They can cause more cardiovascular problems by putting too much stress on their cardiovascular system. A lot of individuals are doing things and trying to push themselves because they’ve been told to do so. And they’re just making themselves worse. They test their blood sugar before the workout and after the workouts, their blood sugar still goes up. It’s the opposite effect which means that exercise is causing more harm. 

I don’t let our patients exercise in most situations until their body is healthy enough. But when you think about it, lose weight, change your diet, and exercise, shouldn’t we all be doing that as human beings? Shouldn’t we all have a balanced diet? Shouldn’t we all have a weight that is good for our bodies? Shouldn’t we all be exercising? Of course! So how can that be specific to diabetes? You can get it in a medical model and the traditional model. They told everyone to do the same thing. If you go ask somebody who has diabetes, they will surely tell you., “They told me to lose weight, change diet, and exercise.” If everyone is doing the same thing, we should have no problem with diabetes at all. People have missed that one big hiccup which is the underlying cause. 

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