, the association of high cholesterol levels with heart disease, according to the latest massive quantity and variety of epidemiological studies, is seriously questionable except for those with the familial hypercholesterolemia genes. A higher cholesterol for older women has actually been found to be associated with greater longevity and less cardiac morbidity.
Triglycerides
These are fat particles traveling in the bloodstream.
Normal concentration is less than 150 mg/dl.
A high triglyceride level has a questionable causal association with cardiac mortality but seems to be associated with increased high low-density lipoprotein levels of dense, small, easily oxidized particles, which are associated with increased atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).
Clients’ triglyceride levels dropped to what is considered a safe zone of 69 in contrast to the 10-percent-fat vegan research of Esselstyne, which was a high of 144.
My clients routinely see their triglycerides going to normal after one month on moderate-low carbohydrate live foods.
C-Reactive Protein (CRP)
CRP is a proinflammatory cytokine that is a cardiovascular disease risk factor. The CRP reading indicates the degree of inflammation; it is determined by measuring the amount of a specific protein in the blood. Recent research suggests that patients with elevated levels of CRP are at increased risk for diabetes,
hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.
A study of more than 700 nurses showed that those in the highest quartile of trans-fat consumption had blood levels of CRP that were 73 percent higher than those in the lowest quartile.
As the reader now knows, inflammation is the fourth stage of disease, so one can use this test to first determine how far along someone is in the disease process and, even more important, to mark one’s progression back through the seven stages to a healthy physiology. Inflammation contributes to complications that are further along than the fourth stage of disease, such as ulceration (Stage 5), so seeing this marker come down is a significant sign of improvement in health. I measured an average CRP decrease of 70 percent, after one month on the program.
Weight
The results summarized in the success stories that follow are occurring in people who are dramatically overweight.
I am not operating a weight-loss clinic, but my observation is that 82 percent of people will come into a normal weight within two years of adopting the Dr.
Cousens’s Diabetes Recovery Program, A Holistic Approach cuisine and lifestyle.
In all cases people felt stronger and healthier.
At the end of the movie made at Tree of Life titled Simply Raw , the five people felt so much better by all their indicators that they were able to climb Red Mountain, a 1,000-foot plus climb over difficult terrain.
For many diabetics, even those in a postdiabetes physiology, weight loss may need to continue to further reduce the risk of the complications of overweight, including increased insulin resistance and the temptation to return to a diabetogenic lifestyle.
The average weight loss after one month was 22.9 pounds for those who were overweight at the beginning of the program.
The average for the 120 people was 18 pounds in 3 weeks, with one person losing 46 pounds and others routinely hitting 25, 30 pounds.
Eleven Success Stories
Client 1
This 59-year-old male had a health history of Type-2 diabetes for 10 years and an FBS near 300 before starting the program. Additional chronic conditions included heart disease with pacemaker, hypertension, obesity, and stroke.
FIGURE 1. FBS for client 1
This client came to the Tree of Life with a history of blood sugar levels near 500, and at the start of the program, his blood sugar before lunch on January 14 was 330.
Within a few days of officially beginning the program, on January 22, his FBS had already dropped to 123, and by January 27, just five days later, he reached an FBS of 88, close to a normal, nondiabetic FBS.
When he began the program, his weight was 288; one month later he was down to 256.
His fructosamine levels dropped into normal range, from 313 at the start to 262 after one month.
CRP went from 8.8 to 3.8.
Total cholesterol dropped from 147 to 107, and triglyceride levels held steady at 113.
Client 2
This 25-year-old male had a medical history of hospital-diagnosed Type-1 diabetes for more than 1.5 years. His medications included Lantis (15, 20 units daily) and Glucophage (500 mg twice a day).
FIGURE 2. FBS for client 2
After just four days on the program, client 2 was off his insulin completely, with an FBS of 88.
By two weeks, his FBS was consistently below 73 and remained there since.
His fructosamine dropped from 480 to 340, within normal range, in three weeks.
His glycosylated hemoglobin HgbA1c has returned to 6.0 from 11.8.
Total cholesterol went from 216 to 150 and LDL cholesterol from 142 to 88.
His triglyceride level fell from 65 to 53.
Weight loss was not a serious need for this client, who was close to his optimal weight; he lost six pounds in 20 days and then gained back three pounds.
To resolve the question of whether this patient was really Type-1, the patient (on his own) went to his local MD for further tests to determine whether he was Type-1 or Type-2.
His beta cell antibody titers were significantly high at 8.9 (normal is 0, 1.5), strongly suggesting that he is indeed a Type-1 diabetic.
His clinical history, which was one of rapid and fulminating onset of diabetes, causing him to be hospitalized with a blood sugar of 1,200, is consistent with a medical history of Type-1 diabetes, as contrasted with Type-2, which is characterized by a slow onset of symptoms.
It is interesting, and perhaps historic in the field of diabetes research, to note that in a one-year follow-up, his serum C-peptide, which is associated with a precursor protein to insulin, was originally less than 0.5 and is now 0.7.
This suggests that the program is actually beginning to rebuild or reactivate the beta cells of his pancreas to produce insulin.
Client 3
This client began the program on March 27. Before she arrived, her blood sugar had hit levels as high as 465 just three weeks before the program.
FIGURE 3. FBS for client 3
By her twenty-first day on the program, her FBS had reached 85, and weight loss was 25 pounds.
Client 4
This diabetic was 39 years old with Type-2 for five years and a medical history of hypertension and obesity, in my estimation, a classic example of Syndrome X. At the start of the program, her FBS was 400 and her weight was 352 pounds. After one month, her FBS dropped as low as 109 and her weight dropped to 329 pounds, a 23 pound loss. Her CRP dropped from 37.8 to 8.6. Her total cholesterol dropped from 237 to 171, and triglycerides dropped from 225 to 123 in one month.
Client 5
This client was a 55-year-old Type-2 diabetic for 10 years and had manifested a Syndrome X pattern. He started with an FBS of 248, and within 18 days on the program his FBS reached 83, off all medications.
Client 6
This Type-2 diabetic started with an FBS of 130 on oral diabetic medications. In one week while off all medications, her FBS dropped to 82. She also lost 13 pounds in three weeks. Her total cholesterol dropped from 217 to 140, and LDL went from 148 to 46.
Client 7
A 61-year-old female Type-2 diabetic for 10 years, this client had an average FBS of 111. By the end of the program her thinking, which had been noticeably slower, became clearer and more connected to the environment. By the end of the program her FBS was 87 and has remained in the 80s for more than a year, shown at our one-year follow-up, with an HgbA1c level of 5.5.
Client 8
Type-2 diabetes was diagnosed for this 55-year-old 35 years prior, two months after her last baby was born.
She came to us with an average FBS of 300 and was using four doses of oral hypoglycemic medications each day.
On day one, she eliminated her use of oral hypoglycemics and achieved an FBS of 105.
Days two through four, her FBS was 50 and then rose to 77, 84, and 70 for days five, six, and seven, respectively.
This is not an atypical pattern, as seen in my last 120 clients.
Several weeks after her green juice fast, she continued to remain with an FBS of around 70, with one spike up to 170 when she got into sweets.
This spike helped convince her not to succumb to the idea of “moderation” of the Culture of Death.
Client 9
This client had Type-2 diabetes for 10 years, with a history on Metformin and Gluco-Rite for the past three years. On day one, she stopped the use of medications. Her FBS was 144 on day one, 129 on day two, and by day seven was 102. On day eight, she achieved a nondiabetic FBS of 82.
Client 10
This Type-2 diabetic started the fasting program with an average FBS of 110, 120. By day two, the FBS was 98, and by day seven, 65.
Client 11
This is an interesting Type-2 case because it shows that healing does not necessarily occur completely in three to four weeks.
During her one-month program, she lost 26 pounds, went from using 35 units of insulin a day to 0 units, discontinued the use of the pharmaceuticals Lantis, Byetta, Neurontin, and Monopril within four days, saw a decrease in her CRP levels from 8.4 to 2.6, lowered her total cholesterol from 210 to 136 (with LDL dropping from 142 to 85 and HDL rising from 25 to 29), and lowered her FBS from 279 to 126, for a 55 percent drop without any medications.
This particular client was well on her way to a healthy reversal when she returned home.
Of the 86 percent of the insulin-dependent Type-2 diabetics who got off insulin in three weeks, there were 72 percent who did not get an FBS less than 100 in three weeks, many of those who stayed tightly on the program for the full year did go below an FBS of 100.
Foods, Juices, Herbs, Vitamins, and Minerals, An Eloquent Healing Message
The results summarized previously were achieved by a very conscious choice of foods, juices, herbs, vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and enzymes.
The incredible transformation from a diabetic physiology to a nondiabetic physiology has as much to do with what we did include as what we removed from the diet and lifestyle.
You are now aware that we have eliminated processed sugar, white flour, cooked vegetables (and all but leafy green, high-fiber vegetables and sprouts), all processed and junk foods, excitotoxins such as artificial flavorings and colorings, animal fats and protein, trans fats, cooked fats, smoking, and television.
Before we discuss the nutritional and lifestyle elements that we do
include in the program, it is important to mention that there are some plant-source foods that are typically eaten, and even recommended by medical professionals, as part of diabetes-amelioration programs that we do not use.
Wheat
Wheat, according to Ayurvedic principles, is kaphagenic (heavy and sweet) and therefore not recommended for diabetics. We do not include wheat, specifically white bread, also due to its alloxan content. Alloxan is the chemical that makes white flour look clean, white, and “beautiful.” A remarkable discovery that a single injection of alloxan can produce diabetes mellitus in laboratory animals was made in 1942, in Glasgow, by John Shaw Dunn and Norman McLetchie.
Scientists and FDA officials have known about this connection for years.
Alloxan causes diabetes by creating free radical damage to the DNA in the beta cells of the pancreas.
The Textbook of Natural Medicine calls alloxan a “potent beta cell toxin.” It is unfortunate that the FDA still allows companies to use it to process foods we eat.
Research also shows that we are able to reverse the effects of alloxan with vitamin E.
According to Dr.
Gary Null’s Clinicians’ Handbook of Natural Healing , vitamin E effectively protected lab rats from the harmful effects of administered alloxan.