so how can you help diabetics achieve
stable blood sugar levels and avoid the
complications of diabetes
I myself have diabetes I was diagnosed
with type 1 diabetes at the age of 12
the book dr. Bernstein's diabetes
solution was very helpful to me in
balancing my diabetes it's not just
another book about a balanced diet and
exercising it's a book that helped me
learn how to solve the core problem
itself let's look at the main principles
of the book my life with diabetes well
beyond a half century and Counting
Bernstein who was diagnosed with type 1
diabetes at the age of 12 encourages a
high level of self responsibility and
believes that a person with diabetes
must take responsibility for his health
rather than rely on a doctor's
intervention despite the improvements in
the medical equipment available for
treatment of the disease Bernstein
suggests that the dietary
recommendations of the American Diabetes
Association are problematic and in fact
caused the patient's condition to
deteriorate
according to him this is the reason that
there are almost no diabetics alive
today who were diagnosed during the same
year he was diagnosed
19:46 Bernstein began to suffer from the
complications of severe diabetes in his
20s faced with the growing challenges
posed by his illness he happened to come
across a newspaper ad for a machine
designed to measure blood sugar levels
which was marketed to doctors as a way
to monitor patients his wife a doctor
bought the device and Bernstein started
to check his sugar levels he discovered
that the level of sugar in his blood
peaked and fell dramatically throughout
the day overtime by comparing the blood
glucose response to what he ate he
realized that the main thing that
affects blood sugar levels is
carbohydrates what was surprising about
this discovery is the fact that the
consumption of carbohydrates is
recommended by the American Diabetes
Association
despite its harmful effects according to
Bernstein the complications of diabetes
are caused by high levels of blood sugar
and diabetics can avoid them altogether
by controlling their carbohydrates
diabetes according to the National
Institute of Health as of 2005 diabetes
is the third leading cause of death in
the United States in addition to cases
in which the cause of death is listed as
diabetes there are many cases of illness
and death due to complications of
diabetes these complications include
heart attacks strokes and fatal
infections if these cases would be
included in the number of cases of death
due to diabetes then diabetes would be
the most common cause of death there are
two types of diabetes type 1 diabetes is
caused by a lack of a hormone called
insulin which is caused by the
destruction of the insulin producing
cells in the pancreas the cells are
destroyed by the body itself in this
type of diabetes the patient is
dependent on insulin injections only
about 5% of all diabetes patients suffer
from type 1 diabetes type 2 diabetes is
an acquired resistance to insulin eating
large amounts of carbohydrates causes
high levels of sugar in the blood and
over secretion of insulin from the
pancreas when insulin binds to its
receptors in the brain it causes a
feeling of hunger
therefore the excess insulin secreted
after eating too many carbohydrates
causes a feeling of hunger which leads
to overeating
which again leads to the secretion of
insulin in this way a vicious cycle is
created this is the reason that 80% of
patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
suffer from excess weight according to
Bernstein's estimation the remaining 20%
actually suffer from a mild form of type
1 diabetes meaning 100 percent of those
with true type 2 diabetes suffer from
excess weight patients with type 2
diabetes are treated with sugar lowering
Hills long-term imbalance in sugar
levels as a result of overeating
carbohydrates may lead to the
destruction of the insulin producing
cells in the pancreas and to dependency
on insulin injections as in type 1
diabetes the laws of small numbers in
order to keep sugar levels balanced
Bernstein suggests working according to
the laws of small numbers which state
that the smaller the amounts of
carbohydrates in a meal
the smaller the amount of insulin needed
to bring the glucose into the cells with
a high carbohydrate diet it's very easy
to make a mistake when calculating the
number of carbohydrates in a meal eating
a diet rich in carbohydrates leads to a
higher demand for insulin which at high
levels is absorbed in a more
unpredictable way therefore diabetics
should adopt a diet which will cause
their blood sugar level to remain steady
throughout the day a change in nutrition
to a low carbohydrate diet is more
effective than trying to balance
fluctuations in sugar due to a
carbohydrate rich diet the basic food
groups as we have seen so far the keys
are normalizing blood sugar levels and
controlling diabetes lies in nutrition
the three main food groups are proteins
carbohydrates and fats proteins are
converted to glucose in the blood in an
inefficient manner and cause a moderate
rise in blood sugar carbohydrates on the
other hand no matter what their source a
banana a piece of cake
a candy whole-wheat bread potatoes or
low-fat cereal caused a sharp rise in
blood sugar levels the insulin injected
in the case of type one diabetes or the
insulin secreted in the case of type 2
diabetes is not enough to compensate for
such a rapid increase
diet guidelines essential to the
treatment of all diabetics Bernstein
recommends reducing carbohydrate intake
as much as possible he recommends eating
meat chicken eggs seafood cheese butter
and a small amounts of carbohydrates
which are absorbed slowly carbohydrates
which are absorbed slowly like proteins
cause a very gradual increase in blood
sugar sugar levels can therefore be
easily corrected the change in eating
habits prevents the experience of
drastic changes in blood sugar levels
annoying hunger and complications
associated with high sugar levels
creating a customized meal plan
Bernstein suggests dividing food intake
into three daily meals the amount of
protein in each meal should be constant
and the amounts of carbohydrates as
follows breakfast should include 6 grams
of carbohydrates and lunch and dinner
should each include 12 grams of
carbohydrates just as an example 6 grams
of carbohydrates is about equal to a
small cracker or cup of uncooked
vegetables which don't cause a rapid
increase in sugar levels the reason he
recommends eating less carbohydrates in
the morning is the dawn phenomenon the
dawn effect describes the increased
deactivation of insulin by the liver in
the morning compared to other times of
the day as a result of this phenomenon
insulin activity is lower in the
mornings because the focus is on
controlling carbohydrates it's very easy
to achieve balanced sugar levels
throughout the day the daily amounts of
carbohydrates recommended by Bernstein
is 30 grams this compared to the
recommendations of the American Diabetes
Association which specified 250 grams of
carbohydrates in a 2,000 calorie diet to
illustrate Bernstein recommends that the
amount of carbohydrates represent only
about 6% of the daily diet compared to
the 50% recommended by the American
Diabetes Association
how to prevent and correct
low-blood-sugar
as we know keeping blood sugar levels
steady is a daily challenge faced by all
those who suffer from diabetes
Bernstein also addresses the topic of
fixing blood sugar levels in the case of
low blood sugar he recommends eating a
sugar cube why a cube of sugar and not
say a piece of bread or a soft drink
because a cube of sugar has a measured
amount of glucose in it the effects of
other foods are more unpredictable
since the exact amount of carbohydrates
they contain is unknown and their
effects are not immediate they may cause
a spike in blood sugar even several
hours after the low sugar event
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