A Good Natural Diet for Diabetes

Diabetics should know the importance of good food choices. Making the right choices can lower the dependence on insulin for Type 1 diabetics and other medications for Type 2 diabetics. The right diet can improve overall health and increase energy and vitality. There are recipes designed specifically for diabetic needs as well as many prepackaged options at the grocery store. In addition, individuals can help control diabetes by eating a well-balanced diet packed with natural and raw foods.

Diabetic Diet Needs

• Kendra Blanchette RD, CDE, of the Diabetes & Hormone Center of the Pacific states there is "no such thing as a single diabetic diet." Instead, diabetics are advised to follow the same healthy eating principals as other individuals devoted to maintaining good health. Blanchette recommends a diet that consists of 50 to 60 percent of carbohydrates, 30 percent of calories from fats and the remaining calories from protein. Saturated fats should account for no more than 10 percent of the fat category.

Natural Food Diet

• A natural food diet is one that contains foods that are as close to nature as possible. Natural foods do not include additives, such as hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, refined sugars or flavorings. Natural foods go straight from your garden or orchard to your table or freezer. Other items on the natural food diet include raw honey, stevia, agave nectar, sea salt, nuts, sprouts and whole grains. On natural food diets you can eat the foods raw or cooked.

Raw Food Diet

• Raw food and natural diets are very similar. Both contain plant foods that are low on the glycemic index and low in calories. The difference is in how the food is prepared. As the name implies, on the raw food diet the foods are eaten in their purest form. When food is cooked to a temperature above 105 degrees many of the beneficial enzymes are lost. The body needs enzymes to process and metabolize food and to maintain health. When the body is deprived of enzymes for long periods overall health deteriorates.

  Eating pure raw foods is touted to help diabetes patients reduce their dependence on insulin. According to Dr. Fred Bisci, a nutritionist and expert on raw foods, "Diabetes, as well as many other diseases, sees improvement on the raw-food diet. The body shows many remedial capabilities and reversal of certain pathologies if the diet is done properly and under supervision." Bisci maintains the diet cleanses the body at the cellular level and helps it to function better with fewer calories. Over his career, he claims thousands of Type 2 diabetics have been able to stop taking their medications by eating a diet that consists of 80 to 100 percent of raw foods.

  There is some scientific support for eating raw foods. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, compared the health of 18 people who had been on a strict raw food diet for an average of 3.6 years to 18 other individuals who were on a regular diet. The researchers found the C-reactive protein was much lower in the raw food dieters. This protein is linked to the risk of diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses. Raw food dieters had higher levels of vitamin D and a lower body mass index. The study results were published in the March 28, 2006 issue of the "Archives of Internal Medicine" and cited on the Diabetics Health website.