Contents:

• Executive summary
• What is diabetes?
• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• Gestational diabetes
• Metabolic syndrome
• Pre-diabetes
• Common health complications
• Why do people become diabetic?
• Genetics
• Lifestyle and environmental factors
• Life with diabetes
• Classical approach to treatment
• Medication
• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• Diet
• How well does it work?
• The D-Diet
• Basic principles of the D-Diet
• Why and how it works
• The D-Diet nutrition basics
• Conclusion
• References

How well does it work?

How well does the classical approach to treatment

Dieticians frequently recommend using food exchange lists, which advocate combining certain types of food at every meal, counting carbohydrates and restricting portion sizes. This kind of diet, together with medication, focuses mainly on glucose management and weight-loss but doesn't limit animal products - the main sources of saturated fat in the diet. So, whilst it may keep blood sugar under control, it allows the body to feast on saturated fats and cholesterol and makes the kidneys work hard in coping with animal proteins.

High animal protein diets force both liver and kidneys to work harder in order to filter nitrogen products out of the bloodstream in the process of producing urine. Kidneys dilate their blood vessels to filter out protein waste - and animal protein causes greater dilation than plant protein. In addition, plant-derived proteins are lower in sulphur and demand less from the kidney's filtration system. Moreover, fat droplets which accumulate in muscle cells remain exactly where they are and the condition gradually worsens.