Reversing Diabetes
Diabetes is a serious global problem in the modern world! In the United Kingdom statistics in 2004 revealed that 1.8 million people have been diagnosed and are suffering from Diabetes, and a further 1 million individuals have not been diagnosed as yet, but have the disease. In the USA Diabetes is the no.1 cause of death, because so many people are suffering from this Disease. There is an estimated 16 million people with Diabetes in the USA, with another estimated further 8-16 million people suffering who have not been diagnosed. So possibly 32 million individuals are suffering from this Disease in the USA alone.
Psychologically being diagnosed with Diabetes can have crippling effects if the individual lacks an understanding of the disease and is therefore vulnerable to other people’s projections and advice on the issue. Taking a pill from your Dr. is not a responsible choice, I will explain why.
At a cellular level scientists are now confirming that all disease today is an expression of the gene. The majority of scientists believe that all disease is a response from our genes and is a ‘poor lifestyle habit’. All adult disease is beginning to be labeled as a ‘bad lifestyle habit’.
Our genes manufacture all of the chemicals produced in our bodies. Our genes do have an ‘element’ of genetics passed from our parents such as: the color of our eyes and hair, etc., however, the chemicals released from our genes ‘moment to moment’ have nothing to do with our parents.
Our genes respond to:
Our genes also adapt to our environmental needs, moment to moment. As human beings we are constantly adapting. Our genes adapt to the current need we place on ourselves through our environmental experiences, through the choices we make.
Genes also respond to our thoughts, the meaning we choose to label our experience with. For example, we can either label our experience as positive or negative. We can think positively about developing Diabetes, eg. “OK, I need to change my lifestyle habits now and take more exercise and eat a healthier diet!” Or, we can choose to think negatively “I may die early now!”
Choosing to see the positive is very important in our lives, but the majority of the books on the power of the mind, quite honestly have got it wrong. A positive mental attitude is dependant on the quality and depth of your relationships. Will does not exist. This is why it is so important to help those people in need.
Diabetes, Obesity and Hypertension (high blood pressure) are inter-related. High blood pressure and being overweight increases your chances of developing Diabetes ten-fold. In Diabetes individuals have high blood sugar levels. The reason for this is simple to understand, the sugar in the blood is not getting into the cells where it is needed! Once inside the cell the sugar needs to be transported inside the mitochondria, which is like the engine off the cell. With Diabetics this process does not happen as efficiently. In healthy individuals once the sugar gets inside the mitochondria it meets and mixes with oxygen, and then combustion happens. Heat occurs first as a result of the combustion which then produces power. This is how electricity is made in the human body. This is how the human body produces energy. However when this does not happen efficiently, electricity is not generated and therefore energy is not produced efficiently!
In diabetes, sugar in the blood has a hard time getting into the cell. So, the big question to ask is: why is sugar not getting into the cell? Looking deeper: into the mitochondria? Simplistically, Insulin can help to drive sugar into the cell, so scientists thought for a long-time that Diabetes was caused by a lack of insulin production. But later on scientists find out that there are 2 types of Diabetes: Adult and Juvenile Diabetes.
Individuals with Juvenile Diabetes (insulin-dependant Diabetes) cannot produce enough insulin in their body. Juvenile Diabetes is an autoimmune disease, because the individual’s own T-cell (immune response cells) malfunctions and destroys the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. The disease occurs as a result of the ‘out of control’ T-cell! In Adult Diabetes this is not the case, it is not an autoimmune disease. In-fact most cases of Adult Diabetes have nothing to do with Insulin production. In actuality in Adult Diabetes, insulin production is usually fine. This confused scientists for a while and left this disease unexplainable until very recently. Then the new name was born: non-insulin dependant Diabetes.
Scientists then found that the cell membrane (or outer wall of the cell) has an opening for the sugar to enter into the cell by. This glucose-transporter (or insulin receptor as some scientists call it) is rather like a door that allows the sugar into the cell. When the door is open sugar can come in, when it is closed sugar is blocked from entry into the cell from the blood.
This door, (glucose-transporter) is actually part of a very simple system. The mechanism that opens the door is actually insulin. In healthy individuals when we eat something, sugar is recognized and the pancreas produces insulin. With Diabetics however, the insulin receptor/glucose-transporter (or door) fails to open properly. Scientists began to say that Diabetics are insulin resistant. They thought that they were simply not sensitive to insulin! Then, in 2003 scientists discovered why the Diabetic individuals were resistant to insulin stimulation. A new protein was found that covers up the insulin receptor/glucose-transporter. Insulin comes, but the protein Resistin covers the insulin receptor/glucose-transporter.
It is now known that Resistin is produced in the body, by the gene. Every single protein produced in the body is in-fact, manufactured by the gene. Our gene responds to need and interestingly enough in healthy individuals Resistin is not produced by the gene.
If Resistin is being produced by the gene this means the body has a need to produce Resistin, but why? It is now known that if you eat a lot of sugar then you are not going to necessarily develop Diabetes. So why does the body produce Resistin? Our gene responds to need, so a Diabetic patient develops the need to cover up the insulin receptor/glucose-transporter, but why?
The reason Diabetes develops is sugar does not go inside the cell, inside the mitochondria, which is as a result of not enough, or no exercise. If an individual doesn’t exercise, no combustion is needed, so all the sugar that is in the blood is stored as fat. The mitochondria (the engine of the cell) remain relatively unused. Exercise could be the best preventative medicine against developing diabetes available to mankind!
I personally believe Diabetes is completely reversible. The pharmaceutical companies do not want you to believe so; they want you to remain dependant on their drugs so they can continue to make money off of you. But what sort of exercise could reverse the effects of Diabetes? Both aerobic and anaerobic training should be implemented, but with low-moderate levels of intensity. But it is actually stretching that is so important as a form of exercise. Exercise Physiologists have found that flexibility is critically important, because our health depends upon our circulation! No matter how well you eat, if you do not have good circulation this means the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to every area of your body is poor. Circulation is critical.
So how can you achieve optimal circulation? Blood in the body is pumped through arteries and smaller vessels to every corner of the body. In between arteries and blood vessels is, or should be, a capillary network. Capillaries are tiny blood vessels that interlink to form networks. Capillary density is essential for healthy blood circulation throughout the entire body. Blood capillaries have been ignored for too long. If you do not have capillary density throughout your body, you will have a problem with blood circulation. Indeed, a lack of capillary density will mean there is a lack of oxygen supply and nutrients to the area of the body, where there is low capillary density!
Capillaries are extended to the parts of the body that are regularly used through the body. If a part of the body is not used, capillaries shrink, diminish and disappear. For optimal blood circulation and health, capillary density throughout the entire body is critically important.
If an individual stretches regularly and is therefore flexible, there should an abundance of capillary density throughout the body. If an individual is not flexible there may not be an abundance of oxygen and nutrient supply to some of the tissues throughout the body, (the tight, unused areas of the body) where flexibility is not optimal, due to the lack of blood capillaries.
Capillaries extend and grow not by themselves, every process in the body is dependant on an expression of the gene. In the case of capillary extension and growth, it has been found that the protein-based chemical released by the gene is called Angiogenin. Every cell in the body can produce a substance called Angiogenin meaning capillary production. When Angeogenin is expressed by the gene and therefore produced by the cell, this chemical then enables capillaries to extend and grow.
The gene responds to the need, we adapt to necessity. We have a use or loose it mind and body. Flexibility and therefore capillary density diminishes without exercise training. Aerobic and anaerobic exercise training along with stretching is very important for human health. Exercise is the key to reversing the effects of Diabetes.
Diabetics loose capillary density as the high levels of sugar in the blood damage the capillaries. When an individual has a lack of capillary density they have a lack of blood circulation throughout their body. Capillaries shrink with excess amounts of sugar, so blood cannot flow easily or efficiently. So sugar (and caffeine from tea and coffee) needs to be ‘cut out’ completely from the diet, and ‘daily’ exercise needs to be introduced, both aerobic and anaerobic training with low-moderate levels of intensity, but especially stretching needs to be done daily.
A lack of exercise in an individual’s life means there is no need to produce energy; they do not need to bring the sugar into the cell, into the mitochondria. The gene responds to this need and produces the chemical Resistin, which covers up the insulin receptor/gluscose-transporter! Lack of exercise is most likely the cause of Diabetes, but a high-fat/high-sugar diet is another factor, as the red blood cells that supply oxygen to the cells become stuck together in a poor diet, so the cells do not get enough oxygen.
It has long been known that individuals who do not exercise have a much lower number of mitochondria in their cells. Individuals with long-term sedentary lifestyles have very low mitochondria levels. A decline in Mitochondria increases the possibility of developing Diabetes ten-fold. It is most likely the cause of the on-set of Diabetes is the lack of electricity in the cell. As in Diabetics a negative charge remains in the cell, as the cell does not open up to allow the sugar in to be burned, so the cell becomes closed down.
I personally believe Diabetes is completely reversible with the correct exercise program, by adopting healthier eating habits, and by making better lifestyle choices. Some scientists and doctors may disagree, however, more and more adult disease is now being labeled as a ‘bad lifestyle habit.’ If you change your poor habits for healthier lifestyle choices such as choosing to partake in a professional exercise program such as Choi Kwang-Do, your gene should adapt to this need, stop producing Resistin, and your mitochondria should start to learn to produce energy in your cells again.
Choi Kwang-Do is a martial art with a difference. Designed by Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi, it is a non-contact, non-competitive martial art that has been designed for self-defense, optimum health and personal development. We have already had great results with students with Diabetes, and if you are suffering, quite possibly it can help you too.
Anthony Aurelius is a Chief Instructor and the International Spokesperson for Choi Kwang-Do Martial Art International. He is also a Professional Life and Business Coach and Writer. He is actively involved in helping and educating people so they can live more productive, healthier and happier lives. He teaches Choi Kwang-Do in the Chichester area, West Sussex, UK
He can be contacted via email at: itp@choikwangdo.citp@choikwangdo.comom or in the UK on Tel. 0705 0073007, or Internationally on Tel. +44 7931 560412.
Article written by Anthony Aurelius and published in ‘Positive Health – Integrated Medicine for the 21st Century’, Issue 115, September 2005 www.positivehealth.com
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