It was long thought that type 2 diabetes is caused by too much sugar in our diets. However, it is now clear that the actual root cause is nothing other than – too much fat! 

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Let’s break it down; when we have too much fat in our diets (for example from animal fats), it clogs up the inside our cells, preventing them from taking up sugar from our bloodstream effectively.  Moreover, the liver, a vital organ in glucose making and storing, also gets covered in fat, making it less responsive to insulin and over time causing insulin resistance which leads to diabetes.

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By reducing the fat in our diets (high levels in processed food, meats, cheeses etc), we can “unclog” our cells of fat, making our body more sensitive to insulin.

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Sugar also plays a part when diabetes develops. Natural sugars that occur in fruit and vegetables, occur in small amounts easily taken up by our cells. On the contrary, high sugary processed foods, sugary drinks and excess sugar added to foods, increases insulin requirements, particularly in type 1 diabetes.

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But it isn’t all about our diet. Having high stress levels also plays its part. Lack of good quality sleep, poor social connections and a sedentary lifestyle are also all directly linked to insulin resistance, by causing low grade inflammation in our bodies which also prevent our cells from responding to insulin the way they should

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From this, it’s clear that to tackle diabetes from the root cause, we need to look at our lifestyles in greater detail, making small but sustainable changes that can lead to success stories just like that of Dr Bajekal above! 

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Check out the brief interview with Dr Neal Barnard to explains things further....