Feel Grand: Diabetes

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>> Today on Feel Grand.

There are some ailments and health problems that require us to seek the help of others.

And then there's a disease like diabetes, which requires us to take an active role in managing our health.

And hopefully conquering illness.

In this episode, we'll be speaking with Dr. Mark Hyman about how diabetes is one of the best examples of why we should all take back our health.

And how we can play a more active and invested role in living well every single day.

[ Music ] [ Applause ] >> Hello and welcome to Feel Grand.

I'm your host, Jane Seymour.

Almost 10% of the US population has diabetes.

That's an amazing statistic to hear isn't it?

It's a disease that affects not just those of us who are older, but also our children and even our grandchildren.

It's an overwhelming illness with 7 million of us undiagnosed.

And another 79 million living on the edge as pre-diabetic.

Let's face it, the chances are pretty good that you, or someone you love is living with this chronic, sometimes fatal disease.

It certainly feels like more often than not, we're seeing headlines about a familiar face facing a diabetic diagnosis.

But as most of us know, hearing the word "diabetes" goes beyond just headline news.

On each episode of Feel Grand, we like to start the conversation by hearing from someone just like you, who is living with the illness or health issue that we're discussing on the show.

So let's meet Carvel.

He was a picture of health until Type 2 diabetes diagnosis came knocking.

[ music ] >> I'm a Type 2 diabetic.

I was diagnosed a couple years ago.

It was kind of a traumatic experience for me, being an active CEO and President of my own company.

And having a real full schedule, to wake up one day and find out that I'm I trouble.

And I need to start taking some real strong action to reverse the Type 2 diabetes.

I had never been in the hospital ever in my life.

I had never broken any bones.

And I just was sitting around one day and I kept thinking, wow this kind of feels funny; I feel kind of funny.

I couldn't put my hand on it, then I started feeling a little tingling in my toes.

And it was just a different feeling that I had never felt before.

And in fact I was really fortunate that my mother, obviously, was kind of close by because I actually went to the emergency room.

And when I went in there, they said, hey listen your reading.

Said you're at -- you're over 400.

[Chuckles] you're supposed to be between, you know, 82 and maybe 102.

Let's get you taken care of.

And so it was a total shock.

I thought I was probably [chuckles] in the best shape I've ever been in.

I'd been exercising; playing tennis on a regular basis.

It just came as a surprise to me.

When I started taking the medication, I didn't feel good at all.

And the doctor explained to me, that the reason I didn't feel good, because I was used to feeling bad [chuckles].

So I wouldn't know what a good sugar level would be in my body.

I'm really trying to hang in there with my age, but the reality of the matter [chuckles] is I'm getting up there in the years.

And I think I just took liberties I shouldn't have taken.

The nightlife probably was a little bit too strong for my age.

You know, I should have been getting my sleep [chuckles].

Getting home earlier.

But again, when you're in a marketing environment, you always have meetings and you always have people coming in internationally that you're entertaining.

So I think that just kind of caught up with me.

I really believe it was just a matter for myself of getting older, and having to make an aggressive change in my lifestyle, starting with really, things such as the consumption of alcohol.

So instead of drinking, you know, two or three glasses of wine, you know, just maybe not drinking any.

Okay?

Watch -- just really being very cognoscente about what I put in my body.

I basically have really fell in love with the blender.

So I throw all the stuff I there that I really, really hate eating, like Brussels Sprouts and beets, and you know, a lot of the vegetables that I normally really -- you just must consume.

So I'm an organic-type of person.

I consume a lot of fruits and vegetables.

But primarily the green things.

If it's green, it's your friend.

So I eat a lot of that.

I eat very, very small portions of protein.

I try to stay with beans, if you would.

And then we talk about the other protein.

If it's bigger than the palm of my hand, I pass.

From a feelings perspective, yeah.

Initially depression sets in.

You're like, you're just why me?

You know, why is this me?

And I'll never forget the most encouragement I ever got was from my daughter, who's been in the full-time ministry all her life.

I called her up and she says, "Dad how's it going?"

I'm like, "Well, dad's, you know, kind of struggling a little bit with his health, you know."

She says, "Well what's going on?"

So I told her I was a Type 2 diabetic.

I said, "But you know," I said, "Sweetheart I'm trying."

She goes, "Well guess what?

You need to try harder."

[Chuckles] so when she gave me that little stern advice, I said, okay, so you've got two grandkids.

Try harder.

And I appreciate my daughter, Sophia, for sharing that with me.

I joke about it a lot of times, but she was very serious.

Try harder.

And I just would ask people that are out there, that have come in contact with Type 2 diabetes, giving me encouragement that you can beat it.

It's not something you need to have for life.

But you have to take an aggressive approach to it.

>> Thank you Carvel for sharing your story.

So if you're facing that same diagnosis.

Or even if you're simply at risk for a bout with diabetes in the future, what can you do to stay one step ahead of such a hands-on illness and get yourself feeling grand again?

Today our guest is Dr. Mark Hyman.

Mark is a specialist in chronic illness, and wrote the book, "The Blood Sugar 10 Day Detox Diet".

About how to stop that sugar addiction that seems to be plaguing all of us.

He's a practicing family physician, and an 8 time "New York Times" Best selling author.

He's also the founder and director of the Ultra Wellness Center, where he practices the idea of functional medicine.

To address the root causes of chronic diseases, please welcome Dr. Mark Hyman.

[ Applause ] So what do you mean?

What does "functional medicine" mean?

>> Well functional medicine is a way of thinking about the body as a system.

Getting to the root cause of disease.

Most of the time we practice medicine by symptom.

We treat the symptoms like high blood sugar, instead of dealing with the cause, which is what we're eating.

So functional medicine is a method of thinking that solves the problem of chronic disease.

>> So why did you particularly pick diabetes?

>> Well it kind of picked me.

[Chuckles] when -- you know, when you look at what's happening in America today, 1 in 2 Americans has pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes.

1:4 teenagers has pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes.

This is the biggest epidemic facing us, and the biggest threat to our -- not only our health, but to our economy.

International security.

And to the future of our country and the world increasingly.

So it really became evident to me that I had to focus on how do we solve this problem?

How do we get to the root of what's causing this epidemic of pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes in America.

>> So there are a lot of myths about diabetes, and I'd love you to tell us the truth.

>> Well there are a lot of things we believe.

That it's genetic, for example.

That well my grandparents had it.

My mother had it.

You know, I'm going to get it.

Everybody in my family's overweight.

And what we know, for example, is that it's not.

In fact you might have a predisposition, but you don't have a pre-destiny.

That, for example, the Pima Indians 100 years ago had no Type 2 diabetes.

Were thin and fit and healthy.

Today, 80% of them have Type 2 diabetes by the time they're 30.

Because the environment changed that then influences our genes.

But the environment is really the key factor here.

The food environment.

Our activity.

Our stress levels all impact.

Even environmental toxins impact our risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

>> Is it inevitable?

I mean if you're 55 or older, is the damage already done?

>> No.

You know, we know that we see reversal of chronic disease all the time.

In functional medicine we do, because we treat the cause.

If you look at the data, for example, on treating Type 2 diabetes aggressively with insulin or medication, we often see the outcomes are not that great.

In a large study, for example, of 10,000 people, they found that those who were treated most aggressively to lower their blood sugar with drugs, actually had worse outcomes.

They had more heart attacks and more deaths.

Why?

Because you're treating the downstream symptoms; not the upstream cause.

You can't keep eating poorly and lower your blood sugar while the -- it's like treating the smoke and not the fire.

So you have to treat the fire.

And we do that using lifestyle and food.

And really dealing with the root cause of it.

>> So what is it that we are doing to our bodies every day that's causing this?

>> Well the real fact is that we're eating a diet that's making us sick and fat.

That we're eating 152 pounds of sugar, and 146 pounds of flour per person in America.

That's average.

Now I know I'm not eating that much.

And you're probably not.

I mean some people who are watching are eating a lot more.

And not only that, but you know, flour we think, is -- you know, it's bread, but in fact flour has a higher glycemic index than sugar.

So a piece of bread actually raises your blood sugar more than table sugar.

So it looks like, you know, when you eat a donut or bagel, or have pasta, you're -- you think you're not eating that unhealthy, but in fact it may be just as bad.

So we're eating a diet that's driving this.

And it's an insane amount of sugar.

It's about a pound of sugar and flour combined, for every man, woman, and child in America.

And that's really the problem.

We're eating an industrial food supply that is driving this epidemic.

>> How do we stay ahead of it?

What do we do to prevent it?

>> Well we have to start early.

You know, we know for example now, that even in utero, that kids are being programmed for diabetes because of what their mothers are eating.

We know that we're feeding our children diets that are making them sick and fat.

We see in little kids -- in grandkids -- we see Type 2 diabetes like we've never seen before.

In 1980 when I was in medical school, there were no cases of Type 2 diabetes in children.

Now there's 50,000.

And now 1:4 teenagers has pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes.

Even the skinny kids, 37% of them have pre-diabetes.

Because even though the food doesn't make them fat, it makes them sick.

>> So we're actually poisoning our children.

>> Yes.

So we have to start early.

And we have to start by teaching them how to cook.

And teaching them how to eat real food.

And how to actually train their palates so they're not addicted to these foods when they're younger.

>> So that's the point.

So I heard -- you and I saw something the other day when we first met that absolutely blew me away.

Which is that most of the foods that we eat, on the packets; when we look at the back.

It tells us how much of each ingredient there is.

When it comes to sugar, there's nothing there.

They don't tell us.

>> Well they don't tell us the -- actually the percent -- >> Percent of -- >> -- of our daily allowance because there is no [chuckles] percent of daily allowance.

>> And then the thing that really got me, was when I was told -- and I believe this is true -- that sugar is more addictive than crack cocaine and heroin.

>> That's right.

That's right.

>> That's unbelievable.

>> That's right.

It's pretty frightening Jane, there are 600,000 industrial food products on the market -- processed foods -- 80% of them have added sugar.

And we don't actually know what we're eating.

We're having sugar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The average breakfast cereal is 75% sugar.

It shouldn't be called breakfast, it should be called dessert.

And what happens is -- what we've learned scientifically, is that sugar in the diet in these quantities is a drug.

It acts in the brain just like cocaine or heroin.

In fact, in animal studies, the rats will go after cocaine less than sugar.

They'll work 8 times harder to get the sugar than the cocaine.

If you put them on an electric shock pad -- which sounds cruel; it kind of is -- they will let them eat sugar and they'll keep eating sugar even while they're getting electric shocks.

That's how addictive it is.

And so that happens in humans too.

We know we crave things.

That we binge on things.

And why?

Because our brains are wired to love sugar.

And the food industry knows this.

They hire cravings experts to create the "bliss point" of foods.

To get more stomach share and get heavy users.

Those are the terms that they use in their insider memos, to talk about how they manufacture and produce these foods.

So we have to face the fact that we cannot be consuming pharmacologic doses of sugar.

Sugar's great.

It's a recreational drug.

You know, you like to have a glass of wine, fine.

>> Yes.

>> But you wouldn't be having wine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We're having, you know, sugar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in America.

>> This is true.

And I think what's shocking to me is the whole idea of it being in utero too.

>> That's right.

>> Because, you know, we really have to talk to our children about this.

This isn't something that happens in old age.

This isn't something that just happens to a few people.

It's happening to all of us.

If we go to the doctor and we get the diagnosis, is this like the end game?

Is this -- are we in trouble?

Can we get back from this?

>> Well this is what we're learning.

It's really quite exciting.

We see in studies, for example in the UK, that they can reverse diabetes in a week using aggressive dietary interventions.

In 12 weeks they can reverse all the physiologic changes in the liver and the pancreas by doing aggressive dietary interventions.

We know, for example, if you're morbidly obese -- let's say 400 pounds and have Type 2 diabetes.

You get a gastric bypass, your diabetes goes away in 2 weeks.

You're still morbidly obese, so what is causing that?

It's because it's the food we're eating.

So you can't take a pill and expect your diabetes to go away.

You have to change what you're eating.

It's caused by food.

And it can be cured by food.

I see this all the time.

I have patients who get off 100 units of insulin.

Who get off their medications.

Who reverse their diabetes by being aggressive.

You know, like we heard Carvel say, "You have to try harder."

When you -- like Benjamin Franklyn said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

By the time you have diabetes you need a pound of cure.

But the good news is, by aggressive lifestyle and dietary changes, and by doing the right kind of exercise.

And by paying attention to the root causes of diabetes, you can reverse it.

>> And then of course diabetes doesn't just end there, does it?

Diabetes causes heart attacks and all kinds of other things.

>> Right.

I mean -- yeah.

That's right.

>> I mean it's just [chuckles] -- >> Nobody dies from diabetes.

Diabetes causes death from heart attacks.

You're four times more likely to have a heart attack if you have diabetes.

From dementia.

The non-alcoholic dementia, Type 3 diabetes.

Because it's caused by sugar.

Cancers -- many cancers.

Breast cancer.

Prostate cancer.

Colon cancer.

Pancreatic cancer.

Caused by sugar in our diet and by increasing -- increasingly, what we call insulin resistance.

It also causes depression.

It can cause infertility.

It can cause even acne.

Obviously strokes.

And all these things are the chronic illnesses that are driving disease.

And of course by the end stage you get amputations and kidney failure.

But if you get it before that, you can reverse it.

>> Sweeteners.

You know, the ones that are not supposed to be sugar; that are supposed to be good for you?

Tell me about that.

>> That's right.

So we believe, that you know, if you're a diabetic, you can use artificial sweeteners.

>> Right.

>> That that's an okay substitute for sugar.

But what we're learning is that they actually may be causing a problem.

That there's an increased association with weight gain.

That in fact, in one large study of 66,000 women who had 1 soda a week, their risk of diabetes went up by 33%.

If they had one large diet soda a week, it went up by 66%.

And the average diet soda drinker has about 3 a day.

>> So diet soda -- >> It increases cravings.

It increases hunger.

It may slow your metabolism.

It screws up your brain chemistry, so you think sugar's on the way but it's really not.

In fact then you produce more insulin and you store fat.

So you -- everything kind of goes haywire because the signals are all screwed up.

>> How do we break the cycle?

How do we get all these generations to realize that the only way you can be a good parent is to be alive, right?

>> Right.

>> And the way to be a great grandparent is to be able to be there for your children.

How do you teach them?

How do we change this whole philosophy?

>> Well the answer really isn't in the doctor's office or the hospital.

By the time you get there, it's too late.

The answer is in the kitchen.

The answer is -- >> And you were telling me that doctors don't learn about nutrition.

>> No.

I mean it's stunning.

Today, the diseases that doctors are seeing in their office are caused by food.

It can only be cured by food.

And yet doctors learn nothing about food in medical school.

Which is kind of crazy [chuckles].

But we're changing that.

And I think we have to start changing the way that we think about creating health.

We have to make the home the center of health.

The home has to be a safe zone.

We have to reclaim our kitchens.

We've outsourced our cooking to corporations.

So we have processed food.

We have microwave food.

We have packaged food.

I went into a home in South Carolina as part of this movie, they didn't have one real food in their house.

Everything was a package, a box, or a can.

You read the ingredient list, you couldn't tell what it was.

It could be a Pop Tart or a corndog just by the label, because it all had high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, MSG, flour, processed ingredients with all sorts of names you couldn't pronounce or recognize.

When we don't teach our kids to cook.

When we don't make family meals the center of our life.

When we don't actually learn how to shop, and grow, and eat real food, we can't save ourselves.

So it really comes down to reclaiming our kitchens.

Taking back our kitchens.

Taking back our homes.

And then of course our schools and our work places.

And our faith-based communities, all of that's very possible.

>> Well one of the things that I've been doing is growing organic food.

>> Hm.

>> And people say, well that's well and good because you have a garden.

But actually a lot of the food that I grow is grown in tubs.

>> That's right.

>> I mean there is no reason why you can't -- >> No.

>> -- grow food, or at least appreciate -- >> Right.

I mean if you have a windowsill you can grow food.

>> [Chuckles] yes.

You could grow -- >> If you have a roof you can grow food.

Roof-top gardens.

Urban gardens.

There's all sorts of revival of local, decentralized farming, which is going to help us change our food supply.

We have to change our food supply.

>> And when our children see how food grows, they're absolutely -- you know, it's magic.

>> Absolutely.

It's so great.

I mean when I -- >> And it tastes great!

>> It's so great.

I had little kids and I grew a garden.

I helped them dig the dirt.

And plant the seeds.

And watch them grow.

And they got -- I mean they would kind of pick everything off there before it was ready sometimes [chuckles].

But they really got to enjoy real food.

And then they got to cook it.

And so you introduce kids to real living.

And it can be done in urban environments.

I've been in the Southside Chicago, in the poorest neighborhoods.

Where there's a phenomenal school there where they actually are growing gardens in French beds that are raised in schools that teach kids how to grow and eat real food.

And it's changing them.

>> Well that sounds to me like the most obvious way of reversing this.

That, and the education of being able to tell people the facts of, you know, what diabetes really means.

>> Mm-hm.

>> You know, it's a very scary thing.

Now when you have an illness that strikes so many people, you get a lot of questions obviously [chuckles].

So we thought we'd have some of our audience members share their story, and maybe ask a question if you don't mind?

>> Absolutely.

>> Okay.

Who do we have?

Would you like to -- >> Yes.

I have Type 2 diabetes.

I've had it for several years.

I exercise.

I try to eat properly.

But my question is medication.

There are so many side effects to -- I take Metformin and 4 units of insulin daily.

>> Mm-hm.

>> There are side effects to that.

>> That's right.

>> So I was wondering, how do you feel about alternative medicines, herbs, spices?

Are they beneficial?

>> Yeah.

>> You hear so much about them on TV.

Is it a scam?

Are they real?

Or are they safe?

>> Well there are a couple questions there.

One is, what about medications and diabetes?

Do they work?

What about the side effects and how do you deal with that?

And two, what about all these alternative remedies, do they work?

You know, what's stunning to me is that nutrition is still considered alternative medicine [chuckles].

Nutrition is the cure for diabetes.

So in fact, it works far better than medication.

When they've studied head-to-head diet plus Metformin.

Or diet plus -- you know, instead of insulin.

It works far better.

But you have to be aggressive.

You, for example, can't eat sugar.

You have to cut out flour products.

You have to eat real, unprocessed food.

You can't eat things in a box, a package, or can.

It sounds extreme, but if you really want to reverse this you can.

And you can get off those medications with your doctor's supervision.

And as far as those cures and miracle cures, there really aren't any.

It's really your fork.

Your fork is the miracle cure.

>> All right.

Thank you so much.

>> Who else?

Do we have another?

>> I have a question.

>> Oh we have a question there.

>> I have heart disease, and I have noticed in the past five years, taking the intensive doses of statins too that I have to take, that I am becoming more and more a pre-diabetic.

It's affecting my blood sugar.

I'm basically a vegetarian.

My husband and I have been eating organic foods for over 35 years.

And I'm at wits end.

Because I really want to know -- I want to avoid becoming a diabetic, but I've been put on these medications for my heart.

And there seems to be a connection -- at least from what I've read -- between statins and an increase in blood sugar.

>> That's right.

>> Could you address that?

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

You know -- >> Thank you.

>> The truth is that diabetes or heart disease are not drug deficiencies, right?

They're not a statin deficiency.

Or a Metformin deficiency.

They're caused by our lifestyle.

And often we know, that by aggressive lifestyle interventions we can change that.

As far as statins and diabetes, we are seeing literature that there is an increased risk of diabetes in people who take statins.

For example, in the Women's Health Initiative, looking at thousands and thousands of women, there was a 48% increase in the risk of Type 2 diabetes in women who took statins.

Why?

Because statins work by blocking an enzyme that produces cholesterol.

But it also blocks an enzyme that makes CoQ10.

And that enzyme is required to produce energy in your cells.

So your body's ability to produce energy decreases.

Your insulin goes up.

And it actually may increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

So you have to be very careful about taking the right amount.

Or using other strategies to improve your cholesterol, which is really the key here.

So I'm not sure why you have heart disease.

And there are many causes.

It could inflammation.

It could be toxins.

I can be nutritional deficiencies.

It can be diet.

There are a lot of factors.

But if you actually look at the root cause, you can often address that.

And actually sometimes get off medication.

>> Thank you.

>> I actually see people having better cholesterol off medication than on medication when they eat the right way and take care of themselves.

And you might be a vegetarian, but actually you might be eating a lot of grains, for example, or a lot of sugar.

>> None [chuckles].

No.

No grains.

>> And then -- yeah.

So it really depends on, you know, individually -- individualizing and personalizing your approach.

>> Thank you.

>> So you've been given the diagnosis by your doctor, and sadly, of course we haven't got to meet you, who clearly has a different approach to all of this.

How do we talk to our doctor about whether or not we should be taking medicines, or whether we should be doing this in a dietary way?

>> Well I think it's really important to recognize that you're the CEO of your own health.

Particularly with a lifestyle disease, you actually have to take control.

Your doctor can be a trusted advisor, but at the end of the day, you have to shift what you're doing.

And your doctor might not be the right person to get the advice from, if they don't understand nutrition -- which most don't.

So I think really looking at your doctor for advice and help is great.

Getting the right blood test is great.

But then you have to take over and be the seat of your own health.

And that's why I encourage people to learn about their bodies.

To take the right actions and learn about how to do it through certain books.

I mean I've written many books on blood sugar and diabetes.

Which is really to empower people with the self-care tools.

Self-care is often far better than healthcare.

>> Well, thank you Mark for coming on the show and helping us start the conversation about diabetes [applause].

And what we can do to combat it.

And I hope that so many of the things we've talked about today will help people in the audience and at home.

And that this conversation can continue once our audience leaves today.

You turn off your television at home, or close your browser.

Wherever you might be watching from.

Diabetes, like so many chronic illnesses, is something that you have to manage as you get older.

But isn't taking a more active in your health ultimately a good thing?

The key is to stay mindful of your health before an illness, like diabetes, comes about and forces you to get involved.

So do what you can every single day, to get more invested in your health and wellness.

And try to stay one step ahead of illness [music].

If you'd like more information, and to continue the conversation with our experts, feel free to log onto our website at feelgrand.org.

Remember, life is a journey.

And we need to do everything we can to take care of ourselves so that we can make that journey last.

So be sure to keep healthy.

Live well.

And feel grand.

Until next time [music].

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Because a healthier you leads to a healthier community.

And healthier communities lead to a healthier world.

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