Consuming a diet that has processed or overcooked foods, or food that are high in sugar is part of the causes of type 2 diabetes. Eating a raw food diet can help decrease the amount of sugar you put in your system and aid you to lose weight.
There is evidence suggesting that losing just 5 to 10% of your body weight can have a great impact on overall blood sugar and type 2 diabetes. A raw food diet can also help you lose weight quickly and naturally.
Type 2 diabetes has become extremely common. More than 20% of people under the age of 20 carry a diabetes mellitus diagnosis. One of the causes of type 2 diabetes is the epidemic of unhealthy eating habits and obesity.
The high blood sugars from bad diet and obesity, reduce the insulin sensitivity of the body’s cells and as a result, glucose cannot enter the cells to be used as cellular fuel. This makes the cells starve for energy.
By consuming a healthy diet that consists of raw food, your body can significantly alter the outcome of type 2 diabetes. This will slow the disease process and reverse the effects of diabetes.
Therefore, we should aim to eliminate the standard American diet, which consists mostly of fast foods, processed foods, dairy products, meat, and sugar-containing foods. We should substitute this diet with raw vegetables and fruits. You also need to exercise to cut weight.
How A Raw Food Diet Can Counteract Type 2 Diabetes
In Switzerland in the mid-1800s, Maximilian Bircher-Benner a Swiss doctor, pioneered the raw food diet. He was the doctor who invented muesli, which consists of grains mixed with dried fruits.
The raw food diet is mainly a plant-based diet which is meant to be eaten in its natural state. This means that the food is not:
- Cooked
- Processed
- Microwaved
- Genetically engineered
- Irradiated
- Treated with herbicides or pesticides
People who believe in the raw diet say that, when you process or heat or food, you destroy most of the nutritional benefits of the food, including the vitamins, phytonutrients, and beneficial enzymes.
Uncooked foods are believed to be more wholesome for the type 2 diabetic.
Eating A Raw Food Diet
The idea behind eating a raw food diet is that you should consume all food in their unprocessed state. The diet is mostly vegan because you can’t consume raw animal products are eaten.
You should not heat the foods above 118 degrees Fahrenheit. However, you are allowed to dehydrate food so that vegetables retain their crunchiness, and the fruit can be turned into delicious fruit leathers.
Raw food diet includes fruits, vegetables, juices, nuts, seeds, raw almond butter, sprouts, grains, seaweed, raw beans, virgin coconut oil, herbal tea, olive oil, and coconut butter.
If you do not prefer to eat an entirely vegan diet, you can drink unpasteurized milk, raw fish, raw eggs, raw meat, and cheese.
When you are on the raw diet, you have to avoid any refined sugar, flour, processed salt, pasteurized milk, pasta, caffeine, baked goods, ice cream, and soda, many types of juices, fast foods and alcoholic beverages.
Since most restaurants only serve cooked foods, you will be more likely to eat the raw diet at home. You can grow your sprouts, juice fruits, and vegetables, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, chop, or blend any fruit or vegetable.
Benefits Of A Raw Food Diet On Type 2 Diabetes
By consuming a raw food diet, the type 2 diabetic can lose weight. According to one research study, those who ate a raw food diet lost 9% of their body weight in a three-month period.
The raw diet also decreases cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which in turn reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
When the weight falls off, the fasting blood sugar and Hemoglobin A1C level will drop. A raw food diet also contains plenty of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and phytonutrients.
However, the biggest downside of a raw food diet is that it is expensive. The person with type 2 diabetes can suffer from a decrease in bone mineral density and bone mass if they consume the raw food.
Raw food diets can also have less iron, calcium, vitamin B12 and D, and omega three fatty acids.
It is important to know that not all foods are better for you when eaten raw. For instance, tomatoes and eggs are absorbed better when cooked. Potatoes, raw meat, and raw fish can be potentially dangerous as they can carry foodborne illnesses.
