The Diabetes Code summary

The way we describe the world changes all the time. We look for new words to describe new phenomena. Just think of “bromance” – a popular term used to describe close, non-sexual relationships between two men.

But have you ever heard of diabesity? It’s another recent coinage and is a useful way of highlighting a novel trend in western society: the epidemic of people suffering from a combination of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Most people know that excessive alcohol consumption is hard on the liver. But alcohol isn’t the only culprit when it comes to liver damage.

Let’s start with glycogen: it’s a substance which stores carbohydrates in our bodies. Too much of it creates fatty deposits in the liver, which over time leads to insulin resistance.

In 2009, the endocrinologist Robert Lustig uploaded a video to YouTube that quickly went viral. In it, he confirmed what many had long suspected: that sugar is toxic for the body.

One type of sugar is particularly bad for our health. It’s called fructose and is a major contributor to the development of type 2 diabetes.

There’s no question that the ability to produce insulin in laboratories and treat type 1 diabetes was a major medical breakthrough. But insulin shots aren’t a silver bullet in the fight against type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes and obesity aren’t just fitness issues. Left untreated, they can lead to cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks.

Obesity is a serious problem. Take one of the author’s patients: Adrian weighs 208 kilograms and lost his job because of his disastrous health issues.

Many patients in a similar situation consider resorting to a drastic solution: elective weight loss surgery.

In 2015, a hospital in Texas was confronted with a three-year-old type 2 diabetes patient – the youngest diabetes patient on record.

That’s a pretty good indicator that the disorder is out of control and that knowing how to prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes is more important than ever before.

Fasting has long been a known cure for diabetes. Elliott Joslin, an early American diabetes specialist, advocated it as a treatment more than a century ago in 1916.

However, a lot has changed in the medical profession since then. Today, the focus has increasingly shifted to using drugs to treat diabetes. But it’s time to rediscover more traditional cures.