Hi All-
My mother has diabetes and I am trying to get her on the raw food diet. I saw the trailer to the film “Raw For 30 Days” and became inspired. I’m also trying to go raw in order to prevent the onset of diabetes later in life. Anyone here using raw foods as a way to reverse and manage his/her diabetes?
Take a look at the trailer at:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jSuqCMld00w
Let me know what you think.
Hi, Josh,
I have been doing a lot of raw food for the last several months and I find that it is a great way to manage my diabetes. I have early Type 1 and originally thought raw food might slow down the autoimmune processes that are destroying my beta cells. I eat sprouted whole grains for breakfast, with some fruit, and a huge salad for lunch, which includes alfalfa sprouts, sprouted peas and lentils, walnuts, apple and cheese. I no longer use insulin for either of these meals and have only a small rise in my BG. I have seen an improvement in my fasting BG numbers but I still get the usual high BG if I eat high carb foods, including fruit and fruit juices. So a raw food diet has been great for me in managing my Diabetes but hasn’t reversed it by any means. However I am Type 1 and it might be different for a Type 2. I’d be happy to discuss this more with your mom as it has been really wonderful for me.
Hey Josh,
Though the movie is being screened for Sun dance right now, I had the great opportunity to talke with the creator/producer of the film and he is a really great guy. I would definitely encourage your mother to watch it.
While I’m not Raw Foods “lobbyist” by any stretch (yet anyway :-P), I have been 50-60% Raw for 4-5 months now and can only speak from my personal results and experience. I never dreamed I’d have such amazing results. My average glucose has gone down more than 50% and my HbA1c is down a full 3% (and I’m still waiting on the latest results but expect them to be lower as well.). And all I did was replace my breakfast with organic fruit/veggie smoothies! I was previously 50% Macrobiotic for the year before that which also helped me a great deal. For the first 13-14 years of having diabetes I was on a very SAD (Standard American Diet) slightly tweaked from the ADA guidelines.
It may be hard for some people, but it is a very personal choice and something that takes self-discipline and determination. It really is a lifestyle and not a diet, though some people will get turned off on an natural, plant-based diet alone. Like in the movie trailer, there was one guy who couldn’t take it and left the program even though he was getting amazing results the doctors couldn’t explain (boy does that sound familiar…). I’m planning on increasing my Raw foods intake to 80-100% soon.
While I have heard early stage diabetics who have reversed the disease and stopped using insulin completely (I’m down over 50% of what I used to take a few months ago myself. I’m not on a pump either.), when looking into things like this you HAVE to remember that everyone is different. As so everyone will have different results depending on their current lifestyle, eating habits and levels of toxicity. While it does have great and immediate effects in some, it isn’t an over-night cure “take 2 of these and you’ll be fine in the morning” type of thing many have been hoping to find.
As Libby offered, feel free to msg me if you like. Best of luck and for your mother as well!
Hi Josh,
I too can attest to the advantage of the raw diet. A good book about it is ‘Raw Family’ by Victoria Boutenko which tells of her family’s experience going from a SAD to a raw diet. Her son was diagnosed with Diabetes which is what led to her conversion. You must be motivated to alter your diet so significantly, but reading these kind of books really helps.
Hi Josh,
I have been on the raw diet for the past 30 days with incrediable results. Insulin usage drop by 75% and lost probably 15 lbs. I feel a lot better. I have been on insulin for 30 yrs and have been very ill most of that time. I expect that the longer I am eating the raw diet the more improvements I will see. I have slipped a few times and my sugars went crazy. I would recommend this to everyone. Tell mom to go for it and she will feel so much better.
Kevin,
That is simply awesome! I’ve upped myself to 95-100% raw in the last 3 days and noticed the exact same thing. I now take a tiny fraction of what I did say last week, it is freakin’ awesome.
We’re doing an audio interview with Dr. Gabriel Cousens in a few days (The main doctor supervising the diabetics in the movie) and will be asking him an array of questions for the new diabetic regarding Raw Foods. I will be sure to post the interview here on TuDiabetes and on the SugarStats blog.
Hey Marston:) I’m looking forward to hearing everything you find out!
MeadowLark
And should you all want to join, I created a Raw Food TuDiabetes group:
I’ve also upped my raw food- at least 2 meals every day plus all snacks and most of my evening meal. I have stopped using insulin and my fasting BG is now around 78. (it used to be about 97) I am in the very early stages of LADA so don’t think it will be the same for everyone but it is really working for me. I need much less sleep- getting up an hour earlier each day to walk before I go to work- and I feel great. I’m curious what other people’s favorite raw “recipes” are. I love sprouted peas and lentils. Marston, you mentioned a fruit veggie smoothie. What do you put in it? I used to do a smoothie every morning but can’t handle the fruit juice and yogurt I used to put in it.
Hey Marston, I just found this. So how is the raw food coming? Do you eat any meat? I felt better for 5 days on only juice and veggises all day,with 2 cooked eggs for breakfast. I want to continue, not sure if its the right thing, so Im going slowly.I live in Tucson, close to where the movie was filmed.
Juat wanted to let people know that I have been getting BG numbers in the 70s at 2 hours PP for the last several days. I don’t take insulin anymore, except once in a while when I am eating out, and rarely go over 100. I eat living foods (sprouted) for breakfast and dinner, but can now eat a wole piece of fruit without any significant rise in BG. I am early LADA and used to see numbers in the 160 to 180 range after meals.
Im so interested in this, as I seem to feel bad after everytime I eat,unless its veggetables salad nuts or fruit.Salmon salad is supposed to be so good for you, yet I get sick.
It looks to difficult for me to sprout, but I am going to check the wild oats and just buy them. Do you eat any meat? Also, what is your typical days food pattern, if you dont mind my asking.
Some sprouting is really easy. Peas and lentils sprout in 24 hours and you can just do them together in a sieve on your kitchen counter. Also whole grains are quick and easy. Any combination of millet, quinoa, rye, oats and barley. Just soak them overnight and then rinse them twice a day. They need to be very small sprouts- just a tiny root- so they are ready in 24-36 hours. They can be frozen so you can make a bigger batch and that saves time. For breakfast I have about 2 ounces of sprouted grains with some fruit (usually strawberries) and nuts and a little milk or yogurt. I might sweeten the cereal with some Da Vinci sugar free syrup. Lunch is always a big salad made with sprouted leafy greens (alfalfa, clover, cabbage etc.) sprouted peas and lentils, a cut up apple, gorgonzola cheese and walnuts. For a snack I might have an apple or carrot and cheese, or maybe sugar free jello with cranberries, or a low carb muffin or cookie made with almond flour. I do eat meat but don’t find myself really wanting meat very often. For dinner I often just have another salad but once in a while I have a low-carb cooked meal of vegetable “lasagna”, chili made with black soybeans, eggs, or meat and cooked vegetables. It seems that I am getting the benefit of the raw food diet even though I do eat some cooked food. I had a baked potato today and went up to 120 for a couple of hours which is not too bad but higher than I go with raw food, even fruit.
Im so inspired! Thank you for the breakdown. At the moment Im trying to cleanse my liver( Im having pain),and feel that this will automatically help my blood sugar problems. Im glad youve opened up the idea of sprouting for me!
That is a great trailer. Thank you for sharing. RAW food is the best for me.
I use a lot of greens in my smoothie. Hemp hearts for protein and some fruit. If you have a vita-mix blender you can use lots of different greens and less fruit. Have fun and experiment with different flovours. Add ginger, and other spices as well.
Karen
Hey Libby,
I’ve switched more towards juices in the morning as they are much easier for my digestive system to process but I still love my smoothies 
I also put a lot of greens in my smoothies: Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Cucumber, Celery. In a smoothing I’ll usually put 1 1/2 fruit in for sweetness and that seems to work great for me.
So I’ll usually make a shake out of:
And of course I’ll throw in a table spoon of Blue green algae or spirulina. Thats a basic shake for me, though I mix it up with fruits like mango’s, oranges etc and cacao powder sometimes for a chocolate shake.
There are a TON of great books with great recipes as well as a bunch online. For me it is really about experimenting and it is also half the fun.
I am vegan and mostly raw. If you follow a raw vegan diet you will feel really good and have tons of energy, if you eat enough and the right things.
Sam, I am a bit confused. It says on your page that your last A1C was 7.2. and yet you believe you have reversed your diabetes? A normal (non-diabetic) A1C is under 5%. Under 6% is considered excellent control and is close enough to normal to avoid most complications, but over 7% means that you must be having some very high BG numbers.