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HOW DID THE COMMONLY PRESCRIBED HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE DIET COME ABOUT?Articles - Dr. Bernstein Shares His Insights At the turn of the century we fed diabetes patients very low carbs, such things as beef broth, meats, and green vegetables. In fact back in 1863, the Banting Diet http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/issue187/WilliamBanting.shtml was first used and you will not believe the number of studies done early in this century. So how did we ever get to the "high carbohydrate diet"? Richard K. Bernstein, M.D., F.A.C.E., F.A.C.N., FCCWS has the answer in this week's feature.Diabetes Solution Revised and Updated 2007 HOW DID THE COMMONLY PRESCRIBED HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE DIET COME ABOUT?
Why is such advice being promulgated, when the major cause of such diabetic complications as heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, and blindness is high blood sugar? When I first developed diabetes, in 1946, little was known about why this disease, even when treated, caused early death and such distressing complications. Prior to the availability of insulin, about twenty-five years earlier, people with type 1 diabetes usually died within a few months of diagnosis. Their lives could be prolonged somewhat with a diet that was very low in carbohydrate and usually high in fat. Most sufferers from the milder type 2 diabetes survived on this type of diet, without supplemental medication. When I became diabetic, oral hypoglycemic agents were not available, and many people were still following very low carbohydrate, high-fat diets. It was at about this time that diets very high in saturated fats, with resultant high serum cholesterol levels, were experimentally shown to correlate with blood vessel and heart disease in animals. It was promptly assumed by many physicians that the then-known complications of diabetes, most of which related to abnormalities of large or small blood vessels, were caused by the high-fat diets. I and many other diabetics were therefore treated with a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet. This new diet was adopted in the mid-1940s by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the New York Heart Association, and eventually by the American Heart Association (AHA) and other groups around the world. On the new diet, most of us had much higher serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and still developed the grave long-term complications of diabetes. Seemingly unaware of the importance of blood sugar control, the ADA raised the recommended carbohydrate content from 40 to 50 percent of calories, and then more recently to 60 percent. The ADA’s most recent guidelines have backed off by vaguely stating that some diabetics may do better with less carbohydrate. Next feature: Recent Developments Regarding Risk Factors for Heart Disease See The Rest of Dr. Bernstein's Feature Articles and Excerpts hereWatch for the Next FREE LIVE WEBCAST: with Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, who will answer questions from medical professionals and patients and it is free. Just go to www.diabetes911.net and register and ask a question if you like! To listen to the last webcasts go to http://www.thebernsteinconnection.com
Author’s Note For information on how you can purchase Diabetes Solution, go to www.Diabetes911.net Special for $18.45. Regular $29.95 A savings of 11+ dollars “The Secrets to Normal Blood Sugars” ORDER NOW!! www.diabetes911.net ALSO CHECK OUT Dr. Bernstein’s new site with all of his videos features and teleconference calls.
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If, like me, you’ve had diabetes for a while, you’ve probably been told to cut way down on your dietary intake of fat, protein, and salt, and to eat lots of complex carbohydrate. You may even still read this advice in publications circulated to diabetic patients.
We would like to thank the publisher Little Brown and Company and Dr. RichardK. Bernstein, for allowing us to provide excerpts from Diabetes Solution 2007 Edition
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