Diabetes occurs when the pancreas occurs little to no insulin, or the body does not respond properly to insulin.   There are approximately 350 million people worldwide who have diabetes.  The result is 1 in 3 medicare dollars are spent treating the disease.   Those who are overweight are especially at risk for developing diabetes.  Two-thirds of the human population are overweight or obese.  Why has this disease gone from a mostly hereditary issue to a quite common occurrence?  In the next twenty five years, a third of all Americans will have diabetes.  How do we prevent it? Can it be prevented?

The answer is yes.  Diabetes can be prevented, though damage can take some time to undo.  A large concern is the amount of fatty streaks in ones’ arteries.  Most children under the age of 10 contain these fatty streaks, due to our poor diets.  A child diagnoses with diabetes can lose 20 years off their lifespan.  The biggest culprit of causing these streaks is animal products.  Animal products contain a large amount of saturated fat and cholesterol, which causes blockage in the arteries.  Sugar and carbs are not the cause of diabetes.  In fact, carbohydrate intake is inversely related to diabetes development.  In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a study found that a single serving of processed meat each day increases the risk of diabetes by 51%.  Not only do animal products pose a long-term threat, they are imminently dangerous to our health.  Within minutes of eating dead animals, bacteria and toxins are released into the blood stream, creating inflammation and stiffening the arteries.

Not only can a vegan diet prevent diabetes, it can actually help reverse the disease.  Studies have found a plant-based diet can actually alter the course of the disease, and some have successfully become healthy again after adopting a vegan lifestyle.  This information was presented to leaders of the American Diabetes Association, who stated they did not want an argument and could not continue the interview.   If organizations such as the ADA are not there to help us, we must take the matters into our own hands and quit believing everything the media tells us.