last week my husband who has never followed a nutritional program or an exercise program was diagnosed with diabetes type 2, he is currently on two medications.

after reading several of the zone books, i feel confident that the zone lifestyle would be beneficial for my husband.
his primary md is not an advocate of the zone lifestyle, instead referring him to the diabetic guidelines.

my question would be ( in laments terms)- if my follows the zone lifestyle- could it result in him not being dependant on medication??

i realize that the zone lifestyle is balancing of hormones and insulin.. but are there any studies showing it's affects with type 2 diabetes??

suzanne

Others with more experience wit Diabetes can chime in on that specific Q.
I will just add that should you decide to follow the Zone;
you will also be following the diabetic guidelines.
I would suggest limiting most, if not all grains following the Zone,
with the exception of Steel Cut Oats and Quinoa . . .
Again, I will let those with more experience with Type 2 Diabetes answer you more fully and completely.

Suzanne, yes, studies exist. You can read about the results of one such study in the first Zone book, "Enter The Zone" pages 152 through 160. You may also be able to find specific studies listed in the in the appendices of your Zone books. Some more info, the Zone was developed for people who have type 2 diabetes and for people who have heart disease. The Zone diet is essentially the same diet now recommended by the famous Joslin Diabetes Center. Go to drsears.com>Resources>Anti-Inflammatory Medicine Monographs to find a concise informative overview of the Zone that you can print to share with your physicians.

I am gathering more information for you but in the meantime you may be interested in reading the following link.

http://www.cbn.com/health/NaturalHe...betes.aspx

Sue has given you a good direction and her reading references are very good !

Note, Quinoa is not a favorable carbohydrate for the Zone.

Suzanne, your husband can definitely improve his glucose control by following the zone. I have had personal experience with this, Having had gestational diabetes and controlling blood sugar using zone principles and avoiding additional medication. I am also at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but it has been 9 years since my last child was born and so far have avoided this diagnosis following the zone.

Unfortunately, your physician is not familiar with the Harvard University’s Joslin Diabetic Clinic recommendations to follow a 40/30/30 diet which is identical to the Zone. 40% of your calories come from low glycemic vegetables, 30% from lean proteins and 30% from heart healthy monounsaturated fats like olive oil. This is easily achieved by following the basic Zone guidelines as outlined in the listed resources below.
The Zone was developed for and tested with Type 2 diabetics. Since a low glycemic diet (the Zone) will help to control blood sugars and insulin levels those individuals who are on medication/insulin must monitor their blood sugars and make the necessary adjustments with the possibility of eliminating the medications over time. The Zone recommends colorful, non-starchy vegetables and suggests very small amounts or the elimination of complex carbohydrates as they are too carbohydrate dense and will raise blood sugars rapidly. Diabetics can follow the basic Zone guidelines and recipes with impressive results and must work with their physicians to adjust their medications.
As requested here’s a link to Zone validation studies and diabetic studies drsears.com/AntiInflammatoryNutrition/tabid/380/Default.aspx
Resources that will help you follow the Zone;
1) www.zonediet.com/tools/quick-start-guide - an overview of the Zone
2) www.zonediet.com/tools/zone-classic helpful ways to eat in the Zone
3) drsears.com/AntiInflammatoryNutrition/tabid/380/Default.aspx - Note link to other videos
4) www.zonediet.com/tools/zone-classic - helpful ways to eat in the Zone
5) www.zonediet.com/zone-classic-recipes - hundreds of Zone recipes using fresh fruits and vegetables
6) www.zonediet.com/ note You Tube link at bottom of page
7) www.blog.zonediet.com/ Dr. Sears’ blogs – very informative and usually footnoted to support his comments.
8) www.zonediet.com/blog/2012/01/what-is-cellular-inflammation/

My experience is that docs look at popular diets as fads. But when you give a description of the dietary and lifestyle changes that have been made, they are generally accepting of that. So, perhaps you would want to approach him or her with the positive changes that are being made. The Joslin Study is also a great reference, it is professionally written and Probably mote highly respected.

Even Taking the info to a dietician might be helpful, she might be willing to work with your hubby on incorporating the two dietary approaches together.

thank you everyone!!

on july 19, my husbands #'s were 415,
after starting his medication and THE Zone lifestyle, his number went to mid 250's, ( july 26),
a week later- staying on the zone lifestyle, his numbers dropped again to 140, then my husband ( mark) decided to eat out of the zone for a night, his blood levels the next morning rose to 180,
he told me he felt tired and out of sorts, he returned to the zone lifestyle and several days later his blood levels were 104, now here comes the exciting part (as if these numbers weren't exciting enough), last night (aug. 14), his number was 96!!!! WOO HOO!!!!! below 100!!! now if he can maintain this lifestyle, hopefully his numbers will continue this progress and he will have a chance to be off his meds. (which is both of ours desires).

I am so proud of mark, it wasn't, and still isn't an easy transition. afterall, his favorite foods were fried and grains/goodies.

I on the other hand, am quite exhausted from preparing breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, snack for 5 everyday. but it's worth the effort for our health and well being!!

and i did take the advice, to copy some info on the zone, but his md wasn't too impressed, and felt his numbers dropped due to his meds-- not the diet, we too shall see-- for if mark's numbers remain under 100 for a month, he has his md's permission to stop his meds and see what happens ( he will just have to monitor his blood more closely).

CONGRATS! and keep it up.
The effort of preparing healthy meals/snacks will IS worth it!
It gets easier in time, second nature.
I've been doing it for about 8 years.

Excellent report! You and Mark are doing a great job. You'll find that eating in the Zone soon becomes second nature.

With numbers as high as he started, it is no doubt that he had to start some medication. That probably gave him his initial boost to get things in line.

However, how can it be argued about what happened to his numbers when he went off of the Zone and his numbers jumped? Wow, I think that is impressive!

The real proof will be when he is able to go off of his meds and manage everything with diet and lifestyle changes. Because, seriously, with numbers as high as he was, he was headed for that point in the disease when oral meds and diet management are no longer possible. So, to be able to reverse it is great news!

I agree with John, the effort is truly worth it in the end. If I had a crystal ball, I would tell you that he was headed into a really bad direction in which he was also at high risk for heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, etc. I am a health professional and I see what happens on the other end of the spectrum when people don't change their lifestyle. Working at a hospital, most of our inpatient admissions have various diagnoses, but the underlying secondary diagnosis is almost always diabetes.

And, I can vouch for the fact that it does get easier as time goes along. You will soon establish some routines, find some favorite recipes, find the easy ones, and you will find time-saving tips that work for you.

wow, congratulations!!! that is amazing.

I agree its a LOT of work initially, but over time I found shortcuts, so it became a lot easier.

Of course, these days, I'm only eating for one ... but back then, I was cooking for two and three people ...

I'm separated.

alexy

back when I was shopping, cooking, cleaning up, etc., for me AND for other people ... boy it was a LOT of work!!

But there are a lot of short-cuts so it DOES get much easier over time ...

I personally eat my veggies and protein straight up these days, no cooking anymore, it's just too much work for me. Just throw my veggies into the microwave and have protein with it. Thats it.

Alexy

Here's one easy way to get protein: just microwave your frozen pieces of fish.

with frozen salmon (4 pieces in a package), pollock (3 meals' worth of protein for a woman in a package), etc.,: all I do is put them in a square container, glass that is, and microwave with the glass top on but slightly off to let the air escape.

I suburge the fish in water enough to completely cover them before I pop them in the microwave.

I microwave for 10 minutes.

I take them out. I do things like, for pollock, I add one tablespoon of extra-light-tasting olive oil. It transforms the fish (for me personally) so that I really love eating pollock. I don't like it plain, but with OO, it tastes great. Less OO doesn't work for me.

With salmon, i add small pickled onions and the pickled vinger or whatever you call it and

The basic idea is to just throw the fish into the microwave and let it take care of itself.

It's much easier for me than cooking on a stovetop.

Then I microwave my veggies.

I almost never use the stove these days ... LOL.

Alexy

Suzanne:

I am a type 2 diabetic who is medication-free as a result of the Zone Diet. I posted my story several years ago and it can be found here:

http://www.zonediet.com/forums/aft/34354

By following the Zone, I avoided taking medication for high blood sugar, meds for high triglycerides and meds for cholesterol. I was briefly on meds
for hypertension, but following the Zone, I was able to ditch those after a few months and some work with some forum members determining how
much fish oil I should take.

I agree with members here regarding how doctors view the Zone. General practitioners think all diets are fads and don't even look at the research.
If you husband is Type II Diabetic, the first thing you should do is stop seeing ONLY a general practitioner, but instead see a endocrinologist. They
specialize in folks with diabetes. If you can find one who will actually look at the diet, I will be shocked. But that should not dissuade you from
continuing to follow the diet. It works. Period.

Following the recommendation of most doctors to take in a little more exercise and eat low fat diet (high in carbs) will only make things worse.
And eventually the meds will cause damage to his body. Stick with the Zone. I'm living proof that it works.

Matt

Sarah/Alexy;
.
I know its convenient, and I will probably still continue to use it; however,
I just saw an interesting report on the use of microwave ovens.
.
It was an iHealth video. Wherein the Dr. suggests you try an experiment,
which visually demonstrates what microwaves do to food.
Take two identical plants in two different flower pots.
Feed both only water. But one of them only use microwaved water.
He guarantees that in a few days the microwaved water fed plant will be dead!
Demonstrating how microwave ovens destroy all nutrition in foods.
.
I, probably will not stop using ours, completely; but, I will think carefully before using.
He even suggests it would be had to tell folks to stop using,
and reasonably states to use only in emergency or really, really short for time.
But realize that you are probably sacrificing your nutrition in doing so.

Yikes and double yikes and triple yikes.

I had no idea.

Not good news for me as I basically throw everything in the microwave, because, I'll be honest, if I do the same on the stovetop, it often get burned ...

Hmm. You know. I DO have a plant here that I can water with microwaved water and see what happens.

Who is the doctor? Or ... ?

Alexy

iHealthTube: http://www.ihealthtube.com/aspx/vie...775e7e40b9

ok ... I can't hear the doctor, I'm deaf, but, I'll check out background info ...

thanks.

I don't necessarilky agree with him, but, it's important to stay open to all kinds of info I think ...

Alexy

@ matt-- thank you for your words of encouragement. It is good to hear about someone elses story. I know there is a wealth of info
on this site, as well as the books- but in all honesty, i tried to search diabetes type 2- and not much was coming up-- i guess i haven't
learned how to navigate the site.
I am completely convinced that the zone is the way to go--as my husband left for work and left his prepared meals/snacks at home--
he attempted to stay in the zone while ordering take out all day at work- however, his glucose test spiked a bit--yet another clear
indication that the zone is working!!!

Suzanne, click on DrSears.com in the blue bar at the top of this page and search that site for type 2 diabetes. You'll find numerous pages of hits. Sift through those for the Ask Dr. Sears Q&A's (questions fare by zonediet.com members and answers are by Barry Sears). Here's one of many I just found with that search:

http://drsears.com/tabId/399/itemId...h-Oil.aspx

Something smells very fishy to me about this microwave oven story. When you microwave foods (or water) what you are doing is subjecting what's in the over to electromagnetic radiation (like radio waves, visible light, etc) at a frequency that causes water molecules to vibrate. When they vibrate, the heat up. That's it. Now, it's certainly possible that there are other molecules in our food that will also vibrate at the same frequency, and it's possible that those molecules could even be damaged as a result. But the water molecules are not damaged. And so, using microwaved water to water a plant should have no impact. The water doesn't hold any nutrition - it's just water. Drinking water does have gasses dissolved in it as well as fluoride and traces of chlorine. Often green thumbers will let tap water sit before watering a plant with it to allow the dissolved gases and chlorine to escape. It seems far more likely to me that there is something else in play here, like watering with water that is warm or hot from the microwave. That could definitely make certain plants unhappy. I would not read too terribly much into this microwave situation without further information and a better study.

@ sue-- thank you! it worked, i have most of the books that were used as references. they were quite helpful, i was
just wondering if any new information was available--any further studies in 2012?
again, let me state that i am a firm believer that the zone is helping my husband (and me).

Suzanne, I don't know the answer to your question about new studies in 2012. You could always call Zone Labs and ask.