Diabetes

Diabetes is affecting this country in epidemic proportions. If you're one of the over 18 million Americans with diabetes, it is important that you get this condition under control, for it is a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, and amputation.

The Conventional Approach

Insulin plus several classes of oral drugs are used to treat diabetes. For type 1 diabetics, whose pancreas produces too little insulin, insulin is appropriate and necessary. Without this hormone, which ushers nutrients into the cells, the cells would literally starve to death. However, for the more than 90 percent of all diabetics who have type 2 diabetes, the problem doesn't lie with an insufficiency of insulin but with the cells' inability to properly utilize it. Physicians are quick to prescribe drugs for type 2 diabetics, and many of them lead to higher and higher levels of insulin — which may lower blood sugar but have adverse consequences for the cardiovascular system. Some of these drugs actually increase the risk of heart attack!

Although some drugs do aim to improve the cells' sensitivity to insulin, our biggest complaint with the conventional approach to diabetes is that doctors do not first offer to help their patients implement the safest, most effective treatment for type 2 diabetes: lifestyle changes, weight loss, and natural measures to improve insulin sensitivity.

How We Treat Diabetes

The Whitaker Wellness Institute's approach to diabetes is twofold: to lower blood sugar levels and to reduce the risk of diabetic complications. We focus on diet, exercise, and targeted nutritional supplements that improve insulin sensitivity and protect against the destructive mechanisms unleashed by high blood sugar and insulin.

This approach is very effective in reducing and often eliminating the need for drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes. While type 1 diabetics cannot expect to get off insulin altogether, their insulin requirements can be greatly reduced and their risk of complications significantly decreased on this regimen.

Diet Dramatically Affects Blood Sugar

Diet is particularly important in managing diabetes, and it is a key component of our treatment program. We teach you how to tell good fats from bad, and carbohydrates that raise blood sugar from those that promote health. Instruction includes group lectures by our nutritionist, cooking classes with our chef, and individual nutritional consultations.

We also help our patients with weight control, because type 2 diabetics who are overweight can often completely reverse their condition simply by losing weight by following a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

Exercise Improves Insulin Sensitivity

Exercise can substantially reduce your need for medication. Exercise not only lowers your blood sugar levels but also increases your body's overall sensitivity to insulin. Furthermore, weight loss, which is so important in diabetes, is virtually impossible without regular exercise.

Our exercise physiologist will lay out an exercise program for you based on your heart function and degree of complications so you will be assured that you are exercising in the safest, most beneficial way possible.

Nutritional Supplements Lower Blood Sugar...

The key to getting type 2 diabetes under control is to improve your cells' sensitivity to insulin, and there are several natural compounds which do just that. The minerals chromium and vanadium, the herbs Gymnema sylvestre and banaba leaf, and the antioxidant lipoic acid all lower blood sugar by helping insulin work better.

The drops in blood sugar caused by these supplements can be dramatic, so we closely monitor your blood sugar while you are under our care. At the same time, we decrease the doses and sometimes eliminate your diabetic drugs.

...And Protect Against Diabetic Complications

If you have diabetes, you are familiar with the host of potential complications that accompany this disease. However, you may not be aware that most diabetics are deficient in a number of important nutrients that protect against these complications. It is particularly important to replace the water-soluble nutrients, which are lost in the excessive urination so common in diabetes.

Your doctor will start you on an intensive nutritional program of antioxidants, B-complex vitamins, magnesium, and other water-soluble vitamins and minerals. You will also be prescribed targeted nutrients, depending on your complications, such as bilberry for the eyes, lipoic acid for the nerves, and coenzyme Q10 for the cardiovascular system. (Also see Heart Disease.)

Special Therapies for Diabetic Neuropathy...

The leading cause of amputations in this country is diabetes, and we have saved many a limb on the verge of being amputated with two specialized treatments that dramatically accelerate wound healing. One is hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This unique therapy literally floods the cells with oxygen, facilitating healing and killing bacteria that thrive in oxygen-poor environments.

The other is EDTA Chelation Therapy. Chelation is an intravenous therapy that removes toxic metals and mineral buildup from the arteries, restoring their health and improving blood flow. As injured areas receive a fresh supply of oxygen and nutrients, healing begins.

..And Diabetic Retinopathy

Complications of the eyes are also common among diabetics, and we offer a unique intravenous mixture of vitamins, minerals, and specialized nutrients that benefit ocular health. Our vision infusions have time and again stopped or slowed down retinal degeneration and improved vision.

Real-Life Success Stories

Click here to read about how other people just like you overcame Diabetes and got back on the road to health.

Additional Information

Click here to read more on Diabetes.

Contact Us

For more information on the Whitaker Wellness Institute's treatment of Diabetes, contact a Patient Enrollment Specialist at (800) 488-1500 or click here.

It is important that you do not reduce, change, or discontinue any medication or treatment without first consulting your physician. Dr. Whitaker offers his recommendations only as "generally informational" and not as specifically applicable to any individual's medical problem(s), concerns, and/or needs.