NM Society's Position Statement on Diabetes:

Diabetes might reasonably be described as a disease of carbohydrate intolerance: normal stimulation of insulin production is impaired (type 1), or the response to glucose-stimulated insulin is compromised (type 2).

Practitioners and layman alike therefore assume that some form of carbohydrate restriction is a first line of attack.

Most of us are surprised to find that health agencies such as the American Diabetes Association continue to recommend high levels of carbohydrate and to emphasize a reduction in fat.

The NMS is concerned that this apparently counter-intuitive approach is, in fact, not supported by scientific research.

You can find out about the scientific research and nutritional approaches advocated by the NM Society by following the research links on this site.

With your help we will succeed in fighting the mainstream misinformatoin about diabetes treatments.

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Diabetes MellitusDavid M Quote

Diabetes is a disease in which a carbohydrate intolerance has manifested in an inability to maintain blood sugar control within the body.

There a several different types of diabetes, but the mostly widely discussed and treated include:

  1. Type 1 Diabetes used to be called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or Juvenile Diabetes as the onset often started in childhood. The disease is characterized by an autoimmune reaction in the body which damages the insulin-producing beta cells within the pancreas. Once damaged, the pancreas is no longer able to produce insulin, and blood sugars rapidly rise. Type 1 diabetes mellitus accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all diagnosed diabetes cases in the United States. While it is most often diagnosed in children and teens, it is sometimes diagnosed in adults later in life. Type 1 diabetes diagnosed in adulthood may be a form of slowly-progressing diabetes called latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), or type 1.5 diabetes.

  2. Type 2 Diabetes, formerly known as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, is a more common type which starts later in life, and is usually associated with insulin resistance and other diet and health factors, including a condition known as metabolic syndrome. Type 2 diabetics are still able to produce insulin at diagnosis. However, the insulin they produce is unable to perform its primary job — helping the body's cells use glucose for energy. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all diabetic diagnoses. Alarmingly, Type 2 diabetes was also known as adult onset diabetes, but the number of children diagnosed with type 2 has increased dramatically.

  3. Gestational diabetes is a diabetic condition which develops during a woman's pregnancy. It usually subsides once the baby is born and the pregnancy ends.  It occurs in approximately three to eight pregnancies out of every 100 in America. Risk factors for developing gestational diabetes include:
    • A family history of diabetes
    • Being overweight
    • Having blood sugars in the prediabetic range
    • Having given birth previously to a child weighing 9 pounds or more

The Nutrition and Metabolism Society believes that the treatment of diabetic conditions are more successfully treated with a carbohydrate restricted diet. For more information, please visit our research page.

“The deleterious effects of fat have been measured in the presence of high carbohydrate. A high fat diet in the presence of high carbohydrate is different than a high fat diet in the presence of low carbohydrate.” Richard Feinman, PhD