Success Story from the Marshall Islands
By admin on Jul 11, 2010 in Health and Fitness
Until very recently, in the Marshall Islands, located about 2,300 miles southwest of Hawaii, most people accepted type 2 diabetes as an inevitable part of aging. The rate of the disease in this country is among the highest in the world: 28% of people over the age of 15 have it, and for those older than 35, the figure is nearly 50%. Furthermore, almost
75% of women and over 50% of men are overweight or obese.
Approximately one half of all surgeries performed on the island are
amputations due to complications from diabetes. The good news: today, people are not only preventing, but curing their condition with lifestyle changes alone.
My friend and colleague, Canadian dietitian Brenda Davis, author of the book Defeating Diabetes, has been working miracles in the Marshall Islands. “Sixty years ago, diabetes and obesity were almost unheard of here,” she says. Whereas natives used to subsist on locally grown food and freshly caught seafood, nowadays most of the diet is made up of cheaper processed, imported foods. Brenda and her team are working on bringing the diet back to the way it used to be, while encouraging physical activity and a healthy lifestyle.
Through a generous grant and a lot of hard work, the Diabetes Wellness Center opened its doors in 2006, and began a study on lifestyle interventions for diabetes. The lucky participants got the intervention, while the control group got “traditional” care. The intervention group had to follow a diet that was mainly plant based, minimal in refined and ground grains, high in fiber, moderate in healthful fat, low in saturated fat and free of trans fat, high in phytochemicals and antioxidants, low in glycemic load, and moderate in sodium. They also got dietary education and took exercise classes.
Over 12 weeks, these participants underwent dramatic improvements in symptoms (pain, ability to walk, etc.), weight loss, as well as improved blood tests. The results were nothing short of amazing. Some people reversed their diabetes completely, free of symptoms and all medication. As you would expect, those who stuck with the plan had much better results than those who stopped attending classes and following the diet.
Results in the Marshall Islands have been so encouraging that this intervention may serve as a model for future interventions in other countries. And it is proof that type 2 diabetes can be reversed with lifestyle changes.
To read details about this intervention and inspiring success stories, see this article.
Credits to:Nutrition Data: Diabetes