Is Oatmeal Good for People with Diabetes?

this is the first video in a three-part series on eating oatmeal to treat diabetes up until the development of insulin doctors were treating diabetes with high carb diets I've previously reported on the impact of plant-based seating for type 2 diabetes but check out this research on oatmeal diets [Music] before there was insulin there was oatmeal before the discovery vinsulin the life of many diabetics was saved or prolonged by Carl Von norden's oatmeal diet which apparently stumbled upon accidentally some of his diabetic patients had GI issues so he put them on oatmeal and instead of the

sugar spilling over into their urine getting worse they started getting better he published his findings in 1903 which was received with a great deal of skepticism but the Skeptics were overcome however in the following years by the weight of the evidence a turning point came when a doctor as notable as James B Herrick gave it a try Dr Herrick is a claim for his description of sickle cell anemia which was originally known as herrick's syndrome when Dr Herrick began to try out the oatmeal died on his patients he was very skeptical but was astonished by

the result intense skepticism was how Herrick put it his first experience in prescribing it was far from encouraging after taking one or two meals the patient said Doctor I will die before I taste another spoonful of that oatmeal mush and indeed tragically she did other doctors echoed patient reticence to tolerate so monotonous and equine diet but in general Herrick said he went on to experience little difficulty in putting patients on the oatmeal diet and keeping them there for a few weeks and nothing he reported was more surprising or more gratifying than the salutatory effects he

witnessed of the oatmeal diet and diabetes of the young leading to the 1909 Proclamation that no case of juvenile or adolescent diabetes should be deprived of the benefits of the oatmeal cure the great Elliot Joslin founder of the oldest and largest diabetes clinic in the world described the effects of the oatmeal as sometimes magical describing the oatmeal cure as an unsolved mystery referred to back then as one of the greatest puzzles in diabetes they did have some Clues though they found that animal protein had to be strictly excluded as it annihilates the favorable action of

oatmeal type diets they used to use eggs with the oatmeal diet but they got better results without them and now we know over a century later that indeed animal protein intake intensifies insulin resistance which is the cause of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes whereas plant-based Foods enhance insulin sensitivity which is the opposite animal protein intake is not just associated with insulin resistance and a clear association with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and this included animal protein from meat Dairy and fish higher insulin resistance and risk of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes but not

just an association you can put it to the test swapping in beans for beef improves cardio metabolic risk factors and it doesn't take much replace just two servings of red meat with lentils chickpeas split peas or beans a few days a week and you can significantly improve fasting blood sugars and insulin levels along with the improvements you'd expect like lowering of cholesterol and triglycerides based on over a dozen randomized control trials even just swapping like a third of protein from animal to plant sources can significantly improve blood sugar control what's the difference between animal protein

and plant protein we think it's the branched chain amino acids concentrated in animal protein how do we know branched chain amino acids are playing a role because if you give vegans branched chain amino acid supplements you can make them as insulin resistant as meat eaters their insulin sensitivity dropped to the level resembling omnivores and only improved again after stopping the supplements but wait a second I thought insulin resistance stems from excess accumulation of fat inside your muscle cells particularly saturated fat insulin resistance directly correlates with increased saturated fat inside your muscles I've got tons of

videos on this but basically you can show a substantial and consistent impairment of insulin action substantial and consistent insulin resistance after just a single day consuming a diet high in saturated fat in fact even a single meal rich in saturated fat reduces insulin sensitivity a single dose of butter for example impairs insulin sensitivity even in healthy subjects and over time reducing cholesterol and fat intakes may even enhance the ability of your pancreas to pump out insulin in the first place now the saturated effect getting lodged in your muscles may come from the foods going to

your mouth or if you have excess abdominal fat from previous meals spilling over into your bloodstream but either way what does animal protein have to do with it it turns out a branched chain amino acid breakdown product appears to stimulate fat uptake and accumulation inside the muscle cells but oatmeal doesn't have any saturated animal fat or animal protein okay but neither does any plant food why might oatmeal work particularly well that's the question I explore next [Music] okay thank you