The Diabetes Code – Prevent and reverse type II diabetes naturally

Author(s): Dr. Jason Fung

Publish Date: April 2018

Difficulty Level: Medium Read

This book is a must read if you are part of if you were in the 50% of the population that has type 2 diabetes or have been diagnosed as prediabetic. Even for those of us familiar with the benefits of fasting, this book is incredibly eye-opening. 
It delves into the history and wide misunderstanding of the root cause (insulin resistance) of type 2 and how one of the most common treatments, insulin, makes the underlying problem much worse. 

Top 5 takeaways from the book:

1. While type 2 diabetes was discovered 3,000 years ago, it was extremely rare until this last century, where it has hit the developed world like a tsunami. This is due to two critical factors (1) the American food pyramid and increase of sugar, carbohydrates, and meal frequency and (2) a complete misunderstanding of the underlying root cause of the disease. 
2. Type 2 is absolutely reversable (and preventable) when you understand the underlying root cause of the disease and treat it accordingly. This means finding ways through low-carb diets, fasting, and other interventions to restore insulin sensitivity. 
3. Insulin resistance appears on average 13 years prior to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. During this time blood glucose remains relatively normal. However in children, this can progress at a much faster rate, sometimes in as little as 21 months. 
4. All sugar is not created equal when it comes to fatty liver, which leads to the onset of type 2 diabetes. Unlike other forms of sugar (where 80% is digested by non-liver cells of the body), fructose can only be digested by your liver and therefore is ~34x more likely to cause fatty liver, obesity, and insulin resistance than glucose. 
5. The combination of the misunderstanding of what causes type 2 diabetes and the high-levels of particularly fructose and sugar consumption in the developed world has us on a collision course. The impact on (and shortening of) human life, the cost to our healthcare system (already 1/5 of the total GDP of the United States), and the compounding effect across generations means that if we do not change the paradigm (and quickly) this problem will only continue to accelerate. 

Few choice quotes:

• “After treating thousands of patients over decades, it gradually dawned on me that none of these diabetes medications actually made any real difference to the health of patients. Sure, the medical schools said these drugs improved patient health, but any benefits were imperceptible. Whether these patients took their medication or not, they still progressed more and more severe forms of disease. Their kidneys failed. They had heart attacks. They got strokes. They went blind. They needed amputations.
• “The key to the proper treatment of type 2 diabetes is to get rid of the excess sugar, not just move it around the body. The problem is both too much glucose and too much insulin.” 
• “Fasting is the simplest and surest method to force your body to burn sugar.” 
• “If the situation is getting worse, then the only logical explanation is that our understanding and treatment of type 2 diabetes is fundamentally flawed.” 
• “All the conditions we thought were problems—obesity, insulin resistance, and beta cell dysfunction—are actually the body’s solutions to a single root cause—too much sugar.” 
• “TYPE 2 DIABETES is currently the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, amputations, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. But it doesn’t have to be our future. The pages of The Obesity Code and The Diabetes Code contain the knowledge to reverse type 2 diabetes. This is not the end, but only the beginning. A new hope arises. A new dawn breaks.” 

A quote to end on:

“‘Rather than giving patients advice, we gave information and then asked patients if they were ready for change…Not a single patient has chosen life long meds over dietary therapy.'” – Dr. David Unwin, the winner of the UK’s prestigious National Health Service Innovator of the Year Award in 2016.

• Here are a few other fasting resources you may enjoy:
  • The Hacking of the American Mind — A great read by Dr. Lustig, an endocrinologist, on the impact sugar has on fueling the diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome.
  • Pure, White, and Deadly — If you are curious about what science knows about the most popular powdery white substance and it’s a film!
  • Some of Dr. Jason Fung and Dr. Megan Ramos’ other books: The Obesity Code, The Diabetes Code, and The Cancer Code

Link to The Diabetes Code: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Dr-Jason-Fung/dp/1771642653/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt-6LBhDlARIsAIPRQcJLoFLSnXMj5tp0MQopg3g5qb_vLbhHEPPC350hutgefnvAD1xcmZEaAhKMEALw_wcB&hvadid=318590488994&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9011409&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=2854253454517651199&hvtargid=kwd-423889983003&hydadcr=22592_10356143&keywords=the+diabetes+code+by+jason+fung&qid=1635544942&qsid=132-6753458-3970848&sr=8-1&sres=1771642653%2C1771647914%2C1771641258%2C1628600012%2C375315461X%2C1771644761%2C0062894005%2C9124079286%2CB094GTYXM5%2CB097WBMWXW%2C8417030840%2C1250757622%2CB07W7374QC%2C1119315646%2C164152023X%2CB093B8HCM1&srpt=ABIS_BOOK

Link to the audio book: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/dp/B07BR3LZW7/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1635544942&sr=8-1