STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- For a limited time only, PBS is streaming a free documentary on America’s diabetes epidemic
- More than 114 million American adults have diabetes or prediabetes and the economic ramifications of this condition are enormous. The U.S. spent $350 billion treating diabetes in 2019 alone
- One of the best strategies to beat COVID-19 is to get any underlying chronic conditions under control; Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure can often be reversed via healthy diet and lifestyle
- Type 2 diabetes is a diet-derived condition. It’s rooted in insulin resistance and faulty leptin signaling, caused by chronically elevated insulin and leptin levels. As such, it can be effectively treated and reversed through dietary and other lifestyle means
- Research has shown fasting and a cyclical ketogenic diet can improve insulin sensitivity and reverse diabetes. Staying physically active is also important, as excessive sitting blocks a number of insulin-mediated systems, including muscular and cellular systems that process blood sugar