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Permalink Reply by Holger Schmeken on January 5, 2011 at 9:38am

Dr. Nonsense should burn in hell and this lady should realize that she is creating false hope in her child. This is a serious case of quakery. There is NO cure for type 1 diabetes at the moment. The best possible knowledge is important to achieve good glucose control. This control with insulin is very challenging. It does not help at all to make this child question his insulin treatment.

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Permalink Reply by Rcggw on January 5, 2011 at 9:57am

Do you know if eating RAW foods helps to balance blood glucose? I am just grasping at straws, trying to find some way to support this crazy notion and not have to tell my son that his mom is creating false hopes....thank you for your comment.

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Permalink Reply by Kat on January 5, 2011 at 10:07am

It could help balancing blood glucose if the raw food is also low carb. If he has just been diagnosed and is still in his honeymoon phase he even might (although it's very unlikely) be able to get by without insulin for a while using a low carb diet. But this requires careful monitoring of his blood glucose levels and the start of insulin the moment his sugars get too high and diet alone is no longer working.

Frankly, the whole situation sounds very dangerous. And I wouldn't recommend this kind of experimentation, especially for a child.

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Permalink Reply by Jen on January 5, 2011 at 10:08am

There is no cure for Type 1 diabetes. I hope that your son will not try to get off insulin, as this is extremely dangerous and can easily lead to a life-threatening situation. As far as I know there is absolutely no evidence that eating raw foods has any effect on Type 1 diabetes.

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Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on January 5, 2011 at 10:22am

Your ex-wife could KILL your son! Denying him his insulin is child abuse. Sorry to be so dramatic, but this scares the living daylights out of me! If she's not giving him his insulin, you might have to call child protective services -- it would be a mess, but you have to do what is necessary as far as your son's life is concerned.

If he's taking his insulin by himself, and she's not in control of that, then you might take him to a CDE or someone who could explain to him why there is no treatment other than insulin for a Type 1. He has to have the knowledge and strength of character NOT to let her feed him nonsense, and he must clearly understand that it's nonsense. Life-threatening nonsense.

A full-blown Type 1 can go into DKA in hours without insulin. And DKA is an emergency, needing hospitalization. Would she recognize it when he is in DKA, and would she take appropriate steps to treat it, i.e. call 911?

This whole thing blows me out of the water!

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on January 5, 2011 at 9:24pm

Call CPS!!Two days without insulin (I've heard) can kill you. This is dangerous!

P.S. Yeah, if you're not eating junk you *might* be able to "reduce" insulin...but going off insulin is crazy!

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Permalink Reply by Andy on January 5, 2011 at 10:27am

I think the whole rumor of this "cure" came from a few type 2 diabetics that were using insulin, switched to a raw food (and therefor also easier to be low carb) diet, and no longer needed the extra boost of insulin once they lost some weight and were eating better. They then claimed that an insulin-dependent diabetic is "cured" by eating raw food, and kept rolling with that eventually calling it type 1. Type 1 = insulin dependent but that doesn't work the other way around.

So sure, a diet that includes lots of fresh fruits and veggies can be low carb and very beneficial as a healthy diet which could help reduce a lot of sugar spikes, but it is nothing like a cure. A cure would mean that you could then make insulin on your own and drink can of soda without going high.

I do try to incorporate a lot of fresh food in my diet and find that very beneficial. Getting away from dense carbs in snack foods helps a lot. I would never consider eating only raw food though, since that would be very tough to still get a reasonable amount of calories and nutrients.

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Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on January 5, 2011 at 10:40am

OMG, I almost missed this. This is like my favorite topic. Gabriel Cousens is what I consider a dangerous man. He produced a "documentary" backed by Joel Fuhrman (of PCRM and PETA fame) suggesting that raw vegan diets can "cure" diabetes and in particular T1 diabetes. Total hogwash. Yes, Elliot Joslin was able to have T1s live for perhaps 4 years or more before insulin, and his method is similar to Cousens, it is called "starvation." But I am not clear at all that this is healthy. If you look closely at Cousens, he makes alarm bells go off in my head. He has been denied a license to practice medicine in AZ, was investigated in the death of one of his patients, he had his license taken away in CA, and he remains censured in NY.

That being said, your posting implies that you don't have primary guardianship of your son and you may have trouble influencing what is happening. Screaming to your son's mom that she is a wacko may not be the best way to deal with it. It may be best to let her follow the guidance, but make it a condition that she get a concurring opinion from a credible medical source (of your choosing). You pick the doctor, one that you can trust. In the US, withholding insulin from a T1 child is a crime and it will be prosecuted. But you need to try to work through this without an escalating conflict, let alone involving the police.

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Permalink Reply by Rcggw on January 5, 2011 at 10:48am

Wow...thanks to everyone's comments but she is not taking him off of his insulin pump...she is continuing to work with his endo and using insulin therapy to keep him alive...however she very much believes that the above mentioned diet has the potential to cure him. My husband and I have over 50% custody of him (the school year) she has him and his brother on vacations. I just want to make sure that he understands the Myth behind the video she watched with him and in return made him believe that eating a certain way could cure his diabetes...

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Permalink Reply by Andy on January 5, 2011 at 10:59am

Is the movie out and available yet? I would be interesting to have some type 1's review it, especially if an endo could write a response to it to clarify the obvious mistakes.

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Permalink Reply by Rcggw on January 5, 2011 at 11:03am

It is called Simply Raw...reversing diabetes in 30 days

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Permalink Reply by LizBa on January 5, 2011 at 11:08am

I did a quick internet search and found the website. Raw for 30 days

Interesting disclaimer at the bottom of the page (bold is my emphasis):

*Medical Disclaimer: If you are on diabetes medication, insulin, or oral hypoglycemics, please do not attempt to come off medication without medical supervision, for the approach in this film or any other approach. If you are not on any diabetic medication, oral hypoglycemics, or insulin, then we invite you to safely explore this option on your own. The program featured in the film at the Tree of Life Rejuvination Center is most effective with diabetes type 2 but is also very effective at increasing quality of life and reducing insulin levels for diabetes type 1. The 21 day cycle at the core of this program is also a powerful modality for hyperglycemia and pre-diabetes as well as improving quality of life for those in need of rejuvenation and healing.

I think that says it all......

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