Type II Diet From Dr. Oz

Diabetes ages you one and half years for every year you live, write Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen in “You on a Diet.” Oz, whose appearances on Oprah led to his own popular talk show, is an advocate of healthy living and smart eating. He maintains that eating anti-inflammatory foods and avoiding refined carbohydrates, simple sugars and trans and saturated fats can help you avoid or better manage diseases such as type 2 diabetes. For people with type 2 diabetes, and even for those without it, Oz suggests a healthy diet that focuses on reducing and keeping off dangerous belly fat.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes, which usually appears during youth, is generally a genetic disease. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form according to the American Diabetes Association, may be caused by genetics, but Oz notes that your environment -- specifically your lifestyle, behaviors and diet -- are much greater contributors to the likelihood that you will develop the condition. In people with type 2 diabetes, the transfer of sugar into your cells where it is stored for energy is repressed. You end up with too much blood sugar in your system, which can cause high blood pressure, reduce the effectiveness of your white blood cells to fight infection, weaken your arteries, diminish the effectiveness of your red blood cells to transport oxygen and swell nerves says Oz.

Belly Fat

Oz maintains that belly fat contributes to type 2 diabetes development because it makes it difficult for glucose to get into the cells and let insulin do its job. Having a waist greater than 37 inches for women and 40 inches for men makes your body less sensitive to insulin. His diet for type 2 diabetes focuses on reducing this belly fat, also called visceral fat. Visceral fat encases vital organs and leads to inflammation, explains Harvard Medical School. In addition to increasing your risk of type 2 diabetes, it also increases your chances of getting heart disease, cancer and other health problems.

Foods to Avoid

Oz encourages type 2 diabetics, along with everyone else, to avoid refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta and rice. These carbs lead to large swings in your blood sugar, increasing stress and making you hungrier. Saturated fats, found in fatty cuts of meat and full-fat dairy, and trans fats, found in many commercial, processed snacks, are other inflammatory foods that can contribute to a large belly.

Foods to Include

Oz recommends a diet for type 2 diabetes include whole grains, specifically sprouted grain bread, barley, buckwheat and amaranth. The fiber and nutrients in the whole grains better stabilize your blood sugar levels. Healthy fats, found in avocado, olive oil and fatty fish, help reduce inflammation, which is caused by excess blood sugar. Typical breakfasts include cooked oats with soy milk and fruit or an egg white omelet with cut-up mixed vegetables. A lunch might be a veggie burger on a whole wheat English muffin with cut-up vegetables or homemade vegetable soup served with salad topped with low-fat dressing. Dinner might include salmon with brown rice, whole-wheat pasta with vegetables or broiled trout with asparagus. Snacks are nuts, air-popped popcorn, yogurt or veggies with low-fat dip.

Considerations

Oz’s plan is not a diet, per se, but a lifestyle. He encourages people to reprogram their lives to include healthier foods and habits to live a long and healthy life. The diet isn’t just for type 2 diabetics, but for anyone seeking a healthier life and reduced risk of disease.