Hello! My name is Pamela Reilly. I’m a Naturopath and Living Foods Life Coach who lives in Indianapolis and who has experienced truly miraculous healing from raw foods. I want to thank Tami so much for inviting me to be a guest blogger! I consider it a privilege and an honor to be able to share information on this amazing blog.

I am currently in the process of allowing my body to heal from 42 years of having Diabetes. My posts therefore focus on using raw foods to reverse or control Diabetes. Today’s post shares the special challenges folks with Diabetes face when they go raw, and my second post will share nutritional information about foods known to lower blood sugars along with recipes for delicious Green Smoothies made without fruit.

I’ve “played” with raw foods since 2005, going through periods of high and low rawness. Late last year I decided it was time to get serious. I went 100% raw, vegan on January 1. The difference between being 25-75% raw with few restrictions and 100% raw, vegan with restrictions related to my Diabetes has been incredible.

Please note that I typically avoid the use of the word “diabetic” because I never want to define someone by their disease. To save space, however, I do refer to my friends with Diabetes as “raw diabetics” in these posts. For those of you unfamiliar with Diabetes, it is an illness where a person’s body is unable to turn glucose (a simple sugar) into energy. This inability is either caused because the person’s body stops producing insulin (Type 1) or because the person’s body stops using the insulin produced by the body (Type 2). I chose not to devote much time to explaining diabetes in these posts. Please feel free to contact me if you’d like additional information.

I switched to raw foods because I was determined to reverse 42 years of Diabetes and associated complications. I had experienced healing from many health issues using nutritional support and other natural remedies, but Diabetes and a dead Thyroid gland remained a constant battle. Raw foods allowed my body to completely regenerate my Thyroid gland so that I no longer need any medication. Raw foods also reduced my insulin needs from 70 units per day down to 7-10 units, and that amount continues to drop. You can read more about my healing journey at my blog: Rawvolutionary Healing and in another recent guest blog post at:  Pamela Reilly’s Rawvolutionary Healing.

My biggest passion is teaching about and coaching others in the living foods lifestyle. Diabetics face some very specific challenges when they go raw, but have few resources to help them get over the bumps. The focus of my life is providing practical tips and encouragement to raw diabetics. Perhaps the most obvious challenge faced by raw diabetics is that they experience dramatic changes in how they control their blood sugars after they go raw. Most experience dramatic drops in blood sugar levels and insulin needs, which is a good thing, but many also experience periods where their blood sugars drastically drop and rise for no apparent reason. These extreme fluctuations are exacerbated by the detoxification process. The fluctuations wreak havoc with the raw diabetic’s emotional outlook, energy levels, and
overall feeling of well being.

It is incredibly frustrating to do everything right but have their blood sugar control actually worsen. The emotional side of going raw for a diabetic is a much larger issue than it is for most raw foodists. The interviews I’m doing show that some diabetics experience far more emotional upheaval related to physical changes created by raw foods than others do. This may mean they require more support and encouragement than others. On the other side of the coin, some diabetics experience such dramatic changes in their health that their emotional outlook greatly improves.

Raw diabetics’ struggles are often complicated by the fact that their doctors don’t understand raw foods and refuse to work with them to make the necessary adjustments in medication dosages. Many of the diabetics I’ve interviewed and spoken with either abruptly quit taking all medication, or stop consulting their physician and make all medication changes on their own. This is potentially a very dangerous situation. One of my goals is to create a database of MDs who will work with and advise raw diabetics on making medication adjustments in a safe manner. I also hope to eventually work with MDs to provide training on the living foods lifestyle to mainstream medical professionals, but many “attitude hurdles” must be jumped before that can happen.

The second largest difference between a raw diabetic and other raw foodists is the raw diet a diabetic eats to control their glucose levels. Many diabetics go raw after seeing the movie, Simply Raw: Reversing
Diabetes in 30 Days, a movie that follows six diabetics on a 30-day raw adventure. The movie is incredibly inspiring and eye-opening. I still get misty when I watch it, and I’ve shown it more times than I can count! I encourage you to get a copy of the video to share with diabetics you know and love, your church or civic organizations to which you belong. This message needs to be heard!

The diet followed by most raw diabetics is the one proposed in Dr. Gabriel Cousen’s books, There is a Cure
for Diabetes, and Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine. I highly recommend both of these books to anyone with diabetes, and highly recommend the “Rainbow Green” book to anyone seeking extreme healing from any health issue.

The diet proposed in these books has some interesting restrictions and is broken into three phases. Each phase restricts some foods but progressively allows more foods to be included in a person’s daily meals. Right off the top, the program eliminates all animal products, processed foods, white flours, white sugars, caffeine, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, and other foods considered to have high levels of minute toxins called “mycotoxins.” Phase 1 of the program strictly eliminates the intake of any and all fruits. It also eliminates the intake of high-glycemic veggies such as carrots and beets, starchy vegetables such as potatoes, all fermented foods, and raw cacao. Raw diabetics also typically need to limit the amount of grains and seeds they eat, as these can elevate blood sugars. Some raw diabetics
experience glucose spikes from nuts and therefore also need to limit their intake of nuts. Dr. Cousens explains that restricting these foods
accelerates the body’s ability to heal itself in a variety of ways. His organization graciously shares an online chart showing the foods allowed in each phase at Summary of Phases.

The restricted foods can make it tricky to follow many “mainstream” raw food recipes, but I’ve found it’s very easy to adapt recipes to fit the program. In main course recipes, it’s usually OK to just delete dates and raisins from the recipe, using common sense. I also substitute Stevia for raw honey or agave, use thin cucumber slices instead of mushrooms, and so on.

This diet is anything but restrictive, though! The foods that are permitted can be combined to create a wide array of dishes that are both gorgeous and truly delicious! I feel I have more variety in the foods I eat now than I ever did before. I also never feel “deprived,” but savor and celebrate the uniqueness of every meal. Both of Dr. Cousen’s books contain a wide variety of recipes, and I’m very busy creating new recipes every day for my hubby and I to enjoy. (He went raw a few months after I started Phase 1, mainly because of the miraculous health he saw me regain.)

The final unique challenge that raw diabetics face is opposition from those who love them and who believe they are harming themselves by eating living foods. When most people go raw, their friends and family may respond with surprise, but eventually accept their lifestyle change and give it little thought. This is not always true for raw diabetics. Some raw diabetics are surrounded by people who love them dearly but who can’t believe that a simple dietary change could reverse diabetes. These family members are extremely fearful and are often angered that their loved one is trying an approach that goes beyond their physician’s recommendations. I hear repeated stories from raw diabetics who were subjected to many angry outbursts by a family member or friend, or who even had a loved one break off a relationship because of the diabetic’s switch to raw foods. This type of opposition and stress can be overwhelming and often comes during the most difficult initial stages transitioning to a raw food lifestyle. Thankfully, most of this opposition disappears once the loved ones see the dramatic healing experienced by the diabetic.

All of these challenges require a raw diabetic to have extremely high levels of determination to successfully go raw and stick to the program. Let’s not forget that in the midst of these special challenges, a raw diabetic still goes through the “normal” raw food transition challenges of changing ingrained habits, detoxing, battling cravings, and so on.

It takes a very special person to choose to reverse their health issues by adopting the raw food lifestyle. If you know a diabetic who has gone raw or is considering going raw, please go out of your way to encourage them on a daily basis. They will love you for it! I look forward to sharing with you again! Go find the abundant wellness God intends for you!

Please feel free to contact me via any of the following:

My website: Good Works Wellness Research, LLC

My Blog: Rawvolutionary Healing

Twitter: RawHealer

~ Pamela Reilly

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Editor Note: I’m so excited that Pamela is sharing her expertise here with us on the Green Smoothie Blog! Thank You Pamels! I discovered Pamela via Twitter! Are you using Twitter? Leave your Twitter link in a comment to this post so we can all connect! And be sure to check back next week for Pamela’s next post that will include green smoothie recipes that are “diebetic friendly.” These recipes and information is useful for everyone — those on a raw food diet and those simply trying to safely incorporate more greens into their diet.

And … if you have questions for Pamela — PLEASE post them in our comments to they can be answered here for everyone in future posts!

P.S. In April Pamela will be launching a 30-day “Rawvolutionary Healing” Living Foods Coaching program specifically designed
for diabetics and others on Phase 1 of the Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine. Please contact Pamela if you’d like to receive updates on this program.