How Diet Can Overturn Gut Reaction & Diabetes

Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes carry several important distinctions, the most significant of which being their origin. Although Type 2 is developed over time due to a number of external factors, Type 1 stems primarily from internal factors and is an autoimmune disorder, wherein the body attacks the pancreas and destroys its ability to produce insulin.

For this reason, prevention of Type 1 has garnered a lot of interest; how do you prevent a
condition that often seems to arrive without notice, and progresses without a definite cause? Fortunately, researchers have identified a specific dietary protocol that has aided in both the prevention and treatment of Type 1 diabetes.

Your Gut and Type 1

An autoimmune disorder is categorized as any disorder wherein the body attacks its own healthy cells, rather than reserving attacks for foreign matter and protecting against illness and infection. Autoimmune diseases cover a wide spectrum of conditions, typically described according to the part of the body being attacked.

Because Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, the health of your gut has a significant impact on the likelihood of developing Type 1 and subsequent complications. Although a healthy gut might not entirely eradicate the possibility of developing the condition, the proper diet and gut health protocol can go a long way in improving your chances of avoiding the condition or minimizing its effects.

How Diet Changes Help

While there are still many unknowns regarding autoimmune disorders, there are definitive links between diet and overall health—including the advent of autoimmune problems. A diet high in processed foods, sugar, and fats, for instance, does not provide nutrients to the body, depleting the body’s energy stores and immune system and leaving it vulnerable to attack and dysfunction.

Researchers have found that a diet high in short-chain fatty acids (acetate and butyrate, specifically) repairs and empowers the body’s immune response and has the potential to reverse or prevent autoimmune disorders as a whole, Type 1 diabetes among them.

The Future of Type 1

People should be warned from simply applying high-fiber foods and vegetables to your diet, however, as the body needs to be capable of a certain process to integrate these fatty acids properly. Pending further research, the scientists in charge of the study were confident that diet and its proper application would eventually be one of the pivotal keys in providing a cure to Type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune disorders.