The Very Meaty History of Treating Diabetes Before Insulin

A surprisingly effective method for its time

BY TOBIAS CARROLL 

January 26, 2024 1:15 pm

 

Before insulin, some diabetes treatments doubled down on meat.

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It’s been just over a century since insulin was first used to treat diabetes. Given that doctors and scientists have known about diabetes for thousands of years — and have been searching for the best way to improve the lives of people with the condition since then — that means a lot of different treatments were tried out over the years all over the world. And, as it turns out, some of them involved plenty of meat.

In an excerpt from his book Rethinking Diabetes: What Science Reveals about Diet, Insulin, and Successful Treatments, Gary Taubes recounts the story of the 18th century doctor John Rollo, who “may have been the first physician to successfully bring a case of diabetes under control.” What did Rollo prescribe his patients? Meat. So, so much meat.

Taubes refers to this as “the animal diet,” which is exactly what it sounds like. (Thankfully, Rollo’s refinement of this meant that he moved away from telling patients to eat “rancid old meat and fat.”) The thinking behind this was to reduce carbohydrates in diabetes patients, and it seems to have worked to prolong the lives of several of the people he treated, provided they stuck to the regimen.

If you’re reading this description and getting flashbacks to, say, the heyday of the Atkins Diet, you’re not alone. And while it’s nowhere near as sophisticated as insulin, Rollo’s overall line of thinking has aged relatively well. In 2018, Anahad O’Connor wrote in the New York Times about a study that showed diabetes patients successfully regulating their blood sugar levels via a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein.

There’s another lesson in Tabes’s retelling of Rollo’s story, and it stems from the experience Rollo and his colleagues had in treating diabetes with the “animal diet.” Not surprisingly, Rollo and his fellow doctors learned that patients fared far worse when they cheated on their diet, snacking on bread or something similar before it was safe to do so. It doesn’t matter if it’s the 18th century or the 21st — sticking to what a doctor prescribes can make a big difference in treating whatever ails you.

ARTICLE SOURCE: https://www.insidehook.com/longevity/diabetes-treatments-before-insulin-meat

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been...Read More

 

It is so logical that it blows my mind that the medical community is so blind to this. But then again they aren’t allowed to be free thinkers and must follow the protocols of their handlers.


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Cures don't sell prescriptions, so there is no money in it and they try to silence these people and bury the information. 

I recently heard a story where someone came up with a cure for Hepatitis C, and that person was actually reprimanded and told that he should have came up with a treatment instead of a cure, because a treatment would create better long term cashflow.

Sad!

Cures don't sell prescriptions, so there is no money in it and they try to silence these people and bury the information. 
I recently heard a story where someone came up with a cure for Hepatitis C, and that person was actually reprimanded and told that he should have came up with a treatment instead of a cure, because a treatment would create better long term cashflow.
Sad!

I saw that the other day myself. It’s always about profit, power and control. It’s because even more evident in the last three years and even more so since becoming carnivore.


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I myself am a diabetic...I can honestly say that having worked for a major Pharmaceutical company for 12.5 years...the culture is most definitely treatment as opposed to cures..!  I was also led to believe by the American Diabetes Association that type 2 was a chronic progressive disease will no hope of any cure....that's is until I discovered Dr Berry....I have been diabetic for 19 years....And have taken every type of pill in existence to get A1Cs...of 6.5 or higher....Since starting carnivore...I am off Insulin and Glipizide....Still taking Metformin....and seeing very good Blood Sugar numbers....So in 8 weeks I have surpassed every drugs ability to control blood glucose....by eating meat and NO Carbs..! The American Diabetes Association is completely full of S@#$t when it comes to treating type 2....

 

Great testimony MG.


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1 hour ago, MG426 said:

..! The American Diabetes Association is completely full of S@#$t

Yes. I was very encouraged to hear Dr Berry talking to Dr Baker about forming a new diabetes society to clobber the ADA. I don't have diabetes but have always understood that type 2 is a lifestyle choice and could never understand why they treat it otherwise... until 2020 happened.🙄

Might I also add that High levels of Insulin also raise blood pressure...! increased Blood pressure...High Triglycerides and Low HDL...Are Very common markers of high insulin in ones body as In Metobolic syndrome.....None of which I even realized until I dug into this a couple Months ago....The sad part about all of this is..NOT ONE DR. EVER MENTIONED THIS TO ME...I am so glad that I questioned the standard Diabetes treatment..and did my own research...!

On 5/13/2024 at 2:21 PM, Miranda said:

I was very encouraged to hear Dr Berry talking to Dr Baker about forming a new diabetes society to clobber the ADA.

Me too. I can understand Dr. Berry's anger disappointment with the American Diabetes Association. It's mind-boggling the garbage they put up on their website, such as recipes that are supposed to be "diabetic friendly" but is in reality a load of crap. 

I hope this new American Diabetes Society succeeds where it ought.