New non-profit focuses on integrative diabetes treatment and prevention

For years, many people waited to treat diabetes until after a diagnosis. More and more practitioners are realizing the benefits in proactive diabetes treatment and prevention, including a group of physicians in Arizona who recently launched a new nonprofit to prevent and treat the disease.

There are nearly 30 million people with diabetes in the U.S., and nearly 90 million people with pre-diabetes., according to the American Diabetes Association. Seeing a stream of diabetic patients in her own practice, Dr. Mona Morstein decided it was time to do something new to prevent and treat the condition. In January, she unveiled the new nonprofit, the Low Carb Diabetes Association (LCDA).

The LCDA is the only organization related to diabetes focused on educating people about integrative medicine. The organizations focuses on treating and preventing diabetes by focusing on the “The Eight Essentials”: diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, healing the gut, detoxification, supplementation, and medication. All of these categories have been shown scientifically to be an etiological factor in diabetes and/or a way to help treat it successfully, reducing the need for medications, according to the LCDA.

Diet is a main component of the LCDA's techniques—according to the organization, people whose diets are high in carbohydrates face a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes or becoming pre-diabetic.  Members of LCDA will receive education on the different types of low-carb diets and all the many ways to ensure it is a success. The group will offer recipes, cookbook, recommendations, and interviews with low-carb chefs, as well as discuss what to eat and how to eat to encourage weight loss.

 

Working with other physicians, including LCDA co-founder, naturopathic physician Dr. Sage Haggard, Morstein is in the first phase of community outreach to raise awareness of the group and diabetes in general.

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