Latest / Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson / Why Beans Aren’t Medicine

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Why Beans Aren’t Medicine · Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson

• 0:04
  >> Dr. Terry Simpson: This is part four of our series, Food Isn't a
• 0:06
  Prescription Pad. And right at the start, let's be
• 0:09
  clear. Food is not medicine. Yes, food is
• 0:14
  powerful. Yes, food can lower risk, but food is
• 0:17
  not a replacement for medicine. Clearly, diets
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  rich in ultra processed food lead to more
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  problems. Heart disease, obesity, diabetes,
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  cancers. And the most empowering thing a person
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  can do is, is eat a better diet. Some people think
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  we never had chronic disease before modern times.
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  They blame food. But then they extend their logic
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  to say that if we just had good food, we wouldn't
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  need medicine at all. So let me give you an
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  example of why that isn't true. One of the most
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  powerful stories in all of medicine. It's the
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  early 1920s. Dr. Frederick Banting and his
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  assistant Charles Best are working in Toronto, and
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  they made a discovery that would change the world.
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  At that time, children with diabetes were doomed.
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  The only treatment was a starvation diet so low in
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  calories that a child might live a few extra
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  months. But death was certain. Parents sat
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  helplessly as children wasted away. Hospital wards
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  were filled with kids in diabetic coma, Families
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  waiting for the end. Then came insulin. Dr.
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  Banding went to one of these hospitals and began
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  to inject these children who were laying down
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  comatose. And this is one of the most famous
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  moments in all of medicine. One by one, the
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  comatose children began to stir. They sat up, they
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  asked for food, and they hugged their parents.
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  That discovery was so profound, that moment so
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  profound that Dr. Banti became the fastest person
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  to ever win the Nobel Prize. After medical
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  discovery, insulin became one of the fastest
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  adopted drugs in the history of that time. And
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  here's the lesson. Those children had the best
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  food their families could provide. But food wasn't
• 2:14
  enough. Only medicine. Insulin saved their lives.
• 2:24
  Today, we're going to make sense of the madness of
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  diet and diabetes. I am your Chief Medical
• 2:29
  Explanationist, Dr. Terri Simpson, and this is
• 2:31
  Fork U Fork University, where we bust a few myths,
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  make sense of the madness, and teach you a little
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  bit about food and medicine.
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  Let's start with beans. Beans are a legume, and
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  other legumes are some of the best foods that you
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  can eat to help control your blood sugar. They're
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  packed with soluble fiber, which binds glucose and
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  slows absorption in your gut. They're rich in
• 2:59
  plant protein, which keeps energy steady. And they
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  have a low glycemic index so they don't spike
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  blood sugar like white bread or soda. Studies show
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  that people who eat beans regularly can lower
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  their hemoglobin A1C that long term marker of
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  blood sugar, about 0.3 to 0.5%. That is a real
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  effect from food. And beans aren't just healthy,
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  they're practical. They're inexpensive, available
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  everywhere. And humans have probably eaten beans
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  longer than any other protein source. We're
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  natural hunters. Not really. I mean, I couldn't
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  hit the broadside of a barn. But beans, well,
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  beans were always there. And in the Mediterranean
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  region for many years, including the times of the
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  gladiators, beans were the primary source of
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  protein. Before I compare beans to medicine, let's
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  step back. There are two types of diabetes. Type 1
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  diabetes is where the pancreas loses its ability
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  to make insulin. It's called juvenile diabetes.
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  That was the diabetes that we talked about with
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  Dr. Banting. And best. Usually it is an immune
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  system that destroys the insulin producing cells
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  of the pancreas. And without insulin, glucose
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  cannot enter your cells. Glucose builds up in the
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  bloodstream. Without insulin, life cannot
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  continue, which is why every type 1 diabetic
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  patient needs insulin from the day of diagnosis.
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  Type 2 diabetes, which used to be called adult
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  onset, the pancreas still makes insulin, but the
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  body cells are resistant to it. So the pancreas
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  works harder and harder. And over time, the
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  pancreas can wear out, which is why many type 2
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  diabetics eventually need insulin too, because
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  that's the natural course of the disease. So
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  whether it's type 1 or type 2 food has never been
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  enough. Back to beans. They help, but they are not
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  a drug we call metformin. Metformin is the first
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  line drug for type 2 diabetes. It lowers A1C by
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  about 1 or 2%. That's two to four times more than
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  beans. And metformin also reduces your risk of
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  heart disease, and it has decades of safety data
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  behind it. So, yeah, beans are great, but if your
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  A1C is 9 or 10, no amount of chili or hummus is
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  going to bring you to target. Medicine does that.
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  Food lays the foundation. Medicine does the heavy
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  lifting. And to be clear, the best overall diet
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  for diabetes isn't low carb or keto or carnivore.
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  It isn't some fad diet where you cut out entire
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  food groups. The best diet for diabetes, shown
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  again and again and again in multiple studies
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  across many populations, is the Mediterranean
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  diet. That means fruits, vegetables, uh, olive
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  oils, nuts, legumes, beans, and whole grains. Now,
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  whole grains might sound controversial, especially
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  to those who grew up in the era of low carb
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  madness, but the science is clear. Whole grains
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  are and continue to be a healthy choice for
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  patients with Diabetes. In fact, whole grains are
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  a lot healthier than bacon. But the Mediterranean
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  diet doesn't lower blood sugar, lowers
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  cholesterol, improves blood pressure, reduces
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  inflammation, protects the heart. And unlike crash
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  diets, it's sustainable. It's a way people can and
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  do eat for a lifetime. But even the Mediterranean
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  diet is not medicine. Here's some practical tips
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  for beans. So how do you actually use them to your
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  advantage? Swap ground beef for black beans and
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  chili. Add lentils to soups or stews, which
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  thicken them beautifully. Roast chickpeas for a
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  crunchy snack. Use hummus instead of cheese
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  spread. And toss peas in rice and pasta or grain
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  bowls. Those are simple swaps. They add up to
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  lowering blood sugar, lowering cholesterol, and
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  and keeping patients feeling full. And when
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  they're a part of the Mediterranean diet, the
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  effect is multiplied. All right, scam time. Keto
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  and carnivore diets get hyped as diabetic cures.
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  They can lower glucose in the short term, but at
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  the cost of raising saturated fat. For people with
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  diabetes already at higher risk of heart disease,
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  that's dangerous. It's pouring gasoline on the
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  fire. And the insulin claim? False. Protein spikes
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  insulin. So the idea that no carbs means no
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  insulin is a fantasy. And then there's cinnamon
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  supplements. Cinnamon and oatmeal. Delicious
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  cinnamon capsules as a cure. Worthless. The
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  evidence is minimal. If someone's selling you
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  that, they're selling you snake oil and not
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  science. So here's the truth. Beans are not
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  metformin. Yes, food matters. Yes, food lowers
• 7:33
  risk. Food empowers you to take control. But food
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  is not medicine. Food is food. Medicine is
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  medicine. Together, they save lives. This has been
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  episode four of, uh, food isn't a prescription
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  pad. Next time, when green tea and broccoli aren't
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  chemotherapy, why Prevention is not the same as
• 7:56
  cure. I'm Dr. Terry Simpson, your chief medical
• 7:59
  explanationist. Fork U is produced by Simpler
• 8:02
  Media and the pod God, Mr. Evo Terra. For
• 8:04
  references and more, visit YourDoctorsOrders.com
• 8:07
  and Forku.com and check out my substack newsletter
• 8:10
  where I dig deeper into the science@drsimpson.com
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  and here's the disclaimer. I am a board certified
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  physician, but I am not your physician. This
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  podcast is for education, not personal medical
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  advice. Always talk to your board certified
• 8:25
  physician and a registered dietitian before making
• 8:28
  changes for your health. All right, everybody,
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  have a good week.
• 8:37
  Teivo, my favorite bean dish is hummus. What's
• 8:41
  yours?
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  >> Speaker B: Would you like to see the 40 pounds of dried
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  chickpeas. We have that most of the time, gets
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  made into hummus. Also cowboy, uh, caviar, great
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  beans.