The Cheeseburger Manifesto

Are there any real foods that diabetics actually like to eat that reverse the effects of diabetes? If you read the recent research literature on nutrition and diabetes literally, you would have to assume that the best food for diabetes is a grass-fed beef cheeseburger, on a whole wheat bun (but not two or three or four cheeseburgers at a sitting).

Really. Here's why.

Conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) are a group of naturally occurring fatty acids predominantly found in milk and animal fat that have gained wide attention for their numerous health benefits. CLAs are found naturally in milk fat (normally about 5 mg of CLA per gram of fat, but ranging from 2 to 18 mg of CLA per gram of fat) and meat fat (particularly lamb (6 mg/g), beef (4 mg/g), and veal (2 mg/g).

The “trans-10, cis-12” form (also known as t10, c12-octadecadienoic acid), particularly abundant in cheese and hamburger, makes cells more sensitive to insulin and has the most to do with fat loss. CLAs in general act in exactly the same way on blood sugars as a group of drugs known as thiazolidinediones (TZDs), sold under the trade names Actos and Avandia.

CLAs, however, have very different “side effects.” Like the drugs, CLAs lower cholesterol as well as blood sugars. Unlike the drugs, CLAs reduce body fat and encourage weight loss, even if total calorie consumption stays the same. While there are many reasons not to commend cheeseburgers as a health foods (not the least of them being that more than one study has found that are, literally, addicting), the recent scientific evidence and the widespread reports of success of low-carb, high-meat diets suggests that foods containing CLAs deserve a second look.

In diabetes, CLAs are good fats, and trans- fats are bad fats. Analyzing data collected from 65,000 women, Harvard nutritionists found that consuming trans- or hydrogenated fats “substantially” raises the risk of developing type II diabetes.

These are the fats manufacturers add to products to make them smooth and stable at room temperature. At a meeting after the paper was published, one of the researchers in the study even called type II diabetes the “cellophane wrapper disease.” If it’s a tasty treat that stays fresh in a cellophane wrapper, it probably contains the additives that aggravate your risk of diabetes.

Eating foods that are rich in the right fats can lower blood sugars, but eating foods with a relatively low glycemic index, like a whole grain bun, can stop sugars from ever getting high in the first place. The sugars in foods with a high glycemic index are absorbed slowly and incompletely. The sugars in foods with a low glycemic index are absorbed quickly and completely. The higher the glycemic index, the higher your blood sugars. It’s no surprise that the glycemic indices of sugar, mashed potatoes, and white rice are high, but some of the index numbers for other foods are not what you would expect.

For instance, frozen French fries have a high glycemic index. If you make gourmet fries, however, you have a much healthier food. A good French fry requires peeling and cutting the potatoes yourself and soaking the fries for up to 3 days in ice water in the refrigerator. The soaking hydrates the potato so the fry cooks evenly, but the low temperature keeps the starches in the potato from breaking down. The result is a tender, tasty, never mushy fry.

Soaking also reduces the glycemic index of the fries so that your digestive system releases their sugars into your bloodstream more slowly than the sugars in whole wheat and almost as slowly as the sugars in bran or fresh fruit. If you take the time to make a really tasty and relatively healthy French fry, you will enjoy them more, but because the preparation involved, you will probably eat them less.

Similarly, all white rices are not created equal. Kalijira rice is a rice with very small grains and a delicate aroma and texture grown in Bangladesh. It is traditionally served with aromatic spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. While it is excellent for pilafs and side dishes where the appearance of individual grains adds to the aesthetics of presentation, it is not the best rice for puddings, stuffings, or soups.

Importantly for health, kalijira rice has a high content of amylase sugars that give it a low glycemic index, that is, its sugars are released slowly by the digestive tract, making it a relatively healthy source of carbohydrate for diabetics who have room for rice in their meal plans, dieters, and endurance athletes.

And even the bun for a cheeseburger does not have the glycemic index you would expect. White bread has a high glycemic index, almost the same as sugar. A cheeseburger made with a white bread bun, hamburger, cheese, mustard, ketchup, and a pickle has about the same glycemic index as bran. The secret lies in the pickle. Pickled cucumbers have an ability to offset the “whiteness” of white bread, white rice, and potatoes.

Eating pickled cucumbers with these foods slows down the rate at which they release sugars into the bloodstream. Organic acids created in the pickling process also signal the pancreas not to release excess insulin, limiting the conversion of sugars into body fat. Fresh cucumbers do not have this effect.

I do not maintain that diabetics have to eat cheeseburgers or any of their ingredients for good health. There are good, vegan sources of CLAs. The key to controlling blood sugars is not so much what you eat, but how much you eat.