[Atticus]

Hi guys
This is an article I've abridged and reproduced from NutritionFacts.org. The whole website seems a fantastic resource. Dr Michael Gregor is an able communicator, though I had to get used to his voice, before I could enjoy it. (I was the same with Neil Young.) To summarise, he proposes a plant based diet pretty much for all conditions and backs it up with strong evidence. The article below is not proof and not subject to the rigorous analysis of a double blind placebo controlled peer reviewed paper, however it offers hope. Hope is important. Although this is concerned with diabetic neuropathy I wondered if this describes the mechanism for all PN? :-

A remarkable study was published 20 years ago on the regression of diabetic neuropathy with a plant-based diet. There are two types of diabetic neuropathy: a relatively painless type characterized by numbness, tingling and pins-and-needles sensations and a second form, which is painful with burning or aching sensations to the point of excruciating, lancinating or stabbing pain. This study concentrated on the painful type of diabetic neuropathy.

Twenty-one diabetics suffering with moderate or worse symptomatic painful neuropathy for up to ten years were placed on a whole food, plant-based diet along with a half-hour walk every day. There were years of suffering and then complete relief of the pain in 17 out of the 21 patients within days.

Numbness noticeably improved, too, and the side effects were all good. They lost ten pounds, blood sugars got better, and insulin needs dropped in half. And, in five of the patients, not only was their painful neuropathy apparently cured, so was their diabetes. Their blood sugars were normal, and they were off all medications. Their triglycerides and cholesterol also improved, as did high blood pressure. In fact, it was gone in about half the hypertensives an 80 percent drop overall in need for high blood pressure medications within three weeks.

Now, this was a live-in program, where patient's meals were provided. What happened after they were sent home? The 17 folks were followed for years, and the relief from the painful neuropathy continued or improved even further for all except one person. How did they get that kind of compliance? According to the researchers, Pain and ill health are strong motivating factors.

Diabetic neuropathy is one of the most painful and frustrating conditions to treat in all of medicine, and 75 percent of patients were cured within days with a natural, nontoxic, and, in fact, beneficial treatment: a diet composed of whole, plant foods.

How could nerve damage be reversed so suddenly? It wasn't necessarily the improvement in blood sugar control, since it took about ten days for the diet to control the diabetes, whereas the pain was gone in as few as four days.

There are several mechanisms by which the total vegetarian diet works to alleviate the problem of diabetic neuropathy The researchers most interesting speculation was that it could be:-

1. The trans fats naturally found in meat, dairy, and refined vegetable oils that could be causing an inflammatory response. They found a significant percentage of the fat found under the skin of those who ate meat or dairy consisted of trans fats, whereas those on a strictly whole food, plant-based diet had none.

The researchers stuck needles in the buttocks of people eating different diets and found that nine months or more on a strict plant-based diet appeared to remove the trans fat from their bodies (or at least their butts). Their pain, however, didn't take nine months to get better, it got better in days.

2. More likely, it was due to an improvement in blood flow. Nerve biopsies in diabetics with severe progressive neuropathy have shown small vessel disease within the nerve. There are blood vessels within our nerves that can get clogged up too. The oxygen levels in the nerves of diabetics were found to be lower than even the levels of de-oxygenated blood. This lack of oxygen within the nerves may arise from blockages within the blood vessels depriving the nerves of oxygen, presumably leading them to cry out in pain.

Within days, though, improvements in blood rheology, or the ease of blood flow, on a plant-based diet may play a prominent role in the reversal of diabetic neuropathy.


I took the article from the top link. There are other resources too.



Best Diet for Diabetic Neuropathy | NutritionFacts.org

neuropathy | Health Topics | NutritionFacts.org


A short video link:-

Curing Painful Diabetic Neuropathy | NutritionFacts.org


An approach to all diseases:-


More than an Apple a Day: Preventing the Most Common Diseases | NutritionFacts.org

Due to our unprecedented situation with Covid 19 and the unique opportunity it affords and as "pain is a strong motivational factor" I have been on a Plant Based Diet for 5 days and intend to follow it until the end of lockdown. If anyone shows any interest I will report back results.

I would appreciate any thoughts about this.