Ancient wisdom from a diabetes microcosm to help us all

I am of Mexican heritage along with a motley mix of other cultures which includes Native American ancestry, but I don't know which tribes.

I do know my family has been here in southern Arizona for hundreds of years. The earliest written documentation I have found, has been family living in the Spanish presidios or forts.

Because of this I pay a lot of attention to the tribes from this area. Not only is there a possibility of some familial ties, but for sure our histories are intertwined. My great-great grandfather was a settler but it's been written he never denied peaceful tribes access to his land for their cultural ways. He held great respect for them.

I am very happy to share history and possibly blood with them. However, there is one element I am NOT happy to share - and that is diabetes.

In my family diabetes runs rampant. It's pretty much a given that someday you will get it. I received the family honor of type 2 diabetes in my mid twenties.

I know many families like mine - usually other ethnic families. It used to be primarily an ethnic problem...but that is quickly changing. It's becoming everyone's problem.

There is a tribe in my area, the Tohono O'Odham, who have the highest incidence of diabetes in the world. Yet in 1960 diabetes was unknown to them. What a difference mere decades made!

These people have learned that if they return to traditional foods they can prevent diabetes and help current diabetics get better control and health.

I'm not talking about traditional foods as in fry bread...I'm talking earlier than that, before they were introduced to processed, frankensteined foods. I'm talking back when a bowl of gruel and reconstituted sun-dried vegetable was the norm. I'm talking back when they gathered wild greens, seeds, and cactus for food.

There is an organization called TOCA (Tohono O'Odham Community Action) that is trying to reintroduce traditional foods, tradtional farming, improve health, and revitalize culture. I feel the whole world should be paying attention to, and supporting this community. They represent a microcosm of diabetes in the world - and hopefully we can learn a lot from their traditional foods and traditional ways. We can learn a lot as they fight their way back to health with food.

See the video below to meet these people. I will include more videos under my favorites on my YouTube channel and you can expect to read more about them here. http://www.youtube.com/user/bjay100

Raw Food Chia Seed Recipes

Chia seeds are an excellent food for people with diabetes and are popular with the raw food community. I live in southern Arizona and chia seeds have been an important food source for the indigenous people here.

Many traditional foods are especially good at helping diabetes, and chia seeds are one of them. Here are some tradtional-style recipes to use Chia seeds.

CHIA LEMONADE AGUA FRESCA (fresh water)

1 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup apple juice
2 tsp lemon juice

Place the seeds in the juice, and stir or shake. Let it sit for 30 minutes until it becomes the consistency of jelly. Add the lemon and ice if desired to make a slushy drink.

CHIA LEMON AGUA FRESCA "JELLO" DRINK

1/4 cup chia seeds
8 oz water (use more or less to your own preference)
tsp lemon juice

Place seeds in the water, and stir or shake. Let it sit until the water starts to become a gel. This can take up to 45 minutes. Add the lemon juice and enjoy. Chill if desired.

CHIA BERRY SMOOTHIE

2 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup apple juice
16 oz unsweetened frozen berries

Place seeds in the water, and stir or shake. Let soak for 30 minutes. Put the chia mixture and berries into a blender (or just mash with a fork) until it has a smoothy consistency.

CHIA FRUIT SALAD

1-2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup fruit juice
3 cups chopped fruit

Place seeds in the water, and stir or shake. Let soak for 30 minutes until it thickens. Toss chia mixture with fruit.

CHIA GRUELS

I like gruels. They are portable. Kind of like porridge. You can take a mix of seeds, flours and spices and mix in water. You have to remember that they are highly concentrated sources of calories and energy. So you don't need very much. It has been said that a tablespoon of chia seeds could provide enough energy for a long-distance runner for 24 hours.

I also use mesquite meal in these gruels. This is another food good for people with diabetes. Mesquite is an indigenous tree to southern Arizona. Bags of meal can be pricey, but you don't have to use a lot of it in gruels. Mesquite meal has kind of a lightly sweet, carmel flavor. Some say it tastes like mild Cracker Jacks. Here is a place that sells mesquite meal near me. They are a great organization and need support to preserve wild and traditional seeds.


I have a typical "base" of chia seeds, mesquite meal, and sunflower seeds. This can be made into so many dishes.

Here is a recipe to try. If you have never had mole before, then don't go in with preconceived expectations or be too disapoointed if you don't like it. Mole is kind of gritty, a little chocolate taste, not very sweet, sometimes savory too. Many different types of mole's. It is usually served as a sauce over some type of meat. But I always liked the taste of the sauce, so I made it into a gruel. I suggest you make this and then play around with it to get it where you like it.

BJAY'S MOLE GRUEL - makes 1 small serving

2 tsp chia seeds
2 tsp sunflower seeds
2 tsp mesquite meal (alternative: can try more flax and agave nectar)
2 tsp ground flax seed
2 tbsp raisins
1 tsp cocoa powder or other type of chocolate type powder
1/4 tsp mild chile powder (hotter if you prefer)
shake or pinch of cinnamon
shake or pinch cumin
shake or pinch of nutmeg
shake or pinch of cinnamon
shake of garlic salt (or combo of a tiny bit of mashed garlic and salt to taste)
1 tsp agave nectar or use other preferred sweetener
1/2 cup water

Mix together. It will thicken as time goes on. It will be more like a cereal at first. If you stir occasionally it should be more like a porridge after 15-20 minutes. If it isn't thick enough, you can add some more flax, chia, or mesquite.

Why do raw food, diabetes, and indigenous traditions go together?

I have diabetes, eat mostly raw food, and pay attention to what, when, and how the local indigenous people ate. It all naturally goes together. Why?

I live in the southern Arizona desert. Home to the Tohono O'odham and Pima tribes--two tribes recognized for a severe diabetes epidemic. About 75% of those over 55 have obesity and diabetes.

When these people were introduced to the standard American diet and encouraged to abandon their traditional diet and native foods, it was disaster.

As diabetics, we can learn a lot from this. They have the so-called "starvation gene" that allowed them to survive through regular periods of hunger. For instance, on the tradtional Tohono O'Odham calendar, May had been listed as "The month of hunger." This is when I like to do longer fasting or juice feasting. It keeps me in touch more with the natural cycles of the desert.

Their bodies were able to store more fat for the future. Studies have found they gain more weight than the "average" person consuming the same amount of calories. This is thought to be due to a low metabolism.

A similar thing happens with diabetes. Most of us have low metabolisms. It is harder for us to lose weight sometimes because our hormonal systems are sending messages to the brain to hold on to fat - even if we already have plenty of fat. The indigenous people would store the extra fat in their bellies. That's the common storage place for us...and it's been found that our belly fat, or abdominal intra-visceral fat, even acts as an organ unto itself, sending out messages to the brain to sustain itself.

If the local Native American people return to eating traditionally, they often lose weight, belly fat, and can better control their diabetes.

Their traditional eating and a raw food diet have a lot in common. They are both low-fat, high-fiber. They both use fresh seasonal foods and nutrition is condensed into less so less empty calories, as well as less overall calories, are consumed.

In scientific circles there is high debate as to which came first, the chicken or the egg...did diabetes appear undetected and cause the weight gain or did weight gain cause diabetes.

I found this interesting article from the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition and it explores those questions. It considers the Pima indians. The thinking seems to be that the Pima have low metabolic rates, low fidgeting, and probably genetic factors that make it easier to gain weight. Interestingly, they start out with low insulin resistance and low insulin levels. When they gain weight, the weight gain itself causes insulin resistance, higher insulin levels, and progression to diabetes and high blood sugar.

Anyway, it's pretty interesting. But all the scientific mumbo jumbo aside, regardless of the studies, for some reason traditional foods and raw foods seem to help.

I'm not going to say that either one is a magic cure in and of itself, but the components of each allow a person to eat a good amount of food with more nutrition and less calories. They also tend to help with food allergies which may complicate diabetes since many diabetics are allergic to gluten and they are both so much easier on our digestive systems.