The U.S. Centers for Disease Control predicts that our incidence of diabetes will more than double by 2050. And here's another recent statistic: From 1990 to 1998 alone, the incidence of diabetes in individuals between 30 and 39 years old increased by 70%!

Unfortunately, the ravages of diabetes are by no means the end point on this slippery slope toward total health failure. We know that diabetics face higher risks for heart disease, stroke, hypertension, kidney disease, gangrene, limb amputations, and blindness, among others. We also know that the first organ to really suffer is the pancreas. It just cannot continue to overwork without showing signs of partial, and eventually, total failure.

Given the horrors of this road to ruin, you'd expect the masses to cry out for a solution to this growing diabetes epidemic. Instead, we seem determined to seal the fate that the Centers for Disease Control have so ominously predicted. How do we do this? We simply continue doing what's been done for over 60 years: eating a diet that is predominated by FAT.

Maybe instead, we should look at the fat/diabetes connection. Dr. Douglas Graham, in his book, The 80-10-10 Diet, says that the correlation has been documented as early as the 1920s. But the idea that drastic minimization of fat in the diet is the answer to diabetes is too easy an answer, too natural a remedy for the medico-pharmaceutical cartel to want any part of it. Dr. Graham also mentions that Dr. Nathan Pritikin demonstrated in the 1960s that 80% of long-term diabetics put on a low-fat diet, could be taken off their medication entirely in less than four weeks. Again, this fact isn't popular with big drugs companies.

OK, I'll quit bashing the drug pushers and get to the point: Consuming fruit does not cause blood-sugar problems, but overeating fat does. If you remove the fat from the diet, in most cases blood-sugar levels return to normal, as does pancreatic functioning.

Yes, eating fruit does raise blood sugar, but so does eating other foods. But all research shows that eating whole, raw fruit only results in sustained high blood sugar if you are also eating high fat. That is, elevated triglycerides cannot arise from a blood-sugar condition that does not exist. A diet that includes plenty of whole fresh fruit has only a positive effect on tri-glycerides.

So Dr. Graham's recommendation? If you have blood-sugar issues, seriously consider eating a diet low in fat - 10% of your daily calories coming from fat would be the maximum.

This was a tough one for me - the poster child for cream-, butter-, and cheese-eating. But lately my fatigue and other health issues have gotten worse, so I thought I'd give his idea of drastically minimizing the fat in my diet a try. I have to tell you, the sacrifice has been worth it. In just a few days my oomph came back, my mental fog cleared up, and I'm starting to feel like my old self again. All I did was stop eating fatty anything and ate more fresh food (especially fruit because it's so filling). You too, might want to give the concept a serious look, because there really is a connection between diabetes and fat!