Can Diabetic Retinopathy Be Reversed?
The reversal of blindness due to hypertension and diabetes with Dr. Kempner’s rice and fruit diet demonstrates the power of diet to exceed the benefits of the best modern medicine and surgery has to offer.
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I documented the extraordinary Kempner story previously in Kempner Rice Diet: Whipping Us Into Shape ( ) and Drugs and the Demise of the Rice Diet ( ). The reason I keep coming back to this is not to suggest people should go on such a diet (it is too extreme and potentially dangerous to do without strict medical supervision), but to show the power of dietary change to yield tremendous healing effects.
The best way to prevent diabetic blindness is to prevent or reverse the diabetes in the first place. See, for example:
• Lifestyle Medicine Is the Standard of Care for Prediabetes ( )
• How to Prevent Prediabetes from Turning into Diabetes ( )
• Plant-Based Diets and Diabetes ( )
Why wouldn’t a diet of white rice make diabetes worse? See If White Rice is Linked to Diabetes, What About China? ( )
For more on the nitty gritty on what is the actual cause of type 2 diabetes, see:
• What Causes Insulin Resistance? ( )
• The Spillover Effect Links Obesity to Diabetes ( )
• Lipotoxicity: How Saturated Fat Raises Blood Sugar ( )
• Diabetes as a Disease of Fat Toxicity ( )
• What Causes Diabetes? ( )
Have a question for Dr. Greger about this video? Leave it in the comment section at and he'll try to answer it!
Image Credit: Community Eye Health via Flickr.
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Dr. Gregor, are these results in respect to dealing with type 1, type 2 diabetics, or both? I am a type 1 diabetic. I may need to pay more attention to my glucose levels after eating rice, as sometimes it seems as though my glucose levels increase after rice consumption.
You’ve probably seen a good answer by now but I need the practice anyway. I have been T1 for 50 years. If we consume, say, 50 grams of a whole predominantly carbohydrate food, we (human beings) need a certain amount of insulin to move the final glucose from that food into our cells. If you have beta cells (which you and I do not) then the beta cells will respond with insulin to accomplish this compensation while you and I must take exogenous insulin. T2 diabetics may our may not be successful in this depending on the degree of insulin resistance. The non diabetic will have no problem since the phytonutrients associated with that whole food will increase insulin sensitivity and there will be scarcely a blip. They the non diabetics would likely see little if any blip since they are not yet plagued by high insulin resistance. But they still need the insulin. In this example, the T2 will also have a better curve for the same reason but will still have too much spike unless the insulin resistance has been dramatically reduced by reducing those factors that have been demonstrated to cause insulin resistance. By eating the way indicated in the video, we T1s can reduce the amount of insulin that it takes. We CAN”T eliminate it. Depending on the stage of the progression of the diabetes, the T2 may eliminate the diabetes all together. Since changing to a whole food plant based diet, I have reduced my total insulin intake from approximately 46 units per day to about 28 per day. My exogenous insulin is still essential to being able to live but it is now more effective.
OMG what is going on in medicine
this video is great. It really shows how modern medicine works in certain areas. And that’s a little sad. Great work Dr, Greger, as always!!
Getting dumber by the day. Disturbing. Excellent upload on your part Dr., informative.
Never stop reminding.
Omg scary
WHAT KIND OF DIET HELPS RETINOPATHY HOW DO YOU PREPARE THE RICE AND WHICH FRUITS
I love how the opposite of what many scientists expect to happen in experiments often becomes common sense 100 years later. Still waiting for more to catch on with the movement. Too much good not to! #CompassionWins
This should be a game changer in clinical medicine. The right people need to see this, but will they? I will disseminate this information as well as I can. Thanks for posting.
@tamcon72 Hello ! this was done 50 YEARS ago!! It was published & is being wildly Censored by Medical Establishment & the surgeons and eye doctors.
I am getting worry about this I went eye Doctors today They told me mine got bigger from last year They going get me see spec lest I have type 2 diabetic
Appreciate Video! Sorry for chiming in, I would appreciate your opinion. Have you heard the talk about – Patlarny Sugar Outcome Principle (erm, check it on google should be there)? It is a great one of a kind product for reversing diabetes minus the hard work. Ive heard some unbelievable things about it and my mate after a lifetime of fighting got great results with it.
doc said I’m not Diabetic but I wonder if I can reverse the Halos and Glares I’ve been seeing.
@DEATHxTHExKIDx1 That’s a great start! It took me a really long time to change my diet the first time (from junk food to whole foods) you just have to keep chipping away at your habits.
@GuacamoleKun my diet has changed lost about 15lbs. But I havent gone full plant based yet. I kinda just got used to the symptoms and they dont bother me as much but, going back normal would be awesome.
I see you said this 5 months ago. Have you been eating plant-based since then? Have you noticed any change? I’m not diabetic either but I’ve been eating mostly vegan for 6 months and I don’t think my vision has gotten better (my distance vision got kinda bad at age 16 and has stayed at about the same level up until now at age 30.) I’ll definitely be paying more attention to it though. Wouldn’t it be amazing? People keep saying a plant based diet can’t work magic, but everything I’m hearing sounds a lot like magic.
medicine has forgotten because there is no money for them in rice and fruit. My mother had diabetic retinopathy and a lot of laser surgery 🙁
This is fabulous! Are there any current follow up studies or recent case studies ? Let’s gather some researchers to do some more studies! BRAVO for sharing this video Dr. Greger!
We live in the “Dark Ages”.
Thanks for the Video clip! Apologies for butting in, I would love your thoughts. Have you researched – Patlarny Sugar Outcome Principle (do a google search)? It is an awesome exclusive guide for reversing diabetes without the headache. Ive heard some incredible things about it and my mate finally got amazing results with it.
here is a novel option, go on a rice and fruit diet only for 3 months and see for your self.
the medical system like every other system has been completey destroyed by greed and lies.
i refuse to to eat anything but a whole food plant based organic gmo diet.
i suplement b12 and d and gets lots of sun, im 45 and in excellent shape. All the while everyone my age is obese and hyper fanatisize on protien.
what a waste.
Possibly the most heartbreaking video I have seen in quite a long while…
lunaticwerewolf why is that
Hopefully this is the beginning of the flow to the ebb that is currently called ‘med.’
Can Diabetic Retinopathy Be Reversed?
30% will.