Episode 95
Why Beans Aren’t Medicine
Food Is Powerful, But It’s Not Enough
Food shapes our health. Eating beans, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can lower the risk of diabetes and other chronic conditions. Yet food does not replace medicine. Clearly, diets high in ultra-processed foods make diabetes worse. And yes, eating better is the most empowering thing anyone can do.
Still, some claim that modern food is the only reason we have chronic diseases like diabetes. They argue that if people only ate “real food,” there would be no need for medicine. History proves otherwise.
The Story That Changed Everything: Dr. Banting and Insulin
In the early 1920s, Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin in Toronto. At the time, children with type 1 diabetes had no future. Families were told to put their kids on starvation diets, hoping to add a few months to their lives. Death was certain.
Then came insulin. Doctors injected it into children already in comas. One by one, they woke up. They sat up, asked for food, and hugged their parents. What had been a hospital ward of silence turned into a place of joy.
Insulin was the fastest-adopted drug in history. Banting became the youngest Nobel Prize winner at the time. That discovery did not come from food. It came from science and medicine.
Two Types of Diabetes
There are two main types of diabetes.
- Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas loses all ability to make insulin. Without insulin, sugar cannot move into cells, and life cannot continue. That is why every person with type 1 diabetes needs insulin from the first day of diagnosis.
- Type 2 diabetes is different. In this case, the body still makes insulin, but the cells resist it. Over time, the pancreas wears out. That is why many people with type 2 eventually need insulin too. It is not failure. It is simply how the disease progresses.
Food can help manage both types, but food alone is never enough.
What Beans Can Do
Beans are one of the best foods for blood sugar. They are full of soluble fiber, which slows down glucose absorption. They also provide plant protein and have a low glycemic index. That means they don’t spike blood sugar the way soda or white bread does.
Research shows that eating beans regularly can lower hemoglobin A1c — the measure of long-term blood sugar — by about 0.3 to 0.5 percent. That is a real effect from food.
Beans are also practical. They are inexpensive, found almost everywhere, and have been eaten by humans longer than almost any other protein source.
Why Beans Aren’t Medicine
Now let’s compare beans to metformin.
Metformin is the first-line drug for type 2 diabetes. It lowers A1c by 1 to 2 percent. That’s two to four times more than beans. Metformin also lowers the risk of heart disease and has decades of safety data behind it.
So while beans help, they are not metformin. If blood sugar is high, no amount of hummus or chili will bring it back to safe levels. Medicine is needed. Food lays the foundation, but medicine does the heavy lifting.
The Best Diet for Diabetes: The Mediterranean Pattern
When it comes to diet, the evidence is clear. The Mediterranean diet is the best overall eating plan for diabetes.
This diet includes:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Olive oil
- Nuts
- Legumes (yes, beans!)
- Whole grains
Now, some people push back against whole grains. That may be because they grew up in the low-carb era, when grains were unfairly blamed for every health problem. But whole grains are healthy, especially for people with diabetes. They are far better for the body than bacon or butter.
The Mediterranean diet does more than control blood sugar. It lowers cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, decreases inflammation, and protects the heart. And unlike fad diets, it is sustainable.
Practical Ways to Add Beans
Adding beans to meals is easy. Here are a few examples:
- Swap ground beef for black beans in chili
- Add lentils to soups or stews
- Roast chickpeas for a crunchy snack
- Use hummus instead of cheese spread
- Toss peas into pasta, rice, or grain bowls
These small swaps improve blood sugar, lower cholesterol, and keep you full. Combined with the Mediterranean diet, the benefits are even stronger.
Don’t Fall for Scams
Unfortunately, scams are everywhere. Keto and carnivore diets claim to cure diabetes. While they may lower blood sugar in the short term, they raise saturated fat intake. That increases the risk of heart disease, which is the biggest threat to people with diabetes.
And cinnamon? It makes oatmeal taste great, but cinnamon pills do not cure diabetes. The science simply doesn’t support it.
The Takeaway
Food matters. Food lowers risk. Food empowers people to take control. But food is not medicine.
Food is food. Medicine is medicine. Together, they save lives.
References
- Banting F, Best C. Discovery of insulin, 1921–1922.
- American Diabetes Association. Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes.
- Jenkins DJA, Kendall CWC, et al. “Effect of legumes on glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors.” Arch Intern Med. 2012.
- Estruch R, Ros E, et al. “Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet.” N Engl J Med. 2013.
For more, see my newsletter on Substack where I dig into the science behind food and health.
Transcript
>> Dr. Terry Simpson: This is part four of our series, Food Isn't a
Speaker:Prescription Pad. And right at the start, let's be
Speaker:clear. Food is not medicine. Yes, food is
Speaker:powerful. Yes, food can lower risk, but food is
Speaker:not a replacement for medicine. Clearly, diets
Speaker:rich in ultra processed food lead to more
Speaker:problems. Heart disease, obesity, diabetes,
Speaker:cancers. And the most empowering thing a person
Speaker:can do is, is eat a better diet. Some people think
Speaker:we never had chronic disease before modern times.
Speaker:They blame food. But then they extend their logic
Speaker:to say that if we just had good food, we wouldn't
Speaker:need medicine at all. So let me give you an
Speaker:example of why that isn't true. One of the most
Speaker:powerful stories in all of medicine. It's the
Speaker:early 1920s. Dr. Frederick Banting and his
Speaker:assistant Charles Best are working in Toronto, and
Speaker:they made a discovery that would change the world.
Speaker:At that time, children with diabetes were doomed.
Speaker:The only treatment was a starvation diet so low in
Speaker:calories that a child might live a few extra
Speaker:months. But death was certain. Parents sat
Speaker:helplessly as children wasted away. Hospital wards
Speaker:were filled with kids in diabetic coma, Families
Speaker:waiting for the end. Then came insulin. Dr.
Speaker:Banding went to one of these hospitals and began
Speaker:to inject these children who were laying down
Speaker:comatose. And this is one of the most famous
Speaker:moments in all of medicine. One by one, the
Speaker:comatose children began to stir. They sat up, they
Speaker:asked for food, and they hugged their parents.
Speaker:That discovery was so profound, that moment so
Speaker:profound that Dr. Banti became the fastest person
Speaker:to ever win the Nobel Prize. After medical
Speaker:discovery, insulin became one of the fastest
Speaker:adopted drugs in the history of that time. And
Speaker:here's the lesson. Those children had the best
Speaker:food their families could provide. But food wasn't
Speaker:enough. Only medicine. Insulin saved their lives.
Speaker:Today, we're going to make sense of the madness of
Speaker:diet and diabetes. I am your Chief Medical
Speaker:Explanationist, Dr. Terri Simpson, and this is
Speaker:Fork U Fork University, where we bust a few myths,
Speaker:make sense of the madness, and teach you a little
Speaker:bit about food and medicine.
Speaker:Let's start with beans. Beans are a legume, and
Speaker:other legumes are some of the best foods that you
Speaker:can eat to help control your blood sugar. They're
Speaker:packed with soluble fiber, which binds glucose and
Speaker:slows absorption in your gut. They're rich in
Speaker:plant protein, which keeps energy steady. And they
Speaker:have a low glycemic index so they don't spike
Speaker:blood sugar like white bread or soda. Studies show
Speaker:that people who eat beans regularly can lower
Speaker:their hemoglobin A1C that long term marker of
Speaker:blood sugar, about 0.3 to 0.5%. That is a real
Speaker:effect from food. And beans aren't just healthy,
Speaker:they're practical. They're inexpensive, available
Speaker:everywhere. And humans have probably eaten beans
Speaker:longer than any other protein source. We're
Speaker:natural hunters. Not really. I mean, I couldn't
Speaker:hit the broadside of a barn. But beans, well,
Speaker:beans were always there. And in the Mediterranean
Speaker:region for many years, including the times of the
Speaker:gladiators, beans were the primary source of
Speaker:protein. Before I compare beans to medicine, let's
Speaker:step back. There are two types of diabetes. Type 1
Speaker:diabetes is where the pancreas loses its ability
Speaker:to make insulin. It's called juvenile diabetes.
Speaker:That was the diabetes that we talked about with
Speaker:Dr. Banting. And best. Usually it is an immune
Speaker:system that destroys the insulin producing cells
Speaker:of the pancreas. And without insulin, glucose
Speaker:cannot enter your cells. Glucose builds up in the
Speaker:bloodstream. Without insulin, life cannot
Speaker:continue, which is why every type 1 diabetic
Speaker:patient needs insulin from the day of diagnosis.
Speaker:Type 2 diabetes, which used to be called adult
Speaker:onset, the pancreas still makes insulin, but the
Speaker:body cells are resistant to it. So the pancreas
Speaker:works harder and harder. And over time, the
Speaker:pancreas can wear out, which is why many type 2
Speaker:diabetics eventually need insulin too, because
Speaker:that's the natural course of the disease. So
Speaker:whether it's type 1 or type 2 food has never been
Speaker:enough. Back to beans. They help, but they are not
Speaker:a drug we call metformin. Metformin is the first
Speaker:line drug for type 2 diabetes. It lowers A1C by
Speaker:about 1 or 2%. That's two to four times more than
Speaker:beans. And metformin also reduces your risk of
Speaker:heart disease, and it has decades of safety data
Speaker:behind it. So, yeah, beans are great, but if your
Speaker:A1C is 9 or 10, no amount of chili or hummus is
Speaker:going to bring you to target. Medicine does that.
Speaker:Food lays the foundation. Medicine does the heavy
Speaker:lifting. And to be clear, the best overall diet
Speaker:for diabetes isn't low carb or keto or carnivore.
Speaker:It isn't some fad diet where you cut out entire
Speaker:food groups. The best diet for diabetes, shown
Speaker:again and again and again in multiple studies
Speaker:across many populations, is the Mediterranean
Speaker:diet. That means fruits, vegetables, uh, olive
Speaker:oils, nuts, legumes, beans, and whole grains. Now,
Speaker:whole grains might sound controversial, especially
Speaker:to those who grew up in the era of low carb
Speaker:madness, but the science is clear. Whole grains
Speaker:are and continue to be a healthy choice for
Speaker:patients with Diabetes. In fact, whole grains are
Speaker:a lot healthier than bacon. But the Mediterranean
Speaker:diet doesn't lower blood sugar, lowers
Speaker:cholesterol, improves blood pressure, reduces
Speaker:inflammation, protects the heart. And unlike crash
Speaker:diets, it's sustainable. It's a way people can and
Speaker:do eat for a lifetime. But even the Mediterranean
Speaker:diet is not medicine. Here's some practical tips
Speaker:for beans. So how do you actually use them to your
Speaker:advantage? Swap ground beef for black beans and
Speaker:chili. Add lentils to soups or stews, which
Speaker:thicken them beautifully. Roast chickpeas for a
Speaker:crunchy snack. Use hummus instead of cheese
Speaker:spread. And toss peas in rice and pasta or grain
Speaker:bowls. Those are simple swaps. They add up to
Speaker:lowering blood sugar, lowering cholesterol, and
Speaker:and keeping patients feeling full. And when
Speaker:they're a part of the Mediterranean diet, the
Speaker:effect is multiplied. All right, scam time. Keto
Speaker:and carnivore diets get hyped as diabetic cures.
Speaker:They can lower glucose in the short term, but at
Speaker:the cost of raising saturated fat. For people with
Speaker:diabetes already at higher risk of heart disease,
Speaker:that's dangerous. It's pouring gasoline on the
Speaker:fire. And the insulin claim? False. Protein spikes
Speaker:insulin. So the idea that no carbs means no
Speaker:insulin is a fantasy. And then there's cinnamon
Speaker:supplements. Cinnamon and oatmeal. Delicious
Speaker:cinnamon capsules as a cure. Worthless. The
Speaker:evidence is minimal. If someone's selling you
Speaker:that, they're selling you snake oil and not
Speaker:science. So here's the truth. Beans are not
Speaker:metformin. Yes, food matters. Yes, food lowers
Speaker:risk. Food empowers you to take control. But food
Speaker:is not medicine. Food is food. Medicine is
Speaker:medicine. Together, they save lives. This has been
Speaker:episode four of, uh, food isn't a prescription
Speaker:pad. Next time, when green tea and broccoli aren't
Speaker:chemotherapy, why Prevention is not the same as
Speaker:cure. I'm Dr. Terry Simpson, your chief medical
Speaker:explanationist. Fork U is produced by Simpler
Speaker:Media and the pod God, Mr. Evo Terra. For
Speaker:references and more, visit YourDoctorsOrders.com
Speaker:and Forku.com and check out my substack newsletter
Speaker:where I dig deeper into the science@drsimpson.com
Speaker:and here's the disclaimer. I am a board certified
Speaker:physician, but I am not your physician. This
Speaker:podcast is for education, not personal medical
Speaker:advice. Always talk to your board certified
Speaker:physician and a registered dietitian before making
Speaker:changes for your health. All right, everybody,
Speaker:have a good week.
Speaker:Teivo, my favorite bean dish is hummus. What's
Speaker:yours?
Speaker:>> Speaker B: Would you like to see the 40 pounds of dried
Speaker:chickpeas. We have that most of the time, gets
Speaker:made into hummus. Also cowboy, uh, caviar, great
Speaker:beans.
