White flour contains alloxan, which is the chemical used to make flour look clean and white. Alloxan destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. It does so by initiating free radical damage to the DNA in the pancreas. Researchers believe that some people have weak defenses to free radicals in these beta cells. Alloxan is so potent that researchers who study diabetes use it to give diabetes to lab animals. While not everyone who eats white breads and processed foods will get diabetes, the connection is clear: Alloxan causes diabetes in those genetically susceptible to the disease.

Even if you are already diabetic, you should stop eating foods that contain white flour. Studies show that certain dietary supplements can reverse the effects of alloxan in the animals that were poisoned by it. Vitamin E effectively protected lab rats from the harmful effects of alloxan. The Indian herb Gymnema Sylvestris allowed lab animals to regenerate insulin-producing Beta cells after a few months. Gymnema Sylvestris therapy has also helped Type 1 Diabetics to decrease their insulin. In alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits, blood sugar dropped almost as much with garlic as with the anti-diabetic drug Tolbutamide. Researchers have also used both ginseng and aloe vera to support alloxan-induced diabetic mice. In people with non-insulin dependent diabetes, aloe vera has been used at doses of a one-half teaspoonful 4 times daily which reduced blood sugar levels at a mean average of 273 to 151 mg/dl in 14 weeks. This was accomplished without a change in the test subjects' body weight.