Diabetes
Diabetes is a metabolic disease that occurs either because the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin or the cells fail to properly respond to insulin. Depending on the reason, diabetes is divided in type 1 and type 2.
In order to understand diabetes, we need to understand carbohydrate metabolism and the action of insulin. After the consumption of food, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose molecules in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract which then pass into the bloodstream elevating their concentration in the blood. This glucose rise stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin from its beta cells. Once secreted, insulin activates glucose transporters that allow glucose to enter cells. Much like a key in a lock, the activation happens through a receptor in the cell membrane that is specific for insulin molecules. Once glucose has entered the cells, dropping its concentration in the blood, insulin secretion is inhibited.
Hormones such as glucagon, catecholamines, growth hormone, thyroid hormones and corticosteroids participate in raising blood glucose. By contrast, insulin is the only hormone known to reduce blood glucose.
When high glucose is present in the bloodstream, the kidneys are forced to work excessively in order to filter and absorb it. The capacity for such action however is limited, and excess glucose is secreted in the urine along with water. Polyuria leads to dehydration which triggers a thirst response. Fatigue is also the result of dehydration and the inability of the body to use sugar to produce energy. Weight loss is the result of constant urination as well and the loss of calories through urine. This often manifests in the early stages of diabetes when patients lose weight rapidly. The high concentration of glucose circulating in the bloodstream is also important at a cellular level. The increased osmotic pressure in the extracellular fluids forces water to passively stream from the cells causing inflammation, damage, or even cellular death. Conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy are the direct result of this process.
In order to understand diabetes, we need to understand carbohydrate metabolism and the action of insulin. After the consumption of food, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose molecules in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract which then pass into the bloodstream elevating their concentration in the blood. This glucose rise stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin from its beta cells. Once secreted, insulin activates glucose transporters that allow glucose to enter cells. Much like a key in a lock, the activation happens through a receptor in the cell membrane that is specific for insulin molecules. Once glucose has entered the cells, dropping its concentration in the blood, insulin secretion is inhibited.
Hormones such as glucagon, catecholamines, growth hormone, thyroid hormones and corticosteroids participate in raising blood glucose. By contrast, insulin is the only hormone known to reduce blood glucose.
When high glucose is present in the bloodstream, the kidneys are forced to work excessively in order to filter and absorb it. The capacity for such action however is limited, and excess glucose is secreted in the urine along with water. Polyuria leads to dehydration which triggers a thirst response. Fatigue is also the result of dehydration and the inability of the body to use sugar to produce energy. Weight loss is the result of constant urination as well and the loss of calories through urine. This often manifests in the early stages of diabetes when patients lose weight rapidly. The high concentration of glucose circulating in the bloodstream is also important at a cellular level. The increased osmotic pressure in the extracellular fluids forces water to passively stream from the cells causing inflammation, damage, or even cellular death. Conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy are the direct result of this process.
What happens in your body when blood sugar runs wild?
Blood sugar and insulin issues are among the most prevalent and physiologically damaging conditions today. The negative impacts of chronically elevated insulin, including transient insulin surges, cause damage to virtually every bodily system leading to everything from coronary and atherosclerotic damage, obesity and weight control issues, neurological symptoms, hormonal dysregulation, hepatic (liver) dysfunction, fatigue and mitochondrial issues, inflammation, and immune system dysfunction, to name a few.
Blood sugar (glucose) is the body’s preferred source of fuel. The brain, organs and muscles depend on glucose for fuel. At the deepest level, the cells of our body use glucose to manufacture adenosine triphosphase (ATP) or energy. So if our cells do not get the adequate amounts of glucose into them, we can’t produce energy to help run our body. Without ATP production, hormones are not produced optimally, brain function does not work properly and every system of our body suffers, including our ability to sleep, to loose weight, immune and stress response, etc.
When it comes to blood glucose levels, there are really only two places we can get from:
Dysglycemia has numerous negative health effects all throughout the body:
When the pancreas pumps out too much insulin due to chronic spikes in blood sugar (determined mainly by high sugar processed foods), blood sugar levels swing from high to low. A hypoglycemic person is prone to crashing, especially around 3-4 PM and experiences a drastic drop in blood sugar levels usually two to five hours after eating. This person may typically have a constant craving for sweets, is slow to start in the morning, gets lightheaded and irritable when meals are missed, is dependent on coffee for energy, feels shaky, jittery, agitated and nervous, becomes upset easily, has poor memory and blurred vision.
Other people slip from hypoglycemia into high blood sugar. The chronic release of insulin to battle high blood sugar exhausts the cells until they start refusing entry to insulin. So the cells become insulin resistant. When cells become insulin resistant and the glucose can’t get in, it circulates round and round the bloodstream, damaging arterial walls and the brain.
Because the body wants to normalize blood sugar levels as soon as possible, it converts the excess glucose into triglycerides to be stored as fat. This process demands so much energy that you become sleepy. Furthermore, insulin resistance decreases the body’s ability to use stored fat for energy. This process also raises serotonin levels, a brain chemical that can induce drowsiness.
Insulin resistant people mostly feel fatigued during the day and after meals, have a constant hunger, a craving for sweets that is not relieved after eating them, larger or equal waist girth than hip girth, urinate frequently, have increased appetite and thirst, difficulty loosing weight. Insulin resistance creates a serious risk for heart disease and diabetes, as well as low thyroid activity. It is a contributing factor to sleep apnea, hormone metabolism disorders, obesity and certain types of cancer.
How To Solve Your Blood Sugar Problems:
1. Don’t eat sweets and junk food
The very first step in ANY kind of healing protocol and resolving of your negative symptoms, has to start with cleaning your kitchen cupboards from junk, processed food. Although many people know that already, this is not always that easy to accomplish, for two reasons: you probably don’t know that even foods like bottled, “natural” juices or sugary “protein bars” are considered junk food in many cases, or you really don’t know what to replace these processed, ready-made foods with, in order to benefit from a whole food diet.
Cleaning up the kitchen cupboards is the very first step to address when I work with patients. However, I will not do this without offering them first easy, quick and healthy alternatives to their previous processed foods. Every person is different and requires specific methods to incorporate a new diet in her/ his existent lifestyle. Working with a specialist in this case can be highly beneficial and save a lot of time and money in the long run, not to mention avoiding the risk of getting wrong nutritional information.
As a main, general rule, I usually recommend buying fresh organic vegetables and high quality organic meat. A slow cooker is another good idea since slow cooking preserves nutrients. It’s definitely a good start to consider.
Sugar generates the highest swings in blood sugar levels and a continuous desire for more, throwing you in a vicious circle of amplified and interconnected negative symptoms. So it’s very important to reduce sweets and limit yourself to eating fruits low in glycaemic load in moderation. Eating sweet or sugary foods before bed for example is one of the worst things a hypoglycemic person can do. Your blood sugar can crash during the night, long before your next meal is due. Chances are your adrenals will kick into action, creating restless sleep or that wake you up with anxiety around 3am.
If you ever want to have a dessert or sweet foods, never eat them without a source of protein or fat. This will slow down the rate at which glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream and help prevent “insulin shock”.
Even too much starch from carbohydrates in a meal (which still transforms into sugar in your body) generates the same negative symptoms. Grains, legumes, starchy vegetables like potatoes and peas can all contribute to your blood sugar dysregulation if eaten in large enough amounts.
In general, if you feel sleepy or crave sugar after you eat, you have eaten too much starch.
Also, don’t forget about the hidden sources of foods which are everywhere! Simpler than reading the long list of ingredients on the processed food labels is to avoid them entirely. Then your source for hidden sugar is gone as well.
2. Eat right for your unique metabolism and take the right supplements for you metabolic type
Blood sugar regulation calls upon more metabolic processes than any other function in the body. And any one (or more) of those processes could be dysfunctional. The imbalances, inefficiencies or dysfunctions in any one or more of your body’s control systems can arise from failure to meet genetically-based requirements for nutrition, and/or the presence of one or more stressors and blocking factors.
Food has the power to heal. But it also has the power to make you ill if it is wrong for your metabolism.
It is not only what you eat, it is also in what proportions you consume your macro-nutrients ( proteins, fats, and carbohydrates ) that will allow you to maximise your energy, control cravings, eliminate hunger between meals, control your weight, balance mood and blood sugar levels.
If you follow a diet which is right for your metabolism, but take generic, one-size-fits-all supplements, it would be like running at the same time in two different directions. Nutritional supplements potentially have a lot to offer — they supply a concentrated form of nutrients which can easily compensate for the lacks in our food supply, when used as an adjunct to a proper metabolic type diet.
Any given nutrient can have opposite biochemical effects in different Metabolic Types.The reason for this is that every nutrient stimulates or inhibits one or more of the body’s Fundamental Homeostatic Control Systems (FHCS).
Different Metabolic Types are dominated by different FHC’s which dictate how nutrients behave in one person’s metabolism as opposed to someone else’s metabolism. And, of course, this is why it’s critical for people to obtain the quantities and balances of nutrients that are right for their Metabolic Types.
The primary goal of nutritional supplementation in the case of dysglycemia is to improve insulin receptor function. Blood sugar causes damage to the body but the reason it usually cannot get into cells is due to dysfunction in insulin production and/or insulin receptors.
Many pharmaceutical drugs, and even some natural compounds, lower blood sugar by increasing insulin production from the pancreas. Because elevated insulin levels likely caused the resistance issue in the first place, further elevating insulin levels will likely serve to create more dysfunction. Therefore, the goal is to improve insulin receptor function and signalling, and not simply to lower blood sugar. It’s also very important to highly customize each nutrient to each person’s unique nutritional requirements and imbalances.
Examples of nutrients and herbs that I may recommended for people who suffer from blood sugar dysregulation:
Chromium One of the most important minerals for losing that apple shape is chromium. This mineral is needed for the metabolism of sugar. It helps insulin take glucose into the cells. Without chromium, insulin is less effective at controlling blood sugar levels and glucose levels rise.
Magnesium Known as ‘nature’s tranquilliser, magnesium calms the adrenal glands and helps balance blood sugar by contributing to the production and action of insulin. Zinc Zinc is an extremely important mineral, as it is needed for the production of stress hormones, insulin and sex hormones. Research has shown that supplementing with zinc helps control cortisol.
Vitamin C We know that vitamin C is involved with glucose metabolism and that according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the US; people with diabetes have significantly lower concentrations of vitamin C, up to 30% lower. Vitamin C is crucial for adrenal gland function. The more cortisol is made, the more vitamin C is used. Research has shown that people who have good levels of vitamin C burn 30% more fat when they exercise.
B vitamins The B vitamins are known as the ‘stress’ vitamins and are important to take when working on nourishing and calming the adrenal function. B vitamins also have an effect on blood sugar balance because they are needed for glucose metabolism.
Co-enzyme Q10 This vitamin-like substance is important for energy production and normal carbohydrate metabolism. Co-enzyme Q10 helps shift fat around the middle because it releases energy by burning that fat. Co-enzyme Q10 also has a role in controlling blood sugar levels and helps to lower glucose and insulin, so improving insulin resistance.
Alpha Lipoic acid Alpha lipoic acid is a powerful antioxidant that is made by the body and is a co-factor in vital energy-producing reactions. Its role is to release energy by burning glucose. The more glucose is burned, the less insulin the body has to release and so the body stores less fat. Alpha lipoic helps makes tissues more sensitive to insulin so that insulin can do its job of moving glucose into the cells and not storing it as fat.
Amino Acids Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and a number are vital to losing fat around the middle because they can help to make cells more sensitive to insulin while others are important to help cushion the body against the effect of the stress hormones. The most important ones are: N-acetyl cysteine, carnitine, tyrosine, arginine, glutamine, leucine, isoleucine and valine.
Siberian ginseng Siberian ginseng is classed as an adaptogen, which means that it works according to your body’s need – providing energy when required, and helping to combat stress and fatigue when pressure. It helps to encourage the normal functioning of the adrenals and acts as a tonic.
Some herbs that help blood sugar dysregulation:
Some foods and spices that can help with blood sugar dysregulations:
You find references regarding the use of herbs and spices in the treatment of diabetes when you scroll down to Diabetes on this page.
3. Don’t skip meals
Often people become the slaves of their daily routines, where taking a break to eat some decent food is out of the question! It is indeed a hectic, busy life we are living and there is no one easy, universal solution here to make the necessary changes in one’s life style, in order to offer the body the right food at the right time, on a daily basis. Receiving the right support and information is quite important here as well.
When you can’t keep your regular meals and/or need a snack, eat a small amount of protein every two to three hours. Going for long stretches without eating when you have dysglycemia exacerbates your blood sugar issues, affecting other multiple metabolic processes in your body. Nuts, seeds, a boiled egg, meat, or a low carbohydrate protein shake are some examples of protein snacks. As your dysglycemia improves, you’ll find you can go longer between snacks.
4. Use a glucometer and functional lab markers
Many people have been to the doctor, had their blood tested and were later told they were fine, because all of their values fell within the laboratory reference range. This range is designed to identify disease and pathology, not health.
To accurately evaluate health, you must have your blood work analyzed using a functional or optimal reference range to help identify subtle shifts in physiology that are contributing to negative or unwanted symptoms.
Laboratory reference ranges are statistical averages, not optimum levels. You are also likely to benefit from a good thyroid function that includes all markers and not just TSH.
The standard in medicine is to establish the mean and then set two deviations, one above and one below the mean. These reference ranges will continue to get wider and wider as patients get sicker and sicker.
Common patterns related to blood sugar dysregulations and the types of these are:
Glucose > 100
Elevated triglycerides, >125
Typically elevated LDL, >150, decreased HDL, <60
Elevated Insulin, >6
C-reactive Protein , >3
Homocysteine, >6
LDH >140
Hemoglobin A1C >5.6%
Because blood sugar regulation involves the participation of more elements of metabolism than any other function in the body, it can serve as an excellent indicator of overall body stress, metabolic efficiency, and capacity for adaptation. Thus, monitoring blood sugar can also act an indicator of the improvement or worsening of health complaints from employed protocols.
The right protocol will balance body chemistry, maximise metabolic efficiency and restore function — and will also result in improved blood glucose regulation, both in terms of fasting blood sugar levels as well as the blood sugar curve following a glucose challenge.
Monitoring blood glucose levels can be done at home using a glucometer, available at practically any pharmacy. Test blood glucose using the glucometer four times in one day upon awakening, before lunch, before dinner and before bed. All readings should be between 85-100 ( for glucometers calibrated for plasma).
5. Solve Your Blocking Factors
Suppose you test for parasites and it comes back positive. You do an anti-parasite protocol. The blood sugar drops significantly. Yes, you succeeded in (temporarily) lowering blood sugar. But if the cause of the parasite presence was due to leaky gut, precipitated by food reactivities, brought on in great part due to deficient hydrochloric acid production, caused by heavy metals or petrochemical toxicity, how much true healing and real help have you provided to your body? By treating (just) the parasites and leaving the other stressors and blocking factors in place, you risk the development of much more serious degenerative conditions down the line, particularly the autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions that are sky-rocketing.
Even with a right diet, exercise and supplementation, the blood sugar dysfunction can persist. In this case, it’s important to go further in detecting blocking factors, which can range from food reactivities, leaky gut, to heavy metal toxicity, nutritional imbalances and hormonal dysfunction.
A very common pattern is when elevated cortisol keeps glucose elevated from the inside of your body. Elevated cortisol over the long term consistently produces glucose, leading to increased blood sugar levels. Since a principal function of cortisol is to shunt the effect of insulin which renders the cells insulin resistant, the body remains in a general insulin-resistant state when cortisol levels are chronically elevated. Eventually the pancreas struggles to keep up with the high demand for insulin, glucose levels in the blood remain high, the cells cannot get the sugar they need, and the cycle continues. Cortisol can also mobilize triglycerides from storage and relocate them to visceral fat cells (around the belly). Thus, getting rid of fat around the belly is not easy for many people who don’t address all the underlying causes.
6. Exercise
Research is clear that a combination of cardiovascular and resistance/strength training is invaluable in helping to correct blood sugar and insulin dysregulation. But as it is with food, there is no one size fits all type of exercise for everyone. Fact is, many types of exercise can actually work against you, if they are not right for what your body needs at the time.
It is crucial to have your stress level assessed before you start doing any exercise. When we are exposed to any combination of stressors that elevate our stress hormone beyond the optimal, our repair hormones are suppressed. Typically in athletes this results in over-training syndromes, while in bodybuilders and other people wanting to add muscle or change their body shape, it simply results in lack of progress.
Many people who commit to regular, strenuous exercise begin the day eating too many carbohydrates (often processed) for their metabolic type. This elevates blood sugar triggering a release of insulin to lower the sugar level. The process continues until the blood sugar is too low, causing glucocorticoids (stress hormones) to be released. These stress hormones trigger the discharge of stored glycogen in the liver – a response designed to elevate blood sugar. This cycle of increased and decreased blood sugar level typically happens repeatedly during the day due to the combination of eating meals and snacks that are metabolically imbalanced and drinking any number of caffeinated sugar drinks.
So in order to really benefit from your exercise routine, you have to work with someone who can assess your stress level prior of starting the program. Don’t be surprised if you’ll be told you need to engage first in more relaxing, stress relieving exercises like yoga or tai chi, instead of running yourself to death on a treadmill. Or that you are actually ready to incorporate some cardio exercises in your routine instead. It really all depends where you stand in terms of health, vitality and the ability to engage in a sport so that it benefits your mind and body, not work against you.
Blood sugar and insulin issues are among the most prevalent and physiologically damaging conditions today. The negative impacts of chronically elevated insulin, including transient insulin surges, cause damage to virtually every bodily system leading to everything from coronary and atherosclerotic damage, obesity and weight control issues, neurological symptoms, hormonal dysregulation, hepatic (liver) dysfunction, fatigue and mitochondrial issues, inflammation, and immune system dysfunction, to name a few.
Blood sugar (glucose) is the body’s preferred source of fuel. The brain, organs and muscles depend on glucose for fuel. At the deepest level, the cells of our body use glucose to manufacture adenosine triphosphase (ATP) or energy. So if our cells do not get the adequate amounts of glucose into them, we can’t produce energy to help run our body. Without ATP production, hormones are not produced optimally, brain function does not work properly and every system of our body suffers, including our ability to sleep, to loose weight, immune and stress response, etc.
When it comes to blood glucose levels, there are really only two places we can get from:
- food we eat (external source) or
- glucose that we make (internal source).
Dysglycemia has numerous negative health effects all throughout the body:
- weakens and inflames the digestive tract,
- weakens the immune barriers of the gut, lungs and brain,
- drives the adrenal glands into exhaustion,
- sets the stage for hormonal imbalances,
- impairs detoxification,
- impairs fatty acids metabolism,
- it fatigues metabolism.
When the pancreas pumps out too much insulin due to chronic spikes in blood sugar (determined mainly by high sugar processed foods), blood sugar levels swing from high to low. A hypoglycemic person is prone to crashing, especially around 3-4 PM and experiences a drastic drop in blood sugar levels usually two to five hours after eating. This person may typically have a constant craving for sweets, is slow to start in the morning, gets lightheaded and irritable when meals are missed, is dependent on coffee for energy, feels shaky, jittery, agitated and nervous, becomes upset easily, has poor memory and blurred vision.
Other people slip from hypoglycemia into high blood sugar. The chronic release of insulin to battle high blood sugar exhausts the cells until they start refusing entry to insulin. So the cells become insulin resistant. When cells become insulin resistant and the glucose can’t get in, it circulates round and round the bloodstream, damaging arterial walls and the brain.
Because the body wants to normalize blood sugar levels as soon as possible, it converts the excess glucose into triglycerides to be stored as fat. This process demands so much energy that you become sleepy. Furthermore, insulin resistance decreases the body’s ability to use stored fat for energy. This process also raises serotonin levels, a brain chemical that can induce drowsiness.
Insulin resistant people mostly feel fatigued during the day and after meals, have a constant hunger, a craving for sweets that is not relieved after eating them, larger or equal waist girth than hip girth, urinate frequently, have increased appetite and thirst, difficulty loosing weight. Insulin resistance creates a serious risk for heart disease and diabetes, as well as low thyroid activity. It is a contributing factor to sleep apnea, hormone metabolism disorders, obesity and certain types of cancer.
How To Solve Your Blood Sugar Problems:
1. Don’t eat sweets and junk food
The very first step in ANY kind of healing protocol and resolving of your negative symptoms, has to start with cleaning your kitchen cupboards from junk, processed food. Although many people know that already, this is not always that easy to accomplish, for two reasons: you probably don’t know that even foods like bottled, “natural” juices or sugary “protein bars” are considered junk food in many cases, or you really don’t know what to replace these processed, ready-made foods with, in order to benefit from a whole food diet.
Cleaning up the kitchen cupboards is the very first step to address when I work with patients. However, I will not do this without offering them first easy, quick and healthy alternatives to their previous processed foods. Every person is different and requires specific methods to incorporate a new diet in her/ his existent lifestyle. Working with a specialist in this case can be highly beneficial and save a lot of time and money in the long run, not to mention avoiding the risk of getting wrong nutritional information.
As a main, general rule, I usually recommend buying fresh organic vegetables and high quality organic meat. A slow cooker is another good idea since slow cooking preserves nutrients. It’s definitely a good start to consider.
Sugar generates the highest swings in blood sugar levels and a continuous desire for more, throwing you in a vicious circle of amplified and interconnected negative symptoms. So it’s very important to reduce sweets and limit yourself to eating fruits low in glycaemic load in moderation. Eating sweet or sugary foods before bed for example is one of the worst things a hypoglycemic person can do. Your blood sugar can crash during the night, long before your next meal is due. Chances are your adrenals will kick into action, creating restless sleep or that wake you up with anxiety around 3am.
If you ever want to have a dessert or sweet foods, never eat them without a source of protein or fat. This will slow down the rate at which glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream and help prevent “insulin shock”.
Even too much starch from carbohydrates in a meal (which still transforms into sugar in your body) generates the same negative symptoms. Grains, legumes, starchy vegetables like potatoes and peas can all contribute to your blood sugar dysregulation if eaten in large enough amounts.
In general, if you feel sleepy or crave sugar after you eat, you have eaten too much starch.
Also, don’t forget about the hidden sources of foods which are everywhere! Simpler than reading the long list of ingredients on the processed food labels is to avoid them entirely. Then your source for hidden sugar is gone as well.
2. Eat right for your unique metabolism and take the right supplements for you metabolic type
Blood sugar regulation calls upon more metabolic processes than any other function in the body. And any one (or more) of those processes could be dysfunctional. The imbalances, inefficiencies or dysfunctions in any one or more of your body’s control systems can arise from failure to meet genetically-based requirements for nutrition, and/or the presence of one or more stressors and blocking factors.
Food has the power to heal. But it also has the power to make you ill if it is wrong for your metabolism.
It is not only what you eat, it is also in what proportions you consume your macro-nutrients ( proteins, fats, and carbohydrates ) that will allow you to maximise your energy, control cravings, eliminate hunger between meals, control your weight, balance mood and blood sugar levels.
If you follow a diet which is right for your metabolism, but take generic, one-size-fits-all supplements, it would be like running at the same time in two different directions. Nutritional supplements potentially have a lot to offer — they supply a concentrated form of nutrients which can easily compensate for the lacks in our food supply, when used as an adjunct to a proper metabolic type diet.
Any given nutrient can have opposite biochemical effects in different Metabolic Types.The reason for this is that every nutrient stimulates or inhibits one or more of the body’s Fundamental Homeostatic Control Systems (FHCS).
Different Metabolic Types are dominated by different FHC’s which dictate how nutrients behave in one person’s metabolism as opposed to someone else’s metabolism. And, of course, this is why it’s critical for people to obtain the quantities and balances of nutrients that are right for their Metabolic Types.
The primary goal of nutritional supplementation in the case of dysglycemia is to improve insulin receptor function. Blood sugar causes damage to the body but the reason it usually cannot get into cells is due to dysfunction in insulin production and/or insulin receptors.
Many pharmaceutical drugs, and even some natural compounds, lower blood sugar by increasing insulin production from the pancreas. Because elevated insulin levels likely caused the resistance issue in the first place, further elevating insulin levels will likely serve to create more dysfunction. Therefore, the goal is to improve insulin receptor function and signalling, and not simply to lower blood sugar. It’s also very important to highly customize each nutrient to each person’s unique nutritional requirements and imbalances.
Examples of nutrients and herbs that I may recommended for people who suffer from blood sugar dysregulation:
Chromium One of the most important minerals for losing that apple shape is chromium. This mineral is needed for the metabolism of sugar. It helps insulin take glucose into the cells. Without chromium, insulin is less effective at controlling blood sugar levels and glucose levels rise.
Magnesium Known as ‘nature’s tranquilliser, magnesium calms the adrenal glands and helps balance blood sugar by contributing to the production and action of insulin. Zinc Zinc is an extremely important mineral, as it is needed for the production of stress hormones, insulin and sex hormones. Research has shown that supplementing with zinc helps control cortisol.
Vitamin C We know that vitamin C is involved with glucose metabolism and that according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the US; people with diabetes have significantly lower concentrations of vitamin C, up to 30% lower. Vitamin C is crucial for adrenal gland function. The more cortisol is made, the more vitamin C is used. Research has shown that people who have good levels of vitamin C burn 30% more fat when they exercise.
B vitamins The B vitamins are known as the ‘stress’ vitamins and are important to take when working on nourishing and calming the adrenal function. B vitamins also have an effect on blood sugar balance because they are needed for glucose metabolism.
Co-enzyme Q10 This vitamin-like substance is important for energy production and normal carbohydrate metabolism. Co-enzyme Q10 helps shift fat around the middle because it releases energy by burning that fat. Co-enzyme Q10 also has a role in controlling blood sugar levels and helps to lower glucose and insulin, so improving insulin resistance.
Alpha Lipoic acid Alpha lipoic acid is a powerful antioxidant that is made by the body and is a co-factor in vital energy-producing reactions. Its role is to release energy by burning glucose. The more glucose is burned, the less insulin the body has to release and so the body stores less fat. Alpha lipoic helps makes tissues more sensitive to insulin so that insulin can do its job of moving glucose into the cells and not storing it as fat.
Amino Acids Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and a number are vital to losing fat around the middle because they can help to make cells more sensitive to insulin while others are important to help cushion the body against the effect of the stress hormones. The most important ones are: N-acetyl cysteine, carnitine, tyrosine, arginine, glutamine, leucine, isoleucine and valine.
Siberian ginseng Siberian ginseng is classed as an adaptogen, which means that it works according to your body’s need – providing energy when required, and helping to combat stress and fatigue when pressure. It helps to encourage the normal functioning of the adrenals and acts as a tonic.
Some herbs that help blood sugar dysregulation:
- Goats Rue
- Gymnema Sylvestre,
- Bilberry
- Nettle
- Chamomile, Roman flower (Anthemis nobilis) Hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive (Zhao et al, 2014; Zeggwagh et al, 2009)
- Lemon Balm leaf (Melissa officinalis) Reduces insulin resistance (Weidner et al, 2014)
- Tarragon leaf (Artemisia dracunculus) Anti-diabetic (Kheterpal et al, 2010)
- Geranium leaf (Pelargonium graveolens) Anti-diabetic (Boukhris et al, 2012)
- Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) Reduces insulin resistance, anti-inflammatory (Sil et al, 2013)
Some foods and spices that can help with blood sugar dysregulations:
- Onions,
- Garlic,
- Blueberry leaf tea,
- Ginger root,
- Fenugreek seed (Trigonella foenum-graecum) Reduces postprandial glucose levels (Neelakantan et al, 2014)
- Cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) Reduces insulin resistance, anti-inflammatory (Ranasinghe et al, 2012)
- Turmeric,
- Powdered mustard and nutmeg
You find references regarding the use of herbs and spices in the treatment of diabetes when you scroll down to Diabetes on this page.
3. Don’t skip meals
Often people become the slaves of their daily routines, where taking a break to eat some decent food is out of the question! It is indeed a hectic, busy life we are living and there is no one easy, universal solution here to make the necessary changes in one’s life style, in order to offer the body the right food at the right time, on a daily basis. Receiving the right support and information is quite important here as well.
When you can’t keep your regular meals and/or need a snack, eat a small amount of protein every two to three hours. Going for long stretches without eating when you have dysglycemia exacerbates your blood sugar issues, affecting other multiple metabolic processes in your body. Nuts, seeds, a boiled egg, meat, or a low carbohydrate protein shake are some examples of protein snacks. As your dysglycemia improves, you’ll find you can go longer between snacks.
4. Use a glucometer and functional lab markers
Many people have been to the doctor, had their blood tested and were later told they were fine, because all of their values fell within the laboratory reference range. This range is designed to identify disease and pathology, not health.
To accurately evaluate health, you must have your blood work analyzed using a functional or optimal reference range to help identify subtle shifts in physiology that are contributing to negative or unwanted symptoms.
Laboratory reference ranges are statistical averages, not optimum levels. You are also likely to benefit from a good thyroid function that includes all markers and not just TSH.
The standard in medicine is to establish the mean and then set two deviations, one above and one below the mean. These reference ranges will continue to get wider and wider as patients get sicker and sicker.
Common patterns related to blood sugar dysregulations and the types of these are:
Glucose > 100
Elevated triglycerides, >125
Typically elevated LDL, >150, decreased HDL, <60
Elevated Insulin, >6
C-reactive Protein , >3
Homocysteine, >6
LDH >140
Hemoglobin A1C >5.6%
Because blood sugar regulation involves the participation of more elements of metabolism than any other function in the body, it can serve as an excellent indicator of overall body stress, metabolic efficiency, and capacity for adaptation. Thus, monitoring blood sugar can also act an indicator of the improvement or worsening of health complaints from employed protocols.
The right protocol will balance body chemistry, maximise metabolic efficiency and restore function — and will also result in improved blood glucose regulation, both in terms of fasting blood sugar levels as well as the blood sugar curve following a glucose challenge.
Monitoring blood glucose levels can be done at home using a glucometer, available at practically any pharmacy. Test blood glucose using the glucometer four times in one day upon awakening, before lunch, before dinner and before bed. All readings should be between 85-100 ( for glucometers calibrated for plasma).
5. Solve Your Blocking Factors
Suppose you test for parasites and it comes back positive. You do an anti-parasite protocol. The blood sugar drops significantly. Yes, you succeeded in (temporarily) lowering blood sugar. But if the cause of the parasite presence was due to leaky gut, precipitated by food reactivities, brought on in great part due to deficient hydrochloric acid production, caused by heavy metals or petrochemical toxicity, how much true healing and real help have you provided to your body? By treating (just) the parasites and leaving the other stressors and blocking factors in place, you risk the development of much more serious degenerative conditions down the line, particularly the autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions that are sky-rocketing.
Even with a right diet, exercise and supplementation, the blood sugar dysfunction can persist. In this case, it’s important to go further in detecting blocking factors, which can range from food reactivities, leaky gut, to heavy metal toxicity, nutritional imbalances and hormonal dysfunction.
A very common pattern is when elevated cortisol keeps glucose elevated from the inside of your body. Elevated cortisol over the long term consistently produces glucose, leading to increased blood sugar levels. Since a principal function of cortisol is to shunt the effect of insulin which renders the cells insulin resistant, the body remains in a general insulin-resistant state when cortisol levels are chronically elevated. Eventually the pancreas struggles to keep up with the high demand for insulin, glucose levels in the blood remain high, the cells cannot get the sugar they need, and the cycle continues. Cortisol can also mobilize triglycerides from storage and relocate them to visceral fat cells (around the belly). Thus, getting rid of fat around the belly is not easy for many people who don’t address all the underlying causes.
6. Exercise
Research is clear that a combination of cardiovascular and resistance/strength training is invaluable in helping to correct blood sugar and insulin dysregulation. But as it is with food, there is no one size fits all type of exercise for everyone. Fact is, many types of exercise can actually work against you, if they are not right for what your body needs at the time.
It is crucial to have your stress level assessed before you start doing any exercise. When we are exposed to any combination of stressors that elevate our stress hormone beyond the optimal, our repair hormones are suppressed. Typically in athletes this results in over-training syndromes, while in bodybuilders and other people wanting to add muscle or change their body shape, it simply results in lack of progress.
Many people who commit to regular, strenuous exercise begin the day eating too many carbohydrates (often processed) for their metabolic type. This elevates blood sugar triggering a release of insulin to lower the sugar level. The process continues until the blood sugar is too low, causing glucocorticoids (stress hormones) to be released. These stress hormones trigger the discharge of stored glycogen in the liver – a response designed to elevate blood sugar. This cycle of increased and decreased blood sugar level typically happens repeatedly during the day due to the combination of eating meals and snacks that are metabolically imbalanced and drinking any number of caffeinated sugar drinks.
So in order to really benefit from your exercise routine, you have to work with someone who can assess your stress level prior of starting the program. Don’t be surprised if you’ll be told you need to engage first in more relaxing, stress relieving exercises like yoga or tai chi, instead of running yourself to death on a treadmill. Or that you are actually ready to incorporate some cardio exercises in your routine instead. It really all depends where you stand in terms of health, vitality and the ability to engage in a sport so that it benefits your mind and body, not work against you.