ASK THE DOCTOR – DIABESITY
THE GROWING EPIDEMIC OF DIABETES AND OBESITY IN AMERICA
Are you concerned about being overweight? Does diabetes run in your family? Do you have a lot of stress? Do you Crave sugar and carbs? Can’t seem to loose weight despite exercise? You could be headed toward diabetes!
WHAT IS DIABETES?
Diabetes is a disease in which the sugar level in blood is chronically high. Because sugar molecules stick to everything, the elevated levels of sugar in the blood stream means more sugar molecules are going to stick to the blood vessel walls, nerves and muscle fibers, which causes damage. This damage leads to everything from heart disease to Alzheimer!
WHAT CAUSES INCREASED BLOOD SUGAR?
Several things cause an increase in blood sugar. We all know about diet, and that eating concentrated sweets too often leads to a problem controlling blood levels of sugars. Insulin rises in an effort to get more of the sugar out of the bloodstream and into the cells where it can be used for energy. High insulin over time, however, also damages blood vessels and increases inflammation, which we all know from our previous newsletter, is the root of all evil. Inflammation is pretty much at the beginning of all of our modern day diseases.
Stress is another important issue for elevated blood sugar. When we are stressed our bodies actually release more sugar into the bloodstream so our muscles have lots of fuel to “fight the tiger” as I like to say. Evolutionarily our predominant stressor is danger, so more sugar in the blood stream meant we would have more energy for our muscles to run from or fight the tiger. Being stressed however leads to an increase in blood sugar, and again, this leads to diabetes. It also leads to obesity. In the 21st century, our stressors are not tigers, but time, toxins, relationships, work, family matters,etc. Since we are not running from tigers and burning all that increased blood sugar, we end up storing it as belly fat.
Belly fat, or adipose, as it is called, also increases inflammation. Inflammation itself leads to increased blood sugar and insulin. We now know that adipose is a gland that produces hormones that affect the body. A few of these hormones increase inflammation. One of the hormones actually prevents you from feeling full – so the more adipose you have the hungrier you are! It gets to be a vicious cycle!
HOW DO WE BREAK THE CYCLE?
First of all is diet. Eliminate concentrated sugars and as many starchy carbohydrates as you can. This means breads, pastas, crackers, cereals, etc., as well as pies, cakes, and candy. Look at the stressors in your life. Are you getting enough sleep and exercise? B vitamins are essential for stress, as is replacing your electrolytes.
Important nutrients to decrease blood sugars include vitamin D3 at roughly 5000 IU per day. Every cell has vitamin D receptors, even the cells that produce insulin. So they don’t function well without enough vitamin D. High doses of chromium picolinate are very helpful to transport sugar out of the blood stream and into cells, and it helps cut down sugar cravings. Vanadium helps decrease insulin resistance and lower sugars. L-Tyrosine helps with carb cravings and emotional eating.
We can help inflammation with herbal remedies such as turmeric, curcumin, boswelia and wobenzyme.
DIABESITY is a multi-faceted problem and requires a multi-faceted approach. If you or someone you know Is suffering in this direction, let us help you avoid the repercussions of this growing epidemic!
Over the past few years, health care providers are witnessing the negative effects of statin drugs. There are now over 300 reported potential problems with statin drugs. The two on my radar over the past two years are the link to autoimmune disease and the link to causing diabetes. It was reported in the Journal of Rheumatology last year that statin drugs may be causing autoimmune diseases like polymyalgia rheumatica in some people; a debilitating and painful disease. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I see the connection with chronic pain issues and statin drugs on almost a daily basis. When we stop the statin drugs we see a great majority of pain subside. Go figure? The other issue is that it causes diabetes. It was reported in JAMA that the higher doses of statin drugs are causing diabetes. 
