STRUGGLING WITH FIBROMYALGIA? |
 Intermedichbo |  Milorad Dimic MD, Niš, Serbia |
"Peripheral neuropathy refers to the conditions that result when nerves that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord from and to the rest of the body are damaged or diseased... Damage to these nerves interrupts communication between the brain and other parts of the body and can impair muscle movement, prevent normal sensation in the arms and legs, and cause pain." From an article on WebMD called Understanding Peripheral Neuropathy: The Basics
With one in ten Americans having full-blown TYPE II DIABETES and over half of the rest of the adult population (mostly unaware of the fact) living with PRE-DIABETES --- something most 'Functional Medicine' specialists say should actually be called 'Diabetes' --- you can see how epic this problem really is. And despite pouring millions upon millions of dollars into WARNING THE POPULATION about this monster, all indications are that it's getting worse instead of better (see link). Furthermore, if you have Diabetes and are fortunate enough to avoid all of the other killers associated with it (CANCER, HEART DISEASE, STROKE, etc), it is not unlikely that you will die from complications of your amputation(s). One of the many miserable conditions directly related to Diabetes is Peripheral Neuropathy, otherwise known as PN.
I was getting ready to write an overview of PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY, when I received an e-copy of the latest issue of PRACTICAL PAIN MANAGEMENT. The issue carried an article called Medical Management of Diabetic Neuropathy by Drs. Grazia Aleppo (the top endocrinologist at Northwestern University) and Gary Jay (a pain specialist in Daytona, Florida). How big a problem is PN? The authors immediately let us know.
"60% to 70% of people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes will develop some type of diabetic nerve pain over their lifetime, including diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN)."
Putting a calculator to this, I estimated that right now, 21 million Americans are dealing with Peripheral Neuropathy. The National Institutes of Health's Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke backed this up, revealing that not only do they estimate 360 million cases worldwide within the next fifteen years, but currently there are.......
"An estimated 20 million people in the United States have some form of peripheral neuropathy, a condition that develops as a result of damage to the peripheral nervous system — the vast communications network that transmits information between the central nervous system. Symptoms can range from numbness or tingling, to pricking sensations (paresthesia), or muscle weakness. Areas of the body may become abnormally sensitive leading to an exaggeratedly intense or distorted experience of touch (allodynia).
In such cases, pain may occur in response to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain (hyperalgia). Severe symptoms may include burning pain (especially at night), muscle wasting, paralysis, or organ or gland dysfunction. Damage to nerves that supply internal organs may impair digestion, sweating, sexual function, and urination. In the most extreme cases, breathing may become difficult, or organ failure may occur."
Some of the things the authors blamed Peripheral Neuropathy on included, "GENETICS, INSULIN RESISTANCE, AGES (not to be confused with one's age), and OXIDATIVE STRESS." They made it clear that this is another one of those diseases which, if you wait to do something about it until you are actually diagnosed, you are already behind the eight ball. Case in point....
"If presence of symptoms was used as a criterion, 10% to 15% of diabetic patients would have neuropathy. The prevalence increases to 50% when sensory testing and nerve conduction study criteria are included."
Here's what's really crazy about the whole PN thing. Despite the fact that this problem is so common that it could almost be considered an epidemic, these authors tell us that there are only three (3) FDA-approved treatments for it. We learn a little bit about these from January 2015 issue of Therapeutic Advancements in Chronic Disease (Treatment of Painful Diabetic Neuropathy).
"Clinical guidelines recommend pain relief through the use of antidepressants, gabapentin and pregabalin, opioids, and topical agents such as capsaicin. Of these medications, duloxetine [an antidepressant, Cymbalta being the most common] and pregabalin [Lyrica] were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004 and tapentadol [an Opiod]... was approved in 2012."
What do we know about ANTIDEPRESSANTS in general? Research on this class of drug is so tainted by (PURPOSEFULLY) sitting on or hiding crappy results, that nothing about it can be trusted --- nothing. Concerning LYRICA, click the link to read an old article I wrote on this topic. Ask anyone who takes it --- the stuff is bad news, with lots of side effects. The link reveals that this is not simply my opinion, but but the opinion of the manufacturers themselves, who admit that it is no better than placebo when it comes to treating, "neuropathic pain symptoms".
As for Gabapentin; this is the chief drug that Pfizer was fined 2.3 billion dollars for promoting for uses it was never studied for or approved for (HERE). Although this drug works on some level, it works better at higher levels --- the same levels that tend to cause the most / worst side effects (SIDE EFFECTS OF GABBAPENTIN). And I don't really even need to mention the problems associated with OPIOIDS, do I? Below are the COCHRANE REVIEW'S findings for amitriptyline (all results cherry-picked --- March 2015). Cochrane is considered the best of the best as far as wading through decades of studies and coming to a general conclusion.
"Amitriptyline has been a first-line treatment for neuropathic pain for many years. The fact that there is no supportive unbiased evidence for a beneficial effect is disappointing.... Only a minority of people will achieve satisfactory pain relief. Our best guess is that amitriptyline provides pain relief in about 25% more people than does placebo, and about 25% more people than placebo report having at least one adverse event. The most important message is that... amitriptyline will not work for most people."
The PPM authors also talked about any number of "natural" substances used to treat Peripheral Neuropathy. Alpha Lipoic Acid is a biggie. So is Vitamin B. The problem with B is that most people using it are NOT USING IT IN ITS NATURAL FORM. They also discussed BOTOX, TENS Units, pain patches, pain sprays, as well as a whole array of "OFF-LABEL" drugs. Suffice it to say, the potential side effects of these drugs (at least the ones that they talked about) were both numerous and severe.
On top of this, we know that said side effects of all drugs are typically under-reported by something like 95% (HERE). The problem with every single one of these approaches is that they leave you trying to play "catch up" after the fact. This is why PREVENTION is the single best gift you can give yourself when it comes to PN; a fact the authors agree with. Pay attention to these next three sentences (particularly the last one) as they could save you a ton of future grief.
"Nerve damage may be present long before diagnosis. Early diagnosis and treatment is paramount to preventing long-term disability. Strict glycemic control remains the only available treatment option to prevent the development of diabetic neuropathy."
Read that last sentence and let it sink in. There are two ways to maintain strict 'glycemic control' (strict regulation of your Blood Sugar). Diet and / or medication. We've seen that when it comes to Diabetes, the drugs don't work any too well --- and especially not like they have been touted to work (HERE).
Strangely enough, diet does not always work either. Much of this is due to the fact that Diabetes, contrary to popular belief, is not so much a Blood Sugar problem as it is an Inflammation problem. To control Inflammation, you first have to understand Inflammation (HERE); something that few people take time to do. Secondly, you have to realize that even thought sugar is extremely inflammatory in and of itself (HERE), there are any number of other things that could be driving said Inflammation --- despite the fact you strictly control your intake of carbs (HERE).
LOW LEVEL LASER THERAPY FOR TREATING NEUROPATHY
Although there are any number of effective non-pharmacological treatments for Periphreal Neuropathy, the most promising would have to be LLLT (Low Level Laser Therapy). Although I use a COLD LASER in my clinic, I do not do a lot of work treating those with PN. It's not that I don't believe in it, it's simply not the current thrust of my practice. However; not only is there abundant peer-reviewed research on this topic, if you keep the laser moving and don't shine it in your patient's eyes, there are no side effects I am aware of. Will it work for you? Who knows? However, the research on using Laser Therapy to treat PHN (Post Herpetic Neuralgia --- the nerve pain from Shingles) would automatically lead me to believe it might (HERE). Let's look at a few of the studies that lead me to this conclusion.
*BONUS STUDIES
CONCLUSIONS
Bottom line, if you truly want to help yourself with Peripheral Neuropathy you are going to have to change your diet. Period. Historically, this has meant something along the lines of a LOW CARB or even KETOGENIC DIET (specific info on PN in this link), although I am a huge fan of PALEO. A failure to break your CARB ADDICTION and move away from the HIGH CARB LIFESTYLE is going to doom whatever treatment you use.
The beauty of Low Level Laser Therapy (either Cold, Class III lasers or Class IV lasers that generate heat) is certainly promising in the treatment of Peripheral Neuropathy. Plan on getting treated at least 3 to 4 times a week for a month to see if it is going to help. Unlike the drugs typically used to wage war against PN, properly used lasers have a side effect profile that is just about zero.
As far as the whole getting-rid-of-inflammation thing is concerned, you'll definitely want to take a look at THIS POST. Remember, if you don't deal with underlying Inflammation, all other beneficial treatment results will be temporary at best.
- In 2004, Diabetes Care (the journal of the ADA) carried a study called Low-Intensity Laser Therapy for Painful Symptoms of Diabetic Sensorimotor Polyneuropathy. The authors concluded that, "Although an encouraging trend was observed with LILT, the study results do not provide sufficient evidence to recommend this treatment for painful symptoms of DSP." Not exactly a ringing endorsement for LLLT, but skip forward seven years and see what happens as the technology improved.
- The April, 2011 issue of the Journal of Advance Research (Effect of Low Level Laser Therapy on Neurovascular Function of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy) came to some interesting conclusions on this subject. "Diabetic neuropathy is the most common complication and greatest source of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Pain intensity via visual analogue scale, bilateral peroneal motor nerves, sural sensory nerves conduction velocity and amplitude and foot skin microcirculation, were measured pre- and post-treatment for both groups. Pain was significantly decreased and electrophysiological parameters and foot skin microcirculation were significantly improved in the laser group, while no significant change was obtained in the control group. Low level laser therapy within the applied parameters and technique could be an effective therapeutic modality in reducing pain and improving neurovascular function in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy."
- A month later, the May, 2011 issue of Podiatry Today carried an article called Can Low-Level Laser Therapy Have An Impact For Small Fiber Neuropathy?. The four authors did their own study, complete with biopsies, so they could see what is going on at the tissue / cell level. They answer the question posed in the paper's title by saying that, "These data show a clinically meaningful outcome for the treatment of neuropathic pain without an adverse event." They described their approach thusly. "An effective therapeutic approach would promote angiogenesis, downregulate inflammation and induce small fiber nerve regeneration. A therapy with such promise is low-level laser therapy (LLLT). Researchers have shown that low-level laser therapy promotes central and peripheral neuron repair; suppression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2); enhancement of peripheral endogenous opioids; upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); angiogenesis; collagen synthesis and decorin expression during tendon and ligament repair; reduction in fibrosis, suppression of conduction along unmyelinated C fibers; and inhibition of histamine release." All of these attributes of Low Level Laser Therapy are backed by the peer-reviewed scientific literature on the topic.
- Half a year after this, the September, 2012 issue of the Journal of Comparative Neurology (Low-Level Laser Therapy Alleviates Neuropathic Pain and Promotes Function.....) concluded that, "Low-level laser therapy significantly improved sciatic, tibial, and peroneal functional indices after CCI. The therapy also significantly reduced the overexpressions of HIF-1α, TNF-α, and IL-1β [inflammatory markers], and increased the amounts of VEGF, NGF, and S100 proteins. In conclusion, a low-level laser could modulate HIF-1α activity. Moreover, it may also be used as a novel and clinically applicable therapeutic approach for the improvement of tissue hypoxia / ischemia and inflammation in nerve entrapment neuropathy, as well as for the promotion of nerve regeneration. These findings might lead to a sufficient morphological and functional recovery of the peripheral nerve."
- A year later (September 2013), the Iranian journal, Acta Medica Iranica carried a study of 60 Diabetics with neuropathy called Evaluation of Low Level Laser Therapy in Reducing Diabetic Polyneuropathy Related Pain and Sensorimotor Disorders. After comparing Laser Therapy to "sham" laser therapy, the authors determined that, "Laser therapy resulted in improved neuropathy outcomes in diabetic patients."
- If you follow THIS LINK, you'll quickly see that most problems of the Endocrine System (not just Diabetes) start with BLOOD SUGAR DYSREGULATION. Furthermore, I've shown you that FIBROMYALGIA, while typically associated with ADRENAL FATIGUE, is now believed to be a form of all-over SMALL FIBER PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY. A study published in the May 2013 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (Effects of Class IV Laser Therapy on Fibromyalgia Impact and Function in Women with Fibromyalgia) revealed that, "LHT may be a beneficial modality for women with FM in order to improve pain and upper body range of motion, ultimately reducing the impact of FM."
- Because diabetic foot ulcers are one of the most common sequelae of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy, I thought I should include this 2014 meta-analysis from Evidence-Based Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (Low Level Laser Therapy for the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Critical Survey). After initially looking at almost 2,000 articles on the topic, the authors narrowed the field to 22 studies that met their criteria, concluding that even though, "The transferal of these data into clinical medicine is under debate, cell studies and animal studies gave evidence of cellular migration, viability, and proliferation of fibroblast cells, quicker reepithelization and reformed connective tissue, enhancement of microcirculation, and anti-inflammatory effects by inhibition of prostaglandine, interleukin, and cytokine as well as direct antibacterial effects by induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The majority of clinical studies show a potential benefit of LLLT in wound healing of diabetic ulcers. In summary, all studies give enough evidence to continue research on laser therapy for diabetic ulcers."
- The October, 2015 issue of the medical journal Laser Medicine (Efficacy of Low Level Laser Therapy on Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy) showed that, "The result analysis showed significant reduction in Pain using VAS scale, reduction in Vibration perception threshold, and a significant increase in the temperature from baseline to post intervention. In the present study, Low level laser therapy was found to be effective in Type II Diabetes Mellitus with peripheral neuropathy."
- It is important to remember that while Diabetes is the chief reason that people end up with Peripheral Neuropathy, it certainly isn't the only reason. There are any number of others including CANCER TREATMENT and TREATMENT OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES (chemotherapy). Just a few short months ago, the January issue of Supportive Care in Cancer (Low-Level Laser Therapy Alleviates Mechanical and Cold Allodynia Induced by Oxaliplatin Administration in Rats) showed that, "Cold and mechanical allodynia caused by oxaliplatin-induced acute peripheral neuropathy frequently occur after drug infusion. LLLT relieved both cold and mechanical allodynia induced by oxaliplatin in rats. Oxaliplatin-related increases in protein levels of NGF and TRPM8 in DRG and SP in the dorsal horn were also reduced after LLLT. The findings of this study support LLLT as a potential treatment for oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy. Moreover, our findings suggest that SP, TRPM8, and NGF proteins in the superficial dorsal horn and DRG may be involved in an antiallodynic effect for LLLT." In a nutshell, Laser Therapy helps people with both HYPERALGIA & ALLODYNIA.
*BONUS STUDIES
- There are any number of reasons I am a fan of WHOLE BODY VIBRATION. Add the potential for it to help those with PN to the list. The October, 2013 issue of the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (Whole Body Vibration Therapy for Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: A Pilot Study) published in their abstract that, "The unsatisfactory results associated with conventional treatments for symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) demonstrate a need for research into alternative therapies. WBV demonstrated a significant acute pain reduction in the VAS, and a significant chronic reduction in both the VAS and NPS scales. No side-effects were observed during this study. WBV appears to be an effective, non-invasive treatment for pain associated with DPN."
- Neurosurgeon, Dr. Peter Carney, an expert in Low Level Laser Therapy, is working with a new form of treatment for PN called CET. In a MedScape paper called Peripheral Neuropathy Treatment Taps Into Quantum Theory, Carney reported to the 2014 meeting of the American Academy of Pain Management their amazing results with CET. The treatment involves injecting the problematic nerves with certain kinds of ions and then stimulating them with electricity. He was not only given an award for one of the top studies presented at the meeting, but pushed for further research saying, "If these results are replicated, then millions of people with neuropathy who are in agony may be able to lead fuller lives."
CONCLUSIONS
Bottom line, if you truly want to help yourself with Peripheral Neuropathy you are going to have to change your diet. Period. Historically, this has meant something along the lines of a LOW CARB or even KETOGENIC DIET (specific info on PN in this link), although I am a huge fan of PALEO. A failure to break your CARB ADDICTION and move away from the HIGH CARB LIFESTYLE is going to doom whatever treatment you use.
The beauty of Low Level Laser Therapy (either Cold, Class III lasers or Class IV lasers that generate heat) is certainly promising in the treatment of Peripheral Neuropathy. Plan on getting treated at least 3 to 4 times a week for a month to see if it is going to help. Unlike the drugs typically used to wage war against PN, properly used lasers have a side effect profile that is just about zero.
As far as the whole getting-rid-of-inflammation thing is concerned, you'll definitely want to take a look at THIS POST. Remember, if you don't deal with underlying Inflammation, all other beneficial treatment results will be temporary at best.
ADVANCED GLYCATION ENDPRODUCTS
A BIG REASON YOUR HEALTH ISN'T WHAT IT SHOULD BE
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"Dietary AGEs do not tell the whole story, because they can also form through various metabolic pathways in the body. One study showed that while omnivores generally have higher dietary intakes of AGEs than vegetarians, vegetarians actually end up with higher concentrations of AGEs in their plasma. The authors hypothesized that their results were due to the increased fructose intake of vegetarians..... Overall, there’s no good evidence that red meat is more inflammatory than other meats, and some evidence indicating that it’s less inflammatory. Just like any other food, it’s certainly possible for people to have individual intolerances to red meat that might induce inflammation, but there’s no reason for most people to restrict red meat on the basis of inflammation. Additionally, AGEs from meat are probably not a concern, and meat eaters might even be better off when it comes to plasma levels of AGEs." Chris Kresser from Does Red Meat Cause Inflammation?
Over the past several years, I have mentioned something called Advanced Glycation Endproducts, also known as AGES, several different times. According to the Journal of the American Dietetics Association (Advanced Glycation End Products in Foods and a Practical Guide to Their Reduction in the Diet), AGES.....
"are a diverse group of highly oxidant compounds with pathogenic significance in diabetes and in several other chronic diseases. AGEs are created through a nonenzymatic reaction between reducing sugars and free amino groups of proteins, lipids, or nucleic acids [DNA & RNA]. This reaction is also known as the Maillard or browning reaction. The formation of AGEs is a part of normal metabolism, but if excessively high levels of AGEs are reached in tissues and the circulation they can become pathogenic. The pathologic effects of AGEs are related to their ability to promote oxidative stress and inflammation by binding with cell surface receptors or cross-linking with body proteins, altering their structure and function..... Modern diets are largely heat-processed and as a result contain high levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).... Animal-derived foods that are high in fat and protein are generally AGE-rich and prone to new AGE formation during cooking. In contrast, carbohydrate-rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and milk contain relatively few AGEs, even after cooking."
The first thing we should notice here is that AGES are bad news. In fact, a quick tour through PubMed reveals slews of studies that have been done in the last two years linking AGES to any number of health-related problems --- not surprising considering that DIABETES is heavily associated with AGES, and most health problems start with (or at least have a major relation to) UNCONTROLLED BLOOD SUGAR. Dr. Loren Cordain, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, says on his blog that....
"It is now becoming clear to scientists that high tissue levels of AGEs are associated with almost all chronic diseases that afflict us in the western world. AGEs are directly involved with or accelerate the progression of numerous diseases including: The Metabolic Syndrome (type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure), cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, Alzheimer’s disease, allergy and autoimmune diseases, cancers, cataracts, retinal degeneration, and gastrointestinal diseases. Additionally, excessive AGEs are known to speed the aging process."
The second thing that catches my eye has to do with the sorts of foods that contain large amounts of AGES. If it's true that, "animal-derived foods" (can anyone say RED MEAT or SATURATED FAT?) are high in AGES and that, "whole grains and milk contain relatively few," it would appear that a LOW CARB or PALEO DIET ---- the way of eating that I recommend to nearly all my CHRONICALLY INFLAMED patients --- could backfire; actually making them worse. As is often the case, there is more to this issue than meets the eye.
HOW AGES FORM | WHAT AGES DO TO YOU |
One of the biggest factors that increases the AGE content in meat and poultry is the cooking method used. Meat that has been blackened, fried, seared, broiled, or grilled, has a tendency to be very high in AGES. This has to do with the Maillard Reaction mentioned earlier --- a "carmelization" sort of thing that occurs with the darkening of meats or other food products via heat (Video #1). As far as AGES are concerned, meat is better off slow-cooked in fluids at a lower temp, like you would do in a crock pot. Interestingly enough, The AGE Foundation tells us that, "acidic marinades [think lemon or vinegar here] can suppress AGE formation by up to 50 percent when cooking meat." Cooking, however, is not the biggest factor in our exposure to AGES ---- not by a long shot. Meet Chris Masterjohn.
Dr. Masterjohn earned his Ph.D in Nutritional Sciences from UConn, and currently works as an Assistant Professor of Health and Nutrition Sciences and researcher at City University of New York, Brooklyn campus. He runs the website CHOLESTEROL AND HEALTH (his blog is called 'The Daily Lipid'). Allow me to summarize his post, 'Where Do Most AGEs Come From? O Glycation, How Thy Name Hast Deceived Me!'
Remember that there are two different ways that AGES get into our bodies. Firstly, and most importantly, is the Maillard Reaction --- an internal reaction that is directly related to the amount of HIGH GLYCEMIC INDEX CARBOHYDRATE / SUGAR that we consume (endogenous --- it's made by our bodies in response to sugar). Secondly, are the AGES that come directly from our diet (exogenous --- not made by our body, but consumed). Listen to what Dr. Masterjohn says about exogenous AGES.
"The available evidence suggests that we do absorb certain AGEs from the intestinal tract, but almost immediately begin peeing them out. As a result, dietary AGEs are unlikely to contribute meaningfully to the pool of AGEs circulating in our bodies at any given moment."
What does this sound like? Although the mechanism for clearing the body is certainly different, this reminds me of what we know about CHOLESTEROL. For years we were told not to eat any fat (HERE), all the while being lectured that carbs and sugar can't make us fat since they don't contain any fat. Hence, we endured forty years of stupid BS like, DON'T EAT EGGS or DON'T EAT RED MEAT OR FAT (but eat all the carbs you want) --- positions that have been turned on their heads by several decades of research (not to mention the fact that we are the sickest and fattest society in the history of the world).
In other words, the Cholesterol you consume does not cause your blood cholesterol levels to increase (see first link in this paragraph) --- and neither does dietary consumption of AGES cause blood levels to rise like you would assume they would. It's kind of akin to people going on the Atkins Diet and not only losing a ton of weight, but getting their blood work in order as well --- even though they are probably consuming more fat than they ever have before. Masterjohn then says something that I myself have said in the past, "Diabetes is not so much a sugar problem, as it is an Inflammation problem" (my quote, not his). Dr. Masterjohn reveals that.....
"Diabetes involves a lot more than high blood sugar. Most likely, increased concentrations of glucose and ketones, defective energy metabolism, defective insulin signaling, and oxidative stress lead to the increased production of and decreased detoxification of dicarbonyls. These dicarbonyls then form AGEs, defective degradation of AGE-modified proteins elevates their concentration further, and if the diabetes damages the kidneys, even the free AGEs released from degraded proteins will not be efficiently excreted. High blood sugar is a part of this, but only a part."
Interesting, but this brings up a whole other issue for those using a Low Carb or Paleo approach --- ketones. WebMD says this about having lots of ketones in your bloodstream. "Ketosis is a normal metabolic process, something your body does to keep working. When it doesn't have enough carbohydrates from food for your cells to burn for energy, it burns fat instead. As part of this process, it makes ketones. If you're healthy and eating a balanced diet, your body controls how much fat it burns, and you don't normally make or use ketones. But when you cut way back on your calories or carbs, your body will switch to ketosis for energy. For people with uncontrolled diabetes, ketosis is a sign of not using enough insulin." Did you catch that? Ketosis is "normal" when you burn fat for energy. Unfortunately, many people confuse Ketosis with Keto-acidosis.
According to the American Diabetes Association, Ketoacidosis (aka Diabetic Ketoactidosis or DKA) occurs, "When your cells don't get the glucose they need for energy, your body begins to burn fat for energy, which produces ketones. Ketones are chemicals that the body creates when it breaks down fat to use for energy. The body does this when it doesn’t have enough insulin to use glucose, the body’s normal source of energy. When ketones build up in the blood, they make it more acidic. They are a warning sign that your diabetes is out of control or that you are getting sick. High levels of ketones can poison the body. When levels get too high, you can develop DKA. DKA may happen to anyone with diabetes, though it is rare in people with type 2." While true, is this definition completely accurate? After all, the purpose of the 'Induction Phase' of Dr. Atkins' diet was to put people into Ketosis. According to the website Ketogenic Diet Resource, never confuse the two.
"Ketosis is NOT Ketoacidosis. The difference between the two conditions is a matter of volume and flow rate. Benign dietary ketosis is a controlled, insulin regulated process which results in a mild release of fatty acids and ketone body production in response to low carbohydrate intake, and higher fat consumption. Nutrional ketosis associated with a properly formulated ketogenic diet is not dangerous because it is regulated by insulin within the body. It's simply the metabolic process of burning your own body fat for fuel, and unless you are diabetic and lacking insulin, or you are a raging alcoholic, it is perfectly safe. Ketoacidosis is a condition in which abnormal quantities of ketones are produced in an unregulated biochemical situation. In order to reach a state of ketoacidosis, the body has to be in a state of not producing enough insulin to regulate the flow of fatty acids and the creation of ketone bodies. If left untreated, acidosis can result in a coma and death."
All of this brings me to another interesting point concerning the KETOGENIC DIET. Despite the negative reviews by people in the (Ornish camp), not only is a state of Ketosis an excellent way for the VERY OBESE to lose weight in a hurry, but for those with severe neurological conditions to help get them under control as well. Almost a century ago, Dr Russell Wilder of the Mayo Clinic designed a diet specifically used to treat Epilepsy, which was based on consuming large quantities of cream (unlike milk, cream has no sugar or carbs) and other protein-based foods. Although, not surprisingly, it has fallen out of favor due to the advent of anti-seizure drugs, this begs the question of whether or not it was / is effective? A 2012 Cochrane Review (Ketogenic Diet and Other Dietary Treatments for Epilepsy) helps answer this question.
"Several large observational studies investigated the effect of ketogenic diets in epilepsy and reported a beneficial effect. Recently, this view has been strengthened by the publication of four randomized controlled trials including one study which looked specifically at the Atkins diet, a related diet.These studies suggest that in children, the ketogenic diet results in short to medium term benefits in seizure control, the effects of which are comparable to modern antiepileptic drugs. We found one randomized study of reasonable quality of the Atkins diet. This study showed similar benefits in seizure control with a less restrictive diet. For those with medically intractable epilepsy or those in whom surgery is unsuitable, a ketogenic diet could improve seizure control, but tolerability is poor (dislike for the diet). All studies showed 30-40% reduction in seizures compared to comparative controls."
Did you catch that? The effects of the KETOGENIC DIET are comparable to drugs. But enough of this; let's get back to AGES. Although there is a huge debate about whether or not dietary AGES are bad for you (or at least as bad for you as some say they are), there is no debate as to whether the AGES created by your body in response to sugar / carb consumption are bad. I went over to PubMed and cruised through studies on AGES published just in the past few months. AGES have been tied to Diabetes, OSTEOARTHRITIS, problems with the eye, hearing problems, liver problems, any number of cardiovascular problems, AUTOIMMUNITY, CANCER, SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION, PCOS, MS, HASHIMOTO'S THYROIDITIS, periodontal disease, mutations of DNA, cellular apoptosis (death), ULCERATIVE COLITIS, wrinkles (premature aging), kidney problems, OSTEOPOROSIS, OXIDATIVE STRESS, pregnancy complications / preterm labor, inability to heal bone fractures, and all-cause mortality (death by any and all causes) ---- and this was only going back to July.
In a study published in the August issue of Molecular Aspects of Medicine (Dietary Glycemia as a Determinant of Health and Longevity), the authors looked at what it takes to live for a very long time, by specifically studying the link between visual health and dietary carbohydrate consumption. "Extending healthful life is a millennia-old dream and objective. During the intervening centuries a multitude of concoctions and remedies have been offered, usually with few substantiated results. Loss of vision due to age-related cataracts or age-related macular degeneration is widely prevalent, affecting about 85% and 15% of the elderly respectively. With centenarians among the fastest growing segments of societies, and with loss of vision a very costly personal and societal burden, there is keen interest in extending vision - that is, delaying age-related macular degeneration and cataract - or diminishing risk for these debilities. Using extensive epidemiologic and nutritional information from the Nurses' Health Study and Age-Related Eye Disease Study we determined that measures of total carbohydrate, and even more so, glycemic index, are associated with visual health."
I'm not surprised. I have shown you repeatedly that LIVING A HIGH CARB LIFESTYLE will not only kill you, it can make your life a living hell (just look at the list of diseases above). And as for the whole don't-eat-meat-because-it-causes-AGES thing, lets take one last look at what DR ART AYERS of Cooling Inflammation has to say about this in his post called Diabetic Hypertension, Browning of the Arteries. "Should we fear browned foods as inflammatory. I don't think that AGE in foods is any more of a hazard than all of the toxic phytochemicals that are touted as plant antioxidants. I think that the gut and liver provide protection. I brown the sugar on my flans and sear my steaks, even as I relish eating my veggies. The body can detox these natural products in the gut better than it can handle the AGE made by high blood sugars." To see precisely what Ayers is talking about, you can read THIS POST.
The truth is that we have to be worried about dietary AGE consumption causing the high blood levels of AGES that lead to all sorts of sickness, pain, and disease, about as much as we have to worry about eggs or dietary fat making us fat. In a blog comment on Diabetes Forecast (Foods High in AGES), commenter Rehun says it nicely when he states......
"Wow! talk about misinformation! The proof that exogenous AGE's make it into the bloodstream is very dicey. Just like the idea that eggs have cholesterol, therefore we shouldn't eat eggs. Show me the proof that meat, which is protein contributes to AGE's in our bodies. Sugar contributes to AGE's. The AGE's we need to be concerned with are endogenous AGE's, that are created in our bodies when a glucose molecule binds with a protein/lipid molecule without a controlling enzyme. Those AGE's (glycation) become "ugly" molecules sticking to cells throughout our bodies and, with time, create a great deal of damage and disease. Want to lower blood sugar and AGE's? Reduce the carbs and increase protein. Then exercise and look for anti glycation products....they're out there. The idea that AGE's attached to the food we eat causes damage is just like the ridiculous idea that eating fat creates fat in our bodies."
YOU'RE IN FOR A SHOCK
THE SPEEDY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND INSULIN RESISTANCE
StockSnap from Pixabay
"The obesity epidemic and the consequent development of metabolic syndrome are an increasingly significant health problem, associated with reduced life span and quality of life. Metabolic syndrome is a term given to a condition associated with the collection of a series of risk predictors that are associated with metabolic diseases including obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and more recently dementia. Obesity and metabolic syndrome are correlated metabolic diseases associated with chronic low-grade inflammation. Insulin resistance is an important health issue since it flourishes silently much before the onset of such metabolic manifestations. Insulin resistance refers to impaired or failed intracellular transduction of the insulin-mediated signalling cascade in sensitive tissues, especially the liver, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue." Cherry-picked from the June 2015 issue of Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (Molecular Events Linking Oxidative Stress and Inflammation to Insulin Resistance and β-Cell Dysfunction)
A study published in this week's issue of Science Transnational Medicine (Excessive Caloric Intake Acutely Causes Oxidative Stress, GLUT4 Carbonylation, and Insulin Resistance in Healthy Men), built on what we learned from Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary, Supersize Me --- it does not take very long to get fat and sick when eating a crappy diet. Below are a few cherry-picked sentences from a popular online encyclopedia concerning the movie.
"Spurlock ate at McDonald's restaurants three times per day, eating every item on the chain's menu at least once. He consumed an average of 5,000 calories per day (the equivalent of 9.26 Big Macs) during the experiment. As a result, the then-32-year-old Spurlock gained 24 lb, a 13% body mass increase, increased his cholesterol, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver (at one point he gained 17 lbs in 12 days). It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight gained from his experiment by using a diet supervised by his then-girlfriend (now ex-wife), a chef who specializes in gourmet vegan dishes."
In other words, by the end of the thirty days, Spurlock was both physically and mentally messed up. This recent study is even more shocking in it's revelation of just how fast WEIGHT GAIN and INSULIN RESISTANCE can actually occur. Have you ever been on a vacation or holiday where you lay around watching old movies or one football game after the next, while eating ample amounts of junk food (think about a Christmas break where you are snowed / iced in)? According to this latest peer-reviewed research from Dr. Guenther Boden's team from Philadelphia's Temple University, the price you will pay for a sedentary "binge" of this sort is going to be steep.
Our government's own National Academy of Medicine says that the average sedentary, middle aged male (30 to 50) should be consuming about 2,200 calories a day. In this particular study, six "healthy" men were made to lay in a hospital bed for one week, eating almost three times that number of calories (6,200 to be exact) --- mostly in the form of high carb / high fat junk (PIZZA, COOKIES, white bread, etc, etc). The results? They gained an average of eight pounds each; a bit over one pound a day --- on par with Spurlock's gain of 25 lbs in a month --- most of it as BELLY FAT.
Remember, however, that due to the totally sedentary nature of the men in this study, it's almost certain that they actually lost several pounds of muscle mass, meaning that the weight gain (all fat) was even more pronounced than it appeared. But weight gain was not the only problem revealed by this study --- not by a long shot. Make sure you are sitting down when you read this next sentence. It only took 2 days for these men to develop a resistance to the hormone Insulin (Insulin Resistance --- a part of the METABOLIC SYNDROME, which, along with HYPOGLYCEMIA, is a precursor to DIABETES). According to the authors, by day two there were, "severe systemic and adipose [fat] tissue insulin resistance in every one of six study subjects."
Along with the chemicals we collectively refer to as INFLAMMATION, oxidative stress (oxidation is what causes unprotected iron to rust) was determined to cause the biggest changes to GLUT4 --- a protein regulated by Insulin that actually transports BLOOD SUGAR --- glucose --- out of the blood and into the cells. Several studies have shown that people who lack the gene for making GLUT4 in certain parts of their brain end up with DEPRESSION and cognitive impairment ("DEMENTIA"); symptoms that certainly jibe with what we saw on Supersize Me.
The authors of this study argue that it is oxidative stress and not inflammation that first triggers the weight gain and insulin resistance. As far as I am concerned, the point is moot because not only are both essentially caused in the SAME FASHION, you deal with both dietarily the same way as well (HERE). Because this study showed that oxidative stress is involved, it would naturally follow that a DIET RICH IN ANTIOXIDANTS could be beneficial. Just remember, however, that research has shown that high doses of chemically synthesized individual antioxidants are not always the best approach. I bring this up because this is always what researchers are looking for --- some sort of chemical or drug that can be patented and sold.
Studies such as this one produce tons of hype about the potential for that "miracle product" that will solve your Diabetes (or PRE-DIABETES) without any effort on your part. You'll not need to change your diet or address the underlying Inflammation. It's the false hope of drugs and supplements --- that there is something out there WITH ZERO SIDE EFFECTS that will allow us to keep living our same old self-indulgent lifestyles, but prevent us from gaining weight or getting sick; or "cure" us when we do. Products like this are a staple of late night TV advertising.
The body and the foods we eat need to be viewed as a whole. It's why I am such a stickler for WHOLE FOODS & WHOLE FOOD SUPPLEMENTS. Prescribing people an isolated molecule can do amazing things ---- for awhile. But you upset the body's homeostasis, leading to an array of potential problems. CORTISONE is one such molecule --- ask anyone that's been on it. Amazing results; brutal side effects. If you follow medical logic, we should just be able to give folks GLUT4 and solve their Insulin Resistance problem. The problem with this approach is that according to a study published in the May, 2002 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (The Insulin-Sensitive Glucose Transporter, GLUT4, Interacts Physically with Daxx), this could potentially produce deadly results. Daxx is another name for Death-Associated Protein VI --- a chemical whose purpose is, among other things, to cause pre-programmed cellular apotosis (death).
"Spurlock ate at McDonald's restaurants three times per day, eating every item on the chain's menu at least once. He consumed an average of 5,000 calories per day (the equivalent of 9.26 Big Macs) during the experiment. As a result, the then-32-year-old Spurlock gained 24 lb, a 13% body mass increase, increased his cholesterol, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver (at one point he gained 17 lbs in 12 days). It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight gained from his experiment by using a diet supervised by his then-girlfriend (now ex-wife), a chef who specializes in gourmet vegan dishes."
In other words, by the end of the thirty days, Spurlock was both physically and mentally messed up. This recent study is even more shocking in it's revelation of just how fast WEIGHT GAIN and INSULIN RESISTANCE can actually occur. Have you ever been on a vacation or holiday where you lay around watching old movies or one football game after the next, while eating ample amounts of junk food (think about a Christmas break where you are snowed / iced in)? According to this latest peer-reviewed research from Dr. Guenther Boden's team from Philadelphia's Temple University, the price you will pay for a sedentary "binge" of this sort is going to be steep.
Our government's own National Academy of Medicine says that the average sedentary, middle aged male (30 to 50) should be consuming about 2,200 calories a day. In this particular study, six "healthy" men were made to lay in a hospital bed for one week, eating almost three times that number of calories (6,200 to be exact) --- mostly in the form of high carb / high fat junk (PIZZA, COOKIES, white bread, etc, etc). The results? They gained an average of eight pounds each; a bit over one pound a day --- on par with Spurlock's gain of 25 lbs in a month --- most of it as BELLY FAT.
Remember, however, that due to the totally sedentary nature of the men in this study, it's almost certain that they actually lost several pounds of muscle mass, meaning that the weight gain (all fat) was even more pronounced than it appeared. But weight gain was not the only problem revealed by this study --- not by a long shot. Make sure you are sitting down when you read this next sentence. It only took 2 days for these men to develop a resistance to the hormone Insulin (Insulin Resistance --- a part of the METABOLIC SYNDROME, which, along with HYPOGLYCEMIA, is a precursor to DIABETES). According to the authors, by day two there were, "severe systemic and adipose [fat] tissue insulin resistance in every one of six study subjects."
Along with the chemicals we collectively refer to as INFLAMMATION, oxidative stress (oxidation is what causes unprotected iron to rust) was determined to cause the biggest changes to GLUT4 --- a protein regulated by Insulin that actually transports BLOOD SUGAR --- glucose --- out of the blood and into the cells. Several studies have shown that people who lack the gene for making GLUT4 in certain parts of their brain end up with DEPRESSION and cognitive impairment ("DEMENTIA"); symptoms that certainly jibe with what we saw on Supersize Me.
The authors of this study argue that it is oxidative stress and not inflammation that first triggers the weight gain and insulin resistance. As far as I am concerned, the point is moot because not only are both essentially caused in the SAME FASHION, you deal with both dietarily the same way as well (HERE). Because this study showed that oxidative stress is involved, it would naturally follow that a DIET RICH IN ANTIOXIDANTS could be beneficial. Just remember, however, that research has shown that high doses of chemically synthesized individual antioxidants are not always the best approach. I bring this up because this is always what researchers are looking for --- some sort of chemical or drug that can be patented and sold.
Studies such as this one produce tons of hype about the potential for that "miracle product" that will solve your Diabetes (or PRE-DIABETES) without any effort on your part. You'll not need to change your diet or address the underlying Inflammation. It's the false hope of drugs and supplements --- that there is something out there WITH ZERO SIDE EFFECTS that will allow us to keep living our same old self-indulgent lifestyles, but prevent us from gaining weight or getting sick; or "cure" us when we do. Products like this are a staple of late night TV advertising.
The body and the foods we eat need to be viewed as a whole. It's why I am such a stickler for WHOLE FOODS & WHOLE FOOD SUPPLEMENTS. Prescribing people an isolated molecule can do amazing things ---- for awhile. But you upset the body's homeostasis, leading to an array of potential problems. CORTISONE is one such molecule --- ask anyone that's been on it. Amazing results; brutal side effects. If you follow medical logic, we should just be able to give folks GLUT4 and solve their Insulin Resistance problem. The problem with this approach is that according to a study published in the May, 2002 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (The Insulin-Sensitive Glucose Transporter, GLUT4, Interacts Physically with Daxx), this could potentially produce deadly results. Daxx is another name for Death-Associated Protein VI --- a chemical whose purpose is, among other things, to cause pre-programmed cellular apotosis (death).
PREDIABETES / METABOLIC SYNDROME
AND OUR GOVERNMENT
WestportWiki
"In one of the most medically advanced countries in the world, more that 86 million Americans live with prediabetes, yet nearly 90% of them don't even know it. This isn't just a concern, it's a crisis." Dr. Robert Wah, president of the AMA, via a press conference announcing the new government initiative by both the AMA and the CDC.
TYPE II DIABETES is a hard way to go. Just ask the nearly 30 million sufferers (CDC stats). It's a killer which, if it doesn't get you outright with a heart attack or stroke, will get you slowly with PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY, blindness, RAMPANT INFLAMMATION, and creeping amputations. And that's just for starters. But Diabetes does not come out of thin air. It starts LONG BEFORE your fasting blood sugar reaches that magical level of 126 --- the level where you are "officially" diagnosed with Diabetes (75-85 would be closer to normal). This is why I so often hear people say, "BUT DR. S, I DON'T HAVE DIABETES". Although this statement may be technically true, in many cases it's functionally false.
The brand new initiative called "STAT" (Screen, Test, Act, Today) revolves around taking a 30 second written test on a new taxpayer-funded website (Prevent Diabetes Stat). The test has a height / weight chart and asks easy questions such as whether or not you exercise and how old you are. The test has zero questions about diet (I scored poorly for the sole reason of being nearly 50 years old). While the solutions discussed on the site do mention seeing a certified diabetes coach, most of their answers to solving prediabetes (aka METABOLIC SYNDROME) revolve around more testing and whether or not you have some sort of health insurance.
Can you trust our government? What about the AMA? Look folks; when you have our government telling you that the DASH DIET is the way to go as far as dealing with blood sugar regulation issues and HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, you know you're in trouble. As for the AMA, they look at you as a commodity. If the American people are sick for the better part of their lifetimes, all the better. It's a veritable cash cow --- a gold mine for everyone involved (HERE). If you don't believe this, just look at some of the "EVIDENCE".
If you really want to start learning about what it will take to manage whatever health issues you are dealing with, including Diabetes or pre-Diabetes, simply start HERE. Definitely not as easy as the STAT recommendations, but far more effective.
The brand new initiative called "STAT" (Screen, Test, Act, Today) revolves around taking a 30 second written test on a new taxpayer-funded website (Prevent Diabetes Stat). The test has a height / weight chart and asks easy questions such as whether or not you exercise and how old you are. The test has zero questions about diet (I scored poorly for the sole reason of being nearly 50 years old). While the solutions discussed on the site do mention seeing a certified diabetes coach, most of their answers to solving prediabetes (aka METABOLIC SYNDROME) revolve around more testing and whether or not you have some sort of health insurance.
Can you trust our government? What about the AMA? Look folks; when you have our government telling you that the DASH DIET is the way to go as far as dealing with blood sugar regulation issues and HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, you know you're in trouble. As for the AMA, they look at you as a commodity. If the American people are sick for the better part of their lifetimes, all the better. It's a veritable cash cow --- a gold mine for everyone involved (HERE). If you don't believe this, just look at some of the "EVIDENCE".
If you really want to start learning about what it will take to manage whatever health issues you are dealing with, including Diabetes or pre-Diabetes, simply start HERE. Definitely not as easy as the STAT recommendations, but far more effective.
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
IS IT REALLY NO DIFFERENT THAN OTHER SUGARS OR SWEETENERS?
"So what does the science say? While media and blog headlines have slammed high fructose corn syrup, scientists and experts have been evaluating the controversy and coming to different conclusions. Their view? Research shows HFCS, sugar and other sweeteners are basically the same from a health perspective." From Sweet Surprise --- the website of the CRA (Corn Refiners Association).
"The use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has increased over the past several decades in the United States, while overweight and obesity rates have risen dramatically..... The Center for Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture Policy convened an expert panel to discuss the published scientific literature examining the relationship between consumption of HFCS or "soft drinks" (proxy for HFCS) and weight gain...... The fructose:glucose (F:G) ratio in the U.S. food supply has not appreciably changed since the introduction of HFCS in the 1960s..... Based on the currently available evidence, the expert panel concluded that HFCS does not appear to contribute to overweight and obesity any differently than do other energy sources." From a 2007 issue of the medical journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain).
"The hypothesis that the replacement of sucrose with HFCS in beverages plays a causative role in obesity is not supported on the basis of its composition, biological actions or short-term effects on food intake. Had the hypothesis been phrased in the converse, namely that replacing HFCS with sucrose in beverages would be a solution to the obesity epidemic, its merit would have been seen more clearly." Taken from a 2013 issue of the International Journal of Obesity (Lack of Evidence for High Fructose Corn Syrup as the Cause of the Obesity Epidemic).
"A study released last week by researchers from the University of Southern California and Oxford University claiming to find a unique link between high fructose corn syrup and Type 2 diabetes is flawed both in its design and conclusions." Taken from the website of the National Corn Growers Association (CRA Calls for Caution in Consideration of Flawed Study Alleging HFCS-Diabetes Link).
"We are not aware of any evidence, including the studies mentioned above, that there is a difference in safety between foods containing HFCS 42 or HFCS 55 and foods containing similar amounts of other nutritive sweeteners with approximately equal glucose and fructose content, such as sucrose, honey, or other traditional sweeteners." From the website of the FDA (High Fructose Corn Syrup: Questions and Answers)
"The use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has increased over the past several decades in the United States, while overweight and obesity rates have risen dramatically..... The Center for Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture Policy convened an expert panel to discuss the published scientific literature examining the relationship between consumption of HFCS or "soft drinks" (proxy for HFCS) and weight gain...... The fructose:glucose (F:G) ratio in the U.S. food supply has not appreciably changed since the introduction of HFCS in the 1960s..... Based on the currently available evidence, the expert panel concluded that HFCS does not appear to contribute to overweight and obesity any differently than do other energy sources." From a 2007 issue of the medical journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain).
"The hypothesis that the replacement of sucrose with HFCS in beverages plays a causative role in obesity is not supported on the basis of its composition, biological actions or short-term effects on food intake. Had the hypothesis been phrased in the converse, namely that replacing HFCS with sucrose in beverages would be a solution to the obesity epidemic, its merit would have been seen more clearly." Taken from a 2013 issue of the International Journal of Obesity (Lack of Evidence for High Fructose Corn Syrup as the Cause of the Obesity Epidemic).
"A study released last week by researchers from the University of Southern California and Oxford University claiming to find a unique link between high fructose corn syrup and Type 2 diabetes is flawed both in its design and conclusions." Taken from the website of the National Corn Growers Association (CRA Calls for Caution in Consideration of Flawed Study Alleging HFCS-Diabetes Link).
"We are not aware of any evidence, including the studies mentioned above, that there is a difference in safety between foods containing HFCS 42 or HFCS 55 and foods containing similar amounts of other nutritive sweeteners with approximately equal glucose and fructose content, such as sucrose, honey, or other traditional sweeteners." From the website of the FDA (High Fructose Corn Syrup: Questions and Answers)
We are being bombarded by articles (some of them "scientific") and TV commercials telling us that HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) is not nearly as bad as we have been led to believe, is no different than other kinds of "natural" sugars, and cannot be linked to health issues such as OBESITY or DIABETES any more than can any other type of sugar. In fact, numerous organizations have gone on a similar offensive to what we saw with margarine back when I was a kid ---- they marketed it as better for the heart because it came from a "heart-healthy" vegetable (corn / corn oil), and not an evil animal fat like real butter. The only problem is that corn is not a vegetable but a grain, and margarine is mostly TRANS FAT. Furthermore, we have learned that animal fat isn't the problem we were once led to believe it is (HERE).
Because several of the studies quoted from above use the word "Evidence" (two actually have the word in the title of their studies), it makes me wonder what the evidence really says when it comes to HFCS. Hopefully by now we all realize that "Science" is whatever the highest bidder says it is. For instance, the third quote above revealed that of the study's four authors, there were financial COI (Conflicts of Interest) with ConAgra, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Weight Watchers, and the Corn Refiners Association. In fact, one of the authors was a member of the CRA's Scientific Advisory Panel, another was an "adviser" for ConAgra, while yet another got a number of his research grants from these or similar companies. In fact, the lead author of this study lists PepsiCo as a partner right on his flippin "health-related" website (Rippe Lifestyle Institute). Such is the nature of EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE --- "Evidence" is whatever the person with the most money says it is.
My goal today is to look at what some of the studies on HFCS actually say. Let's find out who's right in this argument --- people like DR. ROBERT LUSTIG or Big Corporations / Big Government. Before we do this, I want to take a few seconds to point out to you why it matters. If you slowly scroll through my numerous posts on BLOOD SUGAR, you will begin to notice that Blood Sugar Dysregulation or high sugar consumption is being associated with almost every health problem imaginable, including virtually all of the AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES and CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEGENERATIVE DISEASES (you can click either link for lists).
I honestly thought about trying to create my own "Super Page" on High Fructose Corn Syrup, but after looking at how much research there is on the topic (none of it good), I decided to leave you a few links to others who have at least to some degree, done the job for me.
There are hundreds of similar articles I could have included (just go to PubMed). HFCS is so ubiquitous to our society that it is extremely difficult to avoid --- it's in just about everything. Just realize that despite most of what you are being told by the corn industry, who is heavily funded by our government in the form of subsidies, is not true. Fructose --- particularly in the massive amounts seen in HFCS --- is metabolized differently in your body than glucose or other sugars. I want to leave you with a quote from Dr. Andrew Siegel (Urologist / Surgeon / Author / Professor) from his wishfully-named website The Ban of HFCS in the U.S.
"Importantly, fructose is metabolized very differently from glucose. Every cell in our bodies can metabolize glucose, but it is primarily the liver that metabolizes fructose. Fructose does not stimulate insulin release as does glucose, nor does it stimulate leptin (our satiety hormone). Fructose, more readily than glucose, replenishes liver glycogen, and once the liver is saturated with glycogen, triglycerides (fats) are made and stored. So, too much HFCS and we end up with a fatty liver…and body! The bottom line is that HFCS ingestion pushes our metabolism towards fat production and fat storage, potentially leading to obesity, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease."
Because several of the studies quoted from above use the word "Evidence" (two actually have the word in the title of their studies), it makes me wonder what the evidence really says when it comes to HFCS. Hopefully by now we all realize that "Science" is whatever the highest bidder says it is. For instance, the third quote above revealed that of the study's four authors, there were financial COI (Conflicts of Interest) with ConAgra, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Weight Watchers, and the Corn Refiners Association. In fact, one of the authors was a member of the CRA's Scientific Advisory Panel, another was an "adviser" for ConAgra, while yet another got a number of his research grants from these or similar companies. In fact, the lead author of this study lists PepsiCo as a partner right on his flippin "health-related" website (Rippe Lifestyle Institute). Such is the nature of EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE --- "Evidence" is whatever the person with the most money says it is.
My goal today is to look at what some of the studies on HFCS actually say. Let's find out who's right in this argument --- people like DR. ROBERT LUSTIG or Big Corporations / Big Government. Before we do this, I want to take a few seconds to point out to you why it matters. If you slowly scroll through my numerous posts on BLOOD SUGAR, you will begin to notice that Blood Sugar Dysregulation or high sugar consumption is being associated with almost every health problem imaginable, including virtually all of the AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES and CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEGENERATIVE DISEASES (you can click either link for lists).
I honestly thought about trying to create my own "Super Page" on High Fructose Corn Syrup, but after looking at how much research there is on the topic (none of it good), I decided to leave you a few links to others who have at least to some degree, done the job for me.
- LIFE EXTENSION'S 2008 report on HFCS by Dana Flavin, MS, MD, PHD (Metabolic Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup).
- DR MARK HYMAN'S 2014 blog post (5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You)
- INTEGRATIVE CARDIOLOGIST Stephen Sinatra's 2014 blog post (The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup)
- DR. JOE MERCOLA'S outrageous info-graphic on fructose consumption in the US
There are hundreds of similar articles I could have included (just go to PubMed). HFCS is so ubiquitous to our society that it is extremely difficult to avoid --- it's in just about everything. Just realize that despite most of what you are being told by the corn industry, who is heavily funded by our government in the form of subsidies, is not true. Fructose --- particularly in the massive amounts seen in HFCS --- is metabolized differently in your body than glucose or other sugars. I want to leave you with a quote from Dr. Andrew Siegel (Urologist / Surgeon / Author / Professor) from his wishfully-named website The Ban of HFCS in the U.S.
"Importantly, fructose is metabolized very differently from glucose. Every cell in our bodies can metabolize glucose, but it is primarily the liver that metabolizes fructose. Fructose does not stimulate insulin release as does glucose, nor does it stimulate leptin (our satiety hormone). Fructose, more readily than glucose, replenishes liver glycogen, and once the liver is saturated with glycogen, triglycerides (fats) are made and stored. So, too much HFCS and we end up with a fatty liver…and body! The bottom line is that HFCS ingestion pushes our metabolism towards fat production and fat storage, potentially leading to obesity, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease."
SUGAR FEEDS INFECTION
"Eating or drinking too much sugar curbs immune system cells that attack bacteria. This effect lasts for at least a few hours after downing a couple of sugary drinks." WebMD (Six Immune System Busters & Boosters)
"I have yet to see a quality clinical study that demonstrates that, in normal, not nutritionally or otherwise compromised people, that some intervention can lead to a meaningful increase in immune function and as a result have fewer infections.... If you are normal and in good health, there is nothing you can do to make your baseline better." Dr. Mark Crislip of Science Based Medicine from his 2009 article called Boost Your Immune System? He goes on to say that "I would bet 6 million years of evolution have more or less tuned our immune system to be running optimally, as long as we do the basics of eating well, exercising etc.... All the classic quack interventions: chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, can also boost your immune system by, you know, changing some energy vibration or unblocking something or other... I will make a prediction: people who use probiotics or other substances that can measurably lead to an inflammatory response, or, have their immune system boosted, will have more strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms."
"The average sugar-consuming American is nutritionally compromised." Dr. Russell Schierling from a previous post.
"I have yet to see a quality clinical study that demonstrates that, in normal, not nutritionally or otherwise compromised people, that some intervention can lead to a meaningful increase in immune function and as a result have fewer infections.... If you are normal and in good health, there is nothing you can do to make your baseline better." Dr. Mark Crislip of Science Based Medicine from his 2009 article called Boost Your Immune System? He goes on to say that "I would bet 6 million years of evolution have more or less tuned our immune system to be running optimally, as long as we do the basics of eating well, exercising etc.... All the classic quack interventions: chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, can also boost your immune system by, you know, changing some energy vibration or unblocking something or other... I will make a prediction: people who use probiotics or other substances that can measurably lead to an inflammatory response, or, have their immune system boosted, will have more strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms."
"The average sugar-consuming American is nutritionally compromised." Dr. Russell Schierling from a previous post.
The other day I used Dr. Crislip as my example of how the majority of "EVIDENCE-BASED" physicians feel about things like GUT HEALTH and FMT (and that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how they feel about anything outside of the Western model of medicine). Part of the problem, however, is semantics. When we discuss the Immune System, there are numerous components that perform dramatically different functions. You have the antigen / antibody (humoral) response. There's the cell-mediated immune response (T-cells). There are Killer / Cytotoxic T's, Helper-T's, and TREGS (the T-regulatory cells --- formerly called T-Suppressors ---- that keep the Immune System from spiraling out of control) --- and such a wide array of white blood cells (neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, etc, etc) that we could not begin to discuss all of them. And this is just for starters. Oh; and we can't forget Inflammation.
INFLAMMATION is the collective name of a group of chemicals made by our Immune Systems (HERE). Do we want to "boost" them? Maybe on occasion; and if so, just a little bit (FEVER is a great --- and often misunderstood example of this phenomenon). But too much boosting of these Inflammatory pathways can lead to serious --- and even deadly consequences (HERE). Think in terms of AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES --- where your body's own Immune System starts attacking itself, or of the multitude of Chronic Inflammatory Degenerative Diseases (HERE is a short list of the diseases caused by Inflammation).
For the purpose of today's post, please realize that when I use words like "boost" or "suppress" I am talking in very generalized / generic terms that my audience will hopefully understand and not take me to task for. When I speak of "boosting" the Immune System, this is certainly not the most scientifically accurate way to describe what's actually going on. For instance; do we really want our Immune Systems ratcheted up to full bore and blazing away like an M-60 on full-auto? Of course not (HERE)! We simply want an Immune System that is fine-tuned and working at its full potential, in exactly the fashion that God created and designed it to work. Period. Everything balanced, with no parts working too much or too little. This is what I deem a healthy (or "strong") Immune System.
I've shown you in two previous posts how SUGAR FEEDS CANCER (and HERE); this after the heaviest of the heavy hitters in the medical community (MD Anderson, Johns Hopkins, Mayo, The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, etc) tried so hard to deny it (HERE). And with all the hubub about how ineffective and scary ANTIBIOTICS are, why aren't doctors at least making an effort to educate the general public about the link between BLOOD SUGAR and infections of all sorts --- particularly now that we have HARD EVIDENCE on the brutally Inflammatory nature of sugar(s) and processed grains (for many people GRAINS IN GENERAL are massively inflammatory).
It is likely that there are many times the number of "FUNCTIONAL DIABETICS" in America as there are actual Diabetics (there are approximately 25 million of the later). Functional Diabetics are the folks who, even in the absence of blood glucose readings above the magical 125 threshold (where you are "officially" diagnosed with Diabetes), have numerous symptoms of Diabetes or METABOLIC SYNDROME (sometimes referred to as CARDIOMETABOLIC SYNDROME or "pre-diabetes") You cannot convince me that this group is not at a significantly higher risk for developing a wide range of infections. For instance, Diabetics are 25 times, 4 times, and 3 times more likely to develop Listeriosis, Campylobacterosis, and Salmonella respectively.
And finally, it comes down to common sense and personal experience. Over a hundred years ago, DR. PALMER asked a simple question --- a question that still seems to baffle much of the medical community today. Why? Why do some get sick while others don't? "I desired to know why one person was ailing and his associate, eating at the same table, working in the same shop, at the same bench was not. Why? What difference was there in these two persons that caused one to have various diseases, while his partner escaped?" Although Dr. Palmer believed that the major player in this scenario was SUBLUXATION (on some level he was correct --- HERE and HERE), there is definitely more to it than that. Most particularly, diet. Why is it when patients heed my advice and start a PALEO DIET, they frequently / routinely / commonly report not only WEIGHT LOSS (OBESITY is considered one of the many "Inflammatory" problems) but fewer COLDS, FLU, COUGHS, SINUS PROBLEMS, UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTION'S, and other infections? Not only is there empirical evidence that sugar leads to infection, but the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming as well.
Before we go I want to talk about one more study that was published in in the May 2011 issue of the scientific journal Nature (Metabolite-Enabled Eradication of Bacterial Persisters by Aminoglycosides). People with weakened (there's that pesky word again) Immune Systems frequently develop recurrent infections --- especially if they are hospitalized. If these folks end up with Antibiotic-resistant "SUPERBUGS," they may well be out of luck. However, certain strains of every type of bacteria are known as "persisters". Persisters have the ability to go dormant (metabolically inactive) and just sort of hide-out in their host for many months. What have scientists done to get the persisters to show their ugly heads so they can be killed? They are now adding sugar to certain kinds of Antibiotics. When the persisters come out of their state of dormancy to get the sugar, the Antibiotics can kill them --- as long as they are not resistant.
As always, your health and how you decide to take care of it is up to you. You can poo-poo the evidence showing that infections are just another of the many CONSEQUENCES OF CONSUMING TOO MUCH SUGAR. Or you can take it to heart and make some changes in your life. For starters, I would suggest that you do an ELIMINATION DIET and stick with it for at least a couple of months. You can always go back to your old way of eating if you don't see some tremendous changes. For more information, go HERE.
INFLAMMATION is the collective name of a group of chemicals made by our Immune Systems (HERE). Do we want to "boost" them? Maybe on occasion; and if so, just a little bit (FEVER is a great --- and often misunderstood example of this phenomenon). But too much boosting of these Inflammatory pathways can lead to serious --- and even deadly consequences (HERE). Think in terms of AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES --- where your body's own Immune System starts attacking itself, or of the multitude of Chronic Inflammatory Degenerative Diseases (HERE is a short list of the diseases caused by Inflammation).
For the purpose of today's post, please realize that when I use words like "boost" or "suppress" I am talking in very generalized / generic terms that my audience will hopefully understand and not take me to task for. When I speak of "boosting" the Immune System, this is certainly not the most scientifically accurate way to describe what's actually going on. For instance; do we really want our Immune Systems ratcheted up to full bore and blazing away like an M-60 on full-auto? Of course not (HERE)! We simply want an Immune System that is fine-tuned and working at its full potential, in exactly the fashion that God created and designed it to work. Period. Everything balanced, with no parts working too much or too little. This is what I deem a healthy (or "strong") Immune System.
I've shown you in two previous posts how SUGAR FEEDS CANCER (and HERE); this after the heaviest of the heavy hitters in the medical community (MD Anderson, Johns Hopkins, Mayo, The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, etc) tried so hard to deny it (HERE). And with all the hubub about how ineffective and scary ANTIBIOTICS are, why aren't doctors at least making an effort to educate the general public about the link between BLOOD SUGAR and infections of all sorts --- particularly now that we have HARD EVIDENCE on the brutally Inflammatory nature of sugar(s) and processed grains (for many people GRAINS IN GENERAL are massively inflammatory).
- SUGAR IS INFLAMMATORY: Almost EVERY HEALTH PROBLEM that you can name --- including the propensity to develop infections --- can be tied back to Blood Sugar --- even in the absence of full-blown DIABETES. And as I've already shown you, sugar is one of the single most Inflammatory substances you can put in your body. Although there are about a million examples, one of my favorite is TYPE III DIABETES (Alzheimer's).
- SUGAR IS AN IMMUNE SYSTEM SUPPRESSOR: Back when I was six years old (I am nearly 48 --- you do the math) a study was done at Loma Linda University in Southern California and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (The Role of Sugars in Human Neutrophilic Phagocytosis). The following are their conclusions. "Oral 100-g portions of carbohydrate from glucose, fructose, sucrose, honey, or orange juice all significantly decreased the capacity of neutrophils to engulf bacteria... The decrease in phagocytic index was rapid following the ingestion of simple carbohydrates... the values were still significantly below the fasting control values 5 hr after feeding. This implicates glucose and other simple carbohydrates in the control of phagocytosis and shows that the effects last for at least 5 hr. On the other hand, a fast of 36 or 60 hr significantly increased the phagocytic index." If you are interested in seeing a cool animated video of this process (phagocytosis) taking place, it is embedded at the bottom of the page. The video is by MD Practice Guide to be used as a resource for Continuing Medical Education for physicians and healthcare providers. BTW, this idea of "suppression" is particularly interesting once you realize that the number one form of medical therapy in America is IMMUNE SYSTEM SUPPRESSION.
- SUGAR DESTROYS GUT HEALTH: How many times have I said that while Antibiotics cause most cases of DYSBIOSIS (defined as too many bad bacteria and not enough good ones), sugar is what feeds and perpetuates it? Sugar is the soup du jour ---- the food-of-choice for bugs like CANDIDA (after all, what is dysbiosis but an infection?). And how could we forget the phenomenon that the medical community refers to as INCREASED INTESTINAL PERMEABILITY (most folks will refer to this as "Leaky Gut Syndrome"), which is heavily implicated in Autoimmune Diseases in the peer-reviewed scientific literature? And let's not leave this section without at least mentioning H. PYLORI, one of the most common bacterial infections on the planet --- a known lover of sugar. Because 80% of your entire Immune System is found in your digestive tract (HERE), anything that fouls up Gut Health likewise fouls up your Immune System.
- SUGAR FEEDS INFECTIONS: Sugar is actually the food of choice for all types of infections. When I researched making my own agar (the gelatin-like bacterial "food" that goes in the bottom of a Petri dish), the University of Missouri St Louis' website listed sugar as a chief ingredient (this was essentially the same recipe I found on every site I looked at). On top of that, we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that people with HYPERGLYCEMIA (High Blood Sugar) are at serious risk for a wide array of infections. To get a handle on just how serious this really is, go to the various Diabetic sites across the web and look at the multitudes of warnings linking jacked up Blood Sugar to a jacked up risk of infections.
It is likely that there are many times the number of "FUNCTIONAL DIABETICS" in America as there are actual Diabetics (there are approximately 25 million of the later). Functional Diabetics are the folks who, even in the absence of blood glucose readings above the magical 125 threshold (where you are "officially" diagnosed with Diabetes), have numerous symptoms of Diabetes or METABOLIC SYNDROME (sometimes referred to as CARDIOMETABOLIC SYNDROME or "pre-diabetes") You cannot convince me that this group is not at a significantly higher risk for developing a wide range of infections. For instance, Diabetics are 25 times, 4 times, and 3 times more likely to develop Listeriosis, Campylobacterosis, and Salmonella respectively.
And finally, it comes down to common sense and personal experience. Over a hundred years ago, DR. PALMER asked a simple question --- a question that still seems to baffle much of the medical community today. Why? Why do some get sick while others don't? "I desired to know why one person was ailing and his associate, eating at the same table, working in the same shop, at the same bench was not. Why? What difference was there in these two persons that caused one to have various diseases, while his partner escaped?" Although Dr. Palmer believed that the major player in this scenario was SUBLUXATION (on some level he was correct --- HERE and HERE), there is definitely more to it than that. Most particularly, diet. Why is it when patients heed my advice and start a PALEO DIET, they frequently / routinely / commonly report not only WEIGHT LOSS (OBESITY is considered one of the many "Inflammatory" problems) but fewer COLDS, FLU, COUGHS, SINUS PROBLEMS, UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTION'S, and other infections? Not only is there empirical evidence that sugar leads to infection, but the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming as well.
Before we go I want to talk about one more study that was published in in the May 2011 issue of the scientific journal Nature (Metabolite-Enabled Eradication of Bacterial Persisters by Aminoglycosides). People with weakened (there's that pesky word again) Immune Systems frequently develop recurrent infections --- especially if they are hospitalized. If these folks end up with Antibiotic-resistant "SUPERBUGS," they may well be out of luck. However, certain strains of every type of bacteria are known as "persisters". Persisters have the ability to go dormant (metabolically inactive) and just sort of hide-out in their host for many months. What have scientists done to get the persisters to show their ugly heads so they can be killed? They are now adding sugar to certain kinds of Antibiotics. When the persisters come out of their state of dormancy to get the sugar, the Antibiotics can kill them --- as long as they are not resistant.
As always, your health and how you decide to take care of it is up to you. You can poo-poo the evidence showing that infections are just another of the many CONSEQUENCES OF CONSUMING TOO MUCH SUGAR. Or you can take it to heart and make some changes in your life. For starters, I would suggest that you do an ELIMINATION DIET and stick with it for at least a couple of months. You can always go back to your old way of eating if you don't see some tremendous changes. For more information, go HERE.
THINKING ABOUT TAKING DRUGS FOR YOUR DIABETES?
THINK TWICE!
OpenClipart
There's big money in professional sports. It pales when compared to the profits of the Pharmaceutical Industry. If you added up all the profits for the NFL, MLB, and the NBA, it would not equal the 23 billion dollars that IMS Health (a marketing research corporation) says was spent on DIABETES DRUGS last year. Gulp! Knowing what you know, however, about the FARCE OF EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE, would it surprise you at all to learn that, "from 2004 to 2013, none of the 30 new diabetes drugs that came on the market were proven to improve key outcomes, such as reducing heart attacks or strokes, blindness, or other complications of the disease"? Enter John Fauber.
I have reviewed articles from John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel previously (HERE are a few of them), but his recent article (The Slippery Slope: A Bittersweet Diabetes Economy), knocks it out of the park. It's just one more of a steady stream of revelations that show us that what we call Evidence-Based Medicine, isn't as "Evidence-Based" as we are being led to believe. Fauber lets the cat out of the bag by making an incredible statement early in his paper.
"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved all of those [30] drugs based on a surrogate endpoint: the ability to lower blood sugar. Many of the new drugs have dubious benefit; some can be harmful."
In other words, there are numerous drugs out there that do at least an "OK" job of lowering BLOOD SUGAR. However, according to what Fauber is telling us, beyond that, they provide exactly zero benefit to one's health. That's not my conclusion; it's the conclusion of the physicians that Fauber interviewed for his story as well as what is revealed when you take a hard look at the studies used to justify these drugs. The funny thing about the above quote is that the exact same thing is true of STATIN DRUGS that are given to lower CHOLESTEROL. I would never argue that Statins don't lower Cholesterol. The truth is, many of them do an amazing job of doing just this. What numerous people (including me) have argued is that using drugs to do so does not change outcomes (strokes, heart attacks, or death rates, etc).
As a side note; results that diminish a specific symptom but do nothing tangible to reverse or prevent the disease itself are called "surrogate measures". In other words, a drug might not significantly increase one's chances of surviving cancer one iota, but helps to shrink a tumor, would have nothing to validate it's besides surrogate measures --- an all too common deception within the scientific medical community. It's why I always tell patients that no matter what you are talking about in the field of health, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
I have reviewed articles from John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel previously (HERE are a few of them), but his recent article (The Slippery Slope: A Bittersweet Diabetes Economy), knocks it out of the park. It's just one more of a steady stream of revelations that show us that what we call Evidence-Based Medicine, isn't as "Evidence-Based" as we are being led to believe. Fauber lets the cat out of the bag by making an incredible statement early in his paper.
"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved all of those [30] drugs based on a surrogate endpoint: the ability to lower blood sugar. Many of the new drugs have dubious benefit; some can be harmful."
In other words, there are numerous drugs out there that do at least an "OK" job of lowering BLOOD SUGAR. However, according to what Fauber is telling us, beyond that, they provide exactly zero benefit to one's health. That's not my conclusion; it's the conclusion of the physicians that Fauber interviewed for his story as well as what is revealed when you take a hard look at the studies used to justify these drugs. The funny thing about the above quote is that the exact same thing is true of STATIN DRUGS that are given to lower CHOLESTEROL. I would never argue that Statins don't lower Cholesterol. The truth is, many of them do an amazing job of doing just this. What numerous people (including me) have argued is that using drugs to do so does not change outcomes (strokes, heart attacks, or death rates, etc).
As a side note; results that diminish a specific symptom but do nothing tangible to reverse or prevent the disease itself are called "surrogate measures". In other words, a drug might not significantly increase one's chances of surviving cancer one iota, but helps to shrink a tumor, would have nothing to validate it's besides surrogate measures --- an all too common deception within the scientific medical community. It's why I always tell patients that no matter what you are talking about in the field of health, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
What does Fauber blame our nation's explosion of Type II Diabetes on? "Increasing rates of obesity, sedentary living, and an aging population." This is where I diverge from him a bit. For starters, other than the fact that a sedentary lifestyle can definitely help contribute to Diabetes, I think this is backwards thinking. Yes; a sedentary lifestyle is intimately linked to both INSULIN RESISTANCE and METABOLIC SYNDROME (Pre- Diabetes). But no; I am not inclined to think that the normal aging process for people who live a healthy lifestyle involves Type II Diabetes. Nor do I believe that OBESITY is the underlying reason that so many people have problems regulating their BLOOD SUGAR. The evidence bears out that in the majority of cases, the opposite is true --- people with screwed up blood sugar (even HYPOGLYCEMIA) are much more likely to end up with Obesity.
But what about the people who say to me, "Dr. Russ, I'm 45 pounds overweight but I think you're being a bit harsh --- MY DOCTOR TOLD ME I DON'T HAVE DIABETES? Good for you. Unfortunately, if you are LIVING THE HIGH CARB LIFESTYLE, Diabetes is exactly where you are headed, whether or not you have "officially" crossed the blood sugar threshold of 126 yet.
Allow me to follow a rabbit for a moment. This past weekend my best friend from Kansas (HERE) was here with HIS WIFE and family, and we were all sitting around talking about health issues, nutrition, etc. He read me something from his Facebook page from Authority Nutrition: An Evidence-Based Approach called 20 Nutrition Facts That Should be Common Sense (But Aren’t). I read it and agreed with most of it. There were, however, two points that I just couldn't buy --- #13, Calories Count, But You Don’t Necessarily Need to Count Them, and #15, Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat, but Neither Does Carbohydrate.
The thirteenth point was disproved by Gary Taube's in his book, Good Calories; Bad Calories (HERE -- video at end of link). And as far as the fifteenth point is concerned, it's carbs; not proteins or fats (unless you count TRANS FATS), that hijack your blood sugar and ultimately leave you fighting the battle of the bulge. Excess dietary carbohydrate is converted to blood sugar that has to be dealt with in some form or fashion (burned as energy or stored as fat). But this is sometimes an oversimplified explanation. Be aware that you can actually be quite skinny and still have Type II Diabetes. These are typically folks that are referred to in the medical community as MONW (Medically Obese Normal Weight) or in the lay community as "Skinny Fat". Which leads me to the most underlying culprit behind our nation's DIABETES epidemic ---- Inflammation.
But what about the people who say to me, "Dr. Russ, I'm 45 pounds overweight but I think you're being a bit harsh --- MY DOCTOR TOLD ME I DON'T HAVE DIABETES? Good for you. Unfortunately, if you are LIVING THE HIGH CARB LIFESTYLE, Diabetes is exactly where you are headed, whether or not you have "officially" crossed the blood sugar threshold of 126 yet.
Allow me to follow a rabbit for a moment. This past weekend my best friend from Kansas (HERE) was here with HIS WIFE and family, and we were all sitting around talking about health issues, nutrition, etc. He read me something from his Facebook page from Authority Nutrition: An Evidence-Based Approach called 20 Nutrition Facts That Should be Common Sense (But Aren’t). I read it and agreed with most of it. There were, however, two points that I just couldn't buy --- #13, Calories Count, But You Don’t Necessarily Need to Count Them, and #15, Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat, but Neither Does Carbohydrate.
The thirteenth point was disproved by Gary Taube's in his book, Good Calories; Bad Calories (HERE -- video at end of link). And as far as the fifteenth point is concerned, it's carbs; not proteins or fats (unless you count TRANS FATS), that hijack your blood sugar and ultimately leave you fighting the battle of the bulge. Excess dietary carbohydrate is converted to blood sugar that has to be dealt with in some form or fashion (burned as energy or stored as fat). But this is sometimes an oversimplified explanation. Be aware that you can actually be quite skinny and still have Type II Diabetes. These are typically folks that are referred to in the medical community as MONW (Medically Obese Normal Weight) or in the lay community as "Skinny Fat". Which leads me to the most underlying culprit behind our nation's DIABETES epidemic ---- Inflammation.
As you already know if you follow my blog, INFLAMMATION is the root cause of almost every health problem you can think of (HERE is a list). Much of this has to do with the fact that sugar and high glycemic index carbs and starches are typically massively inflammatory (HERE). But a person (in this case a Diabetic or pre-Diabetic) could be dealing with other drivers of Inflammation as well. --- drivers that the medical community all but totally ignores.
GLUTEN and DAIRY are two common ones. It could be BLACK MOLD. How about toxic chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, or food additives like MSG? PARASITES could be a culprit as well. What about MERCURY & ALUMINUM? How about the person who has taken way too many ANTIBIOTICS (or any number of OTHER DRUGS) and screwed up their GUT HEALTH? Even something like EMF's can be a problem for some people. The truth is, there are any number of things that could be driving Inflammation in your body and causing you to lose your ability to tightly control your blood sugar. If you fail to figure them out, you may not be able to get your Blood Sugar under control with even the most stringent PALEO DIET (my personal favorite for dealing with Inflammation --- HERE'S WHY). But back to Fauber's paper.
Now that you understand that Diabetes is not just a Blood Sugar problem, but a problem caused by Inflammation, it should help you understand why drugs have not proven to be much of an answer. If you've been following my blog (HERE), you'll also understand why the thousands of people that Fauber claims are dying each year as the direct result of their Diabetes Medications are just the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, you'll realize more than ever that when it comes to the drugs you're prescribed, it's neither love nor concern that makes the world go round.... It's MONEY --- pure, plain, and simple (HERE). And finally, if you are truly interested in looking at the "Best Evidence" as far as treating Diabetes is concerned (by physicians and for physicians), look no farther than THIS.
I would suggest that you take a few minutes to read the entity of Fauber's story (HERE). Just make sure you have a barf bag handy, because this sordid tale is sure to turn your stomach.
GLUTEN and DAIRY are two common ones. It could be BLACK MOLD. How about toxic chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, or food additives like MSG? PARASITES could be a culprit as well. What about MERCURY & ALUMINUM? How about the person who has taken way too many ANTIBIOTICS (or any number of OTHER DRUGS) and screwed up their GUT HEALTH? Even something like EMF's can be a problem for some people. The truth is, there are any number of things that could be driving Inflammation in your body and causing you to lose your ability to tightly control your blood sugar. If you fail to figure them out, you may not be able to get your Blood Sugar under control with even the most stringent PALEO DIET (my personal favorite for dealing with Inflammation --- HERE'S WHY). But back to Fauber's paper.
Now that you understand that Diabetes is not just a Blood Sugar problem, but a problem caused by Inflammation, it should help you understand why drugs have not proven to be much of an answer. If you've been following my blog (HERE), you'll also understand why the thousands of people that Fauber claims are dying each year as the direct result of their Diabetes Medications are just the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, you'll realize more than ever that when it comes to the drugs you're prescribed, it's neither love nor concern that makes the world go round.... It's MONEY --- pure, plain, and simple (HERE). And finally, if you are truly interested in looking at the "Best Evidence" as far as treating Diabetes is concerned (by physicians and for physicians), look no farther than THIS.
I would suggest that you take a few minutes to read the entity of Fauber's story (HERE). Just make sure you have a barf bag handy, because this sordid tale is sure to turn your stomach.
Dr. Schierling completed four years of Kansas State University's five-year Nutrition / Exercise Physiology Program before deciding on a career in Chiropractic. He graduated from Logan Chiropractic College in 1991, and has run a busy clinic in Mountain View, Missouri ever since. He and his wife Amy have four children (three daughters and a son).
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