I am in constant awe at the design of our human bodies with its complex interplay between systems checking and monitoring feedback. Readjusting when necessary seamlessly and without our perception. And so it is with blood sugar regulation. There may be as many as 10 hormonal or biochemical reactions that occur during the early states of hypoglycemia. Normal blood sugar should range between 80 and 110. Under 80 is considered hypoglycemia and over 110 is hyperglycemia.
With the first sign of hypoglycemia you feel shaky, jittery, anxious, sweaty, confused and irritable. The lower the blood sugar, the more severe these symptoms. As soon as your blood sugar drops below 80 the body produces a number of hormones, principally adrenaline and glucagon. The adrenaline causes the shaky, jittery feeling, while glucagon helps to raise the blood sugar levels by converting fat into sugar within the liver.
These internal mechanisms and many more are all built-in survival mechanisms. Remember the body was designed to survive and will not avoid pain or discomfort to insure survival. The body’s survival mechanisms are so sophisticated that it will even prioritize and sacrifice ‘non-essential’ parts of the body in order to maintain life. My point is that hunger and starvation are very real and critical survival issues and our body has many ways of getting our attention so that we do something about it. Each of us can get pretty motivated to remedy the problem of low blood sugar. That’s what being hungry and eating are all about.
On the other hand, high blood sugar or hyperglycemia is an entirely different issue that our bodies do not have as much historical experience with. The real survival issue mankind has experienced is getting enough nourishment. Having too much is a relatively new problem and is the hallmark of a civilized society. Diabetes (Type II) is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the western world. Complications of diabetes include heart disease and circulation problems, kidney disease, degeneration of the retina leading to blindness, neuropathy resulting in numbness, tingling, pain and burning in the hands and feet, foot ulcers leading to gangrene and a high risk of infection.
Type II Diabetes occurs when for many years the foods eaten raise the blood sugar more than the muscles can burn it up. In biochemistry, there are three basic food groups: fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Fats are broken down to become the building blocks of hormones, prostaglandins and cell membranes. Proteins breakdown to amino acids, the building blocks of our tissues. And carbohydrates are used for only one thing: energy.
Protein and fat requirements are relatively fixed and are controlled by our appetite. If you overeat fats and proteins, you will feel sick or nauseous. Carbohydrates intake should be intimately related to our level of activity. The more active you are the more carbs you should be eating. If you run a marathon each day, you should eat 300 grams of carbohydrates. (equivalent to 6 brownies or 20 potatoes). You see the problem here. Too many of us are eating the energy needed for running a marathon (26.2 miles) and living fairly inactive lives.
It’s because you say you are tired which is one of the primary signs of high blood sugar or hyperglycemia. As the pancreas tires of producing insulin so voraciously, the cells of the body begin to fight back and actually become insulin resistant. Remember, the job of insulin is to escort the sugar from the blood, into the cell. This means that as the blood sugar levels are persistently high, and the insulin levels keep rising, the cells will actually build a shield or wall around themselves to slow down this influx of excess sugar. Fats do not contribute to diabetes with one exception - Trans-Fats made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. When these fats or oils get incorporated into the cell walls, they interfere with the insulin receptors making your cells insulin resistant even when you don’t eat too many carbohydrates. The real kicker here is that very often these trans-fatty foods are also high in sugar. A double whammy! Foods such as French fries, cookies, crackers, cake, donuts and margarine on bread or potatoes are a recipe for blood sugar disaster.
By the time someone is diagnosed with diabetes, they are typically suffering from many other ailments including hypertension, obesity, arthritis, hypothyroidism, digestive problems, restless leg syndrome and edema (fluid retention) with all of the attendant medications to help manage the symptoms associated with each of these problems. And so the person with adult-onset diabetes typically presents with a multitude of conditions. But don’t fret, because the natural treatment for diabetes is one that regularly helps these other conditions simultaneously.
As you may have suspected, your recovery from diabetes will necessitate that you control or limit your intake of carbohydrates. A lot has been written regarding the glycemic index. This refers to the rate at which sugar is absorbed into the blood stream from various foods. For example, white sugar is given a score of 100 because it accelerates right into the blood, while whole grains release sugars much slower and have a lower number on the glycemic index. With all of this said, I’m going to tell you that you don’t need to pay too close attention to the glycemic index. This can best be illustrated with the example of alcohol consumption. If you were to have a couple of alcoholic drinks on an empty stomach, the alcohol will rush right into your bloodstream with all of the attendant effects. However, the same amount of alcohol consumed with a large meal will be diluted and not cause the risk of drunkenness. This same principle works with carbohydrates in the diet.
Carbohydrates eaten alone and on an empty stomach regardless of how they score on the glycemic index will cause a greater rise in blood sugar than if eaten with fats and proteins.
So the key to eating to reduce and balance blood sugar issues is to focus on eating fats and proteins. You should restrict your carbohydrate intake to 60 grams per day until your blood sugar normalizes. If you eat any more than 65-70 grams of carbohydrates per day, your body will be forced to make more insulin sabotaging your recovery.
Your diet should be rich in trace minerals, particularly zinc, vanadium and chromium. Zinc is abundant in red meats and shellfish, particularly oysters. Vanadium is found in extra-virgin unfiltered olive oil. And chromium is found in nutritional yeast, molasses and organ meats like liver. These minerals and many other can also be obtained from mineral-rich bone broth and sea salt.
Additionally you need vitamin B-6. This fragile vitamin is easily destroyed by heat, so drinking raw milk and rarely meats is important. Finally, high levels of vitamins A and D will protect against the complications of diabetes. And vitamin D is necessary for insulin production. Traditional foods such as butterfat from grass fed animals, organ meats, shellfish and fish liver oils are excellent sources. We recommend a good cod liver oil supplement that will provide 20,000 IU of vitamin A daily. Evening Primrose oil can also be used at 1000 mg/day.
A brief word about synthetic vitamins and minerals. Mounting scientific research is proving what we have long suspected. Man-made versions of vitamins and mineral supplements are not whole or complete. They may stimulate the body for a short time but will invariably create a greater imbalance in the body. We recommend only whole food sources for the nutrients you put into your body. Don’t cheat your body by taking something that has been chemically altered in a pharmaceutical laboratory.
In addition, there are many wonderful herbs that seem to be designed specifically to help with diabetes. Gymnema is an Ayruvedic herb which is referred to as “sugar buster”. The leaves or tincture taken directly in your mouth will prevent your taste buds from tasting sugar or sweetness. I do this with my boy scouts. Give them a marshmallow, then have them taste gymnema, followed by another marshmallow. The reaction is quite comical. The second marshmallow has no sweetness and it is like chewing tasteless foam. Gymnema also lowers blood sugar and is currently the only substance shown to regenerate destroyed pancreatic islet cells in Type I diabetes.
We also recommend our Pancreas Support Formula as the herbs in this product such as devils’ club, and cedar berries have shown to be highly effective in the management of blood sugar imbalances. The common kitchen herb, cinnamon has been shown to triple insulin’s efficiency. And the herb, stevia, is nature’s all-natural non-sugar sweetener.
Please don’t kid yourself into thinking that diabetes is a simple problem. You’ve got a dragon by the tail and for true health and lasting results you need to take this problem seriously. In my practice of over 20 years, I have seen far too many wonderful people die due to the complications of diabetes.
The good news in this recovery program is you need not go hungry or be on a dull or difficult diet. There are no restrictions on total food intake, nor do you need to pay attention to the so-called glycemic index of various carbohydrate foods. Fats consumed with any carbohydrate will lower the glycemic index. You need to eat abundantly from good fats and proteins - only carbohydrate foods need to be restricted.
In Summary:
• Avoid: Excess carbohydrates and all processed carbohydrates (sugar and white flour) and Foods containing hydrogenated fats (trans fatty acids)
• Emphasize: Focus on eating healthy proteins and Fats. Carbohydrate restriction to 60 grams per day until blood sugar normalizes - it may take 12 months. Be obsessed with eating Proteins and Fats, rather than avoiding carbohydrates.
• Raw milk, raw cheese and rare or raw meat and fish for vitamin B-6
• Focus on Raw Foods as many have been able to turn around Type II Diabetes in 30 days by eating a strict raw food diet.
• Eat Fish and Animal Fats and organ meats rich in vitamin A & D
• Unfiltered olive oil for vanadium
• Red meat and oysters for zinc. Eat at least 9 ounces of red meat (beef) per week.
• Make Bone broths, Celtic Sea Salt and organic foods for minerals.
• Cod liver oil to provide 20,000 IU vitamin A each day. Also for Vitamin D.
• Evening Primrose oil - 1,000 mg per day
• Gymnema - 2 capsules - three times daily
• Pancreas Support Formula 2 capsules - three times daily
• Earth’s Nutrition - for nutritional yeast and overall nutritional support - 1 scoop daily.
• Cinnamon capsules - 3 daily and use in cooking.
In conclusion, there is much that can be done for diabetes. While drug therapies may help to manage your symptoms, do not look to them to restore your health. As you regain your health, you will discover your doctor reducing your medications. Your energy will return and you just may regain your life.
Reprint of an Article by Kyle D. Christensen, DC, ND, MH
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