Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Green tea is one of the most popular beverages worldwide, but did you know that it contains powerful nutrients that can help support people with diabetes? Learn more about the powerful benefits of this drink from Amanda Williams, MPH.
Did you know that one out of every ten Americans is a diabetic and one out of every three Americans is a prediabetic? Studies have shown that an under-reported vitamin – Vitamin E or tocotrienols – can be quite beneficial.
cocoa
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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Diabetes is a plague on our society. It’s so common. We need more education on how to not have diabetes. It has to do with lifestyle. Sleeping matters because you’re handling your blood pressure better when you get enough sleep. Food absolutely matters. Good food choices prevent diabetes, as well as exercise and physical activity. A lack of exercise, poor food choices and a lack of sleep can really increase your chances of getting diabetes. Let’s talk about how we as humans handle our sugar.
Blood sugar and insulin’s functions in the body
When you eat food, you’re breaking it down to its different components, one of which is sugars. These sugars could become pretty high during a meal, so the body prevents that because, when the sugar is too high, it can start to damage organs, tissues and cells. The body releases insulin from a gland called the pancreas. The pancreas is partially responsible for digestion, but it’s also responsible for controlling your blood sugar. During a meal, you release insulin from the pancreas and you drive the excess sugar into your fat cells, muscles and liver. That’s one reason why having a lot of muscle and exercising helps to even treat diabetes because once sugar enters the muscle, it becomes muscle glycogen and it can’t escape the muscle. It’s stored there until later physical activity. The more you exercise, the more your body will take the sugar out of the blood to make additional glycogen.
If the body’s in good balance, you leave enough sugar behind for the body’s energy because the body makes energy using sugar. A well-balanced body in good sync metabolically leaves enough sugar during and after meals for the body’s energy needs. In between meals, when sugar starts to go low, the pancreas releases a second hormone called glucagon to release some of the stored sugars from your fat cells and liver. This is called gluconeogenesis. When you don’t eat well, when you’re eating a lot of crackers, muffins and sugary foods, the body has to work harder to store the sugar, so your insulin is going up. That’s called your fasting insulin and if it’s rising, that can be an early indicator of pre-diabetes or diabetes.
HOW CINNAMON AND COROSOLIC ACID SUPPORT HEALTHY BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 144. Listen Now >>
They also look at insulin sensitivity. Your cells are supposed to be very sensitive to the effects of insulin. If you’re eating incorrectly and not exercising, your sugar is always up, so you’re always releasing insulin. Eventually, the body cells stop responding to the effects of insulin, so you have reduced insulin sensitivity. Now you’re really going towards pre-diabetes. The next step is insulin resistance. That’s when the cells are not responding well to insulin, so you can’t use sugar for energy and you can’t store the sugar. It’s a problem. Your pancreas is making more and more insulin over time, your blood sugar levels are going up and you’re on your way to developing diabetes.
To learn more about the functions of these hormones in the body and what blood tests you should consider, tune into the full podcast episode.
Cocoa for blood sugar
Cocoa has been shown for over 30 years to have some impact on diabetes and supporting healthy blood sugar levels. Even chocolate may have some of this ability. The problem is that when they convert cocoa into chocolate, you lose some of the things that are protective and beneficial that lower your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Here’s a study by Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It’s looking at the effect of cocoa and its flavan-3-ols on cardiovascular health. This meta analysis found that cocoa helped circulation and high blood pressure, but what we’re looking for in this conversation is its effect on lowering the risk of diabetes and it did. It improved insulin resistance. They saw that the insulin was working better because the cocoa seriously reduced serum insulin over time. It lowered fasting blood glucose and reduced the blood insulin levels. It was making everything go back to normal.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND COCOA FOR OVERALL HEALTH – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 249. Listen Now >>
For more studies on the benefits of cocoa, listen to the full podcast episode.
Supplements for blood sugar issues
The good news is that pre-diabetes and even full-blown diabetes in a lot of people can be reversed if you start eating healthy and you really start exercising. Let me tell you some supplements that you really need if you’re starting to develop blood sugar problems:
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
People with Diabetes are prone to plaque in the arteries. Grape seed extract is safe and beneficial for people with Diabetes. Here’s what you need to know in the last part of our Diabetes and Grape Seed Extract podcast series.
In part 2, Jerry Hickey, Ph. discusses the number of things Grape Seed Extract can do for you if you have diabetes, including studies that show its benefit for blood pressure and vision health.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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People with Diabetes have many issues related to inflammation. Comorbidity is a term that refers to diseases and conditions caused by the original disease. Diabetes has numerous comorbidities. Grape seed is a great supplement for people with diabetes. The pip (seed) of white grapes is loaded with very powerful antioxidants that reduce cellular inflammation. Collectively, these antioxidants are known as OPCs, oligomeric pro. Grape seed extract has GRAS certification – Generally Recognized As Safe for use by the American public, according to the FDA.
What is Metabolic Syndrome?
Metabolic Syndrome is a health disaster but it can be helped, especially with Grape Seed Extract. This is a cluster of conditions, including elevated blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, high cholesterol, obesity, elevated triglycerides, fatty liver, plaque developing the arteries, inflammation developing in the arteries, elevated uric acid, chronic kidney disease and eye issues. This is why this condition will shave years – perhaps decades – off of your health and your lifespan.
The Impact Uric Acid Has On Your Body. Listen Now >
Initially, animal studies demonstrated that Grape Seed Extract does many things for people with diabetes. Diabetes effects the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, the liver, the eyes, the brain, nerves. In people with Metabolic Syndrome, diabetes and pre-diabetes, Grape seed extract has been shown to help lower blood sugar, blood pressure and improve blood flow and the health of your arteries and more.
Clinical Research
The Diabetes and Endocrinology Department at Queen Alexandra Hospital in England published a study in the journal Diabetic Medicine where researchers studied obese patients with diabetes, who are at high risk of heart disease. Participants were given Grape Seed Extract (600mg) everyday versus placebo. Grape seed extract reduced fructosamine within two weeks. This is a quick measure of blood sugar; normally, people with diabetes prick their fingertip everyday to take a little blood and check their sugar to give them an indication of the measure of their blood sugar. Fructosamine is a little better, because it gives you a two week panoramic view of your average blood sugar. So, Grape seed was improving blood sugar very quickly in this study. It was also shown to reduce inflammation in the participants body.
Why you should test your inflammation using a hs-CRP Blood Test >>
The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry from Oregon State University compared a prescription drug – a sugar blocker called Acarbose – to Grape Seed Extract. Acarbose is given before meals and it bonds to a family of enzymes called Alpha-amylase that breakdown carbohydrates and you absorb less sugar from the meal. If you absorb less sugar and slower, it is easier for someone with diabetes or pre-diabetes to control their blood sugar levels. The study found that Grape seed extract was stronger than the prescription for blocking this enzyme and it also blocked the second family of sugar blockers called alpha glucosidase.
So, taking a Grape Seed Extract – 100mg to 300mg – before a meal with a glass of water is going to reduce your absorption of sugar. Now, this extract has not been studied for weight loss to my knowledge but obviously, if you absorb less sugar that will block calorie absorption which should help you lose some weight. But studies have shown that it helps control blood sugar levels, as seen above.
Pharmacognosy Magazine published a small study of healthy men and women who were given Grape Seed Extract at both 100mg and 300mg before a high carbohydrate breakfast, which included a sugary drink, six pieces of white bread with sugary jelly. When participants were given Grape Seed extract, it strongly reduced the absorption of sugar following the high carbohydrate breakfast.
The University of Alberta published a study in the Journal Phytotherapy Research – a review of 50 human clinical trials. It is a meta-analysis of 50 studies. Grape seed extract was shown to have a significant impact; improving fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, reduced bad cholesterol, reduce triglycerides. and reduced inflammation in the heart.
In Part 2, we will be looking at how Diabetes impacts your body, including eye health, plaque and more. Stay tuned!
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
