Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Blood Sugar 101 By: Noreen Kodula, Certified Natural Health Professional (CNHP) Blood sugar, also known as blood glucose, is the amount of simple sugar moving through your body at any given time. The main form of energy that your body uses is glucose. Everything that …
Managing Diabetes during the Holidays Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Managing diabetes during the holiday time may seem to be an insurmountable task. But with a little twist to some classic recipes and a little help from classic invite supplements, eating healthy during the holiday is …
Alcar with ALA Capsules
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
One of the most popular products here at Invite Health has always been our Alcar with ALA formula. If you have been using Invite’s Alcar with ALA you may notice some changes to it! Now the first change that you may notice is that it went from a tablet form to a capsule form. But why have we made this change? Well to start with Alcar with ALA has always been what most would consider to be a very large tablet. This can be difficult for anyone who has trouble with large pills. I know many people either cut the tablets or even crush them. However both of these in my experience can be a pain to do all the time. Most people will tell us that they find capsules easier to swallow. From my personal experience, as a person who has trouble swallowing pill in general capsules are easier to swallow than tablets. In addition to being easier to swallow capsules have no medicinal taste. This is especially noticeable if you have trouble with the large size of the tablets and try to cut them in half. Another benefit to having capsules rather than tablets is the rate of absorption. In general capsules are easier to breakdown and even digest. This means that they tend to “go to work” faster than tablets and you see the benefits faster. Since capsules can have a better bioavailability than tablets this basically means more of the medicine enters your blood stream. This means they have more of an effect than tablets. (1) Another benefit is that Alcar with ALA in capsules can be taken with or without food. As a person who loves to snack not having to worry about having an empty stomach is just the icing on the cake!
Another benefit is that tablets are more likely to irritate the gastrointestinal tract. This means that capsules are better for anyone with a sensitive stomach. Another possible concern with tablets is that they are more likely to breakdown inconstantly. This can decrease the medicines effectiveness and absorption. This is more likely to occur in tablets and is thus a benefit to using capsules. Capsules are also harder to split and are considered more tamper resistant than tablets. (2)
In addition to the change in format you may notice a change in the number of capsules. Rather than the usual 60 tablets there are now 120 capsules in a bottle! This because capsules in general can’t fit as much as a tablet. If you compare the tablets and capsules you will find that 2 capsules is the same as 1 tablet. So if you were doing 2 tablets a day you would do 3 or 4 of the capsules a day. (1)
What are the benefits of Alcar with ALA? Well the benefits to using Alcar with ALA in capsules are the same as the tablets! So feel free to take o look at our blogs on Alcar with ALA!
So how do you use Alcar with ALA? Well to start with you can take it at any time with food or on an empty stomach! You can also mix it into recipes! For example you can make Memory in a cup! This is a fantastic hot chocolate idea. You heat 1 cup of milk of choice and add 1 – 2 scoops of Cocoa Hx. Then open 2 Alcar with ALA and mix! Feel free to top with Marshmallows.
Our next topic will be a Naturopath’s view on “self-diagnosis” and why it’s not always a good idea.
Sources:
From a Naturopathic Point of View Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Throughout this series I will be reviewing certain health topics that I find tend to be the least well understood. I especially want to focus on a holistic point of view. The fist topic …
Written by: Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
For further questions or concerns email me at carcidiacono@invitehealth.com
Blood sugar concerns can range from pre-diabetes to full blown diabetes. Even those with healthy blood sugar may want to monitor their blood sugar if they have a family history of blood sugar concerns. Knowing where to start when it comes to working with blood sugar can be tricky. A diet diary is a great first start to helping regulate blood sugar. It is important because when you are making diet changes that stick you need to start with small changes that you build upon. In order to do that we need to know where you are starting off. For example if you are never used to eating green foods, adding in green vegetables is a great first step. For those who already eat greens other diet changes may be appropriate. In addition to a diet diary getting a routine physical complete with blood work is also very helpful.†
So many people ask me about supplements that may help control blood sugar. Throughout this series I have made quite a few supplement suggestions. While it is always important to speak to a nutritionist for a personalized protocol, there are some supplements that can support blood sugar and overall health. When it comes to blood sugar, one of the most important aspects is to start working on it before there is a problem. What do I mean by that? I mean staying healthy and taking supplements that support your overall health.†
ICYMI: LAST 4 TYPES OF HIGH BLOOD SUGAR>>READ NOW
SUPPLEMENTS TO SUPPORT HEALTHY BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS!
Multivitamins! Multivitamins are important to help prevent any deficiencies and for overall health. Additionally studies show that in the long term a good multivitamin can help with energy. (1) Please see Invite’s extensive line of multivitamins!†
Omega 3s! Omega 3’s have been found to modulate the immune system to lower inflammation and help those who suffer from autoimmune conditions. (2) Additionally Omega 3s are important for both stress relief and brain health (3). See Invite’s Fish oil, Krill oil, Flax seed and Inflammune!†
Greens powders can help with overall health because as we know a Mediterranean diet which is very high in greens has been found to help keep us healthy. Studies have found an association between a Mediterranean diet and better control over your blood sugar! (4) The benefits of a Mediterranean diet cannot be overstated. A Mediterranean diet has been found in studies to help with different chronic health concerns including high blood pressure, high triglycerides, obesity and high blood sugar. (5) I would recommend a Mediterranean diet for anyone who wants to stay healthy and adding a scoop of any Invite Greens powders can help set us on this path. Please see Invite’s Greens Hx or Organic Greens!†
Magnesium is truly a magic mineral. It is good for stress (6), blood sugar (7), nerve health (8), and digestive health (9) and in general has so benefits it is almost impossible to list them all! Please see Invite’s extensive line of Magnesium products!†
Zinc in addition to helping with blood sugar (7) has been found to help boost our immune system (10) as well as help with healing especially in the digestive tract (11) which is so important to our overall health. Please see Invite’s Zinc Picolinate and Invite’s Zinc Lozenges!†
Chromium has been found in studies to be very helpful for working with blood sugar. (7) Please see Invite’s Chromium and Gluco Hx!†
For more detailed information on blood sugar supplements please see my prior blogs.†
ICYMI: BLOOD SUGAR AND KIDNEY SUPPORT – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 519>>LISTEN NOW!
Recipe ideas!
One great way to cut the carbohydrates is to use Zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash in place of pasta. You can take your noodles and add the following healthy dressing! Olive oil, 1 tomato, herbs such as cilantro, parsley, dill and 1 scoop of Greens Hx and blend. Feel free to serve with any protein you like such as chicken or even fish.
Another fun way to use the greens is to mix it into mashed Cauliflower. To make this simply cook your cauliflower until it is fork tender and add to blender. I like to add a cream cheese when I blend it. Then add 1 scoop of Greens. As you can expect it will turn it green. This is great for St. Patrick’s Day!†
Let’s make some fancy coffee! To your blender cup add ice, coffee, 1 scoop Invite Vanilla Whey and 1 scoop Cocoa Hx. Blend and serve. The more ice you add the less strong the coffee is. So if you want it strong add less ice. Feel free to substitute cinnamon powder for the Cocoa Hx. If you add pumpkin pie spice it becomes a homemade holiday drink for an added kick you can add 1 dropper of white tea and 1 dropper bluegranate.†
I hope this series on blood sugar has been informative! For more information, Invite Nutritionists are always available to help answer any questions you may have.†
Our Next Mini-series on health is going to be a topic that comes up a lot especially this time of year. Its joint health! Next week we will go back to the beginning with an anatomy lesson. No worries there’s no test at the end.†
For further questions or concerns email me at carcidiacono@invitehealth.com†
REFERENCES
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4750202/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.578386/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7468918/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7468821/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5352455/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7761127/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5370781/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024559/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2277319/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1856764/
