Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Grape seed is a powerful nutrient that can help with fat loss and blood sugar health. Learn about grape seed’s ability to block the absorption of sugar and control appetite from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
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.
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In Episode 2 of Living A Healthy Life with Diabetes, I am going to break down the difference between being a prediabetic and having metabolic syndrome. The two generally go hand-in-hand, but it can oftentimes lead to confusion.
What does it mean to be prediabetic?
Prediabetes is when your insulin resistance is beginning to gain momentum. We’re talking about the pancreas, about beta cells that play such a critical role in releasing insulin in order to regulate elevations in blood glucose.
When someone has prediabetes, what they are seeing is those first stages of insulin resistance really starting to rev up. When it comes to testing, you are generally going to find things such as an elevated fasting glucose. This usually means that you’ve fasted for eight hours, ideally 10-12 hours.
Your doctor may also see elevations in hemoglobin A1C – the rate of glycation in the hemoglobin. This level is usually above a 5.7 and goes up to 6.4. Generally, doctors would like your level to be below a 5, but a realistic number is also 5.5 or 5.3. Once you get above the mid-level 5, that is when your doctor will be concerned.
Prediabetes, simply put, means your body is not doing as well to regulate your blood sugar.
For more information on Diabetes, be sure to check out Episode 9 and Part 1 of Amanda Williams Diabetes series by clicking here.
What is metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is definable by a few different things. Not only is there a clear insulin resistance occurring, we are also dealing with visceral obesity or an increase in the waist circumference in the abdominal belly region. In conjunction, your cholesterol will also be impacted, specifically an elevation in triglycerides. You may also experience endothelial dysfunction – stiffing of the lining of your blood vessels – which leads to high blood pressure.
The World Health Organization first defined metabolic syndrome back in 1998. Metabolic syndrome does not make you a diabetic, but it’s borderline.
Essential Nutrients To Get Your Body (And Health) Back On Track
It is important to understand that you must be proactive and take steps to counteract both prediabetes and metabolic syndrome. Individuals who follow the Standard American Diet go way off track because you are not obtaining the proper nutrients that the body needs in order to manage or mitigate the negative implications of having elevated glucose and a delayed insulin response.
Fifty to seventy-five percent of Americans have a Magnesium deficiency. Research from the University of North Carolina sets that percentage closer to 75%, as only 12% of Americans are considered to be metabolically healthy. This is extremely sad and – no pun intended – is accredited to the Standard American Diet (SAD), which is incredibly low in magnesium. This has been shown to be directly correlated with Type 2 Diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, vascular disease and more.
Researchers from Tufts University Department of Endocrinology published a study in the journal Diabetes Care – which was highlighted by the American Diabetes Association – that drew a conclusion between Vitamin D supplementation and the impact it has on blood glucose and markers for inflammation in the body. Participants in the study with low levels of Vitamin D were given a Vitamin D supplement every day and found significant improvements in markers for inflammation, hemoglobin A1C levels, and fasting glucose.
Benfotiamine is a unique fat soluble B1 vitamin whose goal in your body is to activate an enzyme that helps to convert toxic glucose into harmless compounds so the body can easily get rid of it. One of the long term effects of being a prediabetic, having metabolic syndrome or actually having diabetes is Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). These are created when a sugar molecule attaches to something in the body like your blood vessels or nerves. This is damaging, as AGEs change the structure and function of so many different things in the human body – deactivating enzymes, disrupting cell signaling, destroying cellular DNA and creating inflammation and more. If we can incorporate Benfotiamine into our routine, it has been shown to block that sugar-induced damage. This is why it is such a powerful B vitamin.
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. Stay tuned for Part 3 of Amanda’s Diabetes series, which will be released tomorrow – Friday, January 31.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.
The American Heart Association reports that metabolic syndrome affects about 23% of adults. A new study now says that eating within a certain time window – intermittent fasting – can help tackle that.
Photo by Dane Deaner on Unsplash Researchers at The Ohio State University wanted to know what happens to obese individuals with metabolic syndrome – a precursor to diabetes – when they eat a diet low in carbohydrates but don’t shed any pounds. Following A Low-Carb …
Researchers from several worldwide institutions – including the Imperial College London in the UK and the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (WHO) in France – have discovered that cancers related to metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity (high body mass index) have an increasingly high occurrence.
Published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, data from 2012 of 175 countries and 12 different types of cancers were assessed.
Results from the study show that diabetes and high BMI combined were responsible for an estimated 792,600 new cases (5.6%) of cancer worldwide. Of this total, 3.9% of cases were attributed to diabetes; almost twice as many cases as were related to a high BMI.
About 24% of liver cancer and 38% of endometrial cancer cases in this study were attributable to these risk factors.
According to study researchers, “Given the continued rise in the prevalence of these risk factors since 2002, the attributable cancer burden is likely to continue to increase in coming decades. Our results suggest that the increases in diabetes and BMI worldwide could lead to a substantial increase in the cancer burden in future decades.”
Diabetes is a vicious and life-threatening disease. It is caused by your blood sugar being continuously and seriously elevated (along with your triglycerides). The excess circulating blood sugar is very destructive, inflaming tissues in the heart and circulation, in the eyes, brain, kidneys and nerve tissue. Diabetes occurs because, for various reasons, your cells become resistant to the effects of the hormone insulin; insulin normally stores sugar in your cells. There are a few things you can speak with your doctor about in order to determine your risk of developing diabetes. Testing your A1C levels is usually the easiest method to measure overall glucose control. This should be measured 2 to 4 times a year. If your blood sugar is found to be between 100 and 125 mg/dL, you have impaired fasting blood glucose and your risk of developing diabetes is increased. If it is about 125 mg/dL, you are considered to have full-blown diabetes and should speak with your doctor regarding treatment immediately.
Studies have shown that a combination of herbs, nutrient and minerals may have the ability to improve blood glucose management. Click here for more information.
Think of three people close to you right now (including yourself). Statistically, at least one of these three people have Metabolic Syndrome and numbers are growing at an alarming rate. Metabolic Syndrome is the name of a group of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk of Coronary Artery Disease, stroke and diabetes.
You have Metabolic Syndrome if three of the following five risk parameters are true for you, and you should speak with your doctor to confirm –
Your triglycerides are greater than 150 mg/dL
Your HDL (good) cholesterol is low; under 40 mg/dL for men and under 50 mg/dL for women
Your fasting blood sugar is great than 100 mg/dL
Your blood pressure is greater than 130/85
Your waist circumference is greater than 40 inches for men and greater than 35 inches for women.
One of the most effective ways to manage these parameters is through exercise. There are tons of evidence that proves the benefits of exercise has been shown to lower blood pressure, clean up arteries, lower blood sugar and prevent truncal (central) obesity.
Studies have shown that a combination of herbs, nutrient and minerals may have the ability to increase protein and muscle recovery, improve metabolism, and burn fat and cards. Click here for more information.