By: Dr. Jesse A. Stoff
There are different types of diabetes. The type 1 where the person is generating antibodies against their pancreas at a very early age usually, and it could result in a very severe form of diabetes that's somewhat unstable. Later on in
life, many people as a result of poor nutrition, not eating the right nutrients
to support their biochemistry, having too much alcohol, having too much
carbohydrates, too much sugar, basically burn out their poor pancreas and its
islet cells and its ability to produce insulin, and before you know it, the
blood sugar starts going up. There's hormonal things that can affect the
production of insulin and the response as well, and this is often seen when
some women are pregnant, they can have pregnancy-induced diabetes, which is
usually a short-term thing that resolves after the pregnancy is over.
There are many factors that affect the functioning of our pancreas. The pancreas is a very fragile organ located on the underside of our stomach. It can become inflamed, people can get pancreatitis as a result of many different toxins that we could be exposed to. There are some toxins that are directly toxic to our pancreas that we find in our environment. There are other toxins, things that can attack our pancreas in terms of viruses, and yet there are other things that can attack the pancreas through such simple things as the excessive use of alcohol. You don't have to be a falling-down drunk to wind up with pancreatitis. You just have to be more sensitive to the alcohol than the guy sitting next to you, and everybody has a different threshold of sensitivity. It has to do with how our liver metabolizes the alcohol and how fast it can get rid of the waste products before they accumulate in our system and cause inflammation to some of these fragile organ structures. In any case, once the person has diabetes, they have a problem of their carbohydrate metabolism. Carbohydrates are things like grains, sugars. Alcohol is metabolized into various sugars and carbohydrates therefore.
Even fruits and vegetables are carbohydrates, although they're classified as complex carbohydrates. They're metabolized much slower and turn into sugars at a much slower pace, usually at a rate that our body can easily deal with. If somebody already has full-blown diabetes, and even the fruit sugar that we find in our fruits, whether it be berries or whether it be bananas or apples or pears, it may be more than the body can deal with and it can raise our blood sugar as well, so you have to be careful.
So, when trying to address a diabetic
situation to help somebody out, first thing I do is take a look at some blood
tests and see if they're making antibodies against their pancreatic islet cells
or other enzymes, things that can contribute to the production of diabetes,
which means that I have to take an immune approach to straighten things out. I
look at various inflammatory markers because sugar is an inflammatory substance
and can lead to the progression of other inflammatory-based illnesses,
systemically, such as atherosclerotic heart disease, and so we take a look at
the inflammatory markers and address that. And then, we take a close look at
the person's life, lifestyle, and stress. Stress and its release of
catecholamines, epinephrine, normetanephrine, et cetera, will cause an
increased level of blood sugar, as can an excessive production of cortisol when
the adrenals are under an excessive level of stress for a prolonged period of
time.
When we take a look at the diet, what we want to see and what we want to help the person evolve towards is a diet that's high in proteins, higher in good fats, if you will, very low in simple carbohydrates. So, basically, Cheerios and two tablespoons of sugar in a cup of coffee doesn't work any more. And yes, I did say tablespoons because there are people out there who put sugar in their coffee by the tablespoon, not the teaspoon. Be that as it may, you have to pay very close attention to the amount of simple carbs in your diet as this will immediately raise blood sugar.
Going onto what's referred to as a ketogenic diet where the body is eating a lot of proteins and a lot of good fats can very quickly stabilize blood sugar and help to bring it down. There are different nutritional shakes that people can use that can help to stabilize their biochemistry and help reverse the immediate issues of diabetes and stabilize it. And it's very important to stabilize the diabetes because it can lead to cardiovascular heart disease, blindness, kidney damage, peripheral neuropathy, and so on and so forth, no fun. So you really wanna get the diabetes under control as quickly as possible, but that doesn't mean you have to give up all sorts of fun in your life and in your diet. There's plenty of good foods out there that can be eaten. It's a matter of being a little bit more creative with your diet, perhaps getting a good cook book. There are several good cook books out there on ketogenic recipes that I would highly recommend.
Lots of water is very, very important. The usual recommendation of eight 8-ounce glasses is a good place to start. Make sure it's very clean water, such as from a good source of bottled water or good filtered water. You don't want to be adding more toxins to your system. You want to be getting a good night's sleep because as I said earlier stress will make the diabetes worse. Exercise is very important because exercise will burn sugar. Exercise will lower your blood sugar almost immediately, so you want to get exercise on a regular basis. And I'm not talking about the New York City Marathon here, but 20 minutes of a brisk walk a day is enough to significantly impact and help your diabetes. Together, this sort of integrated strategy can significantly reverse the effects of diabetes, stabilize it, and help to ensure your possibility for a long and healthy life. It's important to talk to your physician about some of these things. Look at your diet. Look at what could be done with various medications in the short run that might help you get to your goal sooner because you want to minimize any potential side effects of the diabetes as quickly as possible.
There are many factors that affect the functioning of our pancreas. The pancreas is a very fragile organ located on the underside of our stomach. It can become inflamed, people can get pancreatitis as a result of many different toxins that we could be exposed to. There are some toxins that are directly toxic to our pancreas that we find in our environment. There are other toxins, things that can attack our pancreas in terms of viruses, and yet there are other things that can attack the pancreas through such simple things as the excessive use of alcohol. You don't have to be a falling-down drunk to wind up with pancreatitis. You just have to be more sensitive to the alcohol than the guy sitting next to you, and everybody has a different threshold of sensitivity. It has to do with how our liver metabolizes the alcohol and how fast it can get rid of the waste products before they accumulate in our system and cause inflammation to some of these fragile organ structures. In any case, once the person has diabetes, they have a problem of their carbohydrate metabolism. Carbohydrates are things like grains, sugars. Alcohol is metabolized into various sugars and carbohydrates therefore.
Even fruits and vegetables are carbohydrates, although they're classified as complex carbohydrates. They're metabolized much slower and turn into sugars at a much slower pace, usually at a rate that our body can easily deal with. If somebody already has full-blown diabetes, and even the fruit sugar that we find in our fruits, whether it be berries or whether it be bananas or apples or pears, it may be more than the body can deal with and it can raise our blood sugar as well, so you have to be careful.
When we take a look at the diet, what we want to see and what we want to help the person evolve towards is a diet that's high in proteins, higher in good fats, if you will, very low in simple carbohydrates. So, basically, Cheerios and two tablespoons of sugar in a cup of coffee doesn't work any more. And yes, I did say tablespoons because there are people out there who put sugar in their coffee by the tablespoon, not the teaspoon. Be that as it may, you have to pay very close attention to the amount of simple carbs in your diet as this will immediately raise blood sugar.
Going onto what's referred to as a ketogenic diet where the body is eating a lot of proteins and a lot of good fats can very quickly stabilize blood sugar and help to bring it down. There are different nutritional shakes that people can use that can help to stabilize their biochemistry and help reverse the immediate issues of diabetes and stabilize it. And it's very important to stabilize the diabetes because it can lead to cardiovascular heart disease, blindness, kidney damage, peripheral neuropathy, and so on and so forth, no fun. So you really wanna get the diabetes under control as quickly as possible, but that doesn't mean you have to give up all sorts of fun in your life and in your diet. There's plenty of good foods out there that can be eaten. It's a matter of being a little bit more creative with your diet, perhaps getting a good cook book. There are several good cook books out there on ketogenic recipes that I would highly recommend.
Lots of water is very, very important. The usual recommendation of eight 8-ounce glasses is a good place to start. Make sure it's very clean water, such as from a good source of bottled water or good filtered water. You don't want to be adding more toxins to your system. You want to be getting a good night's sleep because as I said earlier stress will make the diabetes worse. Exercise is very important because exercise will burn sugar. Exercise will lower your blood sugar almost immediately, so you want to get exercise on a regular basis. And I'm not talking about the New York City Marathon here, but 20 minutes of a brisk walk a day is enough to significantly impact and help your diabetes. Together, this sort of integrated strategy can significantly reverse the effects of diabetes, stabilize it, and help to ensure your possibility for a long and healthy life. It's important to talk to your physician about some of these things. Look at your diet. Look at what could be done with various medications in the short run that might help you get to your goal sooner because you want to minimize any potential side effects of the diabetes as quickly as possible.
..........................................................................................................................................................
DR. JESSE A. STOFF is an internationally renowned physician with extensive credentials in clinical immunology and holistic medicine. A graduate of New York Medical College , he pursued extensive post-doctoral training including a fellow- ship at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital in London , England
This article is produced and written by the writing team at IMMUNOLOGY TODAY- The Official Newsletter of Integrative Medicine of N.Y. of Westbury NY-- Edited and co-published by Dr. Jesse A. Stoff exclusively for the purposes of this blogpost (Immunology Today) and rejuvenatesoliutions.com The publisher(s) hold all rights (c) to all elements, images and content herein. All distribution, sharing or re-posting of this article is only with the express permission from Dr. Stoff and Integrative Medicine of NY (formerly Linchitz Medical Wellness). 265 Post Ave. Suite 380 Westbury, NY 11590 | 516.759.4200 | www.StoffImmunology.com. Rejuvenate! is a registered trademark of Intermedia Communications Ltd. All written content in this newsletter is produced by the Stoff Institute for Medical Research (SIMR) exclusively for private distribution at the Integrative Medicine of NY ©2016- All Rights Reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All information provided in this article is intended as general public information and is not intended to treat or cure any disease or disorder. Dr. Jesse A. Stoff, Integrative medicine of NY, nor any individual or practitioner associated with the publishing of this article is not liable for any damages resulting from the use of the information on this article. As a visitor of this blogsite, you acknowledge and agree that any reliance on or use by you of any information available on this Internet web site shall be entirely at your own risk. In no event shall the owner or operator be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or exemplary damages arising from the use or the performance of this Internet web site, even if the owner or operator has been advised of the possibility of such damages. While every attempt has been made to verify the information on this website, neither the owners, distributors, agents, publishers or their affiliates assume any responsibility or liability for any error, inaccuracies, omissions in the same, or related to results from use of these materials. No party is liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages arising out of your access to, or use of this blogsite and the contents herein.
