Principle #5 for Good Glycemic Control

Principle #1 Carbohydrate tolerance
Principle #2 Exercise
Principle #3 Cortisol
Principle #4 Food Quantity
Principle #5 Reproductive hormones

Blood sugar disruptions like in the case of low blood sugar (shaky, lightheaded, irritable, waking in night, nausea, fatigue), or high blood sugar (fatigue, sweet cravings, carbohydrate cravings) are often both caused by insulin resistance.  Insulin resistance is due to an excess of insulin over time creating "resistance" to the tissues.  

Excess insulin can upregulate an enzyme in males called aromatase or an enzyme in females called 17,20 lyase.  This can, and often does cause increased production of the opposite sex hormones.  For instance, increased estrogen in males, and increased testosterone in females.  Some signs and symptoms of increased estrogen in males might include fat deposition in breasts and/or hips, increased emotionality, decreased morning errections, decreased libido, fatigue, poor concentration, depression, decreased physical stamina, and soreness.  In females, increased testosterone can cause hair loss, facial hair growth, acne, ovarian cysts, and generally mimic hypothyroid symptoms.  High estrogen in males, and high testosterone in females both further promote insulin resistance and blood sugar imbalances.   
    

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery
URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Principle #4 for Good Glycemic Control

Principle #1 Carbohydrate tolerance
Principle #2 Exercise
Principle #3 Cortisol
Principle #4 Food Quantity

Quality of food is most important, but quantity of food cannot be completely overlooked.  If you eat below your carbohydrate tolerance (see principle #1), but over consume calories then it can still disrupt blood sugar.  Stay tuned for three more balancing blood sugar principles.

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery
URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Principle #3 for Good Glycemic Control

Principle #1 Carbohydrate tolerance

Principle #2 Exercise

Principle #3 Cortisol

Cortisol is a stress hormone.  It is known as a glucocorticoid.  As the name suggests, it has something to do with glucose (blood sugar). One of the primary functions of cortisol is to mobilize blood sugar, or increase blood sugars levels.  When you have a stress response it can result in an elevation in cortisol which can in turn increase blood sugar levels.  Cortisol can increase the rate of glucose production by as much as 6-10 times.  This can result in elevations in blood sugar. On the other hand if cortisol output is low (like in adrenal disease, or stress exhaustion states) it can promote a tendency towards low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).  Some early signs of high cortisol can be difficulty falling asleep and post meal fatigue.  While some of the most common low cortisol symptoms are fatigue (often accentuated in morning and afternoon), and waking in the night. Stay tuned for four more balancing blood sugar principles.    

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery
URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Omega 3's and Bigger Brain

I mentioned before that higher blood sugar levels (on the high end of "normal")were associated with shrinkage of memory centers in the brain (hippocampus), and that Diabetes doubles the risk of Alzheimer's.  This study showed a connection between higher omega 3's in the blood (EPA and DHA), and larger brain volumes specifically in the hippocampus.  Thus omega 3's may prevent shrinkage of the brain.  With Alzheimer's the brain shrinks (atrophy),especially the hippocampus, even before symptoms occur.             

http://www.neurology.org/content/82/5/435

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery

URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Principle #2 for Good Glycemic Control

Principle #1 Carbohydrate tolerance

Principle #2 Exercise

Exercise is an important part of maintaining healthy blood sugar. While any exercise is better than none, resistance exercise is typically the best for blood sugar.  If no restrictions are present, high intensity interval training can a very effective form of resistance exercise.   While exercise is beneficial for blood sugar, be careful that exercise is not overdone as that can disrupt blood sugar (I will discuss this in our next principle).  Some of the most common signs that you are overdoing exercise are fatigue, and poor quality sleep. Stay tuned for five more balancing blood sugar principles.

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery
URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional. 

Principle #1 for Good Glycemic Control

Principle #1 Carbohydrate tolerance

How many carbs can I eat?  Atkins?  The Zone?  Ornish?  How many carbohydrates one can tolerate is an individual thing known as carbohydrate tolerance.  The first principle in balancing blood sugar is to stay below one's carbohydrate tolerance.  Carbohydrate tolerance is defined as the amount of carbohydrates/sugar the body can optimally process.  This is how much carbohydrate/sugar that can get into the cells without having excess in the blood stream.  When carbohydrate tolerance is exceeded then the most common symptoms are fatigue and sweet/carbohydrate cravings.  In some individuals post meal fatigue is prominent, in others it can be cravings for sugar or starch.  If symptoms cannot be appreciated (or correlation needs to be made) then post meal glucose measurements can be checked.  This can be done with a glucose meter.  The One Touch Ultra Mini is an accurate meter.  2-4 hour post meal glucose measurements of 85-100 are considered optimal.  Measurements above 100 are typically associated with fatigue and/or sweet/carb cravings, and would be considered exceeding one’s carbohydrate tolerance.  While there are many contributors to blood sugar disruption, overconsumption of carbohydrates and sugar is probably the single biggest contributor.  Stay tuned and I will discuss the other contributors to disrupted blood sugar.      

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery

URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional. 

Diabetes What?

Type I is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, previously known as Insulin Dependent Diabetes, or Juvenile Onset Diabetes.  This is as a result of autoimmunity (attacking one’s self) directed against the pancreas creating insulin deficiency.  This creates high blood sugar, as one of insulin’s jobs is to get blood sugar into the cells.  There are major associations between Type I Diabetes and gluten sensitivity, dairy sensitivity, and intestinal permeability (leaky gut). 

Type II is usually diagnosed in adults, previously known as Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes or Adult-Onset Diabetes.  This was previously thought to be found only in obese adults, although it does also occur in normal bodyweight individuals.  Type II Diabetes is due to insulin resistance (the cells aren’t sensitive to insulin).  Insulin resistance occurs due to insulin excess, and the cells stop listening to insulin.  This also creates high blood sugar.  Type II Diabetes is influenced by a number of lifestyle factors which I will be discussing at length in upcoming posts. 

Type 1.5 is also known as Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA) or Double Diabetes.  This is a combination of Type II Diabetes (insulin resistance) and Type I Diabetes (autoimmunity).  This is usually diagnosed as Type II Diabetes.  It is estimated that 20% of individuals diagnosed with non obese Type II actually have Type 1.5 Diabetes.    

Type III is also known as Brain Diabetes.  Brain Diabetes has to do with excess insulin (insulin resistance) and blood sugar’s negative effects on the brain.  This is thought to be one of the major drivers of Alzheimer’s.  

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery
URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Balancing Blood Sugar

Like I mentioned in my previous post, glucose ranges within normal limits can still be problematic.  The last research article I reported on called for a re-evaluation of what is considered normal glucose levels.  Many times individuals can have glucose measurements or HA1c (glucose average over 3-4 months) measurements that are within normal limits, but not optimal thus promoting the development of disease or symptomatology.  A funny cartoon that illustrates this concept is below.  Problems are often ignored until they become severe enough to be classified as end stage disease.    

 

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery
URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional.

High Blood Sugar and Brain Shrinkage

While we already know that diabetes doubles Alzheimer's risk, and has been called Type III Diabetes by some researchers.  This study shows that blood sugar measurements that were within the normal limits, but on the higher side  of "normal" were associated with atrophy (shrinkage) of the hippocampus (memory centers involved with Alzheimer's).  This research article calls for a re-evaluation of what is considered to be normal glucose levels.  In the future I will be discussing what constitutes optimal blood sugar measurements, and what factors influence blood sugar.      

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762736/

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery
URL:  www.functionalneuro.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DrCaffery

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional.