Blood Sugar and Type II Diabetes Management

The Goal:

The goal is to demystify the workings of diabetes and blood sugar for disease prevention, reversal, and longevity. This is not a scientific paper and will be using common, simple language to make this subject as simple as possible [please contact your doctor or a trusted medical professional BEFORE enacting anything mentioned here].

Simplified Definitions of Terms: 

Blood Sugar/Blood Glucose - The amount of sugar/glucose present in the bloodstream.

Dysregulation - Inability to regulate correctly.

Insulin - Molecule responsible for managing sugar 

Type 2 Diabetes - Adult onset diabetes, adult blood sugar dysregulation, and insulin desensitization. 

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Blood Sugar Basics:

Pre-diabetes/insulin resistance/dysregulated blood sugar is one of the few diseases that leads to a plethora of expensive, life-threatening conditions and early, painful, complicated deaths (as opposed to a late, relatively painless [free of unnecessary pain] and uncomplicated finishing of life). 

High Blood sugar for extended periods (years) contributes to 6 out of 10 of the leading causes of death in the USA and is responsible for many more diseases and deaths beyond that. 

Most people have no idea what blood sugar, type II diabetes, pre-diabetes, insulin resistance, carbs, and insulin is/are, and no idea how diabetes works - which is why we encourage the use of a CGM/continuous glucose monitor, to learn how your body processes sugar, and what foods are problematic.

The majority of patients we see have pre-diabetes/insulin resistance/unregulated blood sugar and are at risk for a plethora of diseases, and are unaware. 

The goal is to clarify what pre-diabetes/insulin resistance/unregulated blood sugar is, how blood sugar does wrong, and how to fix it - diabetes type II and pre-diabetes are largely reversible (though the damage may not always be - another reason to prevent).

Blood Sugar and Insulin in Simple Speak:

Blood sugar is the measure of how much glucose/sugar is in the blood of the body. Blood sugar is a natural phenomenon, however, when the amount of glucose in the blood is incorrect, disease forms. Carbohydrates, sugar, fruits, grains, rice, beans, and many other foods are the source of sugar, carbohydrates (carbs), and sugars by other names. 

When you eat sugar, sugar enters the bloodstream, where it is escorted to where it needs to go by “Insulin.” When there is too much sugar, for too long, or the body stops listening to the insulin - there is high blood sugar and insulin resistance.

How does it go wrong?

The body’s ability to process sugar correctly (and escort it out of the blood) breaks down over time and can cause problems. The body needs insulin to tell it to “take all this new sugar/glucose/energy, get it out of the body, and put it where it needs to go. 

When the body cannot “hear”  that insulin signal, it creates MORE insulin because the body has become “resistant” to the insulin, and therefore, is not being told “take more sugar out of the blood please -  leading to high levels of glucose/sugar in the blood. The modern treatment of diabetes involves using MORE insulin, or insulin-making medicines, to increase the amount of available insulin, so that the body remembers to bring down the blood sugar levels.

With correct practice, we can help the body REMEMBER how to process sugar correctly, reverse excess sugar damage, and prevent/reverse diabetes and related conditions by re-sensitizing the body to insulin and correcting the amount of insulin released.

How do we” fix” or manage it?

The following is how we lower the blood glucose, and remind the body how to use insulin correctly - or “hear” the insulin signal, without relying on outside insulin:

• Abstaining from sugar and carbs for an extended period (fruit, doughnuts, milk, cake cookies, anything that causes large spikes in the blood sugar), will allow the body to get sensitive to the insulin in the body again since it’s not abundantly present - because it’s not needed - because there’s no sugar to trigger the insulin - and therefore become sensitive to it again. This allows the body to manage sugar more effectively because it’s responding correctly to the insulin, so it’s taking sugar out of the blood, so the levels of sugar/glucose in the blood don't “spike”

• Changing the ratio of sugar/fat/protein (macronutrients) to focus mostly on protein and fat, and have little to no carbohydrates is a simple and effective way to lose weight, manage diabetes, alleviate pain and inflammation, have more energy, clear up foggy-headedness, treat yeast overgrowth/SIBO and other gut bacteria related imbalances. 

• There is no way around diet and exercise - CGM’s will help you understand which foods are “good” for you and why - by allowing you to monitor, in almost real-time, how your body is handling sugar, eliminating much of the guesswork of finding foods and lifestyle habits that resonate with YOU specifically.

Conclusion

With 3-6 months of observation and experimentation - avoiding carbs, exercising, and listening to the data from the blood sugar monitor/CGM, the A1C, or measure of average blood sugar, should begin to come down, as the average blood sugar comes down. 

While the CGM is not a perfect technology, the CGM will allow us to take 1000+ readings, and average them with little to no pain, rather than the 3 readings/day recommended for finger sticks, which do not provide enough relevant information, and therefore, make it hard to succeed at regulating blood sugar and losing weight.

There is no perfect method to manage any condition, but this method is highly effective, and safe in a wide population of people (check with your doctor before starting anything).

With patience, practice, experimentation, followthrough, and persistence, it is very possible to see remarkable results and improvement of blood markers, overall effect, and improvement to many many pain points.

We live in a world where there are a lot of things you’re supposed to do for health - which aren’t always relevant to you - and there are more calories and time to sit available than ever before in recorded history, which creates confusion and preventable disease. 

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Please understand this is not an exhaustive look at blood sugar and diabetes. It is meant to be a SIMPLE look into blood sugar, and ways to regulate it in your life. If there are any glaring falsities, or the science changes from the time of going to press, please feel free to kindly reach out and help us correct this for the benefit of all readers - info at oahuholisticmedicine.com