Diabetes affects 20 million people in the United States each year. With 65% of people being overweight, the disease will only get worse. Type II Diabetes Mellitus is a disease that involves a hormone secreted by the pancreas called insulin and its inability to keep up with theoptimal amount of glucose in the blood stream. The average person should have a fasting blood glucose level of 70-110 mg/dL. Diabetics have a fasting blood glucose level of over 126 mg/gL. With so much glucose in the blood stream, cells of the body are unable to absorb it, creating an insensitivity to insulin.
When blood sugar swings up and down, it can cause things like hormone imbalances leading to PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome), cancer, and anxiety. This could create loss of muscle mass. You see leg muscle mass go down and belly fat go up, making the insulin issue even worse. The common treatment is to put someone on more insulin, as well as blood pressure and cholesterol medications to help with the insulin insensitivity.
Type II diabetics are usually overweight and inactive. They have a great amount of central fat around the stomach area which makes them susceptible to other diseases besides diabetes. If their waist to hip ratio is measured, it is usually over 32” in women and 40” in men. A diet high in refined sugars and grains also plays a role in increasing the glucose load placed on the body. At our office we also measure body fat and muscle mass with our InBody machine. We like results of more muscle mass compared to fat mass.
Diet and exercise are the two best options for treatment above any drug that you can take. Changing your diet from refined sugars and grains to whole grains is a much better alternative to taking insulin shots every day. Diet and exercise greatly improve
one’s quality of life compared to a drug intervention. You can start with increasing protein as this will increase muscle mass. I like to use BCAA’s (branch chain amino acids) and L-glutamine to help get this started. Try eating more vegetables and fruit, and get more fiber into your diet. A high fiber diet has been proven to decrease the amount of glucose in the blood stream and decrease the amount of weight you carry around. Losing just 7% of your current body weight will have beneficial effects on blood glucose levels. I like to have patients start with eating a protein in the morning. Eggs are a great choice. Stay away from boxed meals. Another good choice is making protein pancakes and waffles.
Exercise is also very important in the prevention and management of blood sugar. Inactivity increases a body’s glucose intolerance. By being active in everyday life you decrease your risk by 30% because cells of the body are able to absorb the glucose much easier. The greatest benefit to being active is the fat loss combined with body weight reduction, especially to the central stomach area. This can be accomplished with 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 5-6 days per week, increasing your intensity steadily. Just 150 minutes per week of activity is twice as effective as any drug on the market. Lifting weights, especially for the lower body, makes the body more insulin sensitive. I really like to have patients exercise large muscle groups. Exercises like squats, deadlifts, push-ups, rowing, and shoulder presses get the most bang for your buck.
Supplementing your diet and exercise with some nutrition aids can also be beneficial. Taking zinc, magnesium, and chromium are great ways to help the body become more insulin sensitive. I would add in fish oil, MCT oil, and Berberine to help with reducing the insulin spike during and after meals. If stress is a problem, I like to use Copacalm, Taurine, and Cortisol Pro to help the body’s stress response. Uncontrolled blood sugar can control your life if you let it or you can take back your life and improve your quality of living, it is your choice.
-Dr. Brian Opp, Chiropractor