LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

prediabetes

Ancient Mayan Treat Wins Again for Diabetes Prevention

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chocolate and diabetes risk
hiphoto39/Dollar Photo Club

While the idea that chocolate is good for us seems to have made it to the general public, there are still some patients I come across who are not aware.

The history of chocolate goes back some ways, but the origins are usually pinned to the Olmecs and Matans in Mexico.  Cacao.  Food of the Gods.  Theobroma cacao.  This was the beginning of learning how to process cacao into cocoa and chocolate.  (Just in case you’re really interested in learning about the entire history and industry, Cornell University has an excellent overview that can be found by clicking here)

For years, I thought someone had just been spelling cocoa wrong when I saw cacao written.  Not so.  Cocoa is made from cacao seeds.  Cacao itself is a very heavy-hitter when it comes to good health.  Specifically good blood vessel health.  And if you have healthy blood vessels, you are at a much lower risk of heart attack, stroke and dementia.  That’s most likely why we see the benefits of cacao products on these conditions.

But, in the back of everyone’s mind is the concern that chocolate has calories and too many calories are going to lead to obesity and diabetes.

Let me clarify something first.  When I talk about “chocolate” I’m not talking about the low-quality-hardly-deserves-the-label-of-chocolate chocolate found in things like Hershey’s chocolate, Ovaltine and Reese’s peanut butter cups.  Nope.  I’m talking about the higher cacao content chocolates made by companies like Endangered Species, Green and Black, Ghirardelli and Godiva.  And stay away from cacao processed with alkali, as this will lower the level of protective compounds in the end product.

A study evaluating chocolate intake in European teens found that higher chocolate consumption led to lower body weight and body fat.  Definitely good news.

Another study that relates to weight gain is the chocolate and the risk of developing diabetes.  This study originally published in 2014 (online–print version in 2015) began to demonstrate that those with higher chocolate intakes had lower risk of developing diabetes.  Again, good news.

Fast forward to this particular study, in which researchers combed through the data of the Physician’s Health Study, looking at the relationship between 18,235 male doctors’ chocolate intake and overall risk of developing diabetes.  Here’s what they found after following this group for an average of 9.2 years:

  • Those who had chocolate 2 or more servings per week had a 17% lower risk of developing diabetes.
  • This protection from chocolate consumption was slightly stronger in those men who did not have heart disease.
  • The protection was mainly present in younger men and those with a more ideal body weight.

While a 17% lower risk of developing diabetes is not earth-shattering, the fact that eating the “food of the gods” a few times per week was all it took to achieve this lower risk is hard to argue.  Add in some short-burst aerobic exercise and raw nuts and cut out refined carbohydrates and you’re going to have to be a Pima Indian just to have a risk for diabetes.

 

THE NUMBERS OF PREDIABETIC PATIENTS JUST SHOT UP!!

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THE NUMBERS OF PREDIABETIC PATIENTS JUST SHOT UP!!  If you’re a regular reader of my updates, you know that a large chunk of the population is prediabetic.  Probably well over 50%.  That number is about to get much larger based on this study.  It is well established that being prediabetic is bad for the liver and induces a condition called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).  That mild elevation in liver enzymes that your doctor can’t find a reason for and just says it must be genetic?  Yup.  Prediabetes.  But it gets worse.  This study finds that our normal range (usually 2-60) is not even close to good enough.  In men, >22 and women > 10 is a strong predictor of developing diabetes in the next few yrs.  Wow!!  These are some pretty harsh numbers!!  So, next time your doctor calls and tells you your labs are “normal,” make sure you get a copy of them yourself so you can double check the numbers.

 

NORMAL LIVER ENZYMES LINKED TO DIABETES?

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NORMAL LIVER ENZYMES LINKED TO DIABETES?  I remember early on in practice not recognizing this for what it was.  I had a few patients with mildly elevated liver enzymes (AST, ALT).  They would just comment that they’ve always been elevated.  Usually their doctor had run a barrage of liver tests looking for viral hepatitis.  But, with time, I’ve come to understand that prediabetes is very damaging to the liver, just like every other organ that is affected by this condition. I’ve even come to recognize that high normal values, when combined with other factors (abdominal obesity, elevated cholesterol / triglyerides, elevated uric acid, etc..) are a strong sign of prediabetes.  Something else to consider here…we view AST and ALT as “liver function” tests.  What we’re really looking at here are cells that are dying off and spilling their enzymes into the blood stream.  Doesn’t really sound like a test of “function” but rather a test of “dead…”

 

Pancreatic Cancer; Are You Already at Risk?

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pancreatic cancer prevention
gwolters/Dollar Photo Club

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the scariest cancers out there.  Very painful and fatal in almost every case.  The survival rate is dismal.

I have written before that if the resources available to Patrick Swayze and Steve Jobs were not enough to overcome this cancer, the rest of us don’t stand a chance.  The good news is that pancreatic cancer is almost completely preventable.

The scary thing is that you may already be at risk.  But lowering your risk starts by preventing another disease.

Given that the pancreas is our principle organ to dealing with sugar handling it should come as no surprise that the diabetic spectrum (from prediabetes to diabetes) is the problem.

Prediabetes has already been linked to almost every chronic disease, including multiple types of cancers, including pancreatic cancer.  The reasons for this are many and likely have to do with the elevated levels of insulin (which causes cells to divide more—a precursor to cancer) as well as the unhealthy cells that no longer respond to the insulin in the correct manner.  Elevated insulin will also lead to cancer cells having more access to sugar to divide faster (a concept known as the Warburg effect).

This particular study looks at the relationship between blood sugar levels and the risk of pancreatic cancer in 2408 patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer by looking across 9 different studies.

Here’s what they found:

  • The risk of pancreatic cancer went up 14% for every 10 mg/dL increase in fasting blood sugar.

The important thing to notice about this is that these results don’t talk about a blood sugar value ABOVE a certain amount.  In other words, the relationship between higher blood sugar and pancreatic cancer is direct.  Higher levels = higher risk.  In situations like this, lower is always better and it also means that, even at NORMAL blood sugar levels, there is still an increased risk.

While it is always a good idea to live an anti-diabetic lifestyle, avoiding pancreatic cancer is an added advantage.  If you’re not sure all that this entails (which is far too large of a topic for this post), feel free to check out my Diabetes eBook by clicking here.

 

Did YOUR Doctor Talk About Prediabetes?

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IS YOUR DOCTOR EDUCATING YOU?
The latin interpretation of “doctor” is “teacher” and this should be first and foremost our jobs.  Patients generally do not have the background in physiology that is needed to more clearly understand what is happening to them and help them make the right changes to improve health.  Unfortunately, this is not happening.  In this particular study, patients with low levels of HDL (which is a pre-diabetic scenario) who saw their PCP or cardiologist left the office visit woefully uneducated.  Only 6% of the visit was related to the problem at hand.  This is absolutely unacceptable.  How can patients understand that lifestyle changes absolutely can impact their condition??  I can tell you, that in my office, I make it VERY clear that these types of patients are well on their way to diabetes.  Whether they choose to make the changes is up to them.  It is MY job to educate the patient and make sure that they understand the severe consequences that ignoring their lifestyle will create.

Artificial Sweeteners–WHY Are They Still Around?

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artificial sweeteners and diabetes
Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/wyscan/

Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?  Why did the chicken cross the road?  Why are we still using artificial sweeteners?

All timeless questions that never seem to have the right answer.  Artificial sweeteners were initially used with the premise of cutting calorie intake and fighting off weight gain and diabetes.

They were never designed to actually improve the taste of food, candies and snacks.  Think about it–did you actually LIKE the taste of artificial sweeteners right off the bat?  Most that I’ve talked to say it’s a taste you have to get used to.  Why would you continue to take in a chemical that you have to “get used to” unless you believed there was some positive benefit to your health?

The belief that the use of artificial sweeteners was good for your health was continually promoted by doctors, massive marketing campaigns by the chemical companies that produce them and national organizations like the American Diabetic Association.  The brainwashing went on for decades and still continues.

It was so powerful that, despite mounting evidence that these chemicals PROMOTE the very things they were supposed to protect (diabetes and obesity), artificial sweeteners are still found everywhere you turn.

And the manufacturers have been getting very sneaky at putting them in products.  Terms like “low sugar,” “low carb” or “zero calories” can be your first clue.  But sometimes the approach is way more devious.  You may see on the front of the container for some drink that it is advertised as “no artificial flavors” and think that it’s ok.  But buried in the ingredient label, however, is that sneaky little sucralose chemical.  All of the wording on these products is very, very carefully chosen to deceive you.

So why the Rant?  Because there is yet another article looking into how artificial sweeteners contribute to obesity and diabetes.  In this particular article, researchers looked at the effects of artificial sweeteners on the gut bacteria in mice.  Here’s what they found:

  • Artificial sweeteners creates prediabetes by making changes to the types of gut bacteria as well as the way they function.
  • These artificial sweetener changes are blocked by antibiotic treatment.
  • Once the artificial sweeteners change the gut bacteria, transferring the bacteria  into another mouse will lead to prediabetes.
  • The researchers identified these same changes to the gut bacteria and risk of diabetes in humans.

This is not the first study to link changes in gut bacteria to artificial sweetener use.  Combine this with mounting evidence that gut bacteria may play a critical role in the development of obesity and diabetes and you’ve got a time bomb ticking.  Our kids are being fed artificial sweeteners like candy (pun intended) and parents, in general, are oblivious to the dangers posed by their use.

Even more subtle is the exposure of our kids to artificial sweeteners by well-meaning parents who don’t diligently label shop.  Do you realize that almost every gum in your typical grocery stores’ checkout counter has artificial sweeteners?  Do you know that most mints have these chemicals in the ingredient labels?  Have you checked out your “weight loss drink” lately?  Many of the most popular ones (even ones offered in doctors’ offices) contain artificial sweeteners.  Your protein drink?  I’ll bet it’s got artificial sweeteners.

With all of this said, I will end this article with the same question I began it with…”Why are we still using artificial sweeteners???”

 

Cortisol, Stress and Prediabetes – (04-16-03)

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Cortisol and the metabolic syndrome in South Asians.

Until the day I quit practising (or die, whichever comes first…) I will always come across patients who skip breakfast in an attempt to lose weight. And, like a robot, I go on to explain that this is probably one of the absolute worst things they can do to lose weight. Remember that the brain needs fuel, and if you deprived the brain of fuel through your diet, cortisol will be secreted to break down lean muscle mass to get the glucose of the brain. Less muscle mass = worsening of insulin resistance and weight gain. This article once again illustrates the intimate connection between insulin and cortisol and the snowball effect one has on the other.

Click here for more information.

Pancreatic Cancer and Prediabetes

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CAN WE PREVENT ONE OF THE DEADLIEST CANCERS??   There’s little hope for those with pancreatic cancer (although Dr. Peter Gonzalez is probably the best resource on this), but there is much we can do to prevent it.  Obviously not smoking is a biggie.  Possibly even more powerful is avoiding prediabetes and the resultant abdominal obesity. Prior studies have found a 400% increase in risk with those that are prediabetic.  This study further confirms the link. Read More