One of the primary lab tests that can predict longevity is fasting insulin. Research has proven that caloric restriction is the single greatest longevity factor in all the lab animals’ studies to date. A big part of why caloric restriction increases longevity is because it lowers insulin levels. Low fasting insulin levels can be one of the best screens for predicting health and preventing disease.
I’ll give you some optimal lab values in a minute, but before I do, think about it. What role
does insulin play in the body? Remember, insulin is essential to pull sugar or glucose into
the cell to keep homeostatis in the blood. The sugar is then burned for energy or stored for later
use.
Excess sugar is stored as fat, and for our ancestors that may have been a good thing because they didn’t have the instant access to food that we have. But because our culture consumes SO many refined sugars, our very cells try to resist extra sugar intake because they can only store so much sugar as fat in a healthy manner. So, in order to reduce the amount of sugar coming into
the cells, the cells will ultimately reduce the amount of insulin receptor sites.
Well, that’s good for the cells, but bad for the bloodstream. Insulin can’t get into the cells, so it
remains in the blood. Remember, part of insulin’s job is to convert sugar to fat wherever it is. So now the excess insulin in the blood causes excess fat in the blood.
Dr. Ron Rosedale in his book “The Rosedale Diet” quotes a study where insulin was dripped
into the arteries of dogs and in just a few months the artery became blocked with plaque. Plaque
buildup can deprive the heart of blood and oxygen and eventually cause a heart attack.
As a person continues to ingest refined carbohydrates and the insulin continues to be made, it
drives the body into a fat storage mode rather than a fat burning mode. We use the term
insulin resistance, meaning a healthy cells response to excess refined carbohydrates.
Insulin has many key roles that will not be fulfilled if blood sugars are elevated; let’s look at a
few of them.
Insulin is necessary to pull magnesium into the cell. Blocked insulin receptor sites in the cell
mean low cellular magnesium levels and magnesium is critical for energy production, healthy
heart, vascular, and blood pressure regulation.
Excess insulin in the bloodstream causes retention of sodium which in turn causes increases in
blood pressure and fluid retention. There is also a significant correlation between elevated insulin levels and certain types of cancer, namely: breast, colon, prostate, and pancreatic cancer.
Poor sugar regulation and insulin dysregulation has also been indicated in aging, memory problems, fatigue, anxiety and depression, immune suppression, obesity, vascular disease, and as I mentioned heart disease.
The fasting insulin levels I like to see should be 10 or lower, under 6 is ideal. Traditional lab values suggest treatment should begin when levels exceed 18; however, if fasting insulin levels are over 10, insulin resistance is well under way and needs serious attention.
Therapeutically, we need to make sure the patient reduces their level of refined and even their starchy carbohydrates until levels are stabile and life style changes are made.
Exercise is critical for anyone who is struggling with insulin resistance. Cells will burn sugar
with activity and movement. So the best way to reduce sugar, (besides not eating it) is to
burn it.
Keep in mind, the most stubborn cases of insulin resistance usually involve one or more food allergens, so reducing food allergens can be important.
As far as supplements, there are several options, but let me remind you to start treatment with the basics and adjust from there as you change your lifestyle.
GlucoBalance is a formula developed by Dr.'s Jon Wright and Allan Gaby as a foundational
nutrient: 2-3 capsules tid.
Optimal EFAs are a mixture of Omega 3’s and GLA with some flax seed oil to reduce
NF-kappa-B: 2 capsules tid.
Bio-D-Mulsion Forte 4,000 IU (some studies show it works as good as medication to
reduce blood sugar).
Lipoic Acid: 100 mg tid to prevent neuropathy.
Niacinamide: 500 mg tid to help burn sugars more efficiently.
Magnesium is prescribed to bowel tolerance in the form of Mg-Zyme or Calm 3tsp (about 300mg bid) at bedtime.
As you know, so many botanical agents are available to assist blood sugar regulation; but if the basic building blocks are not available, the herbs may not work as effectively. So diet, healing the gut, exercise, and foundational nutrients will hold a big piece to the insulin resistance puzzle.
Showing posts with label Insulin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Insulin. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Vitamin D Provides a Wide Range of Health Benefits: Implications for Cancer Prevention and the Treatment of Inflammatory and Metabolic Diseases
Vitamin D Provides a Wide Range of Health Benefits: Implications for Cancer Prevention and the Treatment of Inflammatory and Metabolic Diseases and the Importance of Attaining Optimal Serum Levels of 25(OH)D
Alex Vasquez, D.C., N.D.
An increasingly well-documented and consistent body of literature shows that vitamin D has clinically-significant anticancer and anti-inflammatory benefits, and that the attainment of optimal serum levels of vitamin D also confer protection against diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, and hypertension. In this brief review, we will also discuss clinical trials that have used vitamin D in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome, migraine headaches, depression, epilepsy, and musculoskeletal pain. We also elucidate new guidelines for the interpretation of serum 25(OH)vitamin D levels.
Vitamin D deficiency is an underappreciated epidemic that has heretofore received insufficient attention from clinicians in all disciplines. Given the clinical consequences of hypovitatminosis D, it is indefensible that doctors fail to diagnose and treat this condition (ICD-9 code 268.x) since numerous studies have documented the remarkably high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in medical patients (Kauppinen-Makelin R, et al. J Intern Med.
2001 Jun;249(6):559-63 and Thomas MK,...et al. N.Eng! J..Med. 1998 Mar !9;338(12):777-83). This article will serve to update clinicians on the diagnosis and treatment of this important and common health problem, and we have included our recommendations for laboratory testing to facilitate the clinical applicability of this information.
Vitamin D is metabolized in two distinct pathways: 1) endocrine-relevant to calcium absorption and bone metabolism, and 2) autocrine-relevant to the modulation of intracellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation, inflammation, and gene transcription. Relatedly, vitamin D deficiency is seen in two distinct forms: 1) acute deficiency diseases such as rickets and hypocalcemia, and 2) long-latency deficiency diseases which
manifest only after years of subacute deficiency (Heaney RP. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Nov;78(5):912-9). According to the current research literature, long-term vitamin D deficiency contributes to an increased risk for cancer, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, and insulin resistance, and each of these clinical entities will be discussed in the sections that follow.
· Cancer: Cancer risk and vitamin D deficiency go hand-in-hand. The risk of cancer in humans increases in direct proportion to the reduction in sun exposure, a fact that has been repeatedly verified since its first publication more than 60 years ago. Based on this extensive data, Dr William Grant has estimated that at least 23,000 and perhaps as many as 47,000 cancer deaths might be prevented each year in America if we employed simple interventions to raise vitamin D levels (Cancer 2002;94:1867-75).
· Hypertension: Suboptimal levels of vitamin D increase the risk for and severity of hypertension, and augmentation of vitamin D levels with sunlight or oral supplementation safely and consistently reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients (PfeiferM, et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001 Apr;86:1633-7
· Insulin resistance: Patients with vitamin D deficiency show an increased prevalence of insulin resistance.
Authors of a recent study concluded that improving vitamin D status such as with oral supplementation could improve insulin sensitivity by 60%, indicating that vitamin D treatment ''is more potent than either troglitazone or metformin treatment (54% and 13% improvement in insulin sensitivity, 0 respectively.)"o (Chiu KC, et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2004; 79:820-5).
· Depression: Vitamin D administration was shown to improve mood within 5 days of treatment in a controlled clinical trial of patients with wintertime depression (Lansdowne AT, Provost SC. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1998;135:319-23)
· Epilepsy: VitapJin D deficiency can cause seizures. Medications used to treat epilepsy commonly cause vitamin D deficiency, which can then result in iatrogenic epilepsy (All FE, et al. Ann Pharmacother . 2004;38:1002-5). Administration of vitamin D shows an anticonvulsant benefit (Christiansen C, et al. Br Med J. 1974;2:258-9).
· Polycystic ovary syndrome: Vitamin D deficiency was highly prevalent among 13 women with PCOS, and supplementation with 1,500 mg of calcium per day and 50,000 IV of vitamin D2 on a weekly basis normalized menstruation and/or fertility in nine of nine women with PCOS-related menstrual irregularities within three months of treatment (Thys-Jacobs S, et al. Steroids 1999;64:430-5)
· Osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal pain: Osteoarthritis develops more frequently and progresses more rapidly in patients who are deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is alarmingly common in patients
We have an inexpensive BIOAVAILABLE emulsified Vitamin D that lasts a few months. Best yet, it is not a pill!
Ask our staff for the Bio-D-Mulsion.
Alex Vasquez, D.C., N.D.
An increasingly well-documented and consistent body of literature shows that vitamin D has clinically-significant anticancer and anti-inflammatory benefits, and that the attainment of optimal serum levels of vitamin D also confer protection against diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, and hypertension. In this brief review, we will also discuss clinical trials that have used vitamin D in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome, migraine headaches, depression, epilepsy, and musculoskeletal pain. We also elucidate new guidelines for the interpretation of serum 25(OH)vitamin D levels.
Vitamin D deficiency is an underappreciated epidemic that has heretofore received insufficient attention from clinicians in all disciplines. Given the clinical consequences of hypovitatminosis D, it is indefensible that doctors fail to diagnose and treat this condition (ICD-9 code 268.x) since numerous studies have documented the remarkably high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in medical patients (Kauppinen-Makelin R, et al. J Intern Med.
2001 Jun;249(6):559-63 and Thomas MK,...et al. N.Eng! J..Med. 1998 Mar !9;338(12):777-83). This article will serve to update clinicians on the diagnosis and treatment of this important and common health problem, and we have included our recommendations for laboratory testing to facilitate the clinical applicability of this information.
Vitamin D is metabolized in two distinct pathways: 1) endocrine-relevant to calcium absorption and bone metabolism, and 2) autocrine-relevant to the modulation of intracellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation, inflammation, and gene transcription. Relatedly, vitamin D deficiency is seen in two distinct forms: 1) acute deficiency diseases such as rickets and hypocalcemia, and 2) long-latency deficiency diseases which
manifest only after years of subacute deficiency (Heaney RP. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Nov;78(5):912-9). According to the current research literature, long-term vitamin D deficiency contributes to an increased risk for cancer, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, and insulin resistance, and each of these clinical entities will be discussed in the sections that follow.
· Cancer: Cancer risk and vitamin D deficiency go hand-in-hand. The risk of cancer in humans increases in direct proportion to the reduction in sun exposure, a fact that has been repeatedly verified since its first publication more than 60 years ago. Based on this extensive data, Dr William Grant has estimated that at least 23,000 and perhaps as many as 47,000 cancer deaths might be prevented each year in America if we employed simple interventions to raise vitamin D levels (Cancer 2002;94:1867-75).
· Hypertension: Suboptimal levels of vitamin D increase the risk for and severity of hypertension, and augmentation of vitamin D levels with sunlight or oral supplementation safely and consistently reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients (PfeiferM, et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001 Apr;86:1633-7
· Insulin resistance: Patients with vitamin D deficiency show an increased prevalence of insulin resistance.
Authors of a recent study concluded that improving vitamin D status such as with oral supplementation could improve insulin sensitivity by 60%, indicating that vitamin D treatment ''is more potent than either troglitazone or metformin treatment (54% and 13% improvement in insulin sensitivity, 0 respectively.)"o (Chiu KC, et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2004; 79:820-5).
· Depression: Vitamin D administration was shown to improve mood within 5 days of treatment in a controlled clinical trial of patients with wintertime depression (Lansdowne AT, Provost SC. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1998;135:319-23)
· Epilepsy: VitapJin D deficiency can cause seizures. Medications used to treat epilepsy commonly cause vitamin D deficiency, which can then result in iatrogenic epilepsy (All FE, et al. Ann Pharmacother . 2004;38:1002-5). Administration of vitamin D shows an anticonvulsant benefit (Christiansen C, et al. Br Med J. 1974;2:258-9).
· Polycystic ovary syndrome: Vitamin D deficiency was highly prevalent among 13 women with PCOS, and supplementation with 1,500 mg of calcium per day and 50,000 IV of vitamin D2 on a weekly basis normalized menstruation and/or fertility in nine of nine women with PCOS-related menstrual irregularities within three months of treatment (Thys-Jacobs S, et al. Steroids 1999;64:430-5)
· Osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal pain: Osteoarthritis develops more frequently and progresses more rapidly in patients who are deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is alarmingly common in patients
We have an inexpensive BIOAVAILABLE emulsified Vitamin D that lasts a few months. Best yet, it is not a pill!
Ask our staff for the Bio-D-Mulsion.
Insulin Insensitivity
This issue is high on the list because it is so common—and it responds very well to nutritional therapy. It encompasses three conditions: metabolic syndrome (sometimes called syndrome X), adult onset diabetes and people who are insulin insensitive, but have not developed these conditions yet. Insulin has a lot to do with weight gain and so many other common health problems you see in your office. Sugar and insulin are involved with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, type 2 diabetes, menstrual problems, heart disease, pain, inflammation, depression and even polycystic ovaries. With simple lifestyle changes and some good nutritional products you can help people to easily lose weight and help them with a lot of other health problems. This is easy and it works.
Symptoms of insulin resistance include fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, carbohydrate craving, and periods of hypoglycemia after a high carbohydrate meal (often needing a nap after eating). Approximately 50% of your hypertensive patients are insulin insensitive. Approximately 30% of American adults are insulin insensitive and 25% have Syndrome X. The Journal of the American Medical Association states that if a patient has three or more of the following symptoms then Syndrome X is present.: waist measurement greater than 40” in men (35” in women); triglycerides greater than 150 mg/dl; HDL lower than 40 mg/dl; blood pressure greater than 135/85; or fasting glucose of 110 mg/dl.
Problems with sugar and insulin cause weight gain, along with a variety of other health problems. In general, these patients will have a BMI greater than 30. They carry weight around their abdominal area and crave sugar and starch. Getting insulin production under control is the key to weight loss—and there are some products that will help you to do this.
Dietary changes are, of course, necessary. Patients need to go on a low glycemic diet—avoiding high glycemic foods like refined carbohydrates. Have them follow a low glycemic diet; avoid refined foods, hydrogenated oils and additives. They should eat a large breakfast—with protein. They should eat a lot of fresh produce. You may have some problems with compliance—sugar is addictive. The supplementation should help with cravings. If patients have compliance issues, be patient but be firm in telling them that they need to change their habits. One of the keys to this is getting them to control when they eat (see the next paragraph). They should eat slowly and eat until they are full. They should only eat three meals per day.
Patients need to exercise regularly. They also need to stop snacking. The snacking issue is a tough one; many of these patients are labeled as hypoglycemic. Some feel weak or shaky if meals are delayed or feel the need to snack every two hours (or have been told to do so). You need to wean them from this by increasing the time between snacks. When you first eat, you produce insulin which helps to store the calories of the meal. As time goes on, you produce glucagon, which helps to burn the stored calories. The first three hours after eating, insulin is dominant; after three hours glucagon becomes dominant. You cannot lose weight if you keep producing insulin and snacking makes you produce insulin. It is especially important not to eat between dinner and bedtime.
The dietary changes are difficult, but necessary. Fortunately there are products that help to bring insulin under control and to help with cravings.
A multivitamin (designed for glycemic control): Many of the companies who sell to chiropractors sell a product that has a lot of chromium, B vitamins, magnesium and other nutrients to help the patient will glycemic control.
Fish oil: One of the many good things that fish oil does is to help with glycemic control; it also helps to lower cholesterol.
Phosphatidyl choline Works like a fat detergent; it also helps with adrenal issues. Many of your patients needing to lose weight have high cortisol production. Interesting side note—this is good for exercise-induced asthma (as is fish oil).
Phosphorus: Insulin insensitivity is an acidic condition; phosphates help to buffer. Phosphorus also helps with bone loss (a lot of osteoporotic women love their carbs). Sugar upsets the balance between calcium and phosphorus.
Magnesium: Magnesium is also nature’s muscle relaxer, so give it to patients with tight muscles. A woman who is magnesium deficient often will have tender breasts and mood swings related to her cycle. Magnesium causes the stools to soften, so if the patient gets diarrhea, lower the dosage.
Beta TCP or Betafood: Biotics and Standard Process are the only companies (I know of) that make a product like this. It is an extract from beets; it thins bile. Think of it as a detergent for fat (people with Syndrome X tend to get fatty liver).
Symptoms of insulin resistance include fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, carbohydrate craving, and periods of hypoglycemia after a high carbohydrate meal (often needing a nap after eating). Approximately 50% of your hypertensive patients are insulin insensitive. Approximately 30% of American adults are insulin insensitive and 25% have Syndrome X. The Journal of the American Medical Association states that if a patient has three or more of the following symptoms then Syndrome X is present.: waist measurement greater than 40” in men (35” in women); triglycerides greater than 150 mg/dl; HDL lower than 40 mg/dl; blood pressure greater than 135/85; or fasting glucose of 110 mg/dl.
Problems with sugar and insulin cause weight gain, along with a variety of other health problems. In general, these patients will have a BMI greater than 30. They carry weight around their abdominal area and crave sugar and starch. Getting insulin production under control is the key to weight loss—and there are some products that will help you to do this.
Dietary changes are, of course, necessary. Patients need to go on a low glycemic diet—avoiding high glycemic foods like refined carbohydrates. Have them follow a low glycemic diet; avoid refined foods, hydrogenated oils and additives. They should eat a large breakfast—with protein. They should eat a lot of fresh produce. You may have some problems with compliance—sugar is addictive. The supplementation should help with cravings. If patients have compliance issues, be patient but be firm in telling them that they need to change their habits. One of the keys to this is getting them to control when they eat (see the next paragraph). They should eat slowly and eat until they are full. They should only eat three meals per day.
Patients need to exercise regularly. They also need to stop snacking. The snacking issue is a tough one; many of these patients are labeled as hypoglycemic. Some feel weak or shaky if meals are delayed or feel the need to snack every two hours (or have been told to do so). You need to wean them from this by increasing the time between snacks. When you first eat, you produce insulin which helps to store the calories of the meal. As time goes on, you produce glucagon, which helps to burn the stored calories. The first three hours after eating, insulin is dominant; after three hours glucagon becomes dominant. You cannot lose weight if you keep producing insulin and snacking makes you produce insulin. It is especially important not to eat between dinner and bedtime.
The dietary changes are difficult, but necessary. Fortunately there are products that help to bring insulin under control and to help with cravings.
A multivitamin (designed for glycemic control): Many of the companies who sell to chiropractors sell a product that has a lot of chromium, B vitamins, magnesium and other nutrients to help the patient will glycemic control.
Fish oil: One of the many good things that fish oil does is to help with glycemic control; it also helps to lower cholesterol.
Phosphatidyl choline Works like a fat detergent; it also helps with adrenal issues. Many of your patients needing to lose weight have high cortisol production. Interesting side note—this is good for exercise-induced asthma (as is fish oil).
Phosphorus: Insulin insensitivity is an acidic condition; phosphates help to buffer. Phosphorus also helps with bone loss (a lot of osteoporotic women love their carbs). Sugar upsets the balance between calcium and phosphorus.
Magnesium: Magnesium is also nature’s muscle relaxer, so give it to patients with tight muscles. A woman who is magnesium deficient often will have tender breasts and mood swings related to her cycle. Magnesium causes the stools to soften, so if the patient gets diarrhea, lower the dosage.
Beta TCP or Betafood: Biotics and Standard Process are the only companies (I know of) that make a product like this. It is an extract from beets; it thins bile. Think of it as a detergent for fat (people with Syndrome X tend to get fatty liver).
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