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Natural Choices Newsletter
Natural Choices Newsletter - March, April, May 2004
Welcome to the first set of the Natural Choices newsletter online. Natural Choices is a natural health education corporation that has issued newsletters to clients for the past 12 years by regular mail. Now we are expanding to regular online publishing of our newsletter though our website.
The Natural Choices website is currently focused on helping people prevent diabetes and reducing the complications of people already diagnosed with Type II diabetes. This means that we can help over 33 million people in the United States who fit into these two categories.
Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load
Everyday I see that most people who come to this website are looking for information about the glycemic load and or glycemic index. I have a 3 page printable version of this chart on my website: www.NaturalChoicesForYou.com This is a tool I have used for about 5 years to help people determine what type of carbohydrates help balance blood sugar. It is interesting to note that Diabetes Educators I have talked to are not using either of these charts because they have determined that they are too difficult to use. I do not agree, and find them quite beneficial.
At a Diabetes Health Fair, I was told that a Carbohydrate=Carbohydrate=Carbohydrate, or that all carbohydrates are created equal. WRONG! There are good carbohydrates and there are dangerous carbohydrates. Dangerous carbohydrates are those that increase the blood sugar in the system, seen as high glycemic load numbers over 20, or high glycemic index numbers over 55. I tend use the glycemic load number since it is based on the carbohydrate level per serving of food and takes into account the amount of fiber in the foods. Fiber in foods reduces the spikes in blood sugar that are created by refined carbohydrates.
We do need to eat some carbohydrates daily for mental and physical energy. Our brain depends on the steady balance of glucose to function, not too much and not too little. So the "spacy" feeling that some people get when they go on a very low carbohydrate diet is due to the lack of glucose to the brain. A balance of low glycemic load carbohydrates throughout the day is best. But if you insist on eating high glycemic load foods, please balance them with some protein-based foods to keep the blood sugar in balance. When the blood sugar is raised and lowered too often in response to eating high glycemic foods on a long-term basis, the insulin receptors do not absorb the glucose well. This causes fatigue and will eventually cause pre-diabetes and diabetes.
What do you do if you already have Type II Diabetes or Insulin Resistance?
Read the article on the website about Insulin Resistance. This is a good overview of how an imbalance of insulin can cause many health concerns seen today.
Make sure you are able to absorb the foods you are eating, and improve your insulin receptivity with high quality fish oil supplements. My personal favorites to recommend to my clients are EPA-DHA Complex and Omega EFA. Both of these supplements contain high quality omega-3 fish oils, and the Omega EFA also contains omega-6 oils especially beneficial when the skin is dry and when regular pain (as from fibromyalgia) is exhibited. These products can be ordered at Dr. Jane Oelke's Meta E-Health website
Fiber and Blood Sugar
Natural Choices Newsletter, April 2004
Do you have problems keeping your blood sugar in control with your diet? Do you have symptoms of hypoglycemia or insulin resistance? In this newsletter we are going to look at dietary factors and supplements that help with improving blood sugar and insulin balance.
How Does Fiber Affect Blood Sugar Levels?
The amount of fiber found in carbohydrate foods is a factor in determining the glycemic load number. The “net carbs”, the new buzz word being advertised on many revised food packages, is determined by subtracting the grams of fiber from the total grams of carbohydrates. This gives you the amount of carbohydrates your body will need to breakdown. Depending on your current insulin balance those carbohydrates will either be used as energy in the cell or be stored as fat.
Fiber is categorized as a type of carbohydrate, but is not absorbed in the body. It moves through the digestive system at slower pace than the remaining simple carbohydrates, and helps keep blood sugar readings in balance since it prevents a quick increase in blood sugar.
We should be getting between 25 and 35 grams of fiber per day in our diet. We are usually lucky to get half of that amount. To help improve blood sugar and insulin levels, soluble fiber is the most important. And soluble fiber actually helps reduce cholesterol readings also. Foods high in soluble fiber are oat bran, cantaloupe, mixed vegetables, and some legumes. By eating high fiber foods you will feel full, and cravings for additional carbohydrates will decline. With all of this fiber, it is important to get enough water, around 8 glasses per day to prevent constipation.
Other dietary considerations for blood sugar and insulin balance:
· Eat smaller but more frequent meals, with between meal snacks.
· Reduce intake of sugars of all kinds, including molasses and honey. Reduce processed carbohydrates including most breads, cereals, potatoes, and rice. Use the Glycemic Index / Glycemic Load Chart to choose your foods.
· Add a small amount of protein and/or a Tablespoon of good fats along with each carbohydrate serving. This slows the rate of food passing through the your digestive system, which means the blood sugar increases less rapidly and the insulin response is reduced.
· Reduce or eliminate caffeine to help balance blood sugar.
· Reduce alcoholic drinks to maintain good blood sugar balance.
Nutritional Supplements that help Improve Blood Sugar Balance
By getting enough fruits and vegetables in many different colors you will be able to get much of the nutrients you need. But specific supplements can be used when dietary changes are not enough. Some of the beneficial supplements that help balance blood sugar are:
Fish oil (omega-3) 1 to 3 grams a day (equivalent of 1 to 3 Tablespoons)
Chromium 50-200 mcg per day
Magnesium: 300-500 mg per day
Selenium 200 mcgs daily
Alpha lipoic acid
Fenugreek herb
Mineral of the Month - Chromium
We will especially be looking at Chromium this month to see how it benefits blood sugar control. Since insulin is dependent on the mineral chromium to operate efficiently, many people take a chromium supplement to help balance blood sugar. And it is true that a lack of chromium is a factor in regulating sugar cravings, promoting lean body mass and even lowering blood pressure.
Chromium is depleted by sugar in our diets, so the more sugar we eat, the more chromium we will need. Chromium is essential for protein, carbohydrate, and fat metabolism. It increases the number of binding sites for insulin on cells, providing more ways for glucose to enter cells to be transformed into energy.
Also in order for your body to absorb chromium it must be taken with niacin, a B complex vitamin. Otherwise the chromium just passes through your system unable to work effectively. This is why I often recommend to my clients to take multi-vitamin and mineral formulas instead of single minerals or vitamins. They all work together and are usually dependent on each other.
Questions and Answers
“How come protein foods, like meats, are not listed on the Glycemic Index / Glycemic Load Charts?"
Glycemic levels measure the blood sugar raising power of carbohydrate foods. Pure protein foods do not have enough carbohydrates to increase blood sugar. Chicken, beef, and other meats that are not breaded will a glycemic index of 0. As soon as you add breading or mix it with other carbohydrates there will be an increase in the glycemic number.
For example, yogurt is a protein food, yet because most yogurts are mixed with fruits and have added sugars the Glycemic Index / Glycemic Load levels are increased depending on how much fruits and sugars are added. Also the more fats in the food will lower the glycemic levels, so low-fat yogurts and no-fat yogurts will have a higher glycemic number than a full-fat yogurt. In this case it depends on your diet, and the types of fat you need to balance blood sugar which yogurt would be best for you.
Another example: On the Glycemic Index / Glycemic Load Chart chicken nuggets are listed with a Glycemic Load number of 7. This “not so healthy food” does not raise your blood quickly because of the protein and (bad) fats in it. In this case you have to consider more than just the glycemic number in choosing this food in your daily diet.
A combination of dietary changes and proper nutritional support can make a big difference in blood sugar imbalances and can prevent you from becoming one of the 16 million Americans that are pre-diabetic. Next month we will be looking into a couple specific dietary programs for people with reactive hypoglycemia and insulin resistance.
Sugar and Metabolism
Natural Choices Newsletter – May 2004
We now know that sugar and other carbohydrate foods affect our blood sugar balance. But is there a diet that is better for people with high blood sugar readings versus low blood sugar readings? We will look into that question in this month’s Natural Choices newsletter.
Two Types of Sugar Metabolism
Our lifestyle affects our blood sugar. Changes in stress, diet, medications, exercise and environmental toxins can all influence our sugar metabolism. And our sugar metabolism is our main source of energy production.
In the urine and saliva testing that I do in my office I measure sugar levels with a refractomer. This tells me whether the client has a tendency to have high or low sugar metabolism. The lower or falling sugar metabolism profile is called the Glucogenic type. The rising or high sugar metabolism is called the Ketogenic type.
In a Glucogenic profile there is an over-dependence on using carbohydrates for energy production, since they are deficient in energy production from fats. This causes blood sugar to decrease bringing on hypoglycemic symptoms. Insulin becomes imbalanced, causing sugar to be pulled out of the bloodstream to be stored as fat or to be used to provide quick energy.
In a Ketogenic profile their metabolism prefers to burn fats, since they cannot make energy from amino acids. There is a lack in energy production using carbohydrates, causing insulin sensitivity. Yet in this case there are enormous amounts of insulin being produced to push the sugar out of the blood to create energy, but it does not work efficiently. As insulin levels increase there is great tendency towards Type II diabetes, liver disorders, and increased blood pressure.
Both of these sugar metabolism profiles struggle to preserve blood sugar or glycemic control. Blood sugar and brain sugar levels can be erratic. Hormonal imbalances are a direct result from the erratic sugar levels and the hormones associated with these sugar levels. Because of loss of glycemic control, energy, metabolic instability, and a host of physical symptoms can affect both kinds of clients.
Both of these imbalances tend to have low body temperatures, tend to have weight problems, have reoccurring blood sugar problems, have premature aging symptoms, have more anxiety or depression, and tend to be chronic complainers. These two imbalances are very common in today’s society due to our lifestyle habits. The people with these imbalances are inclined to avoid exercise. They do not have the energy to feel like exercising and often are more tired after any exercise session. Yet they will benefit from exercise, especially extended low impact sessions.
How Do I Know Which Sugar Metabolism Profile I Fit Into?
The common symptoms of a Glucogenic client are fatigue, hypoglycemia, anxiety, depression, high cholesterol, light-headedness, seizures, spasms, cellular aging from excess free radicals and they tend to have an acid saliva or urine pH.
The common symptoms of a Ketogenic client are fatigue, insulin resistance or diabetes, blood sugar increase, excess cortisol, anxiety, depression, high triglycerides, poor circulation, and a more alkaline saliva or urine pH.
Even without a refractomer you can find out through saliva pH, pulse and respiratory tests you can do at home, to see if you tend to be Glucogenic or Ketogenic. The Deluxe Patterns of Stress Testing Kit contains all of the testing procedures to measure these profiles along with additional metabolic tests.
What diet is best for each Sugar Metabolism profile?
The diet for these imbalances includes frequent protein. They do not require high amounts of protein, but need a little protein at each meal and snack. The Glucogenic profile does better on red meats and dark meat poultry, while the Ketogenic profile does better on white meat chicken, fish, and eggs.
Dietary control is the easiest and most effective method of controlling glycemic tendencies. The Glucogenic type should avoid all refined carbohydrates, sugars, juices, and sweeteners, and consume more of a diet high in saturated fat and in protein. The Glucogenic type tends to be a fast oxidizer, and the protein and saturated fats will slow them down, helping to prevent the certain hypoglycemic reactions they tend to fall into. Proteins should be from animal sources that are high in adenine, such as tuna and salmon, to improve the energy production cycle
The Ketogenic type is a slower oxidizer, and therefore the diet should be adjusted to omit most saturated fat, along with sugars and refined carbohydrates. This diet will benefit their weakness in creating energy from sugar.
Recommended diet for Glucogenic Profile
Best foods: Beef, lamb, tuna, salmon, dark meat poultry
Shrimp, lobster, clams
Beans, peas, cauliflower
Neutral foods: White meat poultry, white meat fish
Eggs, whole dairy products
Potatoes and other vegetables
Whole grain cereal and bread
Foods to avoid: Sugars (all types including honey)
Fruit juices, and limited fresh fruit
Onions, yams, nightshades such as peppers and tomatoes Coffee, tea, and alcohol
Meals containing mostly starches
Recommended Diet for Ketogenic Profile
Best foods: White meat poultry and white meat fish
All vegetables
Whole dairy products and eggs
Neutral foods: Beef, dark meat poultry
Whole grain cereals and breads
Fresh fruit in moderation
Foods to avoid: All sugars including honey
Fruit juices
Liver and organ meats
Shrimp, lobster, clams
Peanuts, peanut butter, and soy products
Meals containing mostly starches or sugars
Anemia is one symptom that is related to both Glucogenic and Ketogenic profiles. With a Glucogenic profile, anemia responds better with increased protein and Vitamin B12. With Ketogenic profile, anemia responds better with increased iron, copper, and folic acid supplementation.
Since both the Glucogenic and Ketogenic profiles are most often caused by lifestyle, they can be best reversed by changes in diet. Yet the longer these deficiencies exist, the greater the effect they can have on developing chronic diseases. The epidemic in Type II diabetes in adults and children comes from a Glucogenic metabolism and can even come on with a long-term Ketogenic metabolism when lifestyles are out of balance for too long.
References:
MetaMarx Seminar, Stephen Stiteler, L.Ac., OMD, D.Hom.
Nutri-Spec Program, Guy Schenker, D.C.
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