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Who knew such a thing even existed? Thanks to one of the daily nutrition digests I get online, I now do. Unsure what to do with this information I went to the International Diabetes Foundation website to learn something. I was happy to find out that their mission is “Promoting diabetes care, prevention and a cure worldwide.” My personal mission aligns with theirs, (To reverse the rates of heart disease and diabetes in midlife women) so I did some research on their site. What I found makes me sad but even more dedicated to my mission than ever.
Consider these facts: “In virtually every high-income country, diabetes is ranked among the leading causes of blindness, renal failure and lower limb amputation. Diabetes is also now one of the leading causes of death, largely because of a markedly increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke (cardiovascular disease).”
One of the reasons I’m so hot on people knowing their numbers–fasting blood sugar, waist size, and other markers of predicting health challenges–is that aging increases our risk for these non-communicable diseases. Aging in addition to what you eat and don’t, lack of exercise, weight gain, chronic stress, and family medical history set many midlife women up for a diagnosis. Knowing your numbers can give you a heads up early enough to make the reversal process easier.
BUT–there is hope and help. Please read on.
Anyone reading this who has diabetes, has been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, has had a high sugar reading, is way overweight or just worries that they might become diabetic; there are things you can do. If you have the disease, it’s reversible, if you are heading there you can stop the process and regain your health.
Eating and exercise are the weapons of choice–to keep the popular “war” on diabetes metaphor going.
If that sounds simplistic it’s not. I have worked with women who have done it, books are written on the subject, doctors around the world who have the time to learn about lifestyle influences on the diseases of affluence agree–modifying your day to day lifestyle habits can improve your health and reverse this set of symptoms.
The World Health Organization–regardless of your position on them–has adopted the idea that physical exercise and proper nutrition is key to disease prevention and reversal of ill health. That’s saying a lot as they are a very conservative organization with a global responsibility.
Dr. Julian Whitaker’s book, Reversing Diabetes: Reduce or Even Eliminate Your Dependence on Insulin or Oral Drugs is a must have paperback for anyone who wants to learn more about what it takes. His cookbook, Reversing Diabetes Cookbook: More Than 200 Delicious, Healthy Recipes has delicious recipes that a friend cooks out of daily and loves. (I recommended this book to her when she was diagnosed. Along with a few other tweaks to her lifestyle she lost 25 pounds-and counting- in 6 weeks and her numbers are now normal.)
There are plenty of other programs by doctors out there if you start to look. The bottom line is this, diabetes does not have to be your experience. If you don’t want to go on meds, ask your doctor for 6 weeks before starting them. During that time find a coach who specializes in helping people do what they need to do safely and successfully. Or grab a book and give the process a try.
Even if you are on insulin or other medications and you don’t want to do that for the rest of your life, don’t give up. Changing what you eat and how much you move can begin with small steps. Over time you’ll get the result you are looking for and boy will you feel good.
You will not be facing the more life threatening aspects of a disease like diabetes, you’ll have more energy, and you’ll just plain feel better. If there is anything I can do to help you get help, drop me an email.
What the heck does that mean you may be asking and what has it got to do with midlife?
Science has discovered that the genes we are born with are not a static bunch of cells that doom or bless us with our height, health, disease, and jean size. Far from it. And that includes the idea that at the very least genes determine height, frame, eye color. Science cannot explain from a genetic point of view why tall kids are born to short parents. The assumption that it’s better diet has been ruled only one possibility as the younger generation of Phillipinos is growing shorter despite better economic conditions.
In truth there are at least 20 genes that determine height. And science now can’t even decide whether height is 90% gene directed or only 20%!
These facts and so many interesting others come from Deepak Chopra’s newest book, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul.How to Invent a New You. I’ve long been excited by the science of epi-genetic control–the science of genes and how they turn on and off–and Dr. Chopra’s book is full of wonderful examples of how this works in real people’s lives and the science behind it all.
So what’s this got to do with you and midlife? Right around the middle, for many women, our bodies really start to change. Hormone production is erratic, systems that allowed us to beat them up with no consequences are speaking up, and the diseases associated with our lifestyle choices start to show their symptoms. Add to this that many of us have stories that include reasons for our weight, our illnesses, and our levels of happiness or discontent as being “genetic.” Here’s where it gets really good. You don’t have to tell that story–or have results you don’t want–anymore.
When you were born your genes began adapting to how you thought, felt, and acted. The genes of 70 year old twins looked wildly different than they did when they were born–no longer even close to identical. Life–how we think and feel as well as the environment we choose for ourselves–turns genes on and off.
Translation, you don’t have to have diabetes because it “runs in your family.” You don’t have to gain weight at midlife because it happens to all the women in your family.
“Genes are the most complicated thing about the body. Yes there is simple truth behind them, which is this: you can change your genes, and therefore you can improve them. You are talking to your genes when you do simple things like eating and moving” so says Dr. Chopra in chapter 4. Could there be more of an incentive to eat foods that heal and support healthy aging and get some exercise? Not to mention that you feel better when you do but come on people. We have the power to create our second half with a vengeance. We are not victims to the familial gene pool.
If you want an easy to follow version of this science–with some exercises to help– I recommend Deepak’s book. If you want to hear Dr. Bruce Lipton on the subject, he’s sort of the designated voice of epi-genetic control, use this link to see a 6 minute video. It’s just fascinating.
Whether you have diabetes or not managing stress is vital to your overall health for so many reasons. In diabetics however it is even more so because stress increases the fight or flight hormones adrenaline and cortisol. One of the many physical responses that occur is an increase in blood sugar levels so we will have the energy to flee or fight the thing that caused the stress in the first place. It worked perfectly in the days of caves and wooly mammoths but can be harmful these days unless we truly are in danger.
In non-diabetic people insulin levels self regulate during times of stress which in turn manages blood sugar levels. In diabetics this system is broken or working below optimal so blood sugar levels rise–just the thing people with diabetes are working to avoid.
“There is a myth out there that it’s all about food as to why the blood sugar rises,” says Richard Hellman, MD, former president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. The truth is that other factors play a role, he explains, including stress.
First line of defense, know when you are stressed and build in some time to release it. If you have been under long term, chronic stress such as caring for an aging parent or juggling cash and credit to keep your family afloat, your efforts to manage your blood sugar naturally or with insulin and diabetes drugs must be accompanied with a concerted effort to de-stress. If you have never been one to pay attention to stress or finding ways to relax and think it’s for weak of wimpy types, now would be a good time to wise up and pick a relaxation method.
The suggestions are ubiquitous but I’ll list some here: yoga, pilates, Tai Chi, any form of exercise, breathing, meditation, laughter, connecting with people you enjoy, and so on.
And the small daily stressors can add up so why not practice detached observing the next time the line at the grocery store is being held up by the cashier chatting with an elderly shopper? How about laughing off the snarky teenager who had to finish texting before he took your order at the deli counter? All of these things we allow to annoy/stress us are really just plain silly if you think about it.
Take this information to heart–the quality of your life depends on it. Maybe not now, but left unattended, stress–especially for those with diabetes–can rob you of mobility, sight, the use of your limbs, and the ability to live a full, joyful life.
At midlife, we ain’t dead yet and there is still plenty to be do and have; it takes caring for ourselves with a vengeance sometimes but the extra effort sure will be worth it if we can age with the gift of health. порнографиякартинки
If you or someone you know is diabetic and using insulin and overweight and can’t lose or is gaining more, this is important information.
Insulin does lower blood sugar but no more than lifestyle change. In Dr. Julian Whitaker’s newsletter of June 2009 her talks about a government sponsored study from the ’70′s which “demonstrated–contrary to expectations–that insulin use conferred no advantages for type 2 diabetics.” It did lower blood sugar levels but compared to study participants who changed their diet and other lifestyle habits “there were no significant differences in fatal and non-fatal complications of diabetes. And, the participants who were given insulin gained an average of 14 pounds!
According to Dr. Asqual Getaneh, a diabetes and obesity expert at Columbia University, “Insulin is a potent hormone that regulates glucose, fat, and protein metabolism. Insulin improves your cells ability to take in and use glucose. If you are taking in more than you are using it gets stored as fat.
In many cases, people with type 2 diabetes start insulin therapy when oral medicines cannot or no longer control their glucose levels. This means that blood glucose levels in the body have been elevated for an extended period of time. In this state, the body does not metabolize glucose, fat, or protein in a well-regulated or efficient way. Cells that require glucose to function properly begin starving because of inadequate amounts of circulating insulin. Fat metabolism becomes abnormal, which can lead to high triglyceride levels. The body’s metabolic rate then increases as it tries to convert this fat into a source of energy.
These abnormalities are usually corrected when you begin insulin therapy. The body begins using glucose better, and the metabolic rate declines by about five percent. Insulin also helps the body gain fat-free mass, but on the flip side, it also helps it store fat more efficiently.
If your doctor is not aware of this connection what will likely happen is this, your weight will increase, your blood sugar levels will then increase, your doc will increase the amount of insulin you take. Increased insulin resistance is a marker for heart disease. So begins a sad and unnecessary spiral of more ill health and feelings of frustration and helplessness for the patient. It may also lead your doctor to prescribe yet another medication in the form of Glucophage (metaformin) or the like to make the body more insulin sensitive. In an upcoming post I’ll share what I’ve read about the risks associated with these diabetes drugs to a heart already suffering from the system-wide effects of high blood glucose and why lifestyle change should be the very first thing a pre-diabetic or newly diagnosed diabetic patient tries.
