Tag: diabetes

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Honey and ‘smartphone diabetes’

Blog written by Mike McInnes, author of ‘Honey Sapiens’, available soon at Hammersmith Health Books.

It may seem a stretch to suggest that when you order a new smartphone you also purchase a pot of good quality honey from your local beekeeper, but there are sound scientific reasons why this may be justified.

Blue light and neurodegeneration

In the early days of cell phone use, reports in the media raised alarm around the issues of radio frequency and electromagnetic fields causing neurological damage. However, recent concerns have focused on the much more potent effects of chronic exposure to blue-light emissions generated from LED devices, including cell phone, computer and tablet screens. Marie et al in 2018 showed that blue light is the most potent oxidative range witin the visible light spectrum,<1> concentrated multiple times daily onto our retinas by our smart phones for an average of four hours. Cheung et al in 2016 had already shown how this affects the whole metabolism, not just the retina.<2>

Now a new study<3> has confirmed this finding and shown that the effects of blue light are age-dependent – the problems it causes are chronic and differ depending on your stage of life. A young person is vulnerable to blue-light-induced cerebral diabetes.

The Mechanism driving neurodegeneration

A key driver of this damage is oxidation, and thereby suppression, of the enzyme that acts as the brain’s energy pump – glutamine synthetase. Its name may not yet be familiar to you (wait for my forthcoming book Honey Sapiens), but it is ancient (3.8 billion years old<4>) and serves all animate species, including humans. Its healthy functioning is key to our ability to think because without enough energy our brain ceases to function (we go into a coma and die); if it is overwhelmed by energy overload from too much sugar, or by the effects of chronic excess blue light, neurodegeneration will follow.

Is there any way to mitigate this risk other than to avoid all screens – an impossibility for most of us, but particularly for the young whose social lives and education rely so much on technology? How can we provide our children with photo-protection? As you will have guessed from my opening paragraph, the answer is honey.

The amazing protective properties of honey

There is good evidence (Crittenden, 2011) that honey was key to the intellectual leap that took Homo sapiens into being the cognitively advanced species we are now.<5> This is because it contains an amazing range of bioflavonoids that honeybees source from flowering plants – the result of over 100 million years of coevolution.

Honeybees have compound eyes with very sharp vision. They are highly sensitive to blue light, which is vital for foraging success. The bioflavonoids they collect provide them with optimal photo-protection<6> despite the colossal quantities of circulating sugars they live with (up to 50 times that of humans).<7>

If, as is surely the case, we humans continue to increase our use of blue-light information devices, what if anything may we do to protect ourselves from neurological damage? We can learn from the honeybee, reject refined sugars in food and drink in favour of honey, and protect future cognition from photo-neuropathology, via the honey bioflavonoids.<8>

References

    1. 1. Marie M, Bigot K, Angebault C, et al. Light action spectrum on oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage in A2E-loaded retinal pigment epithelium cells. Cell Death Dis 2018; 9(3): 287. doi: 10.1038/s41419-018-0331-5.
    2. 2. Cheung IN, Zee PC, Shalman D, et al. Morning and evening blue-enriched light exposure alters metabolic function in normal weight adults. PlosOne 2016; 11(5): e0155601. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155601
    3. 3. Song Y, et al. Age-dependent effects of blue light exposure on lifespan, neurodegeneration, and mitochondria physiology in Drosophila melanogaster. NPJ Aging 2022 Jul 27; 8(1): 11. Doi: 1038/s41514-022-00092-z PMID: 35927421
    4. 4. Kumada Y, et al. Evolution of the glutamine synthetase gene, one of the oldest existing and functioning genes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 1993 Apr 1; 90(7): 3009-3013. doi: 10.10.1073/pnas.90.7.3009. PMID: 8096645
    5. 5. Crittenden AN. The Importance of Honey Consumption in Human Evolution. Food and Foodways 2011 Dec 8; 19(4): 257-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2011.630618
    6. 6. Forero AG, et al. Photoprotective and Antigenotoxic Effects of the Flavonoids Apigenin, Naringenin and Pinocembrin. Photochemistry & Photobiology 2019 Jul; 95(4); 1010-1018. DOI: 10.1111/php.13085 PMID: 30636010 (Note: Apigenin, Naringenin and Pinocembrin are three examples of the many flavonoids in honey that are photo-protective.)
    7. 7. Blatt J, Roces F. Haemolymph Sugar Levels in Foraging Honeybees (Apis Mellifera Carnica): Dependence on Metabolic Rate and in Vivo Measurement of Maximal Rates of Trehalose Synthesis. Journal of Experimental Biology 2001 Aug; 204(Pt 15): 2709-2716. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.204.15.2709. PMID: 11533121.
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Five Questions with Richard Shaw, author of Conquer Type 2 Diabetes

CRAB & RADISH STACK (VARIATION) PAGE 83

Type-2 diabetes doesn’t have to be a lifelong condition; for many people, especially those who have been recently diagnosed, it’s possible to reverse the symptoms of this malignant disease.  But how can that be done? Inspired by results obtained from research done at Newcastle University, Richard Shaw decided to try and kick the disease by following a carefully structured, low-carb, whole-food diet and starting a modest exercise regime. Conquer Type 2 Diabetes describes what he did to lose 31 kilos and all his diabetes signs (high blood sugar, high cholesterol, high blood pressure) and symptoms. We caught up with Richard to ask him a few questions about his new book and his amazing recovery. 

What was the inspiration behind your book?

When I started this I really wanted to talk to someone who’d managed to put their own T2D into remission: not a doctor, not a dietician, not a medical professional but someone who had had first-hand experience of doing it for themselves.  I couldn’t find anything that really told me what it was like from the patient’s point-of-view, so I thought it might be worth writing my own. Plus, because I like food so much, I really wanted to write some decent recipes to make the point that it’s not all about bland salads, tasteless soups and intermittent fasting.

CRAB & RADISH STACK (VARIATION) PAGE 83
Richard’s book is full of amazing recipes, like this crab and radish stack.

What was the most challenging part of writing the book?

It can be tough to write a book and hold down a full-time job.  I did it by getting up every morning at 4am, writing for 2 hours and going back to bed for a while before heading into work. I wrote it as I went through the process and there was a part of me that worried that if it didn’t work it might all be a bit of a wasted effort.  In hindsight, I think writing the book probably gave me motivation to keep going and made me even more determined to see it through.

What has been the most satisfying part of the writing process?

I’ve collaborated with other writers on books about food and cooking in the past so, to be honest, it was amazing to finally produce something that had my name on the cover. And even a slim book like this goes through so many versions, eventually having your editor tell you one day that it’s finally done is an enormous relief. I also took huge satisfaction from my GP agreeing to write the foreword, she was incredibly generous with her comments.

FRENCH OMELETTE WITH GRUYERE
French omelette

Did anything surprise you while writing Conquer Type 2 Diabetes? 

I spoke to dozens of other people as I was writing it and I was surprised to find so many people attempting to come off the meds and resume a normal life.  Putting T2D into remission is a very active and passionate grass-roots movement but it hasn’t really translated into mainstream medicine yet.  By and large much of the medical profession is treating this disease in exactly the same way, as it was 30 or 40 years ago, with lame public health advice, generic exhortations to adopt a healthier lifestyle and by prescribing a raft of meds that treat the symptoms rather than the underlying cause.  So finding other people doing exactly the same thing all over the world provided enormous encouragement to keep going.

What sort of people would benefit most by reading your book?

Professor Roy Taylor’s work from the DiRECT trials tells us that the earlier we attempt put T2D into remission after diagnosis the greater the chances of success. And for many people this doesn’t have to be a ‘forever’ diagnosis, – something I took at face value for several years. It’s a story for people who want to take a shot at reversing their condition and testimony that (if addressed soon enough) it may not have to be a lifelong, meds-dependant, progressive illness. And if someone who’s as hopeless at exercise as me, who likes food as much as I do and who’s as much of a slacker as I am can do it, then so can many others.

For more information about Richard’s new book,  go to  his website here,  or join the conversation on Facebook.

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Sweets, treats and choco-mania

Just because you have diabetes doesn’t mean you have to go without sweets and desserts. My experience is that sweets, chocolate, ice cream and other treats can be included in a healthy diet that still allows you to keep your blood glucose under control. For instance, when I went on holiday to Cornwall at Easter, I was able to have an ice cream in Padstow because I was about to cycle back along the Camel Trail. And, at my friend’s birthday party, I was allowed a slice of birthday cake because I had an extra unit of insulin to deal with it. And, every so often, a cake or choc ice after dinner is not a problem at all.

Everyone knows that sweets aren’t the healthiest thing ever; it would be much easier if we all craved broccoli and Brussels sprouts rather than choccies and sugar-coated E-numbers. Sweets may be a totally delicious treat, but they’re full of sugar. And – for everyone, not just people with diabetes – too much sugar is bad.

So, how do you eat sweets and treats and avoid hypers? It’s simple. Try to save sweets for after lunch or dinner, because this way the starch in your other food slows down the sugar in the sweets, and the effect on your blood glucose is much less. Also, think about the types of sweets you eat. Chewing gum and chocolate are far better for your blood sugar than sherbet or lollipops. This is because the sugar in chewing gum is released from the gum slowly (that’s how it keeps its flavour) and the fat in chocolate slows down the emptying of the stomach so that the sugar gets into your system more gradually; whereas sherbet and lollipops are both virtually pure sugar, which doesn’t have to be broken down or refined once inside the body, so it can get into the bloodstream straight away. Another way to enjoy sweets and chocolates is by eating them whilst you are playing sport, doing other exercise or taking part in a P.E. lesson.

So being diabetic doesn’t mean you can’t have sweets or desserts, but you do have to think about their effect on your blood sugar, and there are instances where eating sweets would just be out of the question (for instance if you are hyper). It can be really annoying, and as ridiculous as it sounds, it can become a kind of psychological barrier. I’ve experienced this myself.

A couple of months after I was diagnosed, I was starting to become used to the idea that I had a condition that would not go away. It was hard to get it into my head, though, that I’d have to have injections every day just to stay alive. I used to get upset almost every time I did my Lantus (glargine), then get angry with myself for being so miserable, and try to justify my anger by thinking up all the things I hated about diabetes: I had to stick needles in myself every mealtime, which hurt; I was always going hypo or hyper and it made me feel ill; I was constantly having to worry about my blood sugar and I could never just go and help myself to sweets or chocolate.
I told Mom about the way that I felt so angry a lot of the time. “Think about it,” she said, “What are you actually missing out on? Is there actually anything you used to do that you can’t do any more?”

There was only one thing I could think of: I couldn’t just have sweets whenever I felt like it. I picked up on this and felt really annoyed about it. It may seem like a really sad thing if you’ve never experienced this yourself, but I became practically obsessed with chocolate.

Dad tried to rationalise it by pointing out that I wouldn’t be allowed to just go and help myself to sweets whenever I wanted to anyway. It didn’t make a bit of difference, though. The thing is, I wouldn’t be allowed, but I could have. Now not only would I get in to trouble for gorging on sweets, but it would actually make me ill. And there was no point in arguing that I’d still feel sick after eating loads of chocolate anyway – I may have felt sick but I wouldn’t have actually been medically ill. Now I would be.

I decided that this was the thing that diabetes actually stopped me from doing and quickly became fixated on sweets and chocolate; I used to feel depressed if I missed a P.E. lesson and therefore couldn’t have my chocolate exercise snack, and I used to get what I can only call cravings for sweets. Chocolate, chewing gum, mints, ice cream, even dextrose tablets; as long as I had something sugary to eat I’d be okay. But when I couldn’t have anything sweet I’d get annoyed or upset, and feel like I simply had to have something. I turned to sugar-free gum. I bought massive multipacks of the stuff with my pocket money and often had three or four packs on the go at one time. At my worst point, I was chomping through four pieces of gum daily – and that was on a good day.

The gum worked well, but although I always tried to make sure I was stocked up, I sometimes ran out. I usually managed okay for the day or so until I could go to the shops and buy some more, but sometimes I ended up sneaking an extra exercise snack in P.E., or serving myself slightly more ice cream with dinner than I was supposed to have.

And gum didn’t stop me wanting sweets forever.

Once, I had had a really boring day at school and got home feeling really fed up. I wanted some chocolate – but I knew that I wasn’t supposed to have any between meals. I wanted it anyway, so I tiptoed into the kitchen and took a bag of mini chocolate eggs, rummaged around the bag to find one that had broken in half so that I could just have part of it and not go hyper; then I ate it.

I wanted more. I tipped a few chocolate eggs out into my hand and ate them all in one go. Then, still craving more, I took another few and tried to keep them in my mouth and savour the chocolate. A minute or so later, they’d melted and dissolved. But I still wanted more.

I knew that my brother would be able to tell I’d had some of his sweets if I took any more, so instead I took the packet of dextrose from my blazer pocket and ate a couple of the tablets. I suddenly realised I was going to go really hyper if I didn’t have any extra insulin.

So I found my insulin and injected another half unit. But while I was holding the needle in my stomach I remembered that too much insulin would make me go low, too – and I had no idea how much insulin I needed for what I’d just had because I couldn’t remember how much I’d eaten. I pulled the needle out of my stomach before I’d counted ten seconds. Now I had no idea how much insulin had actually got into me either. I got really upset and into a real panic.
Then Mom and my brother came into the kitchen and I burst out in tears and told my Mom what I’d just done. I knew all along it wasn’t really sensible, but all that had mattered at the time had been that I wanted the chocolate.

Half an hour or so later, my blood sugar went up a bit to about 13 mmol/l, but it came down quickly, dropping to 4 mmol/l about another hour on, because of the insulin peaking. I had a snack at this point and then my blood sugar stayed okay for the rest of the day.

After this experience, I started to think that perhaps I had a mental problem or was developing a literal addiction to sugar. I felt really bad about myself and thought I seriously could be going mad. Now I know I wasn’t going mad – I’m sure other people are like this when they feel like they’re not allowed sweets any more…

Unfortunately, there’s no substitute for willpower. The thing that made me stop chewing so much gum was when I was sorting out my bag ready to go on holiday and found that I had (I’m not joking) about six packs of gum on the go. In the cupboard I found a brand new pack that I’d just bought, and I realised just how much I was getting through. I’d also spent most of my pocket money for the last few weeks on chewing gum. I decided it was getting ridiculous and made a pact with myself that I would take one pack, and one pack only, on holiday. I wouldn’t buy any more while I was away, and if I still had some left by the last day, I could keep the rest that I‘d left at home. If I didn’t manage it, I thought, it could possibly mean that I was actually addicted to chewing gum, in which case I would throw away every last piece of gum in the house and never buy any again. I would have to stop the habit.

I did actually manage it. However, when I got back, I’d pretty much stopped feeling like I had to have gum or sweets. I finished off what I had left – but this time it lasted much longer. Since then, I have continued to buy gum, but only occasionally – and because I want to, not because I feel I need it.

If you crave sweets…

  • It’s important to remember that you can still eat sweets. And if you eat only a reasonable amount with meals or exercise, they will cause you no problems.
  • If you’re a chocoholic or have a serious sweet tooth, try sugar-free gum instead of your usual sugary stuff.
  • When you’re out with your friends, you might find it less tempting to eat sweets if you keep a pack of sugar-free gum in your pocket. You can offer it to your friends, too, so you’re not the only one having gum rather than sugary stuff.
  • Bubblegum containing sugar is better than sweets that are swallowed, too, as one piece will not affect your blood sugar nearly so much as a pack of chewy sweets or a tube of sherbet. It also has the advantage that it lasts for longer – a piece of bubblegum can be chewed for an hour or so until it loses its flavour, but a chewy sweet of the same size and weight satisfies your sweet tooth for only a minute or so, and then you want another one.
  • Be aware, though, that most brands of sugar-free gum can cause laxative effects if you get through loads and loads of it, so if you find yourself getting through half a pack every day, try to cut down a bit.

This blog is an extract taken from Fibi Ward’s book, No Added Sugar – A chatty but practical guide to coping with a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in your teens, by a teenager, for teenagers

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Rethinking Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes has always been defined by high blood glucose levels. Most people now think of Type 2 as a lifelong battle against high blood glucose levels, usually beginning with tablet treatment, then more tablets, and finally possibly insulin. After twenty years of basic scientific research and some recent clinical trials, we’re now in a good position to understand what drives Type 2 diabetes, and to start using more logical approaches to the basic abnormalities of the condition – and perhaps to change this standard, and feared, course of diabetes towards ever more treatment.

The real problems lie in the liver and pancreas, the two key organs that process our food after it’s absorbed from the intestine. We know that both these organs have been struggling for ages, perhaps as long as 30 years, before the fasting glucose level peeps above 7 mmol/l, the blood glucose definition of diabetes. They’ve been struggling because of overeating, especially carbohydrates. Although they’re robust organs, they weren’t intended to cope with patterns of modern eating, which floods them with food every 4 hours or so during the usual working day, often with snacks between. The liver and probably the pancreas respond to the food-carbohydrate overload by accumulating fat. Eventually the liver can’t store carbohydrate efficiently, and starts breaking it down into glucose again which escapes into the circulation, especially during the night. The pancreas struggles too, by not producing insulin efficiently enough to bring glucose levels promptly down after meals. The heroic liver and pancreas have been battered for years before they finally fail to keep blood glucose levels normal.

Overeating is the problem, but as with most of the population, individuals developing diabetes are usually overweight. But they aren’t necessarily obese. However a combination of genetics and a strong family history of Type 2, low (or high) birth weight, and many other factors, all contribute to their being more easily overloaded with the same amount of food compared with others. Years, before blood glucose levels climb into the diabetic range, important conditions, intimately linked to Type 2 diabetes, can come to light, though they aren’t sufficiently recognised as such: these include fat in the liver that we’ve just mentioned, but also hypertension, gout, polycystic ovarian syndrome in women and obstructive sleep apnoea – all linked to inefficient insulin action and grouped together as the metabolic syndrome. Because we are so focused on blood glucose levels, these conditions are considered separate from Type 2 diabetes: but they are much more sensitive indicators of metabolic abnormality than blood glucose levels, which at this stage are likely to be completely normal.

Recognising that the roots of Type 2 are in our internal organs becoming fat overloaded has stimulated some remarkable research, especially by the team in Newcastle. They stopped thinking about Type 2 as a blood glucose condition, and focused on the liver and pancreas. They used a simple approach. Reduce over-nutrition by restricting calories to 600-800 a day, compared with our usual intake of 2000-2500, see whether fat in the liver and pancreas also reduce, and as a result expect to see blood glucose levels fall, and all the other complicated metabolic blood tests improve as well. As predicted, after 8 weeks of the very low calorie diet, which resulted in about 15 kg weight loss, all the metabolic machinery was rebooted back to near-normality, nobody needed any diabetes medication, and not surprisingly they felt hugely better. Of course, this radical approach didn’t work in everyone, especially if diabetes had been around for a long time, but a recent report found that everything remained stable for at least a year, even when the liquid diet had been replaced by normal food containing the same low calories.

Type 2 diabetes is therefore not a condition of high blood glucose, but one of fat accumulation resulting from long-term overeating that eventually can lead to high glucose levels, by which time the associated high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels may already have caused serious complications – for example heart attack or stroke. Focusing mainly on glucose levels means that we don’t always concentrate on these other factors, which are more important in causing the long-term complications of diabetes.

The second major recent research theme is the type of diet we should adopt. There is no topic more controversial, but there is now encouraging clinical research to guide us. The PREDIMED study showed that a true Mediterranean diet with added extra-virgin olive oil (or nuts) had a huge effect in reducing cardiovascular disease, whether or not you had diabetes. Because most people in this study didn’t have Type 2, there was no particular focus on blood glucose levels, nor actually on weight reduction – but the Mediterranean portfolio reduced the medical complications that really matter – stroke and heart attacks. The earlier DASH diet which has a lot in common with the Mediterranean diet also nicely reduced blood pressure – an opportunity for Type 2s to reduce their blood pressure medication with support from their healthcare team.

Sadly, no individual ‘superfood’ (current hero is the avocado) has any long-term beneficial effects except on the bank balances of people promoting the latest one. Though there’s no shortage of candidate herb and spice extracts that have shown real potential for treating glucose levels in Type 2 they haven’t had big enough trials. Exercise? There’s no doubt that the recommended weekly 2½ hours of moderate exercise improves cardiac and respiratory health, and that after losing weight, this level of exercise might help reduce the tendency to regain weight. Exercise itself doesn’t prevent prediabetes developing into Type 2, and doesn’t help much with weight loss, but fatty liver seems to respond well to structured exercise. Gentle walking is fine for taking in the view, but in clinical trials people with Type 2 needed to do moderate or vigorous exercise to reduce long-term complications of diabetes – and if they managed that, the heart attack rates were much lower.

In summary: too much fat in the liver and pancreas caused by years of food overload can be detected way before blood glucose levels rise to ‘diabetic’ levels, and is associated with the health problems associated with the metabolic syndrome. Weight loss of 15 kg in weight often reverses these abnormalities. We need to focus as much on blood pressure and cholesterol levels to reduce the long-term complications of diabetes as we do on blood glucose measurements. Evidence-based portfolio diets such as the Mediterranean and DASH approaches will reduce diabetes complications: superfoods don’t.

David Levy, physician at the London Diabetes Centre, was formerly consultant physician at Whipps Cross University Hospital (Barts Healthcare NHS Trust) and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He has written extensively on diabetes for healthcare professionals, most recently the Hands-on Guide to Diabetes Care in Hospital for trainee doctors (Wiley Blackwell, 2016), which was highly commended at the 2016 British Medical Association Book Awards, and the 4th edition of Practical Diabetes Care (Wiley Blackwell, 2018). His book on Type 1 diabetes (Oxford Diabetes Library, Oxford University Press) is now in its 2nd edition (2017). Get Tough With Type 2 Diabetes (Hammersmith Publications) is his second book for people with Type 2 (Available Spring 2018).

 

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Prevent and Cure Diabetes – The blood-sugar roller coaster

The blood-sugar rollercoaster

Sugar is extremely damaging to the body for many reasons. It is damaging to the body in high levels, it is damaging to the body in low levels, and the swinging of levels between the two is additionally damaging because of the hormonal response to those rapid changes. I call this the blood-sugar rollercoaster – it is often described as a ‘hypoglycaemic tendency’ (‘hypo’ meaning ‘below’, from the Greek) – but it is the whole rollercoaster that causes metabolic havoc – not just the dips. If we constantly eat carbohydrate foods, this is a rollercoaster which just keeps on going, and along with the metabolic havoc, there are associated mood swings which mirror the ride. These emotions are very similar to those documented by Barry Ritholtz, in his financial writings on the rollercoaster ride experienced by investors in risky stocks. People who are regularly feeling these emotions, and in particular are experiencing them cyclically, are most likely already on the blood-sugar rollercoaster: Returning to the medical case in point, in metabolic syndrome and diabetes any or all of the following problems can result. In each case, a description of the problem is followed by symptoms and diseases that may result from that problem, thereby giving clues as to whether this may be an issue in a particular individual.

The financial rollercoaster ride

The blood-sugar rollercoaster

The blood-sugar rollercoaster, as I explained earlier, is my name for the process of rapidly rising levels of blood sugar prompting a release of insulin and the ‘happy’ brain neurotransmitters followed by rapidly falling levels of blood sugar causing a release of adrenaline. This combined effect switches on addiction. Wobbly blood sugar levels are highly damaging because of their hormonal effects. These hormonal effects I suspect relate to the rate at which levels of sugar rise and fall in the bloodstream. As we lose control of our blood sugar, then eating a high-carbohydrate snack or meal will cause blood sugar levels to spike, and as blood sugar levels make this rapid rise there is an outpouring of insulin in order to protect the body from this dangerous (but addictive) sugar spike. Insulin brings the blood sugar level down by shunting it into fat. However, if this occurs quickly, then blood sugar levels fall precipitously and that results in an outpouring of adrenaline. Adrenaline is responsible for all the symptoms that we call ‘hypoglycaemia’.

Hypoglycaemia comes from the Greek words ‘hypo’ meaning low, ‘gly’ meaning sugar and ‘aemia’ meaning blood, and hence has a literal meaning of ‘low sugar blood’.

However, the term hypoglycaemia I suspect is a misnomer that relates to at least two issues. Firstly, adrenaline is released in response to poor fuel delivery (lack of sugar and/or ketones in the bloodstream). This means that, in the keto-adapted, the adrenaline symptoms do not arise because these people can switch into fat burning mode. Secondly, in those who cannot make this switch, it is not just the absolute level of blood sugar that causes the symptoms but also the rate of change; this means that often people who complain of hypoglycaemia wil d their blood sugar level is normal from a ‘snapshot’ blood-sugar test result. What they need is a ‘video’ of their blood sugar level changing over time to make the diagnosis. Consequences of the rollercoaster spikes in insulin and adrenaline include the following:

a.) High levels of insulin put us into a metabolic state of laying down fat, and prevent fat burning – this is the major problem of
metabolic inflexibility. It is almost impossible to lose weight when insulin levels are high. Furthermore this effect can be sustained for hours.

b.) High levels of adrenaline make us anxious, irritable and sleepless. This adrenaline release is a major cause of high blood pressure. Indeed, it astonishes me that doctors appear completely unaware of this link so that hypertension is described as ‘essential’ (of unknown cause) or ‘idiopathic’ (again, of unknown cause). They may accurately describe it as due to ‘stress’, but fail to realise the cause of this stress is actually nutritional stress due to loss of control of blood sugar levels.

Sugar has immediate effects on the brain, by various mechanisms, and this is partly responsible for why sugar is so addictive. For people who have lost control of their blood sugar, in the very short term, a carbohydrate rush, or ‘hit’, will have a calming effect which allows them to concentrate. Inspector Morse used the carbohydrate hit of a pint of beer to solve his murder mysteries – but ended up diabetic and died prematurely. Falstaff too found that alcohol had an inspirational effect.

‘It ascends me into the brain, dries me there all the foolish and dull and crudy vapours which environ it, makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full of nimble, fiery, and delectable shapes, which delivered o’er to the voice, the tongue, which is the birth, becomes excellent wit.’  Act IV scene iii of Henry IV, Part 2 William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

Any parent will report how their child’s behaviour changes abruptly with a sugar hit and, much more noticeably, when blood sugar dives and they become irritable and moody. My daughters were often tired and irritable when they came in from school – it was not until supper that their normal good humour and energy were restored.

Problems with sugar – hyperglycaemia

Symptoms of blood sugar rising rapidly (due to the sugar hit and insulin) Diseases of blood sugar rising rapidly (due to the sugar hit and insulin)
Brain function improves – better concentration, feel calm, relief from depression.
Satiety
Triglycerides in the blood are high as insulin shunts excessive sugar into fat. 		 Obesity and Inability to lose weight. (It is important to recognise that obesity is not the cause of diabetes but may be a symptom of metabolic syndrome – indeed, many people with normal weight have metabolic syndrome and diabetes.)

Problems with sugar – the rollercoaster

Symptoms of blood sugar falling rapidly (due to adrenaline release) Diseases of blood sugar falling rapidly (due to adrenaline release)
Acute anxiety and low mood.
Panic attacks.
Insomnia.
Shaking.
Palpitations.
Fearfulness.
Hunger and intense desire to eat.
Weakness.
High blood pressure.
 		 Chronic high blood pressure.
Premenstrual tension.
Chronic anxiety.
Depression.
Eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia). Obsessive compulsive disorders.
Increased tendency to addiction – caffeine, chocolate, nicotine, cannabis, ‘social highs’, gambling, sexual perversions, exercise.

You will again see the similarities between the mood changes here and those noted by Barry Ritholtz in his financial writings on the rollercoaster ride experienced by investors in risky stocks.

This extract was taken from Prevent and Cure Diabetes: Delicious Diets, Not Dangerous Drugs by Dr Sarah Myhill.

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Diagnosis of diabetes and its precursor, metabolic syndrome

Before getting to the testing stage we can get some very useful clues from a combination of the clinical picture together with commonly done routine tests. However, if you eat what is generally considered a ‘normal, healthy, balanced diet’ (ho! ho!) based on the intellectually risible food pyramid, then it is likely that you have carbohydrate addiction and are on the way to metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

In order of priority and ease, the diagnosis can be made from:

  • The contents of the supermarket trolley
  • Diet
  • Snacking
  • Tendency to go for other addictions
  • Obesity
  • The clinical picture

The contents of the supermarket trolley

  • Bread, biscuits, cake, pasta, cereals, sugar, waffles, bagels, dough nuts and other such
  • Fruit juice, pop, alcohol, “energy” drinks and general junk drinks
  • Fruit basket with tropical sweet fruits such as pineapple, melon, bananas, grapes. Apples and pears
  • Sweet dried fruits – sultanas, raisins, dates
  • Snack foods – cereal bars, ‘energy bars’
  • Sweets, toffees, fudges
  • Honey, fructose, syrups
  • Jams, marmalades, choc spreads
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Ice creams and puddings, like cheesecakes and trifles
  • Low cocoa-percentage chocolate
  • Crisps, corn snacks, popcorn…you get the idea – we call it junk food!

Such a supermarket trolley is very indicative of a diagnosis of carbohydrate addiction, metabolic syndrome and/or diabetes.

“Indeed, I have just returned from a trip to the supermarket. The man in front was placing his purchases at the check-out. I felt myself sighing as the packets of chocolate biscuits, crisps, white bread and sweet drinks piled up. But what moved me to an intense desire to shout out were the final three items – paracetamol, ibuprofen and a box of antacids. He was poisoning himself with the carbs, then symptom-suppressing with the drugs. Addiction has blinded him to the obvious.”

Diet

Breakfast gives the game away. This is because no food has been consumed overnight and with carbohydrate addiction, blood sugar levels are low in the morning. The need for a carbohydrate-based breakfast indicates metabolic syndrome – typically with consumption of fruit, fruit juice, sweetened tea or coffee, cereals, toast, bread or croissants. ‘Oh, but surely porridge and muesli are OK?’ so many cry. Often they are not OK – the only way to really find out is to measure blood sugar levels.

“Even now my daughters can hear me groaning when the adverts on the telly for breakfast cereals come on. I really cannot stop myself. The Telegraph recently reported that, ‘Children’s breakfast cereals can contain as much as three teaspoons of sugar – the equivalent of two and a half chocolate biscuits,’ and so there are also ‘hidden’ dangers.”

Snacking

The need for a carbohydrate snack or sweet drink is often triggered by falling blood sugar. Many people comment that when they go on holiday and treat themselves to a fry-up for breakfast, they no longer feel hungry before lunch. Snacking is a disaster – it feeds the fermenting mouth and gut, prevents the glycogen sponges squeezing dry, spikes insulin and prevents fat burning.

Carbohydrates with every meal

The symptom of ‘not being satisfied’ with meat and vegetables is particularly indicative of carbohydrate addiction, with the need for a sweet pudding to ‘hit the spot’.

Tendency to go for other addictions

Also highly indicative of carbohydrate addiction is the tendency to have other addictions … such as alcohol, smoking, coffee, chocolate, prescription drugs (yes – many of these are addictive), and ‘legal’ and illegal highs.

Obesity

Obesity is not the cause of metabolic syndrome and diabetes, but may be a symptom of both. Many people with type 2 diabetes have metabolic syndrome and normal weight and vice versa – obese people may have no signs of metabolic syndrome. It is the constant sugar spikes in the portal vein, the effect of which eventually spills over into the systemic (whole body) circulation, when the liver is overwhelmed, this characterises metabolic syndrome and diabetes. We cannot measure these spikes because the portal vein is buried deep in the abdomen and links the gut to the liver. Interestingly, it is the fatty liver which is highly correlated with metabolic syndrome and diabetes – not the fatty rest of the body. Fat in the liver can be measured with MRI scans, but this is an expensive test not routinely available.

The ability to gain and lose weight is an essential survival ploy for all mammals. Think of the hibernating female brown bear who has to survive months of intense cold, pregnancy and breast feeding with no food intake. She achieves this on autumn fat together with the ability to switch into fat burning. She remains completely healthy throughout.

Share your story for Diabetes Week by using the hashtag #knowdiabetes.

This blog was originally published in Prevent and Cure Diabetes: Delicious diets, not dangerous drugs by Dr Sarah Myhill and Craig Robinson.

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Prevent, reverse and treat diabetes and its precursor: metabolic syndrome

Most people with diabetes or metabolic syndrome conditions regard them as inevitable evils and agree to take the medicine – or inject the insulin – when the time comes. But it need not be that way. Sustainable medicine expert Dr Myhill explains in her new book steps anyone can take not only to prevent the onset of the disease, but to actually reverse and treat diabetes, and the condition that underlies it: metabolic syndrome.

Self help to prevent and treat diabetes

As Dr Myhill writes: ‘All medical therapies should start with diet. Modern Western diets are driving our modern epidemics of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia; this process is called metabolic syndrome. In Prevent and Cure Diabetes: Delicious Diets, Not Dangerous Drugs I explain in detail why and how we have arrived at a situation where the real weapons of mass destruction can be found in our kitchens. Importantly, the book describes the vital steps every one of us can make to reverse the situation so that life can be lived to its full potential.’

To celebrate Dr Sarah Myhill’s latest book we want to share some of the key things you can do to help yourself prevent onset and treat diabetes. Looking after our own bodies is not just a cost effective and sustainable approach to health care, but a responsibility we have to ourselves and our loved ones. After all,

‘Prevention is better than cure.’

– Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536)

  1. Keep your gut healthy and reduce the carbohydrate load from the gut by

    • eating a low glycaemic index (GI) diet;
    • avoiding a sugar rush;
    • including more fat in the diet;
    • eating more vegetable fibre.

  2. Improve your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar by

    • only eating carbohydrates at one meal a day (and no snacking) and going without starchy carbs for one day a week;
    • exercising;
    • taking nutritional supplements for essential micronutrients that are deficient in the diet.
    • avoiding particular prescription drugs that induce insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.
    • detoxify the body from the outside too with regular hot showers, sauna-ing and/or Epsom salt baths.

  3. Ensure your thyroid and adrenal glands are healthy and functioning well.

  4. Prevent inflammation by doing all the above, ensuring good quality sleep, exercise, sunshine, and love and laughter.

  5. Adopt strategies that encourage fat burning, which is highly protective against too low blood sugar levels.

For more from Dr Myhill visit her website and read the first chapter for free before ordering your copy of Prevent and Cure Diabetes: Delicious Diets, Not Dangerous Drugs available in paperback and ebook.