Diabetes – when you hear this word – what do you first think? Whatever it is, isn’t good… because historically by the time you say this diagnosis, a patient is 80% “unfixable” — let me explain…

The pancreas is the main organ that helps the body respond to elevations in glucose (sugar in the blood) – there are two types of cells in the pancreas that work for us with glucose homeostasis – one type gives us small amounts of insulin to keep us at a good stable glucose level in a fasting state and then when we eat, the other cells fire up and give extra insulin to handle the glucose elevation related to our meal. Meanwhile, if we check our blood glucose it remains “stable” even though all of this is going on behind the scenes. 

So here is where it gets really cool – because human beings are built for homeostasis, the pancreas can recognize when it is having to “fire on” too much and therefore, it “resets” to a higher baseline of insulin secretion. So still here, even after this adjustment, the blood sugar reading is “normal” however the insulin reading would be elevated —– if ever checked 🙂

This process of “automatic compensation” can actually continue for quite some time, many years actually, before eventually the pancreas gets overworked and runs out of steam and can no longer keep up with the insulin requirements needed to maintain homeostasis. Finally, as the insulin level goes down, the sugar in the blood goes up to a level that is not noticeable on a blood draw, or better the A1c level is detected as high. The A1c is the amount of blood cells that have sugar attached to them, which happens when the body runs out of insulin and sugar hangs around too long and starts sticking to your blood, then other organs of the body which ultimately causes the scary things associated with diabetes like vision loss, peripheral neuropathy, and heart disease. Your bone marrow turns over about every 90 days so your a1c is a 3 month average of the percentage of “sugar-blood” that is in your body. 

So at some point, your blood work gets to a level where you “qualify” for a medication to help lower the sugar, usually by asking the pancreas (or liver) to work harder and give you more insulin – so we ask the broken organs to now work more? The pancreas has lost about 80% function at the time we give a diagnosis of diabetes. Therefore, historically most people once given a diagnosis of diabetes and put on medications are never “cured” and instead become lifelong paying customers for their broken organs trapped in the broken system. 

Eventually, we place these patients on insulin – the natural hormone that the pancreas no longer makes. 

SO HOW CAN WE DO IT BETTER? 

We can start by checking fasting insulin levels in EVERYONE! This is on our basic wellness panel and is not expensive. Next, we love to look at your insulin sensitivity nutrigenomic results to show if those pathways are hindered in you to add guidance to your overall foundational plan for the future. Finally, we customize a protocol based on your individual nuwellmd triangle results and create a pathway to wellness and longevity built by your results and for your personal goals. 

Don’t wait for the scary d word to go onto your chart – educate yourself on your numbers, use innovative science to discover your personalized approach, inspire yourself to a clear motivation on your goals and how to get there, empower yourself with the knowledge needed to make the next right decision for your health. 

Nutrition – how glycemic index can be more important than low carb diets

Nutriceuticals – metabolic support is a great mvi for glucose metabolism

Nutrigenics – dna health is the foundational test looking at all thing glucose metabolism at the cellular level

Sugar is so sweet – but isn’t it sweeter to give your pancreas the love it deserves:) and help it serve you a life of wellness and longevity!