How do you best manage diabetes? Let’s talk about it.
More than 130 million adults are living with diabetes or prediabetes in the United States. Diabetes is associated with obesity and malnutrition, particularly overconsumption of calories, especially carbohydrates.
So, how do you manage diabetes once you’re diagnosed?
If you have type one diabetes in which your pancreas makes no insulin usually because of an autoimmune attack on the beta cells, you need very careful glucose monitoring. If you have type two diabetes, your hypothalamus is not properly controlling your glucose metabolism. So you develop insulin resistance, in which your cells do not allow insulin to escort glucose in for nerdy production, the extra glucose is packaged up by your liver into triglycerides to be stored in your fat cells. Your pancreas keeps making more and more insulin and eventually becomes worn out.
Managing diabetes effectively means you are committed to doing five things:
1. Monitor your blood glucose
Wearing a glucose monitor can help you see how your food choices affect your blood sugar. It’s a great eye-opener because most people don’t realize that the foods they’re eating are high glycemic causing sharp rises in blood sugar. Now you can see how your blood sugar responds to white bread versus oatmeal.
2. Eat a low glycemic index diet
What you eat is super important in managing your diabetes. One of the most vital things you need to learn is the glycemic index. The glycemic index of foods basically means how fast the food is turned into sugar. If you consume 100 grams of glucose, you will see it in your bloodstream right away. Glucose has a glycemic index of 100. A high glycemic index is anything 50.
All sweets, starches, white flour, white potatoes, white rice, are all very high on the glycemic index scale and need to be avoided. So choose whole grains and legumes which have a much lower glycemic index.
3. Exercise regularly
If you’re not exercising, both aerobic exercise and weight resistance, you’re not able to burn the calories that you’re consuming. You end up having higher blood sugar levels, higher insulin levels, and greater insulin resistance. Being sedentary is the new smoking – it’s eventually going to shorten your life. At least 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three to five times a week is recommended to help manage diabetes. Plus twice a week do weight resistance exercises. High-intensity training or HIT three times weekly can reduce insulin resistance, help you lose body fat, and control blood sugar.
4. Get enough sleep
If you are not getting enough sleep, it’s going to be very difficult for you to lower your blood sugar and decrease insulin resistance. When you’re sleeping, melatonin helps desensitize your cell receptor sites to insulin. It’s very important that you get at least seven to nine hours of sleep. Be sure you’re sleeping in a dark room otherwise, you don’t make enough melatonin.
If you have any questions about managing diabetes, please join me in our Hormone Support Group where I answer your questions live. You can access it by signing up for my free Hormone Reboot Training.
5. Support your hypothalamus
Your hypothalamus controls your blood sugar, by managing your glucose metabolism including pancreatic production of insulin. It also directs your liver to package up the extra glucose into triglycerides to store in your fat cells. Your hypothalamus also controls your metabolism which is how much energy your cells create. The higher your basal metabolic rate is, the better managed your diabetes will be. My patients with insulin resistance and type two diabetes are able to get their blood glucose levels under control and get their hemoglobin A1C down by supporting their hypothalamus with Genesis Gold®.
HGBA1C is a measurement of how high your blood sugar has been over the last couple of months. The goal is to keep your HGBA1C under 5.7%. I’ve even had insulin-dependent type one diabetics start using Genesis Gold® and notice better blood sugar control. With hypothalamus support, you’re much more tolerant of the foods you eat. While you still have to avoid high glycemic index carbs, you’re less likely to experience insulin reactions or hyperglycemia.
I recommend my patients follow an insulin-resistant diet. If you’re interested in accessing my insulin-resistant diet, please join our free Hormone Reboot Training.
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