Diabetes is a slow, insidious disease that begins damaging the body long before you are diagnosed. By the time you are diagnosed by your doctor you have already spent 5-10 years in a “diabetic state”. Why? The methods used by doctors to test for diabetes (Fasting Blood Sugar and Hemoglobin A1c) are “last to fail” indicators.
It would be similar to finally discovering you have termites in your home. At the point you realize you have termites, they have already done significant damage to the structure of your home.
After returning from a weeklong family vacation, I was coming up the stairs to find a bug (termite) emerging from a hole in the wood. I immediately called the pest control company who began pulling apart large sections of the wall to find an infestation of termites and copious amounts of wood damage. Clearly, this had been going on for some time.
So how did it start?
As we bombard our body with refined carbohydrates, we increase blood sugar levels (carbs glucose blood sugar). The body will produce insulin in response to elevated glucose levels in order to take blood sugar out of the bloodstream because high blood sugar is toxic to the body and will rot every tissue/organ in the body. A portion of the glucose will be used in the brain, muscles and liver for energy. Whatever is not immediately utilized will be converted to FAT and store in the cells of your body. When fat cells become full, we simply create more fat cells — this is beginning of insidious weight gain! As fat cells become full, the cells/body starts “ignoring” insulin so the pancreas starts producing even more insulin to do the same job in order to bring blood sugar levels back to normal range (More insulin=more fat=more insulin resistance=more insulin=more fat — repeat 1000x).Point to Remember: Insulin is the body’s primary fat building hormone.
So, long before you have elevated blood sugar levels, your body has been producing insulin in an effort to keep blood sugar levels down. There comes a time when the body can no longer produce enough insulin to remove excess blood sugar from the bloodstream. At the point where blood sugar levels start to become abnormal (>118 mg/dl or >5.5% A1c) your body has reached the “Critical Diabetic Tipping Point.” You are no longer able to produce enough insulin to “clear out” high blood sugar from the bloodstream and high blood sugar WILL damage all tissue/organs throughout the body. This overproduction of insulin “state” is called hyperinsulinemia and it is the cause of diabetes and the precursor to elevated blood sugar levels.
When you begin to understand that hyperinsulinemia is the cause of diabetes, and a litany of other health problems and complications, and high blood sugar is merely the symptom then you will understand how to successfully manage it it.
Medications and drugs offered up by your doctor and the marketplace are directed at the symptom (blood sugar) leaving the underlying cause (overproduction of insulin) in check. This is not to say there is not a place for drugs being used to lower blood sugar levels. High blood sugar in and of itself has its own destructive effects on the body but it is the hyperinsulinemia that will continue the progression of the disease and further drive insulin resistance and obesity.
Using our termite analogy, it would be similar to me simply using wood putty to cover up the hole in my bannister. Yes, it would appear that I fixed my problem (high blood sugar) but in reality there is a horrendous amounts of damage being done underneath the surface (hyperinsulinemia).
Throughout our Diabetic Strong Workshops and Coaching Classes you will learn how to successfully manage your diabetes your diabetes if you are a Type II or Pre-Diabetic and how to “optimally manage” your diabetes is you are Type I Diabetic (See Optimal Insulin Therapy™).
Diabetic Strong Workshops and Coaching Classes will provide you with a proven approach to managing your diabetes and fat accumulation.