How Medications Create Other Health Problems Like Diabetes and What You Can Do

Diabetes is perhaps the most pressing health condition facing the American public (and the world) today. However, contrary to conventional thinking, it can be managed without drugs and even reversed!

Diabetes is much more than just high blood sugar

Diabetes is much more than just high blood sugar and should be treated as such. It’s a metabolic dysfunction that involves many organs such as adrenal glands, gut, liver, vascular tissue, thyroid and heart.

At the Diabetes Summit this week I listened to the interview with Suzy Cohen, Pharmacist. She has got to be one of the few pharmacists who hate drugs! She is extremely knowledgeable about drug side effects and interactions. The following article is based on the interview.

Undiagnosed hypothyroid disease is a driver of diabetes. Conventional testing for thyroid does not give the full picture of thyroid function. It is very important to evaluate a person’s symptoms of thyroid problems, such as, fatigue, weight gain, thinning hair, constipation, anxiety, paleness, etc.

The importance of Fasting Insulin

Fasting insulin should be checked because if it is high it could indicate other conditions. This is not typically measured in routine blood tests – even for diabetes.

The pancreas releases insulin to control blood sugar. If you are eating foods high in carbohydrates and sugars the pancreas will be working very hard to keep control of the sugar. When this goes on for a long time, insulin resistance develops and the pancreas just gets too tired to do the job.

This fasting insulin should be measured along with fasting blood sugar and a ratio can be taken of fasting blood sugar to fasting insulin. According to Suzy Cohen, the result should be less than 10. If it is higher, it indicates a developing problem of sugar control, in spite of normal fasting blood sugar. (This may vary depending on the numbers and ranges used by your particular lab).

If you are already on insulin, this ratio won’t work, but another test is C Peptide of insulin that can indicate if your pancreas is making any insulin.

Causes of Diabetes

There are so many causes of diabetes, such as the poor dietary choices people make, the high carbohydrate diet that is recommended by health officials and the hidden sugars in all processed foods for starters.

One food toxin is Alloxan, which is a beta cell (the cells in the pancreas that make insulin) toxin that is used to induce diabetes in clinical trials in order to then test other medications. It is a poison to the pancreas. It sparks free radicals and induces diabetes.

Alloxan is a by-product of the flour bleaching process. Almost all commercial white flour products have this known toxin. It is a by-product known by the FDA, yet they still allow it. Of course, not eveyone will become diabetic because they eat white flour, but if they have the genetic potential for diabetes it would be wise to stay far away from white flour products.

This is just one example of the how the toxins in our food processing industry can be harmful to your health.

Medication Merry-Go-Round

In the blind rush to lower cholesterol in every person in this country, many people are put on statins unnecessarily. There are many dangerous side effects just from this one medication. For example, stains increase the risk for depression as well as muscle strains and dislocations. They are then put on medications for those problems. and so it goes on because of the first medication. It becomes a vicious cycle.

Stains also increase the risk of diabetes, Alzheimer’s and breast cancer. Statins also steal nutrients such as CoQ10, vitamin D, creatine and B vitamins. More drugs are given for the side effects when simple nutrients would work better.

Additionally statins can create a situation that sends more sugar into the blood and it looks like the person is diabetic. Remove the statins and the statin induced hyperglycemia will go away.

Some people – especially the elderly – are on multiple medications and no one even knows how all of these meds interact. It’s even difficult to keep tract of all the medications – most of which are not necessary.

Nutrient Robbers

• Metformin reduces CoQ10, folate, B12 and probiotics. If you are taking Metformin you need to supplement with these nutrients or you will end up with side effects. You can get symptoms such as leg cramps, nerve damage, increased homocysteine and fatigue. Imbalanced gut bacteria that helps convert T4 to T3 (the active form) may get depleted and induce a thyroid problem. Then there are all the other problems associated with gut imbalance from this one medication.
• If you supplement with folate, it should be 5-MTHF (Methyl folate) not folic acid. For B12 supplementation use, hydroxy-cobalamine or methyl-cobalamine. This is important because these forms are the most effective forms to take.
• Coffee is a nutrient robber of magnesium and iron. If you drink coffee everyday, you need to supplement with these nutrients.
• Acid blockers affect the ph in the gut – so much so that they will be low in magnesium, minerals and probiotics. Low magnesium can cause depressive, leg cramps and heart arrhythmia.
• Corticosteroids like prednisone leach out minerals, so these need to be supplemented.
• Anti-convulsives leach out B vitamins, but supplements need to be taken hours away from the medication.
• Tylenol can wipe out glutathione which is a potent anti-oxidant.

Supplements

• Green supplements like chorella or spirellina help thyroid and blood sugar – you can also eat plenty of greens, take green drink supplements and oral green supplements.
• Aswaganda helps with fatigue and is an adrenal adaptogen.
• Alpha lipoic acid is used for blood sugar and nerve pain.
• Astaxathan and vitamin A are used for eye support.
• After the age of 50 it is a little more difficult for the body to produce vitamin D. Studies have shown that vitamin D can help control blood sugar. Use vitamin D3 as a supplement or sit in the sun during the summer for short periods.
• Increase fiber through foods like vegetables.
• Take minerals like, chromium, magnesiun, iron , vanadium – all these mineral help boost metabolism.

Diabetes can be managed, reversed and prevented with diet and supplements.

For further information see Diabetes Without Drugs by Suzy Cohen RPh.

You can learn much much more about diabetes from experts in the field at the The Reversing Diabetes World Summit which will air between May 5 -May 16, 2014. It’s already started but you can still get in and view each days interviews for free during the 24 hour period!

Register Here

The presenters are alternative and functional medicine practitioners that have years of experience working with diabetic patients. These 50 plus speakers are experts in their fields and will present new and useful information. This is your chance to learn everything they know, for free!

If you don’t want to miss any of the speakers you can order the All Access Package to view at your leisure.

Order the All Access Package Here

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. Please discuss with your personal physician any changes to your treatment plan. Read more here.

Photo Credit

Shared at: Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday

Tagged as: diabetes, Diabetes Summit, medications

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