THE CONTINUOUS GLUCOSE MONITOR Learn How to Stabilize Your Blood Sugar
Welcome back! Berman Health and Wellness continues to help hundreds of patients each month reach the highest quality of life imaginable. One of the most common ways we approach this is by improving blood sugar stability for every patient. Blood sugar instability, meaning the blood sugar is outside of normal variation, can cause systemic effects throughout the body. Blood sugar instability affects more than 100 million Americans, and can lead to weight gain, headaches, vision changes, fatigue, hunger and cravings, interrupted sleep, hot flashes, night sweats, low testosterone, and more. WHAT IS BLOOD SUGAR? Blood sugar, or glucose, is the main sugar found in your blood. It is important to evaluate in terms of diagnosing Type I or Type II diabetes mellitus, but it also plays a role in many metabolic dysfunctions. Normal blood sugar is 70-100 on average. The hemoglobin A1C value is a 90-day average of your blood sugar. WHAT EFFECT DOES BLOOD SUGAR HAVE ON ME? As mentioned, blood sugar stability affects our entire body. If the blood sugar fluctuates during the day, it is going to continue that pattern through the evening. This pattern affects our hunger, cravings, energy, brain function, sleep, inflammation, and vitamin levels. Sugar is inflammatory. High blood sugar levels can slow healing times and increase pain, arthritis, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), sleep apnea, insomnia, and the risk of hormone imbalance. Your body is at higher risk for these diseases because of the inflammatory component of sugar (and blood sugar). WHY DOES BLOOD SUGAR BECOME UNSTABLE? There are many causes for unstable or high blood sugar, often related to diet. Blood sugar can be abnormal if you are not eating enough during the day, not eating often enough, consuming too many carbohydrates or too much sugar, consuming too little protein, or eating foods your body is sensitive to. Many do not recognize they are very protein deficient each day, which has a huge impact on blood sugar. Blood sugar can become unstable from stress and anxiety. Our stress hormone cortisol greatly impacts blood sugar levels. Food sensitivities can cause blood sugar levels to become unstable. Medications can also impact our blood sugar levels. Exercise, sleep apnea, insomnia, and vitamin
deficiencies (like vitamin D) can affect our blood sugar. We have to evaluate individuals thoroughly to truly identify the cause of blood sugar instability. It is a very individualized evaluation and treatment process! If your doctor checks your blood work and tells you, “Go to the gym every day and quit eating fast food,” this may not be the answer to truly make a difference for you. HOW DO I KNOW WHAT MY BLOOD SUGAR IS? At Berman Health and Wellness, we look for five different factors via blood which show signs of blood sugar instability — glucose level, triglyceride level, hemoglobin A1C, serum insulin level, and LOW HDL level. After we fully evaluate our clients and perform a medical evaluation and blood testing, we may recommend a continuous glucose monitor! A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) contains a sensor placed under the skin for a full 10 days. This monitor measures blood sugar every minute, 24 hours per day, for 10 days. This cutting-edge technology shows true relationships between food, stress, sleep, exercise, and blood sugar. This data is helping Berman Health and Wellness to individualize dietary programs even more. Berman Health and Wellness works with clients weekly while they are making a complete transformation using the Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor Program. We make modifications and adjustments to their lifestyle based on this objective data. We have seen clients improve average blood sugar readings from 136 down to 87. We had a client who came in with Type II diabetes, was on several medications, and had recent back surgery, significant fatigue, and headaches. We worked with him weekly on making dietary adjustments, vitamin optimization, and accountability. The client could not exercise throughout his program due to the back surgery. We treated him solely with dietary modifications. He lost 40 pounds, improved his average blood sugar readings by 45 points, and reduced his hemoglobin A1C from 8% to 5.5%! He has been headache-free, has dramatically increased energy, and is sleeping through the night! Are you eating enough protein? Are you hydrating? Are you eating enough fiber? These are just some things to consider as you approach your blood sugar journey. It is life-changing. –Jenni Berman
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