Metabolic Changes

When we discuss metabolism in relationship to aging, the Metabolic Theory of Aging is that the faster your metabolism, the shorter your lifespan. Many of the factors which influence this theory are in relationship to the energy produced by the significant energy supplier during stress, our friend sugar!

High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, is when the body has too much sugar (glucose) circulating in the bloodstream. Over 37 million people, or 11.3% of the U.S. population has diabetes, and 96 million—33% of the U.S. population has prediabetes.

Hyperglycemia is a serious medical issue because it can lead to other health problems like heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Symptoms include extreme thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, blurred vision, and sores that do not heal quickly. If left untreated, it can lead to coma or even death.

Pre-diabetes and diabetes together encompass over 40% of the U.S. adult population, but even if your blood sugar is slightly elevated, you are more prone to health issues like heart disease or stroke than adults with optimum blood sugar levels. If you feel baffled by the measures that must be taken to regulate your glucose levels or have already attempted everything possible without success, rest assured – you are part of a large group. Data indicates that almost 10% of all Americans (roughly 34.2 million people) struggle with high blood sugar daily.

There are many causes of high blood sugar. Over time, your body responds less effectively to processed carbohydrates and refined sugars until it can no longer tolerate them. This creates insulin resistance, which will worsen if you continue consuming these foods. Some common reasons for developing hyperglycemia include:

• Not enough physical activity
• Eating too much sugar and carbohydrates
• Using certain medications, such as steroids or immunosuppressants.
• The pancreas is not producing enough insulin
• Stress or illness

To have the best chance of successfully managing your blood sugar levels, lifestyle changes must be made. This includes eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and monitoring your glucose levels daily.

As longevity specialists, we know that maintaining a normal blood sugar level is the goal. We take an evidence-based method to get to the cause of elevated blood sugars. Treating only what’s on the surface will not solve anything regarding high blood sugar levels; this is merely an indication and not its origin. Our proactive and personalized approach addresses whatever lies behind uncontrollable high insulin rates for long-term health benefits.

Genetics, aging, and race can all contribute to increased blood sugar and insulin resistance response. Still, the most noteworthy influence to high blood sugar lies in your daily lifestyle – what you eat, how much sleep you get, stress level management, and physical activity routine – perhaps more vital than anything else is the state of health of bacteria living within our gut (the microbiome).

When these components grow out of balance, your body attempts to fix the issue by releasing more insulin. This can overwhelm and desensitize your cells regarding “insulin requests.” Soon enough, too much sugar accumulates in your bloodstream, traveling through every part of you and causing broad destruction.

However, the good news is that insulin resistance can absolutely be rectified! With the right precision medicine program and complementary therapies, it’s possible to influence these modifiable lifestyle factors positively.

Hyperglycemia can be caused by more than just food; it is crucial to consider the overall lifestyle and its influence on blood sugar levels. It is also essential to consider possible environmental contributors, such as emotional stress or a lack of physical activity.

Ultimately, the amount of success in managing your metabolism is contingent upon a combination of patient lifestyle and treatment methodology. Conventionally-trained medical professionals typically resort to “name, blame, and tame” practices when dealing with such issues. In other words, they attempt to identify the root cause by analyzing symptoms and results from lab tests; attribute those findings as the source for current conditions; before proposing typical medications meant to alleviate any associated ailments.

After a physician reviews the patient’s hemoglobin A1C levels and confirms an elevated reading, they may prescribe medicine to address it. But what are they achieving? Are you genuinely getting better as a result of this?

The conventional method of treating high blood sugar is to prescribe a “pill for pocket” approach that can further add to the risk of obesity and inflammation. As an alternative, science supports utilizing dietary & lifestyle modifications, hormone therapy, and improving your gut bacteria to manage high blood sugar levels.

To foster maximum metabolic wellness and longevity, our providers utilize clinical-grade nutraceuticals that are doctor-developed and pure-blended to compensate for any nutritional inadequacies. Every step is taken with you in mind; throughout your treatment plan, we will actively involve you in all decisions. This includes establishing blood glucose levels between 70 to 85 mg/dL and achieving a hemoglobin A1c of less than 5%.

But to effectively treat high blood sugars, we first need to understand where your body’s at today through advanced testing.

Our comprehensive method of Advanced Testing for Metabolic Changes:

There is more to lowering high blood sugar besides eating well and exercising regularly. It is looking at you as a whole person — body, mind, and soul — to determine WHAT to eat, WHY you should exercise, and HOW to optimize other factors, such as hormones, to help you recover.

There are many therapies that our providers keep in their toolboxes. The critical thing to remember is that you — as a unique individual — may undergo a different treatment plan than someone else. Your provider will determine which therapy is right after thoroughly reviewing your test results.

Our comprehensive Solutions for Metabolic Changes:

We value fact over opinion. Please refer to our FAQs for the most commonly asked questions. In addition, we have listed the medical references for the facts stated on the website.

To review the articles and references cited on this topic of Metabolic Changes, click here

1. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, “Diabetes Overview”, https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview
2. Guilliams, Thomas Ph.D. “Diabetes – The Preventable Disease.” The Standard, 2002 Volume 5, No. 1. Print.
3. The Institute of Functional Medicine, “Lifestyle Interventions for Type 2 Diabetes”, https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/cardio-using-functional-medicine-reverse-type-ii-diabetes/
4. Kresser, Chris. “Functional Medicine and Diabetes: How to Treat the Root Cause.” https://chriskresser.com/functional-medicine-and-diabetes-how-to-treat-the-root-cause/
5. National Library of Medicine. “Vitamin A: a missing link in diabetes?” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4623591/
6. National Diabetes Prevention Program. “About Prediabetes & Type 2 Diabetes”. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/about-prediabetes.html
7. Geberhiwot, Tarekegn. “HbA1c predicts the likelihood of having impaired glucose tolerance in high-risk patients with normal fasting plasma glucose”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15949153/
8. Summers, Randall. “Metabolic Theories of Aging.” https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facbooks/707/
9. Maurer, Richard. “The Blood Code: Unlock the Secrets of Your Metabolism.” https://thebloodcode.com/insulin-resistancet2-diabetes-map-test-results/
10. Thewjitcharoes, Yotsapon. “Performance of HgA1c versus oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) as a screening tool to diagnose dysglycemic status in high-risk Thai patients”. https://bmcendocrdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12902-019-0339-6#
11. Matthews, David. MDCALC HOMA-IR. https://www.mdcalc.com/calc/3120/homa-ir-homeostatic-model-assessment-insulin-resistance#evidence