Sunday, June 17, 2018

Cures and Continuations

I saw a meme online a few days ago.  It had some pills on it and the phrase, A patient cured is a customer lost. I agree.  You can't not agree with this.  It applies to almost every industry.  If there is no need for a service or product sold, there is no customer.

Moving forward, I'm not a doctor.  I didn't go to medical school.  I only speak from my experience as a certified Primal Health Coach and what I've read and heard in interviews from many doctors and health experts.  This also isn't an anti-medication post.

Not long ago, there was a stigma in the medical community that made you feel bad for doing your own research.  When mass information started becoming readily available on the internet people began playing doctor and trying to diagnose themselves online.  They'll query their symptoms and become convinced they have "x".  In America, people don't even need to go online. Drug manufacturers are allowed to advertise in magazines, on tv and in other media formats.  They'll paint a picture of something that you "might" have.  And then you'll go to their doctor and say, "I read online or saw this commercial...." only to be met with an awkward stare as if the doctor was insulted.  Today, the information, research and science is so good and so available, many doctors encourage their patients to take ownership of their health and do some quality research.   Doctors only have 8 minutes to spend with you.  They only have time to treat your symptoms to you get some relief.  They don't have nearly enough time to actually help you figure out how you got those symptoms or what they are.  That's not the doctors fault.  You can look to the insurance industry as to why they only get 8 minutes per patient.  And big pharma loves it.   I don't believe any Doctor sets out to see a patient for 8 minutes and prescribe a drug to treat their symptom and never get to the root cause of it to heal the patient.  I honestly believe most doctors would LOVE to have the time to treat, manage, and potentially be able to cure their patients. 

Don't we owe it to ourselves to figure out what is causing certain symptoms?

Example, if you are trying to fill up a 5 gallon bucket, you wouldn't use a bucket with a hole in it.  It's counter productive.  You won't be effective.  You'll have to keep the water flowing into the bucket to keep it full.  Medication, and even some forms of therapy shouldn't be like that.   Unfortunately though,  there are some diseases that may require long term treatment options.

But what about things like type 2 diabetes?  I use this as an example because type 2 diabetes is one of the quickest growing auto immune conditions in todays America and anywhere a western diet is adapted.  The most common treatment is metformin.  Other treatments include insulin injections.  But what is Type 2 diabetes?  It's a condition where over time your body can't produce enough insulin to keep up with the demands.  What demands?  High blood sugar.  How does your blood sugar get high?  You consume carbohydrates.  See where this line of questioning is going?  There isn't enough time in the 8 minutes for you to fully understand what Type 2 diabetes is, how it's caused, how's it's treated and how you can manage it without medication.  You may be genetically predisposed to T2, but that doesn't mean you will develop symptoms or that if you do you have no choice.  You do.  But you are going to have to do some legwork of your own.

But remember, a patient cured (or not requiring medication) is a patient lost.  And if you lose patients, you lose income.  And a business wouldn't be around long if it's primary goal is to lose customers.  So are pharmaceutical companies really in out to cure us?

Back to T2.  It's not a virus.  It's a disease caused by overuse of your organs.  Eat carbohydrates (and there are many in a western diet, almost every 3 hours) and your blood sugar rises.  Your pancreas releases insulin to signal your liver and muscles to store it as glycogen.  If your liver and muscles are full, it's then stored as body fat for later use as energy.   This is a system.  It's controlled by what foods you put in your body.  Food.  Proper nutrition can go a long way to helping you treat and manage like many have done without medications or injections.  But remember, a patient cured is a customer lost.  So why would a business want to lose a customer?  That's a loss of income and it would effect the family of the income producer.

It's not just Type 2.  Our bodies are made up and function entirely off of what we eat and react to environmental stresses.  Our brains also run on this fuel.  It effects all the bacteria and microbes living in our body.  If attention isn't given to what you eat, it could be causing your body to do so much more work than it would like to.  Just because stuff is sold as food, doesn't mean it's digestible and will work with your body.  Years of eating the wrong food will lead to all sorts of autoimmune diseases.  Bottom line, todays western diet is a slow and silent killer.  It's rich in excessive carbohydrates, added sugar and soybean oil that all lead to oxidation, inflammation  and obesity in your body.  The big three drivers of disease.

I'm not saying just start any random diet.  Even most "diet" plans are a business and wanting to keep you on their plan just like big pharma wants to keep you on their drug.

Ask your doctor how they would prefer you eat to provide maximum health and longevity.  But then also go do your own research to see if what your doctor says lines up with what all the current science says.  Like it or not, Doctors self admittedly claim they do NOT have very deep nutritional education.  And that's not a fault, that's just the way it is.  They have so many other responsibilities to keep us feeling well and healthy.  It's on YOU to patch all the holes in the bucket and put yourself in the best possible position to stay healthy.

Except in a few circumstances, you shouldn't NEED to be on medications for the rest of your life.  Perhaps they have a place in the short term.

What's the point?  You don't always have to settle that you are just "sick".  You should always look for the causes of how you got where you did.






Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Day One #AllMeatMay

Day one is in the books of All Meat May.

But lets go back half a day.  I was excited about this change.  I wanted another dietary challenge.  Though this one was different.  I didn't need to.  I love how I feel doing what I'm doing with keto.  But I wanted to understand what this carnivore thing is all about.  I'm pretty in tune with my body, so any changes I'm pretty sure I'll notice.

Oh, about the day before.  I probably didn't prep right.  I finished off the rest of my Lindt 90% dark chocolate bar.  By finish off, I mean open it and eat the whole thing.  Not a crazy amount of sugar, about 15g for the bar.  I also cracked open a bottle of wine NOT from Dry Farm Wines. This was a mistake.  I had a glass or three.  That was a huge mistake.  I was up sick most of the night.  Extreme digestion distress.  Had to practice some breathing techniques.

Commence May 1.  I started with bacon, had some canned fish and a 16 oz. Ribeye for dinner.  Followed up my softball game with about 10 chicken hearts for dessert.

Lots of times during the day I felt foggy.  My brain wasn't clear.  And I was really tired for the softball game.  I do think much of this has to do with the lack of sleep.  not the abnormally large amount of protein in my diet.

Last night I slept for a solid 9 hours.   I feel better this morning.  We'll see what today brings.

I didn't do any "pre" numbers.  I didn't get a weigh in.  I didn't take any pictures.  I'm just going go with how I feel.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

The Rise and Fall of Insulin

Do you know about Insulin?



It’s not just for diabetics. You make it.  When your blood sugar rises (by consuming sugar or other carbohydrates) your pancreas releases insulin to take all the excess blood sugar for storage in the liver or muscles.  If those areas are already full, it stores it as fat. 



If you aren’t exercising after each carbohydrate laden snack (which most of them are, including most beef jerky), your liver and muscles are most likely always full.  So everything you eat is going straight to fat storage.  



Constantly consuming carbohydrates for snacks and meals will keep your body pumping out insulin almost 24/7 leaving you no chance of ever calling on glucagon to release stored body fat.  Glucagon is insulins counter hormone.  When you are in a fasting period or blood sugar falls, glucagon is released to convert that stored glycogen into blood glucose.  Even if your glycogen stores are empty, your body can convert ingested proteins into glucose or convert stored body fat into glucose.  



Our bodies are pretty amazing if we’d just let them do their thing.  



However, most people, when their blood sugar drops they don’t allow their body to do it’s own thing.  They eat more carbohydrate rich food.  This pattern, repeated over years causes the bodies fat burning ability to shut down.  It leads to a dependence on carbohydrates and eventually insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and many other health issues.     



It still astonishes me that whole grains and other forms of grain based carbohydrates are still recommended to people suffering with type 2 diabetes.  While you can still control your blood sugar, they simply are not beneficial to consume.

Even if you exercise.  Continued filling and depleting of glycogen stores, while it may keep you from storing body fat, may still lead to insulin resistance.  



The good news is that you can break this pattern.  Though your body will push back a little bit.  Imagine if you’ve been sitting for years and tried to stand up and walk again.  You’ll be able to, but it’ll take some warming up.  

How do you engage your bodies ability to burn fat?  You take away the quick burning fuel.  Carbohydrates.  

Fat is our bodies preferred fuel source.  



Take control of your health.  75% of the foods in the grocery store are NOT fit for proper human health.  You deserve better.  

If you can (and you can) control your insulin levels, you can control your health.