Diabetes and Glyconutrients

Today, most people with diabetes are only treating the symptoms. And many medications given to people with diabetes are actually compounding the underlying cause of the disease.

The best way to manage your diabetic condition is to address the actual cause. Doesn't that make more sense? So let's look at what type 2 diabetes really is.

The Simple Explanation

Other than the genes you inherited, there are two primary causes of diabetes:

1) a long-term diet that has been high in carbohydrates, and

2) nutritional deficiencies.

Your body breaks down carbohydrates into sugar (glucose) which then enters your blood stream. The more carbohydrates consumed, the higher your blood sugar goes. In response, your body produces insulin. Insulin's job is to push the blood sugar into the cells so they can use it for energy.

On the surface of the cells in your body are insulin receptors, which act like little doors that open and close to regulate the inflow of blood sugar.

After many years of consuming a high-carbohydrate diet, your cells have been bombarded with so much insulin that these doors begin to malfunction and shut down.

With fewer of these doors open, your body needs to produce even more insulin to push the glucose into the cells. More insulin causes even more doors to close and as this vicious cycle continues a condition called "insulin resistance" sets in.

When your body can no longer produce enough insulin to push the blood sugar into the cells, type 2 diabetes develops. It is simply an extreme case of insulin resistance.

The key point for you to understand is that your energy, wellness and longevity are primarily dependent on improving the sensitivity of your cells to insulin -- how well your cells open and close the doors and clear sugar from the blood.

What's the Bottom Line?

Since type 2 diabetes is really a severe case of insulin resistance, the solution to your condition is to find a way to increase the sensitivity of your cells to insulin and help your body get the sugar out of the blood and into the cells so it can be metabolized and turned into energy. (This inability to metabolize sugar is one of the reasons why most diabetics often feel tired and fatigued.)

The Deadly Effects of Excess Insulin

Your "metabolism" is the food processing and energy production system of your body. It is made up of many extremely fine-tuned internal processes, and can be thrown off by even the tiniest of imbalances.

Insulin is the master hormone of your metabolism. When it is out of balance and your insulin levels are consistently elevated, a long list of deadly complications are created:

* Heart Disease
* Hardening of the Arteries
* Damage to Artery Wallsv * Increased Cholesterol Levels
* Vitamin & Mineral Deficiencies
* Kidney Disease
* Fat Burning Mechanism Shutdown
* Accumulation & Storage of Fat
* Weight Gain

In his best-selling book, "Protein Power," Dr. Michael Eades wrote, "When insulin levels become too high... metabolic havoc ensues with elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, diabetes, and obesity all trailing in its wake. These disorders are merely symptoms of a single more basic disturbance in metabolism, excess insulin and insulin resistance."

Nutritional Deficiencies from Excess Insulin

Science has shown that excess insulin also causes your body to become deficient in many vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. It's a proven fact that being deficient in these nutrients is directly linked to and a cause of high blood sugar levels.

Chromium

Chromium is essential to proper metabolism and maintaining safe sugar levels. Excess insulin depletes your body's chromium. In "Protein Power," Dr. Eades further states, "The insulin receptor, the structure on the surfaces of your cells that actually become resistant to insulin, requires chromium to function properly. Deficiency of chromium is rampant - it affects 90% of the American population - because a diet high in starch and sugar puts a heavy demand on the insulin system to handle the incoming carbohydrate load, and that demand depletes chromium."

Chromium is critical to blood sugar metabolism and, and as a diabetic you can be pretty sure that you are severely deficient in this nutrient. If you ever wondered where your "sweet tooth" and sugar cravings come from, now you know - chromium deficiency!

Calcium and Magnesium are also depleted by excess insulin, which can cause many problems, as they are critical to over 200 biochemical processes in your body.

Other very important nutrients that excess insulin causes deficiencies in are Zinc, Selenium, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vanadium, B Complex vitamins, essential fatty acids, and many more.

Now that you know how and why people develop type 2 diabetes and know some of the consequences of not controlling your blood sugar level, here are your choices:

You can continue on with what you've been doing...

Or you can research the science and testimonials surrounding Glyconutrients.

Fortunately, your body has miraculous healing powers, is very resilient and operates in a very intelligent manner. If you give it the right fuel and the right nutrients, it will respond very quickly. Some exercise and the right attitude also help!

The first step is to switch your body from an out-of-control, nutrient-depleting and fat-storing machine into a clean, nutrient-rich, fat-burning machine!

To do this you must:

1) Restrict the carbohydrates in your diet, and
2) Take the right nutritional supplements.

These two actions are not optional or negotiable! Your body will only burn fat (and properly utilize nutrients) if its metabolism is balanced. Doing 1 and 2 above on a regular basis is the only way to address the root cause of your diabetic problem and balance your body's metabolism for the long-term.

Jason Carriere is an alternative health advocate and wellness crusader, specializing in glyconutrient education.