Category: Hormonal Health and Disease

Diabetes affects more than 20 million Americans, with more than 90% of that figure having type-2, or non-insulin dependent, diabetes.  Diabetes is, at its most basic, a sugar imbalance in the blood stream. Natural sugars, in the form of glucose, provide energy to the body’s cells. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, controls blood-glucose levels, and regulates the absorption of glucose into the body’s cells. In patients with type-2 diabetes, either the pancreas is failing to produce the necessary levels of insulin, or their body’s cells have become resistant to the absorption of insulin itself. This results in a buildup of glucose in the bloodstream, which can lead to blindness, heart disease and kidney disease.

Risk Factors and Symptoms of Type-2 Diabetes

It is estimated that as many as 70 million Americans are at risk of developing type-2 diabetes. Common risk factors are a combination of heredity and lifestyle choices. People with a family history of diabetes appear to be at higher risk that others, while people of certain ethnic backgrounds, such as African-Americans, Asians and Hispanic-Americans, also seem to be more prone to developing the disease. Lifestyle and general health also play a large part in the development of type-2 diabetes. People who are overweight, and who suffer from high blood pressure and high cholesterol, tend to be at a greater risk. The chances of developing type-2 diabetes also increases with age, and people over 45 should make it a point to have regular blood screenings.

The most common symptoms of type-2 diabetes are increased thirst and hunger, unexplained weight loss, dry mouth, frequent urination and fatigue. Diabetes can also present itself in instances of blurred vision, and chronic headaches. Diabetes is a serious, and often life threatening condition. People experiencing these symptoms are encouraged to see a doctor or clinician for testing.

Managing Your Diabetes Through Diet

A healthy diet is important for everyone, but especially for those with type-2 diabetes. People at risk for diabetes can also avoid the disease by adopting sound nutritional habits. It is always better to control the body’s blood-glucose levels naturally, through nutrition, rather than with drugs. Eating the proper amount, and type, of carbohydrates is at the root of any diabetic’s diet. Complex carbohydrates, found in vegetables, nuts and seeds, are the best choice for a diabetic diet. Complex carbohydrates are chemically bonded simple sugars, and are absorbed and processed by the body more slowly than simple carbohydrates. This allows for a slow and steady release of energy to the cells within the body.

Fiber is also important in a well-rounded diabetic diet. Fiber helps to delay sugar absorption, making it easier for the body to control its blood-glucose levels. Fiber also promotes weight loss, is a good source of vitamins and nutrients, and helps to reduce the levels of bad LDL cholesterol. Foods rich in fiber include fresh fruits and vegetables.

Limiting fats in a diabetic diet is also vital. Fats, particularly saturated fats, increase the potential for heart disease. Patients with type-2 diabetes are already at risk for heart disease, and it is vital to keep that risk as low as possible. Consuming a no animal fat diet is the most beneficial for improving a person’s health. Plant source fats are the most health promoting.

Minerals and Supplements for Type-2 Diabetes

In addition to dietary changes, patients with type-2 diabetes should consider adding specific minerals and herbal supplements to their daily routines. Chromium plays a vital role in the production and storage of insulin within the body, and people with type-2 diabetes tend to suffer from low levels of this necessary mineral. Magnesium helps the body regulate blood sugar levels, and also promotes healthy heart and nerve function. Both chromium and magnesium can be taken as nutritional supplements, but patients should work with their holistic clinician to formulate an acceptable dosage. Herbal supplements, such as cinnamon, fenugreek and gymnema, have also been shown to improve blood-glucose control in patients with type-2 diabetes.

Patients with type-2 diabetes face many challenges to their health. With the help of holistic clinicians, patients with type-2 diabetes can learn to manage the condition naturally, minimizing the need for long term drug therapies. Patients with type-2 diabetes should keep in close contact with their clinicians and should regularly monitor their blood sugar levels. Diabetes can have devastating effects on the body, but with sensible, and all natural, therapies, patients can maintain a long and healthy life.

There is a disturbing trend we observed concerning thyroid treatment. Most thyroid sufferers are treated exactly the same! This is the first problem because no two people react the same, especially with endocrine dysfunction.

Your thyroid gland is your gland of metabolism which means it is like the furnace in your house used to keep you warm. If your thyroid gland is functioning too low (hypothyroid) then you will be cold and all the systems of your body will work at a reduced state because the enzymes of the body work and 98.6 degrees F. If your body temperature is less than this because of low thyroid function then all systems that are run with those enzymes are working at less than 100%. The lower the body temperature the more you are negatively affecting all other systems, organs and glands. On the other hand if your thyroid gland is functioning too high (hyperthyroid, Graves, Hashimoto’s) then the body temperature can either be hot or alternating between hot and cold. In these thyroid conditions the body is working too hard; the immune system is overly stressed and this will lead to major health disorders.

So what you want is not too little and not too much but a balance thyroid gland with normal thyroid hormone secretion. It is important to know that the thyroid gland is affected by many other glands, organs and systems. Let us look at some of the major influences on thyroid function:

1. Nervous system – The brain, brainstem, spinal cord, spinal nerves control every other organ, gland and system in the body. The hypothalamus in the brain controls pituitary gland function and this is the master hormonal gland that controls thyroid function.
2. Immune system – When the immune system is overly active it is called autoimmune. Hashimoto’s and Grave’s disease are autoimmune thyroid diseases. When the immune system is underactive it can cause thyroid cancer.
3. Hormonal system – This is the brain via the hypothalamus directly controlling pituitary gland function and the pituitary gland directly controls most all hormonal gland secretions including the thyroid gland. The pituitary, thyroid, thymus, pancreas, adrenals all have to be in balance to heal the thyroid gland.
4. Digestive System – If you do not digest your food completely it leads to malabsorption, deficiency along with toxic build up. All these negative affect thyroid gland function and your thyroid will never heal and be in optimum health if your digestive system is out of balance.
5. Elimination System – This is the detoxification system which moves the chemicals and toxins out of the body. If this system is overburdened then the hormonal system is stressed and the thyroid gland will malfunction.
6. Biochemical System – Unless the biochemical state is balanced with correct diet customized for one’s individual biochemistry, the thyroid gland cannot heal. The thyroid gland needs iodine to produce thyroid hormone. If there is too much iodine in the body it may lead to a hyperthyroid condition or autoimmune thyroid. If there is too little iodine this can lead to hypothyroid or goiter. There is a perfect balance that keeps the body and the thyroid gland in health.
7. Mental/Emotional State – If the mind and emotions are overly active this causes stress in the hormonal system and causes thyroid conditions to remain active. If the adrenal glands are overly secreting cortisol because of perceived stress, this will inhibit thyroid gland function.

How do you know if you have a thyroid disorder?  There are three main thyroid disorders you should know about:

1. Hypothyroidism (slow thyroid)
2. Hyperthyroidism or Grave’s (overfunctioning thyroid)
3. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

1. Do you feel fatigued, tired or sluggish?
2. Do you have cold feet and/or hands?
3. Do you require excessive amounts of sleep to function?
4. Do you gain weight easily or have difficulty losing weight?
5. Do you have difficult or infrequent bowel movements (constipation)?
6. Are you depressed?
7. Do you lack motivation?
8. Do you suffer from morning headaches that wear off as the day progresses?
9. Do you suffer from thinning hair or excessive hair falling out?
10. Do you suffer from dryness of the skin and/or scalp?
11. Do you suffer from mental sluggishness?

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the body lacks sufficient thyroid hormones. Since the main purpose of thyroid hormones is to “run the body’s metabolism,” it is logical that people with this condition will have symptoms associated with a slow metabolism. Millions of Americans have this more common medical condition…and it often goes undetected in the early stages.  Were you told that your results were “normal” and yet you continue to have symptoms?

Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism or Grave’s Disease

1. Do you experience heart palpitations?
2. Do you suffer from inward trembling?
3. Do you have an increased pulse even at rest?
4. Are you nervous and/or emotional?
5. Do you suffer from insomnia?
6. Do you experience night sweats?
7. Do you have difficulty gaining weight?

Hyperthyroidism is the medical term to describe an over production of thyroid hormones.  Although this condition is less common, it can precede a slowing down of the thyroid.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland (this is an auto-immune disorder).  It is diagnosed by checking for thyroid antibodies (TPO & TGB) and gluten antibodies. Patients suffering from Hashimoto’s thyroiditis will experience symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. This means they will experience some or all of the above symptoms.  Since the thyroid gland controls the body’s metabolism, it can affect all of the systems of the body such as the gut, liver, gall bladder, hormones, cholesterol, brain (via neurotransmitters), adrenal glands, breasts, ovaries, and heart.

The only way to completely heal your thyroid gland is to balance all systems of the body and then the body (and the thyroid gland) will do what God intended them to do- they will heal naturally.

A large study of Japanese adults found those with diabetes were more likely to develop cancer, especially of certain organs such as the pancreas and liver.

Men with diabetes in the study of nearly 98,000 people were 27 percent more likely than non-diabetics to be diagnosed with cancer, the study by the National Cancer Center in Tokyo found. Women afflicted with diabetes were also more at risk for cancer.

Study author Manami Inoue wrote that researchers have suspected a link between the two diseases but have not had conclusive evidence.

One theory holds that adult-onset diabetes produces excess insulin that may promote cancer cell growth in the liver or pancreas.

Diabetes – which is on the rise in many parts of the world – may also alter levels of sex hormones that could contribute to ovarian cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.
– Archives of Internal Medicine

Dr. Keith and Laurie Nemec’s comments on diabetes linked with cancer
The interesting thing in this study was that they showed that people that have diabetes tend to have a greater increased risk of cancer. This study showed that it was possibly due to the excessive insulin that might promote cancer cell growth in certain organs like the liver and pancreas. I think to further expound upon this it is very important to understand that cancer eats sugar. Cancer is an anaerobic organism. It lives best in low oxygen, it survives in fermentation. And what is the major product that produces fermentation? Sugar. So it is very important to understand that cancer cells eat sugar faster than any cell in the body. Brain cells need the most sugar of all cells of the body and cancer cells consume sugar twice as fast as brain cells. So any sugar that goes into your body, whether in the form of refined sugars, starches, flours, or in the form of just cooked food, which turns into sugar into the body, this all feeds cancer. Everyone has cancer cells in their body, but with a strong immune system, the immune system eats the cancer cells.

The problem is that most people in America have a weakened immune system because they are breaking most all of the Seven Basic Steps to Total Health. So, if cancer eats sugar twice as fast as brain cells, and even faster than all other cells in the body, then it is very important to understand everything that we eat, has the potential to fuel cancer cell growth and tumor formation. So, the ideal diet, the most health promoting and cancer protective diet, is one that is a living/raw plant based diet.

This is a diet of seeds, nuts, legumes, sprouts, vegetables, sea vegetables, avocados, and let me make a side note, it is a diet that is also to void of most fruit. Why? Because fruit has been hybridized over the last 100 years to produce a crop of extreme sweetness. Apples that you eat today are 75-100 times sweeter than they were over 100 years ago. Sweetness sells. So it is important to understand that sugar, excessive even in fruit, can spur cancer cell growth. So it is important that we be very, very cautious on what we put in our body, that would have a sugar content. Vegetables and the living raw food diet of sprouts, sprouted seeds, legumes, avocados, nuts and sea vegetables, these are all acceptable. So to close, it is important for you to understand it is not the disease, diabetes that’s linked with cancer as much as the sugar in the blood and in the body that spurs cancer cell formation and spread. The important way for you to work on being as healthy as God created you to be is by living the Seven Basic Steps to Total Health™.