When someone is first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the doctor bases this diagnosis on blood tests that check to see if they have an abnormally high level of glucose in your blood - i.e. high blood sugar. If their blood sugar is just a little above the normal range, the doctor might just call it "pre-diabetes" or "high blood sugar" but if it's too much above the normal range for blood sugar, they'll call it "diabetes." However, the main point I want to make in this article is that even though doctors test for blood sugar levels, they almost NEVER test for insulin levels! It is possible to test for insulin (it is expensive though) but they are just not trained to do so. I don't know of any way to test for insulin levels at home but I really wish there were.
However, insulin levels can be just as important, if not more important, as blood sugar levels! Many type 2 diabetics that have higher than normal insulin levels experience the dawn phenomenon and almost all of them have a build up of fat in the liver. Some type 2 diabetics have normal levels of insulin but most actually have ELEVATED levels of insulin - this means if you are a type 2 diabetic, it is more probably than not that you have elevated insulin levels. This is because what's causing your type 2 diabetes is NOT low insulin or bad insulin but rather insulin resistance in your cell membranes. So you are producing adequate amounts of insulin, it's traveling to your cell membranes, but it can't get through the cell membrane to do it's job and help glucose enter the cell - instead, the glucose builds up in the bloodstream causing the symptom of "high blood sugar."
Now how does the medical community usually address your type 2 diabetes...
People who have been diagnosed with diabetics are encouraged to check their blood sugar regularly - prick their fingers several times a day and use test strips to check instantaneous blood sugar levels. In fact, the more they check their sugar, the more "cooperative" you are seen to be as a patient - they call you a "compliant" patient. When you go back to the doctor, they almost always prick your finger to check your blood sugar right there in the office plus it has become almost standard to draw blood and do a hemoglobin a1c test to determine what your average blood sugar has been for the last 3-6 months. This test is actually far more accurate than the finger prick method, but again, they are almost never testing for insulin levels even though they've already drawn blood for the hemoglobin a1c test! They literally have no way of knowing whether your insulin levels are normal or high!
Why aren't most doctors ordering tests to check for insulin levels? And... why is this important? Read on...
Approximately 95% of all diabetics are type 2 diabetics. The majority of type 2 diabetics still produce a normal amount of insulin - or a surplus of insulin because their bodies are trying to compensate for their cells being "insulin resistant." I know I'm sort of repeating myself here but this is a really important point. When this happens your pancreas is working over time producing extra insulin. As the cell membranes become even more resistant, the pancreas works even harder producing even more insulin. Eventually, the pancreas can't produce enough insulin and a more severe level of type 2 diabetes develops that requires the injection of insulin just like type 1 diabetics - sometimes doctors will even call type 2 diabetes type 1 diabetes when it reaches this advanced stage.
So, instead of just a surplus of glucose in their blood, many type 2 diabetics also have a surplus of insulin surging through their circulatory system reaping havoc on all their systems!
And... with this situation going on, what do many medical doctors do? They prescribe oral medications that actually encourage your pancreas to produce even more insulin! This doesn't make any sense to me if you view the bigger picture. While it's usually true that this brings the blood sugar down temporarily, it usually ends up taxing your system so much that these patients have to keep increasing their oral medications and eventually go on insulin.
Wouldn't it be better to treat the underlying CAUSE of diabetes - those damaged cell membranes that are so insulin resistant?!? (that's exactly what we do when we reverse diabetes naturally and why this is a CURE, not just a treatment of symptoms!)
Again, several of the most popular oral medications prescribed by doctors for type 2 diabetics work by stimulating the pancreas to produce MORE insulin. These include the sulfonylureas such as Minodiab (generic: glipizide), glyburide (brand names: Diabeta, Glynase, Micronase), and Amaryl (generic: glimepiride). They also include the meglitinides which include Prandin (repaglinide) and Starlix (nateglinide).
Now, I'm not a doctor, but I've got to ask the following important questions:
1. If you are a type 2 diabetic and you are already producing a normal amount of insulin or even a surplus of insulin, why would your doctor prescribe a medication that will actually raise your insulin levels even more - especially when higher than normal insulin levels can damage your body?
2. Why don't most doctors check your insulin level BEFORE they prescribe your type 2 diabetes medication(s)? Shouldn't they know what your insulin levels are BEFORE they prescribe your diabetes medications since many of these drugs stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin when this is not really what you need and is going to be really hard on your pancreas and "burn out" your beta cells?
Elevated levels of insulin are detrimental to the human body. Your system can become so taxed, it basically wears out the cells in the pancreas that produce the insulin and causes your diabetes to progress to a more serious state over time.
I encourage everyone reading this to discuss with their doctor the possibility of ordering an insulin test. If they won't or even if they are hesitant to do so, you may want to shop for a different doctor.
I mentioned above that the natural way we reverse diabetes actually addresses the underlying cause of diabetes - those insulin resistant damaged cell membranes. We work on healing the cell membranes and also on make sure we don't cause undue damage to them again. Much progress can be made in just 3-6 months (this was my personal experience as well - after I QUIT taking medication that caused my pancreas to produce so much insulin I was getting the shakes due to LOW blood sugar and roller coaster highs too) and eventually all your cells will either be replaced by cells with healthy non-insulin-resistant cell membranes or repaired to completely normal functioning. Take a look at this comprehensive guide that shows you how to do this.
However, insulin levels can be just as important, if not more important, as blood sugar levels! Many type 2 diabetics that have higher than normal insulin levels experience the dawn phenomenon and almost all of them have a build up of fat in the liver. Some type 2 diabetics have normal levels of insulin but most actually have ELEVATED levels of insulin - this means if you are a type 2 diabetic, it is more probably than not that you have elevated insulin levels. This is because what's causing your type 2 diabetes is NOT low insulin or bad insulin but rather insulin resistance in your cell membranes. So you are producing adequate amounts of insulin, it's traveling to your cell membranes, but it can't get through the cell membrane to do it's job and help glucose enter the cell - instead, the glucose builds up in the bloodstream causing the symptom of "high blood sugar."
Now how does the medical community usually address your type 2 diabetes...
People who have been diagnosed with diabetics are encouraged to check their blood sugar regularly - prick their fingers several times a day and use test strips to check instantaneous blood sugar levels. In fact, the more they check their sugar, the more "cooperative" you are seen to be as a patient - they call you a "compliant" patient. When you go back to the doctor, they almost always prick your finger to check your blood sugar right there in the office plus it has become almost standard to draw blood and do a hemoglobin a1c test to determine what your average blood sugar has been for the last 3-6 months. This test is actually far more accurate than the finger prick method, but again, they are almost never testing for insulin levels even though they've already drawn blood for the hemoglobin a1c test! They literally have no way of knowing whether your insulin levels are normal or high!
Why aren't most doctors ordering tests to check for insulin levels? And... why is this important? Read on...
Approximately 95% of all diabetics are type 2 diabetics. The majority of type 2 diabetics still produce a normal amount of insulin - or a surplus of insulin because their bodies are trying to compensate for their cells being "insulin resistant." I know I'm sort of repeating myself here but this is a really important point. When this happens your pancreas is working over time producing extra insulin. As the cell membranes become even more resistant, the pancreas works even harder producing even more insulin. Eventually, the pancreas can't produce enough insulin and a more severe level of type 2 diabetes develops that requires the injection of insulin just like type 1 diabetics - sometimes doctors will even call type 2 diabetes type 1 diabetes when it reaches this advanced stage.
So, instead of just a surplus of glucose in their blood, many type 2 diabetics also have a surplus of insulin surging through their circulatory system reaping havoc on all their systems!
And... with this situation going on, what do many medical doctors do? They prescribe oral medications that actually encourage your pancreas to produce even more insulin! This doesn't make any sense to me if you view the bigger picture. While it's usually true that this brings the blood sugar down temporarily, it usually ends up taxing your system so much that these patients have to keep increasing their oral medications and eventually go on insulin.
Wouldn't it be better to treat the underlying CAUSE of diabetes - those damaged cell membranes that are so insulin resistant?!? (that's exactly what we do when we reverse diabetes naturally and why this is a CURE, not just a treatment of symptoms!)
Again, several of the most popular oral medications prescribed by doctors for type 2 diabetics work by stimulating the pancreas to produce MORE insulin. These include the sulfonylureas such as Minodiab (generic: glipizide), glyburide (brand names: Diabeta, Glynase, Micronase), and Amaryl (generic: glimepiride). They also include the meglitinides which include Prandin (repaglinide) and Starlix (nateglinide).
Now, I'm not a doctor, but I've got to ask the following important questions:
1. If you are a type 2 diabetic and you are already producing a normal amount of insulin or even a surplus of insulin, why would your doctor prescribe a medication that will actually raise your insulin levels even more - especially when higher than normal insulin levels can damage your body?
2. Why don't most doctors check your insulin level BEFORE they prescribe your type 2 diabetes medication(s)? Shouldn't they know what your insulin levels are BEFORE they prescribe your diabetes medications since many of these drugs stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin when this is not really what you need and is going to be really hard on your pancreas and "burn out" your beta cells?
Elevated levels of insulin are detrimental to the human body. Your system can become so taxed, it basically wears out the cells in the pancreas that produce the insulin and causes your diabetes to progress to a more serious state over time.
I encourage everyone reading this to discuss with their doctor the possibility of ordering an insulin test. If they won't or even if they are hesitant to do so, you may want to shop for a different doctor.
I mentioned above that the natural way we reverse diabetes actually addresses the underlying cause of diabetes - those insulin resistant damaged cell membranes. We work on healing the cell membranes and also on make sure we don't cause undue damage to them again. Much progress can be made in just 3-6 months (this was my personal experience as well - after I QUIT taking medication that caused my pancreas to produce so much insulin I was getting the shakes due to LOW blood sugar and roller coaster highs too) and eventually all your cells will either be replaced by cells with healthy non-insulin-resistant cell membranes or repaired to completely normal functioning. Take a look at this comprehensive guide that shows you how to do this.
Doctors do this because they view Type-2 Diabetes as an incurable and inevitable progression to total beta-cell burnout. If you are producing adequate levels of insulin or higher when you present to them, they view that as nonessential information. In their view, the fact that the blood sugar is high is the more emergent problem, and the only way that they can do anything about that (from a medical standpoint) is to give enough insulin to overcome the insulin resistance of the cell.
ReplyDeleteIt simply doesn't occur to them that something could be done to lower the sugar levels in the first place. That is outside the scope of medicine, which deals with treating symptoms.
Dave
Yes Dave, I agree with you. Doctors don't address the underlying causes of diabetes, only the primary symptom - high blood sugar. The problem with using medication to invoke copious amounts of insulin in a person who is already producing too much is two fold - first, it just wears out the system that produces the insulin to the point you get to the point you can't produce any more and you have to go on insulin injections and second, high levels of insulin cause serious complications in the body - as bad or even worse than too much sugar!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thank you for your very perceptive comment. Do you have any medical training?
P.S. Dave - I think this is the perfect example of why it is so important to cure diabetes naturally instead of taking medication if at all possible - which it should be possible if you are a type 2 diabetic! Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteIs it not possible to have liver not functioning properly to participate in sugar metabolism.Liver stores the excess sugar as glycogen but if it is not able to store the excess sugar then sugar will flow in blood stream producing hyperglycemia.Or, if the liver releases more glucose in morning when you awake it will also increase fasting blood sugar. So, the liver participation in regulating the sugar level is also equally important and it may be the definite cause when your insulin levels are ideal.To have diabetes either the insulin level may be very low or it may be high ( insulin resistant).A person may be hyperglycemic in the case of severe infection or septicemia where the blood sugar rises to combat the spread of pus as the sugar is treated as antiseptic.I also appreciate the insulin levels in choosing the direction for cure e.g when insulin level is very low then the cure may be towards the activation of pancreas and if it is high then it means the pancreas is doing its function but the body is insulin resistant then the cure may be towards increasing the sensitivity of insulin.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous:
ReplyDeleteIf there is too much sugar for the liver to store as glycogen, the body will covert it to fat. This is why it is often so hard for people with high insulin levels to lose weight. High insulin levels also make the it difficult for the body to break down fat. You should think about the guide I suggest at the top of this page to learn more about this topic and how what you eat and don't eat affects it and can actually reverse your diabetes. Thank you for writing.