Midlife Metabolic Makeover- Unsugarcoated Realities of Blood Sugar and Stress Management

WEBVTT

00:00:00.201 --> 00:00:06.301
cortisol's entire mission is to raise your blood sugar so that you have adequate energy to be able to fight or flee.

00:00:06.301 --> 00:00:15.490
So it's raising blood sugar even if you're not eating anything, and with that higher blood sugar you get the higher insulin.

00:00:15.490 --> 00:00:21.048
So even if you're not consuming any sugar, any food at all, you can have really high blood sugars.

00:00:21.048 --> 00:00:22.974
And you can see this on people who are using continuous glucose monitors.

00:00:22.974 --> 00:00:26.564
You can see this on people who are using continuous glucose monitors.

00:00:26.564 --> 00:00:31.484
You can see I haven't eaten anything all day and all of a sudden my blood sugar shot through the roof.

00:00:31.484 --> 00:00:33.390
And when you ask them, well, what happened right then?

00:00:33.390 --> 00:00:37.670
Oh yeah, my boss walked into my office and I just knew it was going to be bad news.

00:00:37.670 --> 00:00:42.543
I was expecting this meeting, or you know, someone startled me.

00:00:42.543 --> 00:00:44.784
It can be something that simple.

00:00:53.851 --> 00:01:01.017
I'm Linus Woods Mullins and I love to help women to vibe, to be more vibrant, intuitive, beautiful and empowered in their life.

00:01:01.017 --> 00:01:20.121
So come on, let's vibe.

00:01:20.121 --> 00:01:22.832
Lately, we're hearing a lot about type 2 diabetes and how it just seems to be coming from nowhere.

00:01:22.832 --> 00:01:23.918
And the question is well, why is that?

00:01:23.918 --> 00:01:29.632
Why are we all of a sudden having a rash of people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and what can we do about it?

00:01:29.632 --> 00:01:32.027
And then, where does insulin come in?

00:01:32.027 --> 00:01:46.087
When it comes to talking about this newest phenomena that seems to be impacting everybody, but in particular, women over 50 are coming up more and more with type 2 diabetes, well, we're going to have someone that's going to help us figure this all out.

00:01:46.207 --> 00:02:02.492
Ann Biel-Nicholas is a board certified in holistic nutrition and a certified nutrition therapist, master level three restorative wellness practitioner, and has completed several continuing education courses in low-carb nutrition therapy practices.

00:02:02.492 --> 00:02:17.385
In other words, she is what they say the goat greatest of all time when it comes to taking a look at our nutrition from a holistic perspective, and also, in particular, when it comes to the challenges of insulin resistance, chronic constipation and advancing heart disease.

00:02:17.385 --> 00:02:22.086
So, in other words, this is someone who can definitely save your life.

00:02:22.086 --> 00:02:24.554
So, andrea, welcome so much.

00:02:24.554 --> 00:02:27.401
Absolutely true Welcome to the Vibe Living Podcast.

00:02:27.443 --> 00:02:42.729
It's wonderful to have you, and I say that because sometimes it's just incremental changes that can make major differences in our health, and I don't know why we have a tendency to ignore some of these signs that let us know that something's wrong.

00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:55.022
And then we find out what's wrong and we find out that it requires some, you know, lifestyle changes and we don't make them and next thing you know, we're on insulin and then we're on other medication because of the side effects of the insulin.

00:02:55.022 --> 00:02:57.307
Let's see what we can do to help people today.

00:02:57.307 --> 00:03:01.825
Go ahead and not just get the information, but act on the information.

00:03:01.825 --> 00:03:11.204
Tell us a little bit about you and how you came out to be so passionate, in particular, about helping people from a holistic perspective when it comes to what they are putting in their mouths.

00:03:12.227 --> 00:03:12.548
Absolutely.

00:03:12.548 --> 00:03:13.450
Thank you so much for having me.

00:03:13.450 --> 00:03:20.064
This is going to be a lot of fun and very informative for a lot of people out there, because I think this is a problem that a lot of people aren't even aware of.

00:03:20.064 --> 00:03:31.292
It is growing in popularity, like you said, but I think a lot of people still think, oh well, there's lots of other people that have this problem and they're not even really thinking about the fact that it's probably impacting them as well.

00:03:31.292 --> 00:03:37.617
A lot of the new research is showing that 93% of the population have some level of metabolic dysfunction.

00:03:37.617 --> 00:03:40.543
Wow, you have to kind of assume that that involves you.

00:03:40.562 --> 00:03:46.973
That's what I was going to say, because that's pretty much all of us Just within the last I think we talked about this within the last couple of years.

00:03:46.973 --> 00:03:55.751
Out of nowhere comes this weight Now, and I am a nutritionist and I know about all these things.

00:03:55.751 --> 00:03:56.754
But you know, everybody's body is different.

00:03:56.754 --> 00:04:00.825
That's why it's so important to be tuned in to what's going on with you and then not ignore it.

00:04:00.825 --> 00:04:03.893
So finally, I followed my own advice.

00:04:03.893 --> 00:04:07.082
I didn't ignore it, and so now I'm back on a downward trajectory.

00:04:07.082 --> 00:04:12.645
I'm one of the lucky ones I don't have the insulin resistance and some of the other things, but I do know plenty of people.

00:04:12.705 --> 00:04:14.450
I can tell you a tale of woe of someone.

00:04:14.450 --> 00:04:18.327
She was diagnosed with type two diabetes maybe a year after she retired.

00:04:18.327 --> 00:04:20.492
So she was about 61 or 62.

00:04:20.492 --> 00:04:29.430
And, quite frankly, even though I, as a friend, was telling her I know her doctors were telling her she did not make the lifestyle changes.

00:04:29.430 --> 00:04:30.858
She did increase her exercise.

00:04:30.858 --> 00:04:32.665
She was still thinking that potato salad was.

00:04:32.665 --> 00:04:33.588
You know.

00:04:33.588 --> 00:04:39.067
She would let her family members talk her into baking all these sweets and goods and then she would partake as well.

00:04:39.067 --> 00:04:44.384
Well, fast forward about 10 years later, cause she's on insulin stuff her sight begins to fail.

00:04:44.384 --> 00:04:47.329
She has gained another 200 pounds.

00:04:47.329 --> 00:04:49.855
She was once my size, about a size 6, size 8.

00:04:49.855 --> 00:04:53.083
Now she's a size like 22.

00:04:53.103 --> 00:05:01.922
She lost the use of her legs and then she began to lose her hearing and inevitably she began to lose her mind.

00:05:01.922 --> 00:05:13.521
Just died three weeks ago, and I look at this and I feel like this happened on my watch, so to speak.

00:05:13.521 --> 00:05:14.666
But you know, I always think about horses and water.

00:05:14.666 --> 00:05:16.093
You know you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

00:05:16.093 --> 00:05:23.420
So I know part of your passion is getting the education, but I want to know how do you get people motivated to actually act on the information that you provide?

00:05:24.403 --> 00:05:35.144
Yeah, I think that is the trick, and that's the hard part for a lot of us is we have all the information in a lot of cases, or we can get the information, but then actually doing something about it is the hard part.

00:05:35.144 --> 00:05:38.350
And, like you said, we can't make anyone else do the work.

00:05:38.350 --> 00:05:40.060
They have to want it for themselves.

00:05:40.060 --> 00:05:45.045
It's just like someone who's, you know, addicted to smoking or drinking or any kind of drug use or whatever.

00:05:45.045 --> 00:05:47.348
We can't want them to clean up their act.

00:05:47.348 --> 00:05:48.468
They have to want it.

00:05:48.468 --> 00:05:51.331
The same thing is true when it comes to all aspects of health.

00:05:51.331 --> 00:05:53.413
You can't make someone work out if they don't want to.

00:05:53.413 --> 00:05:55.596
You can't make someone change their diet if they don't want to.

00:05:55.596 --> 00:05:56.617
They have to want to.

00:05:56.617 --> 00:06:04.826
So for me, that begins with helping them really understand what it is that they're facing, what the consequences are those things.

00:06:04.846 --> 00:06:06.649
None of us really want to lose our legs.

00:06:06.649 --> 00:06:22.497
No one wants to go blind, no one wants to have Alzheimer's or dementia or any loss of function that leads to a lot of suffering, and so I think if people understand the consequences of those choices, that can often be helpful.

00:06:22.497 --> 00:06:25.728
But they also have to know what do they have to do?

00:06:25.728 --> 00:06:28.043
How hard is this going to be?

00:06:28.043 --> 00:06:32.603
Are there things they can do that aren't so hard, or is there a way to make it simple?

00:06:32.603 --> 00:06:34.528
Is there a way to still enjoy life?

00:06:34.528 --> 00:06:45.829
I think so many people feel like this is going to overhaul everything they do and they're not going to be able to have any fun and they're not going to be able to go to the parties, they're not going to be able to do all the things they love to do, and that's just really not true.

00:06:45.829 --> 00:06:54.011
There's always ways to improve what you're doing and even if it doesn't fully reverse it, with those improvements, it's still going to help.

00:06:54.011 --> 00:06:55.884
You're still going to minimize the consequences.

00:06:55.884 --> 00:06:58.451
You're still going to not decline as rapidly.

00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:04.146
Right, and I think also another thing to take a look at is a lot of people think, well, I'll just get on insulin and that will take care of it.

00:07:04.146 --> 00:07:07.149
And people don't understand that insulin is a synthetic.

00:07:07.149 --> 00:07:07.889
It's processed.

00:07:07.889 --> 00:07:13.716
It's not something that's normal for the body that you're injecting and over time your organs, your body, gets tired.

00:07:13.716 --> 00:07:27.988
It does not process it the same way and it stops working in the same way that it did before and in the meantime, while it's not doing the true function of what it's supposed to be doing, then other organs in your body begin to fail as well.

00:07:27.988 --> 00:07:36.137
So it's not the panacea, it's not even something that's for type 2 in particular, not something you're supposed to be hopefully lasting on forever.

00:07:36.137 --> 00:07:45.992
The hope is that you can make the lifestyle adjustments so that if you have to have insulin, it's not as much as maybe it would be if you weren't taking care of yourself.

00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:53.334
My other tale of not woe is someone else who was diagnosed with diabetes around the same time as my friend.

00:07:53.334 --> 00:07:55.225
We belong to the same prayer line.

00:07:55.225 --> 00:07:57.504
Okay, she's still alive.

00:07:57.504 --> 00:08:01.185
Same ages, we tied around the same time, but she's still alive.

00:08:01.185 --> 00:08:03.947
Does she struggle with her blood sugar level sometimes?

00:08:03.947 --> 00:08:13.889
Yes, is she still on insulin Occasionally, but not as much, because she made the lifestyle changes and that has basically saved her life.

00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:24.779
She's had none of the same issues that my poor friend had, who passed away, and I think that is such a good example of what you can do by making incremental changes.

00:08:24.779 --> 00:08:25.865
So let's talk about that.

00:08:25.865 --> 00:08:26.721
I'm glad you mentioned that.

00:08:26.721 --> 00:08:28.086
Some people think it's like so hard.

00:08:28.086 --> 00:08:30.451
What can you do to get control?

00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:32.062
Yeah.

00:08:32.062 --> 00:08:36.984
So diet obviously is going to be the biggest driver that's directly contributing to blood sugar issues.

00:08:36.984 --> 00:08:41.865
That's directly contributing to what your insulin levels are doing, naturally, if you're producing insulin.

00:08:41.865 --> 00:08:47.048
Obviously, if you have type one diabetes, you don't have any insulin that you're producing, so you have to take medications.

00:08:47.048 --> 00:08:50.327
Type two diabetes is actually the opposite end of that spectrum.

00:08:50.327 --> 00:08:53.004
It's actually too much insulin.

00:08:53.004 --> 00:08:59.907
It's just that your body isn't listening to that signal so it takes a lot to do the job that it should be able to do with much less.

00:08:59.907 --> 00:09:14.734
So actually injecting the insulin while sometimes necessary just like taking any medication, can be necessary it's actually making the problem worse because you're just adding more insulin to an already high insulin state.

00:09:15.341 --> 00:09:20.626
So really we have to get control over the diet and that can happen incrementally, that can happen overnight.

00:09:20.626 --> 00:09:22.407
You know everyone's got all different personalities.

00:09:22.407 --> 00:09:28.363
Some people are cold turkey, rip the bandaid off people, and some people are a little more gradual and need to kind of baby step in.

00:09:28.363 --> 00:09:39.640
But for sure, none of us need to be eating refined sugars, simple carbohydrates, highly processed foods these are the things that are driving blood sugar highest fastest.

00:09:39.640 --> 00:09:41.504
They're the biggest impactors.

00:09:41.504 --> 00:09:49.625
So for all of us, whether you have diabetes or not, that's probably something that really should be minimized or completely eliminated.

00:09:49.625 --> 00:09:50.966
Just get rid of the simple things.

00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:56.426
Along with that, I would also say don't drink your calories, don't drink your sugars.

00:09:56.426 --> 00:09:58.849
So avoiding the sodas, avoiding juice.

00:09:58.849 --> 00:10:10.381
I know a lot of us have been told that juice is a great thing and juicing is good because it's, you know, packed with all these nutrients.

00:10:10.381 --> 00:10:11.062
But it's also concentrated sugars.

00:10:11.062 --> 00:10:11.504
It's highly processed.

00:10:11.504 --> 00:10:17.124
Even if you make it at home from scratch, you're concentrating like a glass of orange juice is like the equivalent of 16 or 18 oranges.

00:10:17.124 --> 00:10:23.102
You would never sit and eat that many oranges, but you're drinking that much sugar in one glass.

00:10:23.102 --> 00:10:27.173
So I would not drink your sugars especially.

00:10:27.173 --> 00:10:30.370
But really drinking calories is just not ideal in general.

00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:39.750
And then from there we just kind of have to finely tune the rest of your diet making sure you're getting adequate protein, that you're getting healthy fats in.

00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:41.379
Those are what are going to keep you satiated.

00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:49.370
They're giving you all the building blocks that you need to make hormones, to make enzymes for your muscles, for your brain, for your bones, all these things.

00:10:49.370 --> 00:10:57.388
And then, depending on your tolerance level, you might be able to add in some complex carbohydrates and even some starchy carbohydrates.

00:10:57.388 --> 00:10:59.027
It just depends on your health.

00:10:59.027 --> 00:11:08.303
The most severe diabetes cases are truly carbohydrate intolerant, so you might actually need to avoid those things for a while.

00:11:08.303 --> 00:11:12.182
If you can reverse the condition, you might be able to add some of those things back in.

00:11:12.182 --> 00:11:18.850
But if you add all the junk and the refined and the simple sugars back in, you'll wind up right back in the diabetes position.

00:11:18.850 --> 00:11:22.020
So we really do have to get a hold of the diet first.

00:11:22.020 --> 00:11:23.043
That's the biggest driver.

00:11:23.283 --> 00:11:28.032
Let's talk about some of those simple incremental changes that people may not have thought of.

00:11:28.032 --> 00:11:29.433
That might make a difference.

00:11:29.433 --> 00:11:32.706
What are some of the things that people should take a look at?

00:11:32.706 --> 00:11:33.869
Just dropping completely.

00:11:34.990 --> 00:11:35.552
Yeah, for sure.

00:11:35.552 --> 00:11:36.495
Any of the simple stuff.

00:11:36.495 --> 00:11:39.763
So the sodas, anything with like syrup or plain sugar.

00:11:39.763 --> 00:11:45.653
You know anyone's adding straight sugar to like to their coffee or to their breakfast or you know any of those kinds of things.

00:11:45.653 --> 00:11:56.958
Just, you know, eliminating anywhere you can the simple sugars, the candies, the cookies, the pies, the straight sugar in your coffee, the sugar filled, you know, frappuccinos and really desserts in a cup.

00:11:56.958 --> 00:12:00.451
All of these kinds of things are really the biggest drivers.

00:12:00.451 --> 00:12:02.817
So those really need to be honestly.

00:12:02.817 --> 00:12:04.041
They really should be eliminated.

00:12:04.041 --> 00:12:13.402
If you have diabetes, they're just blood sugar bombs and there's just really no way around that except for loading up on medications that all have side effects and all have their downsides.

00:12:13.402 --> 00:12:19.299
So avoiding the really simple things is the easiest thing to start with.

00:12:20.001 --> 00:12:24.160
The second thing I would say is really look at your overall, just eating schedule.

00:12:24.160 --> 00:12:29.417
How often are you actually putting things that have flavors or calories in your mouth?

00:12:29.417 --> 00:12:34.474
That includes all your drinks, any mints, gum, like all the things.

00:12:34.474 --> 00:12:38.850
How often, how many times a day, are you actually putting things in your mouth?

00:12:38.850 --> 00:12:42.841
Most people are putting something in their mouth like 16 to 18 times a day.

00:12:42.841 --> 00:13:00.061
Every time you do that, even if it has zero calories, if it's got a flavor, if your brain or your hormones can perceive food coming which it can come from even non-caloric sweeteners, your body's responding to that, and so you may get an insulin spike even though you're not getting a blood sugar spike.

00:13:00.061 --> 00:13:02.518
Well, that's contributing to dysregulation.

00:13:02.518 --> 00:13:08.077
Now you've got insulin when you don't actually need it because you don't have incoming sugar, and that's contributing to all of these problems.

00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:14.970
So, whether you're taking in calories or not, we really need to narrow down the number of times we're spiking all of these systems.

00:13:14.970 --> 00:13:21.710
We need to give them time between meals systems.

00:13:21.710 --> 00:13:22.511
We need to give them time between meals.

00:13:22.511 --> 00:13:24.475
So not only between dinner one day and breakfast the next day, but also between those meals.

00:13:24.475 --> 00:13:27.863
Your digestion needs time to process all those foods.

00:13:27.863 --> 00:13:39.898
It takes about 90 minutes to really get everything going, and certain aspects of our digestion only actually run about every 90 minutes If you're constantly adding food to that only actually run about every 90 minutes.

00:13:39.898 --> 00:13:41.841
If you're constantly adding food to that, it doesn't run, doesn't work.

00:13:41.841 --> 00:13:44.945
So we have to really give our bodies a break between meals too.

00:13:50.370 --> 00:13:53.138
Which is one of the, I guess, proponents of the whole idea of intermittent fasting and giving your body a break.

00:13:53.138 --> 00:14:11.078
I intermittent fast, although I will do it for a while and then I'll stop for a little while, because sometimes I think too much of anything, even if it's good, gets to be not as great, and you got to kind of fool your body a little bit because you know it will stop working as well because it becomes complacent and used to it.

00:14:11.078 --> 00:14:18.640
So I do, I get a minute fasting for about three or four months and I give myself a break for about a month and do something else a little different portion control or something.

00:14:18.640 --> 00:14:25.956
But you know a lot of people don't understand what insulin resistance is.

00:14:25.956 --> 00:14:27.581
So let's back up a little bit and tell me what is insulin resistance?

00:14:27.581 --> 00:14:28.745
What's the definition of that?

00:14:29.889 --> 00:14:34.438
So insulin resistance is a condition that has two main features.

00:14:34.438 --> 00:14:39.960
One is the body has become less responsive to the presence of insulin.

00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:45.600
So insulin is there, it's being produced, it's being released as it should, but it's not really working.

00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:47.437
The cells aren't listening.

00:14:47.437 --> 00:14:49.277
It's kind of like the boy that cried wolf.

00:14:49.277 --> 00:14:54.921
The body has been screaming for so long that it's like I'm not listening to you anymore.

00:14:54.921 --> 00:14:55.923
There's no more vacancy.

00:14:55.923 --> 00:14:57.792
We're full, we can't take anything more.

00:14:58.072 --> 00:15:05.485
Because one of main, one of insulin's primary functions is to get sugar out of the blood and into the cells.

00:15:05.485 --> 00:15:09.698
Well, if the cells are already overloaded, there's no more room.

00:15:09.698 --> 00:15:14.736
We can't store that sugar inside the cell, so it stops responding to insulin.

00:15:14.736 --> 00:15:30.239
When we stop responding to the insulin, the pancreas is still trying to lower blood sugar, so it pumps out even more insulin and screams louder, and so it ends up being high insulin and resistance to that insulin.

00:15:30.239 --> 00:15:33.330
That's really what's happening with the insulin resistance.

00:15:33.330 --> 00:15:38.832
So, even though it sounds like it's really only the resistance to it, the resistance happens because of the high levels.

00:15:38.832 --> 00:15:40.596
So the two really do have to go together.

00:15:41.118 --> 00:15:43.583
What are some of the signs of insulin resistance?

00:15:44.812 --> 00:15:50.475
The best way to know is testing and unfortunately most conventional testing isn't covering all the bases.

00:15:50.475 --> 00:15:55.331
The conventional medical model still looks at diabetes as a blood sugar problem.

00:15:55.331 --> 00:15:59.061
But really it's an insulin problem, whether it's type 1 or type 2.

00:15:59.061 --> 00:16:01.133
In type 1, it's that you don't produce any.

00:16:01.133 --> 00:16:06.174
In type 2, it's that you're highly insulin resistant and you have very high levels of insulin.

00:16:06.174 --> 00:16:11.554
It's actually an insulin problem and you can have a fasting insulin test done.

00:16:11.554 --> 00:16:13.501
That is one of the best tests you can do.

00:16:13.501 --> 00:16:18.695
There's also you know, fasting blood sugar is also a valuable marker Hemoglobin A1C.

00:16:18.695 --> 00:16:23.884
There's lots of different markers that we can look at to kind of assess where your current metabolic health is.

00:16:23.884 --> 00:16:27.941
So that's not really a symptom, but that's the best way to know for sure where you're at.

00:16:28.451 --> 00:16:31.559
From a symptom standpoint, there's a whole range of things.

00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:34.830
Just like most conditions, it shows up a little bit differently for everyone.

00:16:34.830 --> 00:16:39.841
This can be that you gain weight really easily and you really struggle to lose the weight.

00:16:39.841 --> 00:16:43.456
This can be really bad sugar cravings or carb cravings.

00:16:43.456 --> 00:16:49.361
This can be you can't fast, you get really shaky and weak and tired and those kinds of things.

00:16:49.361 --> 00:17:00.456
If you can't go more than a couple hours without eating, if you get irritable when you can't eat, if you have skin tags or changes in your skin tone, that can be indications.

00:17:00.456 --> 00:17:02.532
You can also have other hormone imbalances.

00:17:02.712 --> 00:17:07.211
Insulin plays many, many roles in the body and it also has a lot to do with other hormones.

00:17:07.211 --> 00:17:11.980
It also plays into cancer growth, even bone health.

00:17:11.980 --> 00:17:14.553
I mean it plays into good and bad things throughout the body.

00:17:14.553 --> 00:17:17.519
So it can show up for a variety of reasons.

00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:19.650
Other people will know they have hypertension.

00:17:19.650 --> 00:17:23.413
One of the main drivers of hypertension is insulin resistance.

00:17:23.413 --> 00:17:31.857
Same thing with the most common causes of infertility For women that's PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome, and for men that's erectile dysfunction.

00:17:31.857 --> 00:17:35.900
Those are the two most common causes, both of which are driven by insulin resistance.

00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:38.942
So it can show up in a lot of different ways.

00:17:38.942 --> 00:17:58.387
But really, if you have any chronic health condition that, no matter what you do, just isn't getting better or medications are the only thing you've been able to find that move the needle at all you probably have insulin resistance Interesting and you know the majority of the people who listen to this podcast are between the ages of 45 and 55.

00:17:58.407 --> 00:18:03.561
And of course, during that time all kinds of things are happening to our bodies and continue to.

00:18:03.561 --> 00:18:07.438
I have bad news for y'all the menopause thing doesn't really go away.

00:18:07.438 --> 00:18:09.277
This comes back in a different form.

00:18:09.277 --> 00:18:18.905
But when it comes to women and their hormones, how does the imbalance of hormones contribute to the possible increase of insulin resistance?

00:18:18.925 --> 00:18:28.395
Yes, you know, hormones are so impactful and most of us, frankly, even in the health profession, know so little about what they actually do.

00:18:28.395 --> 00:18:29.178
You know, we think of.

00:18:29.178 --> 00:18:33.234
Most people hear hormones and they think of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone.

00:18:33.234 --> 00:18:36.750
But there's thyroid hormone, insulin is a hormone there.

00:18:36.750 --> 00:18:43.596
I mean there's hundreds of hormones in the body and they all play tremendous roles and they all interact with each other.

00:18:43.596 --> 00:18:49.791
So when one gets out of whack they all get a little bit messed up, whether that be higher levels, lower levels, or just they don't work as well.

00:18:50.553 --> 00:18:57.556
A lot of them also use the same cellular receptors and when you have insulin resistance, that causes inflammation.

00:18:57.556 --> 00:19:06.575
Inflammation can damage those cell receptors, which means they don't work as well, so you can end up with sort of like a resistance to all the hormones.

00:19:06.575 --> 00:19:16.096
It's a little bit different with, say, estrogen, but it just means that they just don't work as efficiently or we don't detox them as well, so they stick around longer than they should.

00:19:16.096 --> 00:19:23.278
So we really need to just focus on all of them together because they all interact together.

00:19:23.278 --> 00:19:28.357
Insulin is the easiest one that we have the biggest control over because it's so driven by diet.

00:19:28.357 --> 00:19:37.015
Estrogen, progesterone, testosterone those are related to diet and lifestyle, but we don't have as much tangible control like we do with insulin.

00:19:37.095 --> 00:19:44.463
The studies have been all over the place in terms of the kinds of things we might eat to lower our estrogen or to increase our progesterone.

00:19:44.463 --> 00:19:47.692
I mean, they really the studies are not conclusive.

00:19:47.692 --> 00:19:58.262
So all the more reason to pay attention to what we do know, and that is the fact that there are definitely lifestyle changes you need to be making if you are insulin resistant.

00:19:58.262 --> 00:20:02.622
Now, where does exercise come in when it comes to managing insulin resistance?

00:20:03.671 --> 00:20:06.211
Exercise is phenomenal for so many things.

00:20:06.211 --> 00:20:08.317
It's really not the best thing for weight loss.

00:20:08.317 --> 00:20:10.020
We'll just put that out.

00:20:10.020 --> 00:20:12.657
I think a lot of people think I'll just go to the gym and then I can eat whatever I want.

00:20:12.657 --> 00:20:13.672
It really doesn't work that way.

00:20:13.672 --> 00:20:17.910
That doesn't change your hormones in that sense to help you with the weight loss.

00:20:18.330 --> 00:20:25.604
What exercise is really good for is normally a lot of our cells require insulin to kind of open the door and allow glucose in.

00:20:25.604 --> 00:20:35.738
When you're exercising, your muscles are so hungry for glucose that they just open up and all the glucose can come in without the use of insulin.

00:20:35.738 --> 00:20:43.936
And so it becomes a great way to just burn off all that excess glucose naturally, without having to raise insulin.

00:20:43.936 --> 00:20:47.695
So it's actually helping to lower insulin levels, which is good.

00:20:47.695 --> 00:20:51.712
It's not going to drop them too far, but it's going to drop them into the normal ranges.

00:20:51.712 --> 00:21:00.866
And then secondly, especially with resistance training, the more muscle we have, the more glucose we can use and the more glucose we can store.

00:21:00.866 --> 00:21:09.702
So even though we don't store it directly as glucose, we store it as glycogen, which is long chains of glucose all crammed together, or as fat.

00:21:09.702 --> 00:21:20.000
The muscle can use those two sources for energy all the time just to survive, and so the more muscle we have, the more carbohydrates we can have, the more glucose sink.

00:21:21.710 --> 00:21:22.895
Ketosis is based on you're putting your body in ketosis.

00:21:22.895 --> 00:21:25.047
It's based on, you know, putting your body in ketosis.

00:21:25.047 --> 00:21:33.651
That's based on the whole idea of burning fat and not burning the other component in your body that gives you energy.

00:21:33.651 --> 00:21:42.914
But you know, it's interesting because, while intellectually we know that people know this or they've heard about it before, these are all very popular terms.

00:21:42.914 --> 00:21:44.477
Insulin resistance about it before, these are all very popular terms.

00:21:44.477 --> 00:22:00.318
Insulin resistance, strength training, you know, watching your carbs, the good carbs, the healthy carbs, the bad carbs all of that Still, and yet we are at, as you said, 93% propensity for you to have some kind of issue with your insulin.

00:22:00.318 --> 00:22:01.201
So what is the answer?

00:22:01.201 --> 00:22:07.490
What is it that you think we need to really start thinking about, to make a change, to not have those kind of numbers?

00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:15.458
There's got to be some kind of secret sauce or some kind of thing that all of a sudden, people have an aha moment and make a change.

00:22:15.458 --> 00:22:16.473
What do you think it is?

00:22:17.692 --> 00:22:19.317
I think diet is the biggest change.

00:22:19.317 --> 00:22:21.174
If we look at the way we've eaten.

00:22:21.174 --> 00:22:30.842
Throughout history all of human history it was primarily whole food straight from the earth, whether that be animal products or berries, vegetables, whatever.

00:22:30.842 --> 00:22:37.711
It was straight from the earth, whole ingredients that might've been then combined or just eaten as they were.

00:22:37.711 --> 00:22:40.342
That's not how we're eating today.

00:22:40.342 --> 00:22:42.087
Most of us are hitting drive-thrus.

00:22:42.087 --> 00:22:44.817
We're buying things in boxes and bags and packages.

00:22:48.390 --> 00:22:54.913
We don't even know what most of the ingredients are in our food, right, in fact, if it tastes good, that's good enough.

00:22:54.913 --> 00:23:01.054
And I would venture to say that if it tastes good and they're making masses of it, more than likely there are things in there to help it taste good which aren't good for us.

00:23:01.054 --> 00:23:08.171
Not to say that eating healthy means that you do not have a palate for what you're eating.

00:23:08.171 --> 00:23:09.976
That's another misnomer.

00:23:09.976 --> 00:23:17.593
They think if you're eating organic or if you're eating all veggies or whatever the diet is, whatever lifestyle change, it's just not going to taste as good, and that's not true.

00:23:18.815 --> 00:23:26.460
No, and I think the more you actually get back to eating real whole foods, the less palatable those processed foods become.

00:23:26.460 --> 00:23:33.384
I know every once in a while you like give in and you're like, oh, I'll have a couple Doritos or Oreos or whatever and all you can taste are the chemicals.

00:23:33.384 --> 00:23:39.194
Right, but you get so used to eating those foods that you don't even taste the fakeness in them.

00:23:39.194 --> 00:23:49.165
The more you can eat real foods and actually taste real flavors and kind of reset your whole palate, the less you even want those things because you can taste all the fakeness in it.

00:23:49.646 --> 00:23:49.866
Right.

00:23:49.866 --> 00:23:55.375
Well, here's a tip that I always tell my clients when they're trying to make a lifestyle change and eating healthier.

00:23:55.375 --> 00:24:11.326
I tell them you know to change one thing in their diet and focus on that, whether it's going to be drinking more water or maybe having more dark, green leafy vegetables, or perhaps you know braising or air frying their chicken instead of frying it.

00:24:11.326 --> 00:24:20.152
And you find that as you begin to make some of these incremental changes, the cravings that you have for the bad stuff goes away Over time.

00:24:20.152 --> 00:24:26.498
You want to add something else that's healthy to that salad you've been eating and you really don't necessarily want to have some French fries.

00:24:26.498 --> 00:24:27.359
I mean, this sounds gross.

00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:31.221
French fries with salad sounds gross to me anyway, because the oil on the French fries and the salad.

00:24:31.221 --> 00:24:38.191
But I'm sure there was a time, maybe in my 20s or something, when I wasn't as aware where that would have seen.

00:24:38.191 --> 00:24:41.958
Oh great, french fries salad, no problem, and it's really interesting.

00:24:41.958 --> 00:24:52.873
The more you add that's good incrementally, the less you're going to want to keep those other habits and the more you're going to want to kind of decrease the things that aren't good.

00:24:52.873 --> 00:24:56.182
And I think the um example of the potato chips is absolutely fine.

00:24:56.182 --> 00:25:01.309
You can really shoot to heck the whole theory of no one can eat just one from ladies potato chips.

00:25:01.309 --> 00:25:04.178
That's a old slogan I'm myself.

00:25:04.178 --> 00:25:09.221
But back in the day there was this commercial that said you know, lay's potato chips, no one can eat just one.

00:25:09.221 --> 00:25:11.297
And of course people rest their story to eat the Lay's potato chips.

00:25:11.297 --> 00:25:11.898
Is it really true?

00:25:11.898 --> 00:25:19.675
Well, yeah, it is, because it's the crunch, it's the salt, it's the oil and it's the brainwashing of the commercial, it's all of that.

00:25:19.675 --> 00:25:22.298
And you find yourself right no one can eat just one.

00:25:22.298 --> 00:25:34.567
But what happens is when you decide to make that change incrementally to eating healthier, you find out that, yeah, you can probably eat just one or two, but not the whole bag.

00:25:36.131 --> 00:25:37.516
And I've had some of those sessions.

00:25:37.516 --> 00:25:43.395
Back in the day, my weakness was Cheez-Its and it was like the hand and mouth not even tasting it anymore.

00:25:43.395 --> 00:25:46.126
Just, you know, I fell asleep eating Cheez-Its and it was like the hand and mouth not even tasting it anymore.

00:25:46.126 --> 00:25:48.894
Just you know, I fell asleep eating Cheez-Its.

00:25:48.894 --> 00:25:54.277
One time my girls woke up and said mom, gross, wait, you're eating Cheez-Its in your sleep.

00:25:54.277 --> 00:25:58.411
But that was the emotional eating part of the time when I was raising my kids.

00:25:58.411 --> 00:26:00.854
Now they're all in their thirties and I don't do that anymore.

00:26:00.854 --> 00:26:07.421
But you know, if we can stop and take a look at those incremental changes that we can make, that can make such a difference.

00:26:07.421 --> 00:26:11.005
As you said, eating healthier, getting more exercise.

00:26:11.005 --> 00:26:12.006
What about stress?

00:26:12.006 --> 00:26:16.897
How does stress impact our body's ability to deal with the insulin issue?

00:26:17.750 --> 00:26:29.015
Stress is a major problem and I think that's up there almost equal with diet, and I think we're so used to it, just like we are with chemicals and food we're so used to it we don't even recognize it.

00:26:29.015 --> 00:26:32.357
I ask every one of my clients how would they rate their stress?

00:26:32.357 --> 00:26:40.424
And almost everyone is like no more than average, which in and of itself says a lot, because the average is really high nowadays.

00:26:40.444 --> 00:26:41.605
Like eight, nine.

00:26:41.866 --> 00:26:47.296
Yeah, but they everyone kind of assumes that, no, I'm not under any more stress than anybody else Like.

00:26:47.296 --> 00:26:50.327
They just brush it off as not even a thing or that.

00:26:50.327 --> 00:26:52.594
It comes and goes, but it's not really a big deal.

00:26:52.594 --> 00:26:58.212
The problem is we're not really even looking at all the sources of stress to begin with.

00:26:58.212 --> 00:27:05.366
So it's not just traffic and deadlines and financial worries or relationship strife.

00:27:05.366 --> 00:27:17.032
It's also underlying infections, toxin exposures, physical injuries, over-exercising, being too sedentary All of these things are stressors.

00:27:17.032 --> 00:27:19.659
Having high blood sugar is a stressor on the body.

00:27:19.659 --> 00:27:22.994
All of these things are contributing to the problem.

00:27:22.994 --> 00:27:29.047
And really what happens is when you're under any kind of stress that your body's perceiving, even if it's not even real.

00:27:29.047 --> 00:27:30.471
It's just a worry in your mind.

00:27:30.471 --> 00:27:31.816
It's not even something that has happened.

00:27:32.436 --> 00:27:35.151
Even a perceived stress raises your stress hormones.

00:27:35.151 --> 00:27:37.375
Specifically, one of them is cortisol.

00:27:37.375 --> 00:27:45.201
Cortisol's entire job is to raise your blood sugar to give you the energy to either run from or fight off your attacker.

00:27:45.201 --> 00:27:50.541
But most of us don't actually need to physically fight or run from our attacker.

00:27:50.541 --> 00:27:57.834
These stressors are things we sit and stew in, these are worries, these are, you know, day-to-day to-do lists.

00:27:57.834 --> 00:28:02.053
These are all of the things we don't actually need blood sugar to fight them off.

00:28:02.053 --> 00:28:02.976
We don't have control over that.

00:28:02.976 --> 00:28:09.537
Cortisol's entire mission is to raise your blood sugar so that you have adequate energy to be able to fight or flee.

00:28:09.537 --> 00:28:18.680
So it's raising blood sugar even if you're not eating anything, and with that higher blood sugar you get the higher insulin.

00:28:18.680 --> 00:28:25.683
So even if you're not consuming any sugar, any food at all, you can have really high blood sugars.

00:28:26.131 --> 00:28:29.800
And you can see this on people who are using continuous glucose monitors.

00:28:29.800 --> 00:28:34.718
You can see I haven't eaten anything all day and all of a sudden my blood sugar shot through the roof.

00:28:34.718 --> 00:28:36.616
And when you ask them, well, what happened right then?

00:28:36.616 --> 00:28:40.921
Oh yeah, my boss walked into my office and I just knew it was going to be bad news.

00:28:40.921 --> 00:28:45.760
Or I was expecting this meeting or, you know, someone startled me.

00:28:45.760 --> 00:28:51.172
It can be something that simple.

00:28:51.172 --> 00:28:56.551
Now, of course, that's a quick spike and it comes right back down because it was a short-term situation, but you can see it literally happen on a continuous glucose monitor.

00:28:56.551 --> 00:28:59.881
The same thing happens when you're watching a suspenseful TV show.

00:28:59.881 --> 00:29:05.602
You don't have to be eating anything Interesting, you're perceiving the stress.

00:29:06.009 --> 00:29:12.497
Yeah, a lot of times people think the stress is grounded in other things, like you mentioned, you know, financial matters, relationships and all the other stuff.

00:29:12.497 --> 00:29:22.396
But it's all the other things that we don't even encode as stress because we're just so used to dealing with them that we don't even perceive it as it being an issue.

00:29:22.396 --> 00:29:28.558
I have found that meditation has helped me a lot when it comes to driving down my cortisol levels.

00:29:28.558 --> 00:29:46.095
In fact, you can drop inches once you learn the meditation, because it drives down the cortisol levels and, of course, cortisol another part of cortisol it can thicken you, especially when you're menopausal and, of course, when you're going to menopause, the cortisol levels go way up anyway.

00:29:46.095 --> 00:29:55.082
And then you add the stressors of the day and the other inherent stresses that you're not, or intrinsic stresses that you're not even thinking about.

00:29:55.550 --> 00:29:59.730
And it's no wonder everybody's walking around with stomachs that look like they're three months pregnant.

00:29:59.730 --> 00:30:02.473
I mean, you know it's really.

00:30:02.473 --> 00:30:04.115
I mean that's's, that's really the truth.

00:30:04.115 --> 00:30:17.747
The thing that worries me a lot is when I see young people, you know, 15 and 16 years old, who haven't had any children, not in menopause or any of that, and they've got these stomachs, and it's almost like a source of pride.

00:30:17.747 --> 00:30:22.474
These days, I see people wearing outfits where it's showing that obviously your stomach is there, where it's showing that obviously your stomach is, you know, there.

00:30:22.474 --> 00:30:30.343
And that's what concerns me, because when I see a stomach, an extended stomach like that, I see all kinds of things going on around blood sugar levels.

00:30:30.864 --> 00:30:31.003
Yep.

00:30:31.545 --> 00:30:33.146
That can lead to other things.

00:30:33.146 --> 00:30:47.861
You know, andrea, it's been so wonderful talking to you and I really am grateful for your mission and for getting the word out there For people who want to find out more about your services, because I'm assuming you work with people virtually.

00:30:47.861 --> 00:31:03.662
We have put all your contact information in the show notes and I just want to thank you for your service because I know when you do these podcasts, interviews and everything, it's not necessarily for pay, but it's for getting the word out, because you are that passionate about what you do.

00:31:04.630 --> 00:31:05.271
Yes, absolutely.

00:31:05.271 --> 00:31:11.800
I think the more information people have, the more action they can take and the lives that they can change, not only for themselves but everyone around them.

00:31:11.800 --> 00:31:13.733
Just to inspire them to take action.

00:31:14.395 --> 00:31:15.679
Absolutely, Andrea.

00:31:15.679 --> 00:31:18.311
Thank you so much for being on the Vibe Living Podcast.

00:31:18.311 --> 00:31:19.814
It's been wonderful having you here today.

00:31:20.474 --> 00:31:21.537
Thank you so much for having me.

00:31:22.238 --> 00:31:26.904
You're welcome and, for all of you who've been listening, thank you for joining us.

00:31:26.904 --> 00:31:31.778
I know there's so many podcasts out there that you could be listening to and I'm glad you decided to spend a few minutes with us.

00:31:31.778 --> 00:31:44.880
Please take a look at the links on the show page to find ways to get in touch with Andrea and to learn more about her philosophy and how you can get involved in having her help you to lower your blood sugar levels and to get control of your insulin.

00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:48.979
And if anything we've said today resonates with you, please let us know.

00:31:48.979 --> 00:31:50.082
I'd love to see your comments.

00:31:50.082 --> 00:32:01.519
Please like, share the podcast and subscribe so that you will not miss one single episode, because we have some great interviews lined up that are gonna help you to be more vibrant, more intuitive, beautiful and empowered in your midlife.

00:32:01.871 --> 00:32:04.403
Thanks so much for listening and don't forget to vibe.

00:32:04.403 --> 00:32:05.210
And empowered in your midlife.

00:32:05.210 --> 00:32:07.645
Thanks so much for listening and don't forget to vibe.

00:32:07.645 --> 00:32:08.048
Bye-bye everybody.

00:32:08.048 --> 00:32:17.057
Thanks for listening to the Vibe Living Podcast and don't forget to subscribe, like and comment and share this podcast.

00:32:17.057 --> 00:32:20.115
Have a fantastic day and don't forget to vibe.

00:32:20.115 --> 00:32:21.057
Bye-bye everybody.