Lifestyle is the driver of managing diabetes. Diabetes patients are constantly reminded that it matters what you eat. While this is true, there is more to understanding diabetes when working to improve and reverse type 2 diabetes.
Have you ever been excited to check your glucose thinking that with the meal you recently ate your glucose will be looking good? Then, wham! Your glucose has skyrocketed.
Isn’t that when you think your doctor is right and that you will always need medication? You feel as if you will never get your glucose in control. You may begin to worry about increased dosages and multiple medication to control your glucose. What happens as you continue to age?
That can be frustrating and overwhelming.
What if there is another reason than food causing your erratic glucose? It seems the only hormone discussed with a diabetes patient is insulin. But there is more to consider.
The adrenal gland secretes several hormones. Cortisol, a steroid hormone is one that offsets insulin. Cortisol helps you wake up and provides energy during the day. At night, secretion is less to help you sleep and rest.
When you become stressed your cortisol levels increase. As your stress decreases so will your cortisol levels. Chronic stress will keep your cortisol levels high. Overtime, continuously high cortisol levels can cause you to become insulin resistant, can lead to inflammation, weight gain and even heart disease.
People with type 2 diabetes that tend to have cortisol levels which are lower during the day, conversely have higher glucose levels.
Increased cortisol boosts the production of glucose by your liver. Ever wonder why so many patients are prescribed metformin?
Metformin is typically the initial medication given to a prediabetes and type 2 diabetes patient to help control the production of glucose in the liver. It may be time to reconsider metformin as the first stop gap in treating diabetes. If cortisol is in part a cause for your high fasting glucose or unexplained high glucose throughout the day, it may be worth determining your cortisol levels through lab testing.
Diabetes has been referred to as a “sugar” problem. It really needs to be considered an energy problem. Current concentration is on the chain reaction of diabetes which is too much glucose production by the liver and the inability to move glucose from the bloodstream to fat and muscle cells. This translates to taking metformin and other diabetes medication.
What if we addressed a root cause of producing too much glucose? What if there is more to your diabetes story?