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Writer's pictureDr. Kate Wong, DC

Guilty of your Valentine's Chocolate Month?

Updated: Aug 28, 2018


[Here’s A Way To Have Your Cake And Eat It Too (In Moderation)]

A way to to enjoy sugar while keeping diabetes at bay is by eating more soluble fiber. Here's why we recommend you increase your fiber intake:

  1. Soluble dietary fiber reduces glucose responses after carbohydrate-rich meals. That means you don’t crash after your sugar high. Fiber slows down gastric emptying, which is the time it takes for food to empty from the stomach and enter the small intestine. This makes you feel fuller with less food.

  2. Studies have shown a metabolic link between high dietary fiber intake with a lower risk of diabetes. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine recommends a fiber intake of 50g a day (about 2 oz of soluble and insoluble fiber). We agree.

  3. People with high dietary fiber intake have lower C-reactive protein(CRP) levels in their blood, a marker for inflammation in the body. Soluble fiber can help people with joint diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

[The Dietary Fibers That Will Keep Your Blood Sugar Levels In Check]

Let’s talk about what you can eat to regulate your blood sugar levels. Some of the foods we list below can also satisfy your sweet tooth if you have one.

Pectin (soluble fiber) that is great for blood sugar levels--naturally found in the cell wall of plants. It controls cholesterol, treats digestion issues, and aids weight loss. You can find this nutrient in kale, winter squash, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, cranberries, apricots, and figs.

Next on the list is Inulin. Inulin (prebiotic--important for gut health that feeds the good bacteria in your gut) help you fight off anxiety, inflammation, and many other diseases. Get them in your system by eating artichokes, chicory root, leeks, onions, garlic, and bananas.

The last weapon against diabetes is beta-glucan. Beta-glucan is found in the cell walls of certain fungi. Beta-glucan has two effects that make it effective against cancer--anti-carcinogenic and stimulating the immune system.


In the long term, your body might not be able to use insulin properly or produce enough of it.

You might experience life-threatening symptoms like nerve damage, diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage), increased risk of dementia, diabetic retinopathy, and/or weaker immune system.


[Eat Your Fiber]

No one wants to skip the guilty pleasures in life. We don’t recommend it either. So if you want to enjoy that ice cream or cheesecake, make sure you give your body the ability to handle it.




[How does Chiropractic have to do with insulin control?]

"A recent case study published in the November 2011 edition of the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal, & Family Health documents a case of a four-year-old child who had terrific results stabilizing her blood sugar through chiropractic care. The patient was diagnosed with spinal subluxation in the upper cervical region. She began chiropractic care and was seen a total of 24 times over a two-month period. During this two-month period, she experienced a decrease in hemoglobin A1C from 7.2 percent to 6.5 percent. She also decreased the amount of insulin used from 15 units to 11 units per day.

These results are quite remarkable because the literature states that intensive medical treatment of type I diabetes often does not succeed in lowering A1C levels under 7.0 percent. Chiropractic care works by optimizing the neural connections throughout the body. This enhanced brain-body connection works to better coordinate immunity and hormone function throughout the body."

Article contributed by Murray Galbraith, D.C., of Galbraith Chiropractic.





[References & Resources (especially for you)]

Effects of beta-glucans on the immune system.

Dalia Akramiene, Anatolijus Kondrotas, Janina Didziapetriene, Egidijus Kevelaitis Medicina (Kaunas) 2007; 43(8): 597–606.


Hyperglycemia - National Library Of Medicine - Pubmed Health

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0024701/


Seaquist, E. R. (2010). The Final Frontier: How Does Diabetes Affect the Brain? Diabetes, 59(1), 4–5. http://doi.org/10.2337/db09-1600

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