Weight Loss and Diabetes

By Dr. Michael Roth

This month, I’d like to address a health challenge that I am seeing more often in my practice: the client who is overweight and has insulin dependent diabetes.

 

“No matter how heavy you are, you will significantly lower your blood sugar if you lose some weight,” says Cathy Nonas, MS, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and a professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. “We know it’s true — that if someone with diabetes loses 5% to 10% of their weight, they will significantly reduce their blood sugar. We see it all the time: people can get off their insulin and their medication,” she says. “It’s wonderful. It shows you how interwoven obesity and diabetes are.”

 

Even losing 10 or 15 pounds has health benefits, says the American Diabetes Association. It can:

• Lower blood sugar
• Reduce blood pressure
• Improve cholesterol levels
• Lighten the stress on hips, knees, ankles, and feet

Plus, you’ll probably have more energy, get around easier, and breathe easier.

 

We often assume weight loss is good and healthy. A slow steady intentional weight loss using nutritional change and exercise is associated with beneficial effects on the heart, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. In addition, for a person with insulin dependent diabetes, weight loss can reduce “insulin resistance” and make muscles and fat tissues more sensitive to circulating insulin levels in the blood.  Furthermore, insulin is a hormone that likes to store fat!

 

A reduction in insulin resistance is important because insulin is needed to help glucose (a sugar) enter these tissues to be metabolized. If these tissues are resistant to insulin, higher than normal levels of insulin are needed for this process to occur. As a result, a vicious cycle occurs: the higher the insulin levels are, the harder it is to lose weight; the heavier a person is, the more likely they are to have higher insulin levels. As you can see, the cycle is often hard to break.

Flickr photo credit Fatcatanna

 

On a Diabetes Weight Loss Plan, Watch for Changes in Blood Sugar

 

Cutting back on just one meal can affect the delicate balance of blood sugar, insulin, and medication in your body. So it’s important to work with an expert when you diet. “For anyone, losing weight is challenging enough,” says Dr. Luigi Meneghini, director of the Kosnow Diabetes Treatment Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine. “For people who inject insulin, it’s even more difficult because they have to eat when they have low blood sugar. When you have to reduce calorie intake, prevent overmedication, and eat to correct your low blood sugar, it’s very challenging.” Indeed, both low and high blood sugar levels are the two big concerns for people with diabetes.

 

If you have insulin dependent diabetes, and want to improve your health and lose weight, I want to work with you! QNRT (Quantum Neurological Reset Technique) is the modality I most often use with my clients who want to make positive changes in their health and wellness. As a team, we will work together to identify and neutralize key emotional issues that often accompany weight gain, such as anger, disgust and even struggle!

 

I will work with you to balance your blood sugar with diet and nutritional supplements.  As a knowledgeable practitioner and holistic chiropractor, I bring over 20 years of service meeting my patients’ health challenges and fostering their well-being. If you or someone you know has insulin dependent diabetes, please call for an appointment at Roth Wellness Center, 805-644-0461.

Flickr photo credit Giuseppe Milo