By Dr. Don Fisher Out of all the health issues my patients come to me with, fatigue is by far the most common. I witness the epidemic of extreme exhaustion on a daily basis. Patients wake up feeling exhausted, craving cups of caffeine. They are irritable and “hangry” for salty or sugary foods. They […]
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher
Out of all the health issues my patients come to me with, fatigue is by far the most common. I witness the epidemic of extreme exhaustion on a daily basis.
Patients wake up feeling exhausted, craving cups of caffeine. They are irritable and “hangry” for salty or sugary foods. They can’t lose weight, despite dieting and exercise, and have little to no sex drive. Their energy level crashes in the afternoon, but they often get a “second wind” before bed. Then they have trouble winding down in the evening, only to have another night of restless sleep.
Sadly, many think this is normal. That’s because they look around and see everyone looking just as tired and miserable as they are. But just because something is common doesn’t make it normal.
This is not normal — this is the epidemic of adrenal fatigue.
What are the adrenal glands?
Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys, like little kidney baseball caps. They regulate many critical hormonal jobs in your body, including the release of your main stress hormone, cortisol.
Our bodies are built for stressful events, and throughout time they have adapted to them. We are here today because the human species can handle stressful events. If our ancestors were chased by a predator, the sympathetic response, our body’s fight-or-flight mode, would be activated. During this stress response, cortisol would be released, ramping up blood pressure and blood sugar, which were needed to cope with the stressful event.
Excess cortisol causes anxiety, hunger and weight gain not to mention sleep disruption.
When things calm down, cortisol secretion then decreases, along with your blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Normal balance is intact.
So what is adrenal fatigue?
Cortisol is neither bad or good — it just is. But problems occur when there’s an imbalance in cortisol.
In a healthy individual, cortisol is higher in the morning and slowly flows lower throughout the day. Melatonin, your “sleepy time” hormone, is inversely proportional to cortisol. So when cortisol is high, melatonin is low and vice versa.
Adrenal fatigue happens when there’s an imbalance in this cortisol rhythm: Cortisol is high when it should be low, low when it should be high, or always high or always low.
The secret to understanding adrenal fatigue is understanding its origin: your brain. Your brain tells your adrenal glands what to do through a complex web of communications called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA Axis), or simply the brain-adrenal axis. Your hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which tells the pituitary gland to release the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH then tells your adrenal cortex to release cortisol.
Adrenal fatigue is really a dysfunction of your brain’s communication with your adrenals — not the adrenal glands themselves.
What causes adrenal fatigue?
Our modern life, with its many ongoing stressors, can turn on your stress response and throw away the key. Unlike acute stress, for which we’re biologically hardwired, chronic stress turns on the fight-or-flight response without any rest.
If the stress response doesn’t leave, those cortisol triggers never stop. Some chronic stressors that can lead to adrenal fatigue include:
So, what’s next? If you think you might have adrenal fatigue, I recommend these tips:
One of the labs I run on patients is a 24-hour adrenal stress index — a salivary test that tracks your cortisol levels, HPA axis quality, and other hormone levels throughout the day — to get a comprehensive view of what’s going on in your particular case.
Since Adrenal Fatigue often mimics low thyroid, it is a good idea to have thyroid labs checked as well. Most physicians who promote age management medicine would want to look at all hormones in order to see that they are are balanced and in a more youthful range.
Working on the stressors listed above — such as removing toxins and balancing other hormones— will be essential to breaking the chronic stress cycle, regaining your health, and feeling like yourself again. It may take some time and effort but most of my patients fully recover once they know what they have and what they can do to fight the fatigue. Slowly month by month energy and vitality return. It is common for a patient to identify their onset of fatigue with one specific stress or stresses in the past. Maybe a serious life event such as a death or serious illness of a family member or a serious personal event with associated physical trauma or emotional trauma.
The foods we eat will either perpetuate stress in our body or calm it down. Walnuts and avocado are two of my favorite foods to help de-stress the brain and hormonal system. Many other foods can help. Nothing will improve your health more than what you chose to put at the end of your fork. A very good documentary film to enjoy is Forks Over Knives which points out the importance of whole foods and plant-based diets.
Breathing is a major factor in reducing stress. Take time throughout the day to become aware of your breath — it’s a great way to diffuse stress levels and calm your brain-adrenal axis. I recommend mindfulness meditation or present moment awareness to my patients struggling with adrenal fatigue.
Bring practices of intense alertness and stillness into your life. Yoga and tai chi are two of my favorite ways for people to start balancing out the stress in their lives.
Rehabbing the brain-adrenal connection takes time. What works for one person may not work for you, so it’s important to discuss this with a qualified practitioner. Here are some general natural medicines that can help:
Make sure you’re not staying up too late — you need to allow your brain and adrenals to recuperate overnight. Promote quality sleep by turning off the TV and smartphone a few hours before bed and reading a book instead. Consider a nice warm bath with Epsom salts for great relaxation and better sleep.
Depending on your individual brain-adrenal dysfunction, you may need to work with a qualified practitioner to carefully replace a small portion of the levels of the missing adrenal hormones for a period of time. Specific amounts of DHEA and the precursor to cortisol, called pregnenolone, can stimulate your body to begin producing it naturally.
Meditation and stretching help. Do exercise that doesn’t stress your body too much. Just walking may be your best exercise until your adrenal glands recover.
Consider consulting with a physician who has experience with adrenal fatigue and someone who will take the time and effort to understand your particular situation and work with you to recover.
The BEST Program, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale provides counseling for patients with hormone imbalances and provides testing. IV nutritional support is available as well as counseling related to all issues in this article. Call us at (954) 627-9118. Fatigue doesn’t have to be accepted as your normal — there is help.
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]]>By James Miller We all strive to make healthy life changes, but often find they are difficult to maintain. One of the biggest changes people attempt in their life is improving their diet and exercise. I find that many of my clients will start a diet right around this time of year and then are […]
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]]>By James Miller
We all strive to make healthy life changes, but often find they are difficult to maintain. One of the biggest changes people attempt in their life is improving their diet and exercise. I find that many of my clients will start a diet right around this time of year and then are frustrated when they gain weight over the holidays. They are then confident they are going to make a new year’s resolution and join a gym. The first three weeks of the year the gym is packed and then it returns to its usual crowd.
I’ve developed the “Three Second Rule.” If you are already struggling to implement a healthy behavioral change and you think about the unhealthy behavior for longer than three seconds, you end up doing it. For example, let’s say you’ve resolved to go to the gym before work. Your alarm goes off and you lie in bed and think about how comfortable or tired you are for longer than three seconds, and then you roll over and go back to sleep. You may even tell yourself you’ll go to the gym later that afternoon or the next day. The afternoon arrives and you think about going to happy hour instead of the gym for longer than three seconds, and you find yourself ordering a drink. The cycle will repeat.
This rule is applicable in all things. For example, you know you should avoid certain foods but you overhear your coworker talking about a new burger joint that is on your way home. As you drive home, you think about it longer than three seconds and the next think you know, you have ordered a burger. Another example is you are at the grocery store and you are avoiding certain aisles, proud of yourself until you see your favorite candy on a shelf. If you entertain the thought of how it tastes longer than three seconds, you will buy it.
In everything we do, we must be proactive. When you can prepare for potential relapses, your likelihood for success significantly increases. Using the previous examples let’s create workarounds. Have your gym clothes laid out the night before and your coffee ready to be made. As soon as the alarm sounds, you immediately get up instead of lying in bed for longer than three seconds. When you think about certain foods or impulse buys, it’s important to ask yourself, “Will this food help me attain my weight loss goal?” You can’t justify a behavior if you hold yourself accountable. When you have no excuses, you will be more successful. You may be surprised that once you deny yourself the impulse, it typically leaves within the next thirty minutes. However, the more you think about a negative behavior, the more it consumes you. When you decide not to engage in the behavior, you must immediately fill your mind with images of how you will look and feel when you achieve your goal. Retraining yourself to focus on the long-term goal instead of the short-term impulse will guarantee your success.
This time of year, be mindful of the goals you set. When you are realistic with your goals and your daily schedule, you will be successful with your current diet and exercise routine.
James Miller is a licensed psychotherapist who resides in West Palm Beach, FL. He can be found at JamesMillerLifeology.com. For more information on this particular topic subscribe to his radio show: James Miller Lifeology through iTunes.
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher, DO Produced naturally from the pituitary gland, Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is responsible for the growth of lean muscle and bone mass in every mammal. The more HGH present in a person’s body, the more IGF-1 there will be in their body. IGF-1 is responsible for repairing damaged cells as […]
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher, DO
Produced naturally from the pituitary gland, Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is responsible for the growth of lean muscle and bone mass in every mammal. The more HGH present in a person’s body, the more IGF-1 there will be in their body.
IGF-1 is responsible for repairing damaged cells as well as producing new ones. As we age, our pituitary glands produce less and less of this healing hormone, which means that our bodies become less able to repair damaged cells, resulting in, of course, the physical and mental aging process. Reduced levels of growth hormone associated with aging contribute to age-related decreases in muscle mass, strength, and lipolysis.
Below are some of the effects of Human Growth Hormone decline:
Body fat increases by 7% – 25% while lean body mass decreases similarly. Muscle strength and muscle mass are noticeably reduced while long bone density and spinal bone density decrease.
Weight gain of 30-50 pounds can occur. Furthermore, there are negative effects on cholesterol; triglyceride levels increase while high density cholesterol (HDL), ‘good cholesterol’, decreases. The risk of cardiovascular disease increases due to vascular wall thickening and changes associated with decreased cardiac output. Less energy, anxiety, social isolation, depression and lack of concentration.
Below are some benefits of The BEST Program HGH Support:
I have always advocated the safety of HGH (Human Growth Hormone) when patients are optimally monitored and fully evaluated. Years of offering optimal levels of growth hormone prove to me as a healthcare provider that HGH is safe and significantly will enhance health.
There are many unfounded fears and myths about HGH. If we look at a special patient population that has excess growth hormone (HGH), we might well learn whether the many myths and anxieties about growth hormone are in fact of any great concern.
Patients with too much growth hormone have a medically documented conditioned called acromegaly. We then could say that our best model ever for Growth Hormone potential risks is acromegaly. And here are the facts about acromegaly and disease risk:
I never want Growth Hormone in the very high range for patients — not even close to the highest range and now we know that patients with acromegaly (with 4 times the high range) get cancer less!
Patients who are appropriately chosen and dosed, do so well with additional Growth Hormone and interestingly their health improves. Three factors usually improve: Sleep, Sex and Energy. I have always advocated for healthy ranges of growth hormone in my adult patients and maintain that the hormone really should be called the “healing and restoring hormone” as it does not grow anything in adults but rather significantly improves healing.
Growth Hormone or HGH is a valuable hormone for countering the deteriorating health in some select adult patients. Research this topic yourself or ask a physician with significant history of dispensing this medicine.
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher Anxiety, worry, fear and stress all seem to be everywhere and few of us get enough sleep. Sleep is critical to good health. I tell patients that if we were to rate good sleep on a 10 scale where 10 is the best sleep, very few of us get that. A […]
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher
Anxiety, worry, fear and stress all seem to be everywhere and few of us get enough sleep. Sleep is critical to good health.
I tell patients that if we were to rate good sleep on a 10 scale where 10 is the best sleep, very few of us get that. A 10 on a sleep scale would mean that you got to sleep, stayed a sleep and slept for 7-9 hours and awoke feeling rested. These days with our constant exposure to electromagnetic fields (lights, wi-fi, computers, and cellphones) we have significantly depleted our natural sleep hormone which is melatonin. Most patients that I see who are older than 40 have no melatonin.
Stress and lack of sleep go hand in hand. Lack of sleep or poor sleep quality contribute to elevated cortisol levels. Cortisol is a vital and necessary hormone which is normally secreted from your stress gland — the adrenal. The healthy adult with no extra stress has the greatest amount of cortisol first thing in the morning. It gets us up out of bed feeling energized and the lowest level of this hormone is just before bedtime. Poor sleep causes stress and elevated cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol contributes to fat and this is often why I see men or women that have sleep issues also have difficulty getting lean and losing fat.
Cortisol can easily be measured by simple saliva testing which you can do at home — it’s done four times daily. This result can help me help you decide what is best to do for your stress. We can implement a plan for helping you cope with stress.
Sleep is critical. We all need it but not all of us get good quality of sleep. I like to ask patients if they will rate for me their sleep on a ten scale where 10 means you got 7-9 hours of sleep, woke up rested and refreshed and you had dreams and can remember some of your dreams. Perfect sleep is all of that. More about sleep and stress and how to improve both but here are some general good sleep hygiene tips:
Women often complain of very poor sleep near menopause and it often relates to poor hormone balance and a serious lack of one female hormone — progesterone.
Men as we get older lose growth hormone, melatonin and testosterone, just to name a few. When hormones are replaced to more youthful and optimal levels — sleep improves.
Another sleep tip is replacing magnesium as it is the fourth most abundant mineral in our bodies and studies now show that most adults over the age of 40 are magnesium deficient. So simply replacing magnesium can improve sleep.
So many natural measures can be taken even before sleep medication is offered — so it is always best to speak with a healthcare professional who can offer help.
Dr. Don Fisher, D.O., is a physician and the medical director of The Best Program, Inc., in Fort Lauderdale. Contact him online at www.TheBestProgram.net.
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher Sleep quality is generally considered a key anti-aging essential, allowing the brain and body to perform tasks to help optimize its performance. Claire E. Sexton, from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), and colleagues enrolled 147 adults, ages 20 to 84 years, in a study to examine the link between sleep […]
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher
Sleep quality is generally considered a key anti-aging essential, allowing the brain and body to perform tasks to help optimize its performance.
Claire E. Sexton, from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), and colleagues enrolled 147 adults, ages 20 to 84 years, in a study to examine the link between sleep difficulties, such as having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night, and brain volume.
All participants underwent two MRI brain scans, an average of 3.5 years apart, before completing a questionnaire about their sleep habits. A total of 35% of the participants met the criteria for poor sleep quality, scoring an average of 8.5 out of 21 points on the sleep assessment.
The study found that sleep difficulties were linked with a more rapid decline in brain volume over the course of the study in widespread brain regions, including within frontal, temporal and parietal areas. The results were more pronounced in people over 60 years old. Observing that: “We found that longitudinal measures of cortical atrophy were widely correlated with sleep quality,” the study authors submit that: “Poor sleep quality may be a cause or a consequence of brain atrophy.”
I want patients to report to me that with optimal hormones they get 7-9 hours of sleep and wake up feeling rested. Lack of sleep raises cortisol levels and now we know it shrinks your brain — that can’t be good.
Dr. Don Fisher is an anti-aging specialist and the medical director of The Best Program in Fort Lauderdale.
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]]>As a physician, I’m regularly asked about the benefits of probiotics. Scientists have understood for some time that our bodies are full of both good and bad bacteria, but how to use that information has been our job as doctors. What Are Probiotics? Probiotics are tiny, live organisms that live in the body as “good […]
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]]>As a physician, I’m regularly asked about the benefits of probiotics. Scientists have understood for some time that our bodies are full of both good and bad bacteria, but how to use that information has been our job as doctors.
What Are Probiotics?
Probiotics are tiny, live organisms that live in the body as “good bacteria.” This good bacteria is present in our digestive system and works to break down food and pass waste. When I have a patient who suffers from digestive issues or other gastrointestinal problems, like IBS, Chronic Diarrhea, Constipation and Autoimmune Disorders, I think of Dysbosis ( unbalance or lack of good bacteria).
I have my patients reintroduce good bacteria to help with the natural flora of the gut. They usually find what scientific research had deduced, that probiotics have a positive effect on digestive health. Often, these people also tell me that other aspects of their health has improved, like less abdominal distention and better digestion.
Bacteria in the Digestive System
And, in truth, that doesn’t surprise me. The human digestive system contains more than 100 trillion types of bacteria which work to digest food and convert it into energy. So far, various research has shown that good bacteria in the human gut is responsible for:
Enhance Immunity–70% of our immune system is coded on our digestive track. The gut is our first line of defense.
Weight Control–Researchers found that obese people tend to have less of a diversified mix of digestive bacteria. Certain species of bacteria seem to have a link with obese people and are more prevalent in the digestive system.
Heart Health – Recent studies found that when bacteria in the digestive system is exposed to certain food, like eggs, beef, and gluten, the byproduct of digestion can increase inflammation that leads to increased risk of heart disease.
Neurological Effects – A study conducted in 2011 reported that when mice were given antibiotics, which kill off good and bad bacteria, they experienced more anxiety. Therefore, researchers believe that bacteria in the digestive system is somehow linked to neural chemistry. It’s a fact that serotonin is produced in the gut.
Using Probiotics to Balance the System
My medical opinion is that taking probiotics, whether in pill form, in foods, or in other forms, is beneficial to your body. When bad bacteria isn’t able to proliferate, the good bacteria can do its job. We live in a world too sterile. Natural foods, raw vegetables and probiotics offer a natural way to restore balance to our digestive systems.
Dr. Ferdinand Cabrera has 33 years of experience as a General Internist. He is the founder and president of Genesis Health Institute which specializes in Functional and Anti-Aging Medicine. He can be reach at 954-561-3175, or via the Internet at www.ghinstitute.com.
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher In 2013, the International Journal of Epidemiology reprinted a landmark article from the ‘50s that started out with a shocking statement: “In the African population of Uganda, coronary heart disease is almost non-existent.” Our number one cause of death in the United States almost nonexistent in another country? What were they eating? According […]
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher
In 2013, the International Journal of Epidemiology reprinted a landmark article from the ‘50s that started out with a shocking statement: “In the African population of Uganda, coronary heart disease is almost non-existent.”
Our number one cause of death in the United States almost nonexistent in another country? What were they eating?
According to the report: Plantains and sweet potatoes, other vegetables, corn, millet, pumpkins, tomatoes, and “green leafy vegetables are taken by all.”
Their protein was almost entirely from plant sources, and they had the cholesterol levels to prove it, similar to modern-day plant-eaters.
“Apart from the effects of diet and of the blood cholesterol levels,” the researchers couldn’t figure out any other reasons for their freedom from heart disease.
These 50-year-old findings are still relevant today. They showed “dietary intake to be a key, modifiable, established and well-recognized risk factor for heart attacks. This contrasts with the rather desperate search in recent decades for even newer cardiovascular risk factors.”
We have the only risk factor we need — cholesterol. We’ve known it for 50 years, and we can do something about it.
According to the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Cardiology, the only risk factor required for atherosclerotic plaques to form is elevated LDL, or “bad” cholesterol in our blood. Dr. William Clifford Roberts is the distinguished cardiac pathologist who doubles as the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Cardiology.
To drop our LDL (bad) cholesterol, we need to drop our intake of three things:
*Trans fat (found in junk food and animal foods);
*Saturated fat (found in mostly animal foods); and
*Dietary cholesterol (found exclusively in animal foods).
Heart disease may be a choice. Choosing to eat a whole food plant-based diet will significantly reduce your risk of heart disease.
Dr. Don Fisher, D.O., is a physician and the medical director of The Best Program, Inc., in Fort Lauderdale. Contact him online at www.TheBestProgram.net.
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher, DO Testosterone is the male hormone and we think of estrogen as the female hormone. However men need both to maintain good health. There are general misconceptions about estrogen in men. Often estrogen is thought to be bad for men — this isn’t always the case. Estrogen actually plays a few vital […]
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher, DO
Testosterone is the male hormone and we think of estrogen as the female hormone. However men need both to maintain good health. There are general misconceptions about estrogen in men. Often estrogen is thought to be bad for men — this isn’t always the case.
Estrogen actually plays a few vital roles in men — the two largest of these are:
Men who choose to “block” estrogen with too much of the drugs which are known as estrogen-blockers can do harm to themselves by increasing their risk for cardiovascular issues and also cause diminished libido.
So — every man is different in his need to block estrogen when taking testosterone. Typically men who are over weight or men who tend to have insulin resistance (and resulting higher glucose levels) are likely to be candidates to block estrogen.
Sometimes in men when the levels of testosterone are optimal, we will see some excess estrogen symptoms. I like to make men aware of the following excess estrogen symptoms:
These excess estrogen symptoms can be confirmed with a simple blood test and then can be treated with estrogen-blocking meds such as Arimidex (Anastrazole), Nolvadex or Tamoxifen.
Testosterone produces too much estrogen in certain cases including:
Men who replace testosterone to the optimal and youthful level MAY need to just improve their lifestyles and other habits to prevent excess estrogen. Simple additions can help:
To improve estrogen metabolism and to lessen any risk of prostatic issues, I usually recommned a supplement which I take called DIM (di-indole methane) along with I-3C or Indole 3 Carbinol). These chemicals are essentially the healthy components of cruciferous vegetables which have a very beneficial effect on men’s estrogen metabolism.
Dr. Don Fisher, D.O., is a leader in the practice of Age Management Medicine and medical director of The Best Program in Fort Lauderdale. His Healthwatch column will appear biweekly.
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher We now know there is a link between obesity and risk for diabetes as well as a link between fat and inflammation in the body. Take this test: 1) Sit down. 2) Grab your belly with both hands. 3) Shake it! When I used to weigh over 300 pounds, this was […]
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]]>By Dr. Don Fisher
We now know there is a link between obesity and risk for diabetes as well as a link between fat and inflammation in the body.
Take this test: 1) Sit down. 2) Grab your belly with both hands. 3) Shake it! When I used to weigh over 300 pounds, this was no problem — easy to do! However now, with weight loss and a much improved diet, it cannot happen — there is nothing to shake.
So if you can grab belly fat and there is something there to shake — you are at risk for diabetes and several diseases that result from inflammation like asthma, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and (of greatest concern) heart disease.
Hormones help give you energy and motivation to exercise, however nothing will improve your health more than diet! Women suffer with increase in fat when estrogen falls and get fat in places they have never have before — usually belly, butt and thighs. Men gain love handles and belly fat with lower than optimal levels of testosterone.
As the level of fat in the blood rises, the body’s ability to clear sugar from the blood drops. Where does this fat in our blood that’s wreaking all this havoc come from? It comes from the fat that we eat and from the fat that we wear.
The number of fat cells we have stays constant in adulthood. After massive weight loss, our fat cells shrink as they offload fat, but the number stays the same. Conversely, when we gain weight, our fat cells just stretch as we pack more and more into each individual fat cell.
So when our belly, butt or thighs get big, we’re not adding more fat cells. We’re just cramming more fat into each cell. At a certain point, our cells become so bloated that they spill fat back into the bloodstream.
This is an illustration of the so-called “Spillover Effect.” Not only does an obese person have more fat, but they’re constantly spilling that fat into their bloodstream. So that could be the link between obesity and diabetes. Fat is spilling out from our fat cells and gets lodged in our muscle cells, leading to the insulin resistance that promotes the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Or the fat can enter our bloodstream through our mouth. If you put people on a low carb diet, fat builds up in their muscle within two hours.
The more fat in the muscle, the lower our ability is to clear sugar from the blood. It doesn’t take years for this to happen, just hours after these foods go into our mouths. A fat-rich diet can increase fat in the blood and this increase is accompanied by a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
Studies clearly demonstrate that fat in the blood directly inhibit glucose transport and usage in our muscles, which is responsible for clearing about 85% of the glucose out of blood. These findings also indicate an important role of nutrition, particularly increased consumption of fat, for the development of insulin resistance.
Normally we only have 1 to 500 micromoles of free fat floating around in our blood stream at any one time, but those who are obese are constantly spilling fat out into their bloodstream.
We can reach those same levels in our blood eating a high fat diet. So a skinny person eating a low carb diet can have the same level of fat in their blood that obese people do. Similarly being obese is like eating some horrible bacon and butter diet all day, because obese persons are constantly spilling fat into their bloodstream no matter what goes in their mouth.
Dr. Don Fisher, D.O., is a leader in the practice of Age Management Medicine and medical director of The Best Program in Fort Lauderdale. His Healthwatch column will appear biweekly.
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