Check It Out: Taking responsibility for your health
By Joan Janzen
This was recently posted on Facebook: “When people say - enjoy them while they are young, they’re talking about your knees and hips, not your kids.”
Everyone considers their health a priority, and there are more doctors who are encouraging people to take responsibility for their own health. Dr. Suneel Dhand is a doctor who offers advice on his podcast and has observed a shocking rise in type 2 diabetes. Chances are you know of someone in your circle of family and friends who has recently been diagnosed with the condition. Dr. Dhand said this once rare disease has turned into a full-blown epidemic affecting older and younger adults, as well as teens. Pre-diabetes can linger for years as insulin resistance gradually worsens over time.
Meanwhile, the medical-industrial complex is profiting, pharmaceutical giants are lining their pockets, and patients are still struggling with this chronic disease. “Yet, the reality is the prescribed medications and injections hardly ever truly control the diabetes; they merely put a band-aid over the bigger upstream issue,” he observed.
He listed the possible ramifications of the disease as cardiovascular complications, nerve damage, kidney disease, and even blindness.
However, the doctor has a good report: contrary to popular belief, type 2 diabetes is highly reversible through adopting a healthier lifestyle, including nutrition, exercise, stress management, adequate sleep and optimal antioxidant intake. Yet he observed that the medical establishment often encourages dependency on medications.
Comments posted by people listening to his podcast verify his conclusions. One listener wrote, “I dropped processed foods and sugars, went on intermittent fasting, and dropped 52 pounds. As a result, I got off four prescription medications.”
Another person wrote about their experience. “My father lived over half of his life as a type 2 diabetic, and his doctors were happy to administer drugs. When my mom passed away, my sister took over cooking for him. She found low-carb broccoli and cauliflower salad recipes that kept my father happy without pasta, rice and garlic bread at every meal. After 42 years of being treated for type 2 diabetes, his doctor’s tests showed he no longer had diabetes.”
Dr. Suneel advised, “Even if you have type 2 diabetes, it is always best to work on naturally reversing it. It is a fallacy to think that we control type 2 diabetes with medications and insulin. You might fix the number, but the upstream problem is still there.”
“Type 2 diabetes is not your destiny and is very reversible if you want to avoid a lifetime of expensive medications, constant doctor visits, and complications,” he concluded. He advised older people to focus on a diet rich in protein, antioxidants and in moderation - fats. He listed carbohydrates as the problem, not fats.
Dr. Casey Means agreed and expressed her point of view in an interview on Relatable. Her observations appear to align with those of Dr. Suneel. Dr. Casey noted we’re the only species that is eating ourselves to death, and stressed the importance of being metabolically healthy.
She also mentioned various devices that help people monitor their health, such as wearables to help keep track of blood pressure, core vital signs, sleep, steps, oxygen saturation, heart rate and glucose levels. “You can see it all in real time to help you be in control of your day to day health,” she said.
She noted being metabolically healthy will help you avoid suffering from symptoms and diseases and ensure longevity. She listed five markers on your annual physical that will tell you if you’re metabolically healthy.
Those markers are fasting blood glucose under 100 mg/deciliter, a triglyceride level under 150 mg/deciliter, a waist circumference of 40 inches for men and 35 inches or less for women, HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL for women, and blood pressure of under 120 over 85.
However, she reported that less than 7 percent of North Americans have all those markers in a healthy range. “If one or more of those biomarkers aren’t in the healthy range, it’s a signal that there’s a fundamental problem on how your cells are converting food energy into cellular energy. That will lead to dysfunction that shows up as symptoms,” she stated.
But even when symptoms show up, Dr. Suneel offers encouragement. Those who receive a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes need not resign themselves to a lifetime of medication dependency and declining health. Anybody can reclaim their health and reverse the course of this disease.