Is Chocolate a Health Food? (March 5, 2013)
Optimizing Health Part 16: Blood Sugar
Dear Readers,
Blood sugar (glucose) is the body's main fuel, with the brain claiming a hefty 20% for itself. That's why low blood sugar can leave you feeling exhausted, anxious, irritable and brain fogged.
High blood sugar doesn't do you any favors, either. It punishes the blood vessels in your body — from wide arteries to the tiny, cell-wide capillaries. The result is increased risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, nerve pain, blindness, foot ulcers that won't heal, and amputations.
Unfortunately, we Americans eat a lot of glucose-raising sugar, with an astounding average of 150 pounds of food-processed sugar added to a person's diet every year.
The result? Some experts predict that by 2020 half of Americans will be either prediabetic or diabetic! But you don't have to be part of that half…
The message to take from this is that to feel well and stay healthy, you have to keep your blood sugar at an optimal level. And a few simple actions can help you do just that!
Love & blessings,
Dr. T
PS: To answer the question posed by this newsletter's title … Yes, chocolate is a health food, especially dark chocolate. It promotes a healthy heart, improves energy, and is chock-full of antioxidants. Enjoy it in moderation — remember, chocolate is not low-cal.
Research Briefs
Effective Treatment for Alzheimer's and Dementia
In a recent Letter to the Editor published in the New England Journal of Medicine, two doctors discussed their finding that 22-35% of people with pernicious anemia (vitamin B12 deficiency) have the diagnosis missed — because the B12 blood test to detect the condition is not reliable!
Connect that dot to this one: B12 deficiency is a common cause of mental confusion in folks over 60. In other words, many people are slapped with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or dementia when what they REALLY have is an easily treatable disease — in this case, pernicious anemia.
New, Highly Effective Treatment for CRPS/ Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
I have been unimpressed by the long-term effectiveness and safety of a family of medications called biphosphonates, which are prescribed for osteoporosis. However, a fascinating study suggesting that an intravenous biphosphonate, available in Italy, can be dramatically effective at treating a horrible pain condition called CRPS, or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (previously called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy). At the end of the one-year study, the CRPS patients taking biphosphonate were mostly pain free. Until now, the best treatment was to essentially keep people in a coma for a week with an IV anesthetic. Given the dramatic benefits and low level of side effects seen in the study, I suspect this represents a dramatic step forward in treating CRPS!
See the study at Rheumatology »
Correlation Between Diabetes and Low Vitamin D?
A new study out of Denmark shows that people with lower blood levels of vitamin D have a higher risk of developing diabetes.
Cool Stuff
Science on a Sphere
New ways to see, and learn from, the earth.
Funny Stuff
So You Think You've Got Brain Fog?
If my memory gets any worse, I'll be able to throw my own surprise
party!
Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. is one of the world's leading integrative medical authorities on fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. He is the lead author of eight research studies on their effective treatments, and has published numerous health & wellness books, including the bestseller on fibromyalgia From Fatigued to Fantastic! and The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution. Dr. Teitelbaum is one of the most frequently quoted fibromyalgia experts in the world and appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and Fox News Health.
