4 Signs of Sugar Overload ~ Holistic Dermatology

4 Signs of Sugar Overload

Let’s talk about the sign of too much sugar in your diet. One of them is reaction to the sugar, so you get a boost when you eat the sugar and then you crash shortly afterwards which we call reactive hypoglycemia. Another one is of course pre-diabetes. This is where various changes occurring in your body and reflected in blood test showing elevated blood sugar and also elevated sugars, bound to different molecules in the body.

Now how can you look at that? There is a test called hemoglobin A1C or glycocilated hemoglobin. Now those big words mean that the hemoglobin which is a protein has sugar that stuck on to it, and the blood cells stick around for about 3 months so this gives you a picture of what’s going on in your body over a window of time of 3 months. If there’s too much sugar over that 3 months you’re going to have more of that glycocylated hemoglobin or hemoglobin A1C.

That’s the blood test your doctor can do if they suspect that you may have sugar overload.  Now, of course let’s go on other signs: cavities in the teeth can be a sign of sugar overload. Also, various kinds of reaction, after you eat sugar–craving of sugar can be a sign of repeated cycle of too much sugar, with the crash requiring more and more afterwards. And finally if you get so fat that your arm can’t reach out and touch the refrigerator door to get more that’s a sign of too much sugar.


Blueberries: Great Food for Your Skin ~ Best Natural Skincare Diet

Blueberries are a terrific food, and the reason they’re so terrific is because the purple color they have is a dye that contains something which has powerful antioxidant activity. The actual ingredient are called antho-cyanidins. They are pigments that help absorb free-radicals and protect the body.

But let’s talk about the other side of blueberries. If you are a person who has issues with sugar or with yeast, blueberries, especially nice fresh ones in-season can be very sweet. And they can aggravate your condition. So, they have to be chosen according to your situation. If you are overweight, or if you have excessive yeast issues, you might want to skip the blueberries. If you don’t have a problem in those arenas, and you have a lot of oxidant stress, blueberries are a terrific food, and should be eaten when they are in season.


Why am I Gaining Weight? Natural treatments for fat?

Why am I Gaining Weight? Natural treatments for fat?

A frequent complain that I hear from people is, why am I gaining weight? Can you make it stop? They’ve told me that they’ve tried everything. They’ve tried diets and this and that. They’ve tried cutting down on fats. But often they’ve not cut down sufficiently on sugar and carbohydrates.

There are two things that sugar can do. They can be used to cause fats to become chain elongated as we say technically. And it also can cause accumulation of more fats. But even more than that it can affect the organisms living in our digestive system. And that can contribute to the growth of more fat cells in the body and an addition of weight. So we really have to change the kind of organisms living in the body as well as reduce the calories coming in.

Of course it’s important to put out more calories too so that exercise is critical. Exercise not only burns up calories while you are doing it, but it increases the metabolisms of your muscles and your body so that you burn more fats while you are sleeping and during the rest of the day as well. Another thing that has to be done is to cut down on inflammation, which aggravates the whole system that regulates how much fat we store. When we are inflamed the body is on alert and it stores more fat in case.

So we have to cut down on inflammation, various sources whether it be from food allergy or from chronic infections. Or even just from chronic exhaustion and sleep deprivation. So we want to cut back and normalize the lifestyle so that everything begins to work more naturally. And that helps us cut down on weight.


Natural Skincare: Have a Sweet Holiday…

6a00e55255b4628834017eea9532aa970d-200wiBut not too sweet! 

 
The Holidays are a time for parties, celebrations, and special treats.  Candies, cookies and cakes appear as gifts and thank you’s at all sorts of homes and businesses at this time of year. It is not uncommon to hear a nudge to eat that “forbidden treat”- “Go ahead, it’s the holidays.”  In the process, a lot more sugar gets eaten at this time of year. Other rich foods, like egg nog, and alcoholic drinks, and even foods suspected of being allergic, get consumed as well. 
 
Some people date the onset or aggravation of their skin problems to this time of year. Sugar aggravates acne and other conditions by a variety of different pathways. It
favors overgrowth of yeast in the digestive tract, which leads to leaky gut, absorption of allergens from food, and inflammation of oil glands. 
 
A spike in blood sugar is answered by a spike in insulin levels, and then a rise in Insulin-like growth factor  (IGF). This IGF has been shown to affect the follicular area in more than one way that leads to acne formation. This is just one way in which too much sugar can lead to a skin problem.
 
Other rich foods, alcohol, and allergy producing foods all have ways in which they can aggravate not only acne, but other skin problems. 
 
So I wish you a sweet New Year and Holiday season, filled with love and deeper joy, but light on the sugar in its many forms. This is the one of best possible natural acne treatments.

To your health,

Alan M Dattner, MD

__

As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.


Want to avoid a stroke? Avoid these two foods.

6a00e55255b4628834019b00502860970c-200wiA number of recent reports show a dramatic rise in strokes in young and middle aged Americans. That included one report of a 51% rise in strokes in males 14- 34 years old (K Doheney Health Day). Causes were not found in the study, but explanations offered included increased obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, salt consumption, and recreational drug use.

I suggest that anything that increases fibrin formation and clotting within the blood vessels, is a possible culprit. Increased high temperature cooked foods, sugar, and other substances which lead to the process known as “glycation” may be factors in this change.

If you want to lower your risk for having a stroke, avoid eating sugary and fried foods. (Oh, and this may help clear acne naturally, too.)

To your health,

-Dr. Dattner

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine