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Gut Microbes May Effect Sugar Digestion
A recent article from the BBC described some current research that will potentially change all the rules regarding blood sugar. With pre-diabetes affecting more than one-third of the adult population, millions of people have been put on strict no-sugar, low-carb diets to lower their blood sugar levels.
While getting high blood sugar levels seems to be as simple as eating a high-sugar, high-carb, comfort food diet, getting rid of pre-diabetes is not so easy. People who go on restrictive diets don’t always get the results they sought after. Many end up on drugs like Metformin to lower blood sugars because the diets just don’t work.
I have written numerous articles and have a free eBook, called Blood Sugar Secrets for Health and Longevity, designed to help folks individualize their strategies to lower their blood sugar numbers.
Currently at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Tel Aviv, Professor Eran Segal is performing detailed blood sugar and diet analyses on over 1000 patients. Each patient is fitted with an internal blood sugar monitoring device that measures their blood sugar response to every meal. Each meal is strictly prepared and controlled, and stress levels, routine and exercise are all carefully documented.
The convention says that high glycemic foods should raise blood sugar, but this is not the case in Segal’s study. It turns out that there are many factors that can affect blood sugar levels, including stress, sleep, exercise and, of course, diet.
While diet had the greatest effect on blood sugar, the results of the study were unexpected. Some folks had a typical blood sugar spike after a meal of sweets and ice cream, but others did not. One woman had blood sugar spikes from sushi, grapes, chicken and cereal, but had no spikes from ice cream, chocolate and coke. Some folks had spikes from pasta and others did not. (2)
According to this study, there may be a new understanding regarding high or low glycemic foods. It all seems to depend on what type of microbes you carry in your gut. That’s right, there are certain microbes that can digest sugar better than others. So, some folks have a healthy stable of sugar-eating microbes and seem to not be affected by sugar or pasta.
This is not to say that this would replace a healthy balanced diet, but currently, at the end of the study, study participants receive a tailor-made diet that matches their microbiome. The goal of the study is two-fold:
- First, to help folks manage their blood sugars with a more specific diet.
- Second, to manipulate the microbiome to support healthier microbes that boost digestive strength and, ultimately, one’s health.
Don’t Wait… Balance Your Blood Sugar Before It’s Too Late
I have been recommending the self-monitoring of blood sugar levels at home for years. This is the only known way to map out the triggers for your blood sugar spikes. For some folks, the morning sugars rise when you stay up late, eat late, go to bed stressed or, according to this new study, eat the wrong foods for your microbes.
Self-monitoring will help you identify a diet and lifestyle to help keep your blood sugars down and ward off the many blood sugar-related health woes. Here are the takeaways from this study:
- Take responsibility for your health and check your blood sugar regularly at home, and adjust your diet and lifestyle accordingly. Blood sugar monitors are now available that plug into your IPhone or Android.
- Rebuild a healthier microbiome. This is accomplished by supporting the health of the intestinal skin with the addition of colonizing probiotics. These are designed to deliver a more diverse stable of permanent microbial residents.
Don’t wait to get your blood sugar back into balance. High blood sugar is the smoking gun for almost every chronic and degenerative health concern, and it can be a problem even when the sugars are still in the normal range. Checking your blood sugar and rebuilding your microbiome is energy well spent to avert any danger before it arises.
