A pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, James M. Greenblatt, MD, has treated patients since 1988. After receiving his medical degree and completing his psychiatry residency at George Washington University, Dr. Greenblatt completed a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School. He currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer at Walden Behavioral Care in Waltham, MA and serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine. Dr. Greenblatt has lectured internationally on the scientific evidence for nutritional interventions in psychiatry and mental illness. He is the author of seven books, including Finally Focused: The Breakthrough Natural Treatment Plan for ADHD. He is the founder of Psychiatry Redefined,an educational platform dedicated to the transformation of psychiatry, whichoffers online CME-approved courses, webinars, and fellowships for professionals about functional and integrative medicine for mental illness.Learning point:
How forward thinking psychiatrists are integrating a functional approach to suicide prevention?
Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada. Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.
If you have a health topic that you would like us to discuss or are a health care specialist who wants to be a guest on our show let us know!
Here is our email. We would love to hear from you! thh@radiomaria.ca
Dr. Steven Dansiger is a rocker who got sober in the late 80’s and then became a sought after clinician, writer and meditation teacher. He became a master EMDR therapist and provider of EMDR Basic Training and Advanced Topics Courses as Senior Faculty with the Institute for Creative Mindfulness. He is the creator and founder of the MET(T)A Protocol (Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Agencies), a design for addictions and mental health agency treatment using Buddhist Mindfulness and EMDR Therapy as the theoretical orientation and primary clinical practice. It is now in use in multiple agencies throughout the country. He has been practicing Buddhist mindfulness for over 30 years (including a one year residency at a Zen monastery), and teaches dharma classes in Los Angeles and other centers internationally. He is the author of Clinical Dharma: A Path for Healers and Helpers and Mindfulness for Anger Management: Transformative Skills for Overcoming Anger and Managing Powerful Emotions. He is also the co-author (with Jamie Marich) of EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care. Additionally, Dr. Dansiger is the coauthor of Trauma and the 12 Steps: A Trauma Responsive Workbook & Trauma and the 12 Steps: Daily Meditations & Reflections – both companion pieces to the newly updated Trauma & The 12 Steps by Dr. Jamie Marich. He avidly blogs and podcasts on topics related to mental health, recovery, and mindfulness.Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a fairly new, nontraditional type of psychotherapy. It’s growing in popularity, particularly for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)Learning point:
Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada. Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.
If you have a health topic that you would like us to discuss or are a health care specialist who wants to be a guest on our show let us know!
Here is our email. We would love to hear from you! thh@radiomaria.ca
Does it conjure up visions of restrictive eating, diabetes medications, or insulin injections?
Blood sugar is the measure of the amount of sugar in your blood. You need the right balance of sugar in your blood to fuel your brain and muscles.
The thing is, it can fluctuate. A lot.
This fluctuation is the natural balance between things that increase it; and things that decrease it. When you eat food with sugars or starches (“carbs”), then your digestive system absorbs sugar into your blood. When carbs are ingested and broken down into simple sugars, your body keeps blood sugar levels stable by secreting insulin. Insulin allows excess sugar to get it out of your bloodstream and into your muscle cells and other tissues for energy
Why keep my blood sugar stable?
Your body wants your blood sugar to be at an optimal level. It should be high enough, so you’re not light-headed, fatigued, and irritable. It should be low enough that your body isn’t scrambling to remove excess from the blood.
When blood sugar is too low, this is referred to as “hypoglycemia.”
When blood sugar is too high, it is referred to as hyperglycemia. Prolonged periods of elevated blood sugar levels (chronic hyperglycemia) can lead to “insulin resistance.”
Insulin resistance is when your cells are just so bored of the excess insulin that they start ignoring (resisting) it, and that keeps your blood sugar levels too high.
Insulin resistance and chronic hyperglycemia can lead to inflammation. And inflammation is a contributing factor in the development of cancer.
So let’s look at how you can optimize your food and lifestyle to keep your blood sugar stable.
Food for stable blood sugar
The simplest thing to do to balance your blood sugar is to reduce the number of refined sugars and starches you eat. To do this, you can start by dumping sweet drinks and having smaller portions of dessert.
Eating more fiber is helpful too. Fiber helps to slow down the amount of sugar absorbed from your meal; it reduces the “spike” in your blood sugar level. Fiber is found in plant-based foods (as long as they are eaten in their natural state, processing foods removed fiber). Eating nuts, seeds and whole fruits and veggies (not juiced) is a great way to increase your fiber intake.
FUN FACT: Cinnamon has been shown to help cells increase insulin sensitivity. Not to mention it’s a delicious spice that can be used in place of sugar. (HINT: It’s in the recipe below)
Lifestyle for stable blood sugar
Exercise also helps to improve your insulin sensitivity; this means that your cells don’t ignore insulin’s call to get excess sugar out of the blood. Not to mention, when you exercise, your muscles are using up that sugar they absorbed from your blood. But you already knew that exercise is healthy, didn’t you?
Would you believe that stress affects your blood sugar levels? Yup! Stress hormones increase your blood sugar levels. If you think about the “fight or flight” stress response, what fuel do your brain and muscles need to “fight” or “flee”? Sugar! When you are stressed signals are sent to release stored forms of sugar back into the bloodstream, increasing blood sugar levels. So, try to reduce the stress you’re under and manage it more effectively. Simple tips are meditation, deep breathing, or gentle movement.
Sleep goes hand-in-hand with stress. When you don’t get enough quality sleep, you tend to release stress hormones, have a higher appetite, and even get sugar cravings. Sleep is crucial, often overlooked, factor when it comes to keeping your blood sugar stable. Make sleep more of a priority – it will do your blood sugar (and the rest of your physical and mental health) good.
Conclusion
Your body is on a constant 24-hour quest to keep your blood sugar stable. The body has mechanisms in place to do this, but those mechanisms can get tired (resistant). Long-term blood sugar issues can spell trouble.
There are many nutrition and lifestyle approaches you can take to help keep your blood sugar stable. Minimizing excessive carbs, and eating more fiber, exercising, reducing stress, and improving sleep are all key to having stable blood sugar (and overall good health).
Recipe (blood sugar balancing): Cinnamon Apples
Serves 4
2 apples, chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Place chopped apples into a small saucepan with 2 tbsp water. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. After about 5 minutes the apples will become slightly soft, and water will be absorbed.
Add 1 tbsp coconut oil. Stir apples and oil together.
Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
Add cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Stir well.
Cook for another few minutes, stirring until the apples reach your desired softness!
Serve and enjoy!
Tip: Keeping the peel on increases the fiber, which is even better for stabilizing your blood sugar.
Dr. Zenker is Board-Certified Family Physician through the American Academy of Family Medicine, Board-Certified in Integrative Medicine. Certified Practitioner in Functional Medicine, through the Institute for Functional Medicine.Certified, Bredesen training for Alzheimer prevention.Founder: Trinity Integrative Medicine, Burnsville, MNDr. Bernarda Zenker has a particular concern for finding solutions to chronic health problems. She utilizes nutritional supplements and diet recommendations to assist traditional medicine in the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases. She looks for root causes of chronic health problems, and helps individuals use their own genetics to their benefit for better health, working around possible genetic blockages. She works aggressively to prevent memory loss, detoxification of toxins, increasing neurotransmitter levels when needed, reducing inflammation, and re-establishing gastrointestinal health. Learning point:
What is the role of cholesterol in our body?
Why is the standard blood test measuring cholesterol isn’t telling us?
What is the relationship between inflammation and high cholesterol?
Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada. Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.
Roxana Rafatjah is the Founder of Conscious Enterprises, a thought leadership platform and advisory & consulting service, boosting the evolution of business.Severe health challenges while living a typical Manhattanite lifestyle were the catalyst for Roxana to discover the crucial importance of understanding mind-body-energy balance. During this time, newly sparked curiosities in the relationship between inner-acknowledgement and outer-impact drove her to dive deeper into correlations between flow states, neuro-biology, quantum physics, existentialism, and most notably, businesses, systems, peak performance and leadership. A self-taught meditator and consultant for prominent brands and leaders, Roxana has applied, experienced and advised on powerful results by recalibrating subconscious intentions in all facets of life. She views the world through a psychological and scientific lens that is revealing humanity’s rapid evolution and the necessity for business leaders to break down limiting belief systems in order to encourage thriving communities to grown around them.Roxana’s intention with Conscious Enterprises is to boost human, management and business evolution by supporting leaders, corporations and brands that intend to connect to an impactful purpose.As a mission & purpose driven executive, Roxana is also the Head of Marketing & Brand Partnerships and a key Advisor for Heuro Health, a healthcare-technology company on a mission to reverse the illness-incentivized healthcare industry by making wellness profitable for businesses and insurance carriers.Roxana grew up in Potomac, Maryland with a Korean mother, Persian father, and a sister. She is a graduate of Boston University. Roxana is currently an Advisor, Wellness Program Curator, Event Producer, Marketing & Business Consultant and Licensed Real Estate Agent in New York City, where she lives with her husband and furry baby Bibi.
Learning Points:
What is Conscious Living?
What is the evolution of wellness in the business world?
How can business leaders influence wellness within their companies?
Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada. Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.
Exercise also helps to improve your insulin sensitivity; this means that your cells don’t ignore insulin’s call to get excess sugar out of the blood. Not to mention, when you exercise, your muscles are using up that sugar they absorbed from your blood. But you already knew that exercise is healthy, didn’t you?
