Blood Sugar Is Your Teacher

Being in reality about your blood sugar is essential to your healing process and understanding how your body uniquely responds to foods. What I’m about to teach you is the number one thing that you can do for your health – both in terms of managing chronic inflammatory disease and prevention.

Let’s get started…

First thing you need to do is find your motivation. Healing is a participation sport. You’re not going to get anywhere by sitting on the sidelines. This is going to require your time, attention and discipline. So stop making excuses and get down to business – you and your family are worth it!

After you have found your inspiration and commitment, buy a blood sugar monitor. Precision Xtra is an affordable device that can measure both glucose and ketones.

Side note: you may not be interested in ketones right now, but you may be in the future, so I say go ahead and invest in a dual glucose/ketone monitor. It will save you money in the long run.

Some of you may have heard of a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). While having a CGM installed in your body is all the rage and avoids having to prick your finger, I am not a fan. The CGM utilizes wireless technology and can relay as many as 288 readings in a 24-hour period. That means that you are being unnecessarily exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). The EMFs emanated by these wireless devices, such as a CGM, mobile phones, cordless phones, smart meters, iPads, WiFi, wireless speakers, mouse, key boards and printers, are stressful to our bodies and can most definitely affect blood sugar.

You will also need a notebook to track your food intake and blood sugar levels.

Now, let the fun begin – EAT! Then measure your blood sugar and assess your situation using the parameters below:

General guidelines:

• Fasting

• Healthy 70-110 mg/dL

• Pre-diabetic 110-126 mg/dL

• Diabetic >126 mg/dL

• One hour after meals

• Healthy <140 mg/dL

• Pre-diabetic 140-200 mg/dL

• Diabetic >200 mg/dL

Optimal guidelines:

• Fasting between 80-90

• 1 hour after eating < 140

• 2 hours after eating <120

• 3 hours after eating between 80-90

Please remember that this technique isn’t perfect: blood sugar can be normal while insulin is elevated. It’s a good idea to measure blood insulin levels when you get your annual blood work to know where you stand. According to Dr Ron Rosedale, an expert on the subject matter, low insulin levels is the single marker for a long life.

Functional medicine guidelines recommend insulin levels be less than 3; others recommend, 5. In excess, both insulin and blood sugar contribute to chronic inflammatory disease and damage the lining of the blood vessels in the body.

And you can’t out run your fork! While you may be able to eat a bunch of carbs and run off the sugar, you can’t run off the insulin. Remember, in excess BOTH hurt the human body. In fact, two people I have supported over the years found that too much exercise dramatically increased their blood sugar!

In addition to blood levels of insulin, I also want to mention the value of HbA1c which refers to glycated hemoglobin. This makes your blood sticky and provides a three-month window into how damaged your cardiovascular system is. HbA1c should be below 5.5.

Also, on your blood sugar log, you may want to track your sleep, alcohol intake, exercise, and stress levels all of which, if imbalanced, will affect your blood sugar. I have heard of at least one case study where a client could not control his blood sugar if he got less than 9 hours of sleep per night. That’s a good thing to know about yourself!

You need to pay attention to your use of stimulants as well. Coffee, tea, nicotine, energy drinks, and chocolate can also affect blood sugar.

7-14 days of tracking this is usually enough time to get a feeling for what is happening with your blood sugar. Then, you can just take it when you want to or are trying something new. It’s a great way to fine tune your diet and lifestyle choices, as your body’s ability to effectively handle carbohydrates declines with age.

I want to emphasize that now is NOT the time to give anything up or to be overwhelmed. Don’t let those crazy voices in your head stop you! You can do this. This is an invitation to become a detective, to be the observer of your body. You are on an information gathering adventure to discover how all of these things affect your blood sugar, including EMFs. Then, you will be able to make informed decisions about what you eat and drink, where you keep your cell phone at night, when you go to bed, what kind of exercise you do and how you handle stress. This is a game changer.

I want to congratulate you on becoming THE authority on your body.

Track your blood sugar in peace, my friends.

Love,

Charlotte

Love Letters to Herbs: Turmeric

Dear Turmeric,

I owe you an apology. I didn’t take you seriously. I’ve become so skeptical of hype and advertisements. You’re all over the media. You’re in so many supplements and everyone loves you. But as an herbalist, I would always think to myself, “I don’t need to use popular herbs like Turmeric! There are many paths up the herbal healing mountain and I’m not taking you with me!”

But I was wrong, and I’m sorry. You’re popular for reason. Like so many other people who have benefited from your medicine, you changed my life. Here’s what happened…

My massage therapist was looking for a good quality Turmeric extract for inflammation, so I sold her a bottle of the best one I know of – a 1:1 water and alcohol liquid extract from MediHerb. She came back the next week, saying something to the effect of, “WOW! That shit is amazing! I feel so much better. Happier. Brighter. Less inflamed. Thank you!”

Here’s the rub…I was feeling many of the same things she was. I felt puffy, sluggish, depressed, tired, bloated, blah and just overall off. So I thought, OK, maybe I need to set all my preconceived notions behind, swallow my pride, and give Turmeric a try.

Sigh.

I took 5 mLs in water, three times per day and the very next day I was noticeably improved. I woke up more clear headed. All my belly bloat was gone. I felt happier and much less puffy. You filled my body with your sunshine, Turmeric, and lifted my spirits in a time when I needed it most. I am forever grateful.

But that’s not all…

When I became a parent, green tea wasn’t going to cut it anymore. I needed the big guns – I needed coffee! Now, I know I’m fine with coffee every now and then, but with parenting, I started drinking it every day. It wasn’t working for me. I was irritable and on the stimulant rollercoaster. You, Turmeric, very unexpectedly got me off of coffee. I felt so alive with you running through my blood stream, I didn’t even think about coffee.

And I’ve been done with coffee now for over three years – thanks to you. You were the plant ally I needed, and I ignored you for YEARS! My nervous system is so much more calm and stable. Coffee gave me energy with a twist of tension and anger but you give me energy with a twist of well-being and joy.

Many people don’t know it but you, my herbal friend, are a welcomed remedy for depression. We have to stop thinking of depression as a neurotransmitter imbalance or serotonin deficiency and recognize it for the inflammation that it is: the brain on fire. You manage that fire.

I know some people may complain that you stain their counter, sink or even teeth. Don’t listen to the haters, Turmeric. Fuck ‘em. You’re so worth it!

Scientists say that you nudge hundreds of pathways in the body to bring it into a healthier balance. I’ve heard it called molecular promiscuity and network pharmacology. This is in stark contrast to pharmaceutical drugs that typically shut down a single, targeted pathway, resulting in all sorts of unintended consequences and an overall decrease in vitality. So keep doing what you do and bring gentle, effective medicine into people's bodies. Keep nudging those pathways, baby!

There you have it, Turmeric. I am a convert and stand corrected. You are a gift. Thank you for being the deeply yellow root that you are and for helping so many people have better lives.

In gratitude for plant medicine,

Charlotte

PS: To my readers, quality and appropriate dosage are everything when it comes to herbal medicine. These are my favorite ways to use Turmeric:

I already mentioned MediHerb’s Turmeric 1:1 liquid extract. That’s still a favorite. Recently, MediHerb also came out with a tablet called Turmeric Forte. In this product, Turmeric is combined with fenugreek which significantly increases its absorption, directly delivering it to inflamed tissues and through the blood brain barrier for neuroinflammation. Most people prefer these little yellow tablets of happiness to the liquid.

Please be aware that MediHerb products are potent, require training and, therefore, are available through qualified health professionals, like myself.

Then, for turmeric powder, I enjoy Dr Cowan’s Gardens and my preferred blend for golden milk comes from Further Food. In this formula, turmeric is combined with black pepper, cardamom pods, clove buds, organic cinnamon, organic ginger, frankincense and schisandra with NO sweeteners.

I also enjoy an occasional cup of Turmeric Ginger Tea from Rishi.

Thanks for being here and may you come to know yourself better through herbs!

Eating Chocolate in Peace

True confessions: sometimes I eat a chunk of chocolate for lunch. No, I’m not kidding! I eat a big breakfast rich in fat and protein and sometimes lunch is simply an afterthought, a snack, like a chunk of this chocolate. It’s satisfying, gives me a pleasant happy feeling AND holds me through the afternoon without hunger until dinner. Yes, chocolate can be FOOD! Plus, when it’s prepared well, it can help fight cancer…

In a study titled: Dietary intakes of mushrooms and green tea combine to reduce the risk of breast cancer in Chinese women, they concluded “that higher dietary intake of mushrooms decreased breast cancer risk in pre- and postmenopausal Chinese women and an additional decreased risk of breast cancer from joint effect of mushrooms and green tea was observed.”

This is a wonderful example of synergy where 1 + 1 = 3! Not to mention all the health benefits of high quality cocoa.

Cocoa plays a key role in supporting healthy microvascular circulation, activates natural immunity, and even shows that it can beneficially alter the bacteria in our guts by serving as a prebiotic. That's just to name a few!

So maybe 1 + 1 + 1 = 6 when it comes to cocoa, green tea and mushrooms! I hope you can enjoy this chocolate as much as I do.

SUPER DARK CHOCOLATE BARK

1 pound dark, organic, fair trade 85%+ cocoa content (I buy a variety of bars)

3 Tablespoons organic coconut oil

2 teaspoon Brain Octane or MCT oil

1 teaspoon high quality mushroom powder

1 teaspoon organic matcha green tea powder

1 five ounce bag salted Pili Nuts OR salted, roasted, organic macadamia nuts (chopped)

HOW TO:

Prepare your double boiler on the stove; heat water to high. In the meantime, break up dark chocolate bars into smaller chunks on a cutting board. When nice and hot, melt coconut oil in the double boiler and then add chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth. Turn off heat. Next, add MCT oil, mushroom and green tea powders; stir until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture onto a small cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Gently sprinkle nuts on top. Refrigerate and make sure that the pan is sitting on a flat, even surface. When the chocolate is hard, slice into large pieces and store in a container in the fridge. If you can catch it before it is fully hardened, then you can cut nice, even squares of the chocolate bark.

Eat your chocolate in peace, my friends!

Love,

Charlotte