According to National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, around 96 million U.S. adults over 18 years old have prediabetes. Plus, more than 80% of them do NOT know about it! That’s an insane percentage. So, how do you know if you have prediabetes? And is there anything you can do to reverse course?

You need to change the way you test. Ultimately, we need to use different tests, perform them earlier, and intervene sooner—before patients become diabetic.

But we’ll get back to testing and remedying blood sugar.

First, we need to talk about the type of symptoms you experience when you have a hidden blood sugar issue. Here’s a list:

· Major mood swings

· Anxiety/depression

· Highly painful periods/PMS

· PCOS

· Thyroid issues

· Sleep troubles

· Energy issues

· Difficulty losing/gaining weight

· Elevated cholesterol (especially LDL cholesterol levels)

· Hair loss

· Regular headaches/migraines

· Frequent hunger

· Infertility issues

And there are many more. Remember, blood sugar regulation impacts every cell of your body. It influences the function of mitochondria, which generates energy for every single cell in the body. So, controlling blood sugar is very important.

How Functional Medicine Doctors Test Blood Sugar

There are three tests I order for my patients to make sure they are not trending towards blood sugar instability.

1. Fasting glucose found on CMP: this should be in the 80s for a healthy response.

2. Fasting insulin: the ideal range is 2-4, and research shows that after 7 you have a much higher cardiovascular risk.

3. Hemoglobin A1C: this is a marker of your average glucose levels over a 120-day period. It should be 5 and under.

I find that if all three of these tests are not run, your information is not sufficient. Patients are told by other doctors that their sugar levels are NORMAL, when in fact they are sitting on pre-diabetes and experiencing very real day-to-day symptoms. You can have elevated fasting insulin and HgA1C, for example, with a completely “normal” looking glucose. That’s why its important to gain a holistic picture by testing all three. When one of these markers is out of range, you may not feel well, or you can have an underlying issue that needs to be addressed. Typically, the more of these markers that are off, the greater the issue.

How to Address Blood Sugar Issues

Here are my 6 top things to do if you have blood sugar levels and one or more of these three markers are NOT in range.

1. Take out processed sugar and grains (yes, all grains) for at least 30-60 days. These will help your body stabilize blood sugar.

2. Walk after meals. Research shows that even a 10-15 minute walk can significantly lower/maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

3. Stress response. High stress means high cortisol which can lead to high blood sugar. Doing your best to create a positive response is highly important to maintaining healthy blood sugar levels.

4. Work with a functional medicine doctor to evaluate other aspects of your health that need support. This can include liver/kidneys/gut/adrenals/thyroid/immune system, and nervous system health.

5. Wear a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor). My favorite is the Nutrisense monitor(use code: DRVERONIKA25 for a little discount), which helps to measure your blood sugar over 2 weeks, and helps you to figure out what you’re doing (not only eating) that’s making your sugar good or bad. Things that can impact blood sugar include, but are not limited to, foods you’re eating, hydration status, stress response, infections, gut health function, sleep, movement (or lack of), etc. This is an invaluable tool which has really helped my patients get and STAY out of diabetes. It helps them not only monitor their food choices, but holistically evaluate their lifestyle.

6. Supplements: My favorite supplements for blood sugar support can be found in my online store. These include Diaplex, Gymnema, and Metabol. You can add a new one every 1-2 weeks to see if things improve as you’re monitoring your blood sugar levels.

The best way to monitor and address blood sugar issues would be to work with a functional medicine provider (like me) to figure out what your specific issues are and receive customized treatment for your issues.

But let me leave you with some good news. THERE IS A LOT OF HOPE in this space. You don’t have to just “wait it out” until your glucose gets so bad that you get put on a diabetic med. There are things you can do to address this issue and get help.

Remember you were put on this earth not only to survive but to thrive!

If you are interested in further addressing this topic, please feel free to reach out and schedule an appointment. Dr. V is a Chiropractor and Functional Medicine Doctor in Elmhurst, Illinois who evaluates patients from the inside out, focusing on areas including hormone imbalance, digestive health, anxiety/depression, autoimmune disease, and many others.

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