Practicing Mindfulness to Improve Blood Sugar Balance and Lower A1c
New research points to the overlooked role of the Mind-Body connection to help people with Diabetes lower their A1c.
“The doctor of the future will give no medication but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease” — Thomas A. Edison
Welcome back to ZigZag Nutrition.
This is my newsletter that I started almost 3 years ago to give us a chance to explore all things health and wellness with the freedom to learn the true fundamentals of health and healing.Substack offers us that chance in the age of unimaginable censorship across most modern media. Thank you for being here.
I’ve been writing for over a decade now and have always had an inkling of a call to try to encourage, educate, empower, and inspire others. You can expect all of that here. ZigZag Nutrition explores complex topics across holistic health, integrative & functional medicine, offering insights about our broken healthcare system, natural & alternative health, health optimization, nutritional psychiatry, and data-driven tools to inform and elicit change behavior like never before. (and more).
Some of my community’s favorite posts related to today’s topic are linked above if you want to take a look around.
Today, I’m going to elaborate on an overlooked aspect of diabetes health, that is the power of mindfulness to improve glycemic control and improve quality of life. This is not a simplified algorithm or mathematical equation, but rather an abstract qualitative benefit that leads to quantifiable lower A1c.
If you decide that you want to go deeper with my one-on-one health coaching for Type 2 Diabetes and PreDiabetes, I’d be happy to help you transform your life for the better. Take action today and Learn more here.
Let’s Dive In!
Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, and affects people regardless of country, age group, or sex. I bet you know someone with diabetes, or perhaps even several people with diabetes.
For those with Diabetes, there is so much hope but they are often never given the correct and authentic information necessary to truly equip and empower them to transform their lives for the better.
After decades of research, hundreds of millions of dollars, advancements in science and technology, why are we still moving in a negative direction when it comes to diabetes trends and diabetes care within the standards of healthcare as we know it?
You might think we would have come up with all possible solutions to catch the disease early and often, targeting specific strategies to promote healing and remedy for the biological systems of the body to actually heal and repair.
You might be asking the really good question, “What therapeutic tools have we learned to prioritize over the decades of diabetes care?” In other words, what really moves the needle the most for people? What do they really need to focus on to improve their blood sugar balance?
After all these years, you might think we have been successful in our pursuits, but you would be repulsed to know the truth — the whole truth.
The problem is, just like we saw last week in my story about corruption, those who control the narrative get to write the script and depict the direction we ought to go. In healthcare and medicine, Pharma leads the conversation because money talks. Today, diabetes care methods are pretty well controlled by 4–5 massive players in this space, whom I’m sure you can guess: Abbott, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Dexcom, Roche, and maybe a few others.
Unfortunately, these giant corporations are not in the business of holistic healing and prevention, they are in the global business of technological solutions, digital wearables and product sales, subscriptions, and manufacturing lifelong consumerism for people who have Diabetes and other ‘chronic’ conditions.
The value for just diabetes device care alone is estimated to be running north of $40B in just a few years, not to mention medications, services, and other poor standards in standard care.
Likewise, Big Food has distracted us from the truth, inflating the focus for calories alone instead of embracing the holistic understanding for nutrition and metabolism. Robert Lustig and Marion Nestle have been warning us for years.
In contrast to what you may believe, not all calories are created equal. A calorie is in fact, not just a calorie. There are many variables to consider - between food timing, food sequencing, status of the autonomic nervous system, food and beverage processing, and so much more.
You see, true Blood Sugar management goes beyond the long practiced “counting carbohydrates” in standard diabetes education. There are many tools we can use to positively impact our blood sugar balance.
For those living with Diabetes (about 6% of the global population) and those living with Prediabetes (almost 40% of the US population), lifestyle changes through diet and exercise can make an incredible impact for overall risk reduction and healthspan, but there’s so much more.
In the United States of America, where we spend an astronomical amount of money on healthcare, we still have over 35 million Americans suffering from Type 2 Diabetes. And a more than 1 in 3 Americans have prediabetes, while 80% of them have literally no idea they should be concerned at all.
As we continue to serve our kids diabetes-inducing meals, snacks, and beverages, it is important for us to call out the white elephant in the room - that is our broken food system and how it negatively impacts kids, setting them on a fast-track for diabetes and obesity.
Recent estimates suggest that by 2050, more than 1.31 billion people across the globe will have diabetes. Just imagine how many more people will be walking around with Prediabetes unknowingly, slowly progressing into full blown diabetes status.
[if you glance over the published article linked above, just scan through the conflicts of interest… such an extensive list.. how do you feel about such a long list of conflicts of interest?]
As I mentioned before, there is so much more we can do. If we really want to make a difference, we cannot hide from the truth and we require massive change to combat the powerful wave of increasing rates across the globe and in America especially.
“Type 2 diabetes, which makes up the bulk of diabetes cases, is largely preventable and, in some cases, potentially reversible if identified and managed early in the disease course." - Global Burden of Disease, Diabetes
Along with adjusting food and improving fitness levels in someone’s life, we can also improve blood sugar control beyond just looking at food alone.
Let’s talk about Mindfulness
Mindfulness interventions show potential for improving glycemic control as measured by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels, as well as reducing stress, depression, and anxiety in people with diabetes. Four out of five systematic reviews and meta-analyses reported a significant reduction in HbA1c levels by approximately 0.3%.
Yes, mindfulness interventions have a positive impact for improving glycemic control as measured by hemoglobin A1c levels, but also by reducing levels of stress, depression, and anxiety in people with diabetes. All of these secondary effects have limitless impact for the future of someone’s quality of life as well.
Increased mindfulness around mealtime leads to slower eating, more chewing, more time to feel full before overeating, as well as greater enjoyment with the food we choose to eat, which in turn leads to promoting happy hormones and overall healthy gut flow thanks to serotonin and other hormone and enzymatic cascades throughout digestion.
In addition, it is likely someone can improve their Diabetes markers and help balance their blood sugars through mindfulness by way of allowing mindfulness to resolve cravings as people grow more deeply connected with their own feelings and emotions, their truest personal needs, and take steps away from stress eating or binge eating or mindless snacking.
It is cost effective and comes with no foreseeable negative side effects. I believe every viable option should be on the table, don’t you?
Yes, yoga plays a role. Yes, movement, stretching, sleep, stress, nutrition, and mind-body connection all play a role, promoting mental fitness, emotional awareness, and inner consciousness as one pursues optimal wellbeing and an aligned lifestyle according to their values.
Those with diabetes deserve to hold on to hope, to not suffer from shame or depression related to this disease state. There are many opportunities to improve these people’s lives if we just simply speak the truth.
We all deserve the chance to live our very best lives possible — at least that’s what I believe.
We deserve to push and pull one another towards healthier living and higher realms of optimal wellbeing.
We can do better. We must do better — not only for ourselves but also our friends, family, spouses, and children. We are all in this together. We are humans in community. This is our infinitely interconnected biology no matter your opinion about someone else’s political affiliation.
People have to live a life strikingly different from what is common today if they truly want to turn their lives around.
I think this is where companies like Levels Health, Noom, Nutriscore, Fruitstreet, and more are doing much more to help reverse the scary trends for increasing metabolic disease in this country and around the world.
Hence, terms like ‘diabetes reversal’ actually make a lot more sense.
Maybe you know about this topic well, if so then you likely know all about Mastering Diabetes, Virta Health diabetes reversal, medically supervised Water Fasting, and supplements like chromium, magnesium, turmeric, ginger, berberine, quercetin, the role of physical activity, quality sleep, protein, and fiber for someone with diabetes seeking holistic and complementary care. Honestly, there are a number of other tactics we could talk about still. Let’s just say there are many ways to go after insulin resistance.
All these potential avenues deserve open conversation to explore with qualified health professionals dedicated to serve the people as a team of servant-leaders — not pharmaceutical henchmen stuck inside a suffocating system acting as a lynch pin to real health and real healing for real people.
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ZigZag Nutrition represents the pursuit we share as we strive to live this life as best as we can, learning and growing, flexing and adapting along the way to better align ourselves to the most nutritious life and lifestyle that meets our needs and nourishes our body, mind, and spirit - together.