The holidays are coming and we are all getting excited! The presents, the visiting, the carols, the treats — oh, the treats — those amazing goodies we only get once a year. Whether it is Grandma’s homemade treats or store bought, we all look forward to the treats. But then we spend most of January wondering why we indulged. Perhaps you use your good intentions about your upcoming New Year’s resolutions to justify it or maybe you justify it because the indulgence is only once a year.

This year, I want to give you the gift of knowledge and inspiration — knowledge of how to deal with the after effects of indulgence and inspiration through stories of others who have effectively turned the corner on their own health. You see, over a third of all adult Americans are pre-diabetic, or 88 million according to the CDC, and more than 84% don’t even know that they are. When someone who is pre-diabetic starts to indulge in holiday treats, their body will struggle even harder to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. But there is hope. Using a functional medicine model, we at Burtis Chiropractic Center have already transformed many pre-diabetics into people with normal blood sugar. It can be done, and it has been done. We have had a number of patients get off their medications for Type II Diabetes, lose weight, and transform their health. Once you achieve something called “metabolic resilience,” you can have a few treats while maintaining your health and losing the guilt!

The main problem behind pre-diabetes is something called “insulin resistance.” After too many years of high-carb and high-sugar diets, a body’s cells lose their responsiveness to insulin. This makes a person tired, sick, and overweight. Their body compensates by making more insulin; it’s like a drug addict that needs more and more drugs to feel the effect. Insulin resistance then leads to greater risks of heart conditions, dementia, kidney failure, and many other health issues.

How do you correct insulin resistance? It takes a three-pronged effort. The most important thing is your diet. You must shift your diet to a low-carb diet, otherwise your body will continue to crave sugar to run on. Your body knows how to use fat for fuel, and after a couple of weeks of utilizing a low-carb, high-healthy fat diet, your body will have all the energy it needs and you will begin to burn your own fat stores for fuel. Second, you need to exercise. If you don’t stoke the fires, you won’t burn fat for your fuel.

Third, you need to utilize supplements to assist your body in transforming from unhealthy to fit — and not just any supplements, but high-quality, pharmaceutical grade supplements. Before you go online looking for what to take, realize that everyone is different and you need a personalized program specific to your individual situation to begin that transformation.  Some supplements can be taken with medications, some cannot. Some can be taken with meals, others not so much. Berberine, cinnamon, ALCAR, chromium, rubidium, vanadium, bitter melon, and green tea are just some of the supplements and minerals that can assist you in your transformation, but you can’t just take everything and hope for the best. That is a plan guaranteed to fail.

We have had many patients come in to our office and get Wellness Assessments that helped identify the problem behind their insulin resistance. One man lost 30 pounds and is now off all medications. Another man lost 38 pounds and his testosterone levels are again normal. One woman had previously lost 10 pounds by working out but was stuck, and after adding supplements her weight loss took off again. Most of those patients are now off medications, are healthier, and yes, lighter. And now that they have achieved metabolic resilience, they can indulge now and then without risking pre-diabetes or outright Type II diabetes.

So don’t be afraid to enjoy the treats, but treat yourself to a health transformation first. Giving yourself the gift of health is a gift to your family as well. Who knows who you will inspire to do the same? Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from all of us at Burtis Chiropractic Center.