Disease Reversal
Reverse Common Health Conditions!
Metabolic MD specializes in helping patients reverse medical conditions related to overweight/obesity and insulin resistance. The conditions we help reverse include:
The use of Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) allows our patients to understand their blood glucose physiology, lower their blood glucose (blood sugar), and eliminate blood glucose swings (spikes and drops). We provide the intense medical and coaching support that helps patients make the lifestyle changes that result in the complete or partial reversal of many chronic medical conditions. This is an approach that most primary care providers have neither the expertise or time to provide. Examples of the conditions we help patients reverse include:
Prediabetes:
Prediabetes is the result of insulin resistance. It can be completely reversed to avoid ever progressing to diabetes. Prediabetes is diagnosed by a fasting blood glucose of 100 or greater, or a Hemoglobin A1C of 5.7% or greater. It is important to reverse prediabetes before it progresses to diabetes, which may then become a permanent condition.
Diabetes:
Once prediabetes progresses to diabetes it is difficult to reverse completely. However, with the dietary and other lifestyle change guidance we provide it is possible to reduce the need for diabetic medications or even eliminate them entirely. We have helped many patients achieve great blood glucose control and reduce medication dosages, or eliminate the need for medications altogether, even insulin.
Insulin Resistance:
Insulin resistance usually results from high blood sugar related to a diet high in carbohydrates over many years. It results in many other medical problems including prediabetes, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. Insulin resistance can usually be effectively reversed in with a low carbohydrate diet and intermittent fasting. We use continuous glucose monitors to help our patients monitor their blood glucose and guide their diet.
High Blood Pressure:
When insulin resistance is reversed and weight is lost, blood pressure often comes down. We have helped many patients with a history of hypertension lose weight and lower or eliminate high blood pressure.
Fatty Liver Disease
One out of five adults have this condition. Fatty Liver Disease is the result of blood glucose being converted to fat in the liver. Most of this fat is deposited in the midsection of the body, but some of it stays in the liver causing fatty liver disease. The cause is insulin resistance. Diet and other lifestyle changes can achieve the weight loss that reverses fatty liver disease.
Sleep Apnea:
Sleep apnea usually results from overweight or obesity. With reductions in weight sleep apnea often improves or is eliminated.
GERD
Similar to sleep apnea, GERD often improves with weight loss. The mechanism is decreased abdominal pressure due to less fat in the abdominal area.
High Cholesterol / High Triglycerides
High cholesterol and high triglycerides can be related to both diet and activity regimens. Low carb / higher fat diets often result in better lipid profiles: lower total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides, and higher HDL (good cholesterol). For patients with high cholesterol, we do more detailed “subfraction” studies to determine if a high cholesterol is a serious issue. Triglycerides usually lower significantly (sometimes plummet) on low carb diets. This is because triglycerides are formed by the conversion of blood glucose to fat in the liver. When blood glucose is lowered, triglyceride formation is reduced.
Joint Pain:
Joint pain can be related not only to weight but often is also caused by blood sugar induced to joint inflammation. One of the biggest causes of joint inflammation is high blood glucose, as blood glucose attaches to cartilage it causes inflammation. Blood glucose attaches to cartilage to cause inflammation just as it does to blood vessel linings and hemoglobin (blood glucose attachment to hemoglobin causes high HgbA1C readings). Our practice has helped our patients achieve remarkable decreases and even elimination in joint pain. These improvements are directly related to the lower blood glucose readings we help them achieve.
Fatigue and Energy Levels:
Even mildly elevated blood glucose, and especially fluctuations in blood glucose, can cause a drop in energy. For many patients, once blood glucose is brought into the normal range energy levels improve. When large swings in blood glucose are reduced (elimination of spikes and drops) fatigue very often resolves.
Mental Clarity and “Brain Fog”
”: Variations in blood glucose are known to cause “brain fog”. This occurs primarily when a blood glucose spike causes a release of insulin which “overshoots the mark” and causes relative “crash” in blood glucose. Be eliminating blood glucose spikes and drops, mental clarity can improve.