Do you have Metabolic Syndrome or Insulin Resistance?
At least thirty percent of Americans have a condition called insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome. If you are overweight, especially with it distributed in the waist region, you probably have insulin resistance.
Insulin is the hormone your pancreas produces to lower blood sugar after a meal. Though your pancreas produces enough insulin, your body’s cells lose responsiveness to it.
In simple language the higher the percentage of fat in your body the more resistant your body is to insulin. Thus your blood sugar begins to rise and you start to develop insulin resistance or pre-diabetes
What is Metabolic Syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is a turning point you can take either towards freedom in health or limitation in disease. The disease option can lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia, and often chronic pain and inflammation.
We at North Coast Family Health have numerous tools to help you reverse and treat metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes so you can prevent the above disease processes.
Testing for Metabolic Syndrome
We offer the following in house tests to assess your risk or level of metabolic syndrome:
- Urinalysis – checks for sugar in the urine and indicators of kidney function.
- Body composition analysis – which determines your percentage of fat to lean ratio and how they improve over time with your individualized treatment program.
- Home testing of glucose – we offer glucometers and recommend you keep track of your blood sugars on a glucograph to identify and track the progress of your lifestyle changes towards health.
Some other tests we commonly order through outside laboratories are:
- hs-CRP – to measure levels of inflammation in the body and cardiovascular risk.
- Lipid particle size with other inflammatory markers and plaque assessment markers – these tests are more useful than a typical Lipid profile in that they break down the LDL and HDL particle size to assess likelihood of plaque formation in the arteries.
- Serum 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D3 – to measure if Vitamin D levels are adequate to prevent inflammation and diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and osteoporosis. (What is considered normal on a blood test is often not optimal for health)
- Thyroid profile studies – “normal” lab results may not be optimal for health.
- Chemistry and CBC – can help identify areas of the body that may be in need of support.
- Homocysteine – a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, anxiety and dementia. (Optimal levels are half the upper limit of “normal”)
- Provoked Urinary Toxic Metals testing – We commonly find elevated levels of mercury or lead in many individuals and these metals have health consequences for thyroid function, brain function and systemic disease processes.
- Food Allergy Testing – This is a very useful test for identifying inflammation promoting foods in your body.
How we treat Metabolic Syndrome & Diabetes
In addition, we have multiple tools for reversing the process of insulin resistance and helping you to have a healthy body free of inflammation, pain, excess weight, and cardiovascular disease.
We provide you with a personalized treatment plan based on your particular needs utilizing natural therapies such as high quality nutrition and herbal supplements, hormonal therapies, support and guidance in diet and exercise, allergy elimination, stress and sleep, and detoxification.
We encourage you to schedule an appointment with any of the five naturopathic doctors at North Coast Family Health in Portsmouth, NH to get you started on reclaiming your health today.
A Few Keys to Healthy Weight, Metabolism & Decreased Risk of Disease
- Exercise! One pound of fat burns 1 to 2 calories per day and one pound of muscle burns 35 to 40 calories per day! Exercise builds muscle, promotes dense bones, and strengthens and detoxifies the body. It is shown to be as good a mood enhancer as most anti-depression drugs!
- Avoid or minimize Alcohol – One glass of wine is 120 calories. Alcohol causes nutrient depletion and dehydration. Also alcohol stimulates appetite and promotes estrogenic effects in the body causing fat gain.
- Watching television suppresses metabolism 16% below what you would have while reading. Therefore, the more television you watch the slower your metabolism. (Unless you are exercising at the same time!)