A friend of mine has been on a journey of keeping herself and her family healthy.  She’s been an inspiration to me on so many levels.  She homeschools her four kids.  She bakes a lot of things, including keeping a gluten-free and a non-gluten-free diet for members of her family.  She sees a chiropractor and another holistic health worker for all issues that come up, after which, if needed, she’ll consult with her medical doctor.  She is a wonderful friend and companion on our spiritual journeys, as we try daily to become better people.  I have had the fortune to become closer to her over the past couple of years.

Okay.  Enough of that.  Why are we talking about her?

Because she ended up in the emergency room four weeks ago with a blood sugar of 396.  That’s right.  Normal is 70-100 mg/dL while fasting and no more than 135-140 mg/dL after eating.  She received the diagnosis of diabetes even though she thought she’d never had trouble with her blood sugar before.  One of the tests showed that it had been in the mid-200’s for a few months even though she didn’t know it.

The E.R. doctor put her on medication, which made her feel horrible.  So, she saw her chiropractor, who suggested she try a particular diet.  She was on Phase II on this link.  He also adjusted her, used cold laser and gave her a supplement to support her liver.  After the appointment her blood sugar was 165 mg/dL after having been in the 200’s the previous day.  She completely changed her diet, and after adapting to no fruit or sugar, lots of veggies, and for a time, no meat, this is what she had to say:

  • “Many have asked if I will continue on this extreme diet in the long term, or if it’s temporary. Want to know what I really believe? God made our bodies with an amazing ability to heal themselves. Instead of feeding our bodies nutrients that nurture the healing process, however, we fill up on toxins (food, stress, environmental, etc). I believe that if there was a radical shift in the American diet/lifestyle we would see a radical shift in health care costs and so many of the common chronic diseases could be reversed or at least slowed down. I am hoping and believing that I won’t have diabetes as a long term issue. If and when my liver heals (so far so good, but we will see long term, right), I will choose to continue a modified form of this diet. I feel good on it. My head is clear, I have energy, and I feel happy…and my clothes are getting loose. Hubby and I watched “Forks Over Knives” last night, and one of the doctors pointed out that we see a diet like the one I’m on as “extreme,” but isn’t it more extreme to have open heart surgery or a similar procedure? How sad it is that our culture has decided to rely on drugs and extreme interventions, and now considers them the normal way to deal with health problems, instead of starting with a healthy lifestyle and then using drugs or other interventions as the “extreme” way to deal with it? It’s pretty backwards, and I know there are a lot of doctors (chiro, md, or other) who agree with this. OK, done with my soap box.”

After ten days on the diet, her fasting blood sugar was 122 mg/dL with no medication!  Diet and chiropractic have been her “medicine”. (Her medical doctor is on board with this and she’s keeping him appraised with how things are going.)  And she couldn’t be more happy with her choice!  Her blood sugar continues to improve and she’s attacking the problem as it changes.  Now that the blood sugar is lower, she is having issues with yeast trying to find sugar to eat.

Blood sugar isn’t necessarily a problem that begins with lack of insulin!  There may be other causes and by relieving it holistically she has been able to get her body to heal by attacking it where and how it needs help.  Someone else with the same symptoms may have a different cause entirely, which few medical doctors pay close attention to, because most drugs will affect the symptoms.  Sometimes drugs are necessary but food truly can be a medicine if we respect it enough and we have the self-control to use it properly.

If you have a blood sugar or other systemic issue, please consider approaching it from a holistic standpoint.  If you need a referral to a practitioner, let me know.  I have a lot of resources.  Call (925) 829-7900 to discuss your issue.