Diabetes: The Rest of the Story

All too often, in spite of eating right and taking their medication, people with diabetes see their Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) gradually go up and up and their condition worsen.

 

HbA1c is a blood test that shows the average glucose (blood sugar) over the past 3 months. It indicates how well your diabetes is being controlled. An HbA1c level greater than 5.7% shows that blood is not well regulated. This can eventually lead to painful neuropathies, kidney failure leading to dialysis, amputation of toes and feet, blindness from retinopathy, Alzheimer’s disease, and more.

 

A major cause of elevated HbA1c is an undiagnosed deficiency of vitamin B6. However, you can take B6 and still not lower your HbA1c. This is because of lack of zinc. Zinc is needed so the body can convert vitamin B6 into its active form known as pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P). However, elevated levels of phthalates (plastic derivatives) in the body can disrupt zinc metabolism.

 

As you can see, finding the root cause of disease is crucial. Unfortunately, most doctors simply resort to a one-size-fits-all approach when managing diabetes. If you and someone you know has diabetes, simply checking HbA1c every few months is not enough. Your life depends on the choices you make. Enormous expense and suffering could be avoided by choosing the right doctor.