Diabetes: Reversing the Irreversible

There is a test I believe everyone should have. Everyone. It has a scientific, academic name—the hemoglobin A1C test.

But I call it the sticky sugar test or the caramelized and glazed protein test. It measures how much blood sugar irreversibly binds and literally glazes to the hemoglobin proteins found within the red blood cells. This caramelization that occurs, even with minimal spikes in blood sugar after meals, is referred to as glycosylation or glycation. The AIC test is typically used to determine how well diabetics have controlled their blood sugars over the last three to four months.

When Tom was 89 years old, he had me do comprehensive lab testing on him. He wanted to know if he needed a Tune Up in his personalized wellness program. We discovered that his blood sugar one hour after drinking a soda was over 300 and that his A1c was now in the diabetic range at 7.1%.

I told Tom that the A1c caramelization of sugar to proteins in his body was irreversible, but that by making good daily choices, over time as his body created new cells could actually reverse the irreversible! More on Tom at the end of the article.

But the A1C test also helps us to estimate how much sugar is binding to proteins and fats everywhere blood flows throughout our body, and that is why anyone—not just diabetics—can benefit from this test. The A1C is an easily measured form of Advanced Glycated Endproducts (AGEs) that are produced by sugar glazing to proteins. This glazing stimulates oxidation, inflammation and other toxic reactions that promote free radical damage to hormones and many other proteins throughout the body. AGEs also accelerate aging, in part by the glazing of sugar to LDL cholesterol, strongly promoting plaque buildup and cardiovascular disease. This process is also known to initiate and aggravate autoimmune disease, including autoimmune destruction of beta cells in the pancreas, thus limiting the ability to produce insulin.

Excess sugar also glazes to the proteins in our cell membranes. It’s the proteins in the cell membranes, the outer walls of our cells, that determine the function and the inter-relationship between all cells.

Keeping our proteins healthy is critical. It’s the individual proteins in our blood and tissues that collectively determine how well our body functions. In fact, we can say that protein is equivalent to life. It’s literally a life and death matter.

But when sugar irreversibly binds to proteins anywhere in the body, it changes the way the protein works. Proteins are like little machines, and machines work differently based on how they’re designed, how the parts are configured. If sugar sticks to proteins, it permanently twists their configuration, and they no longer work the way they are supposed to.

This sticky sugar test measures how sugar in the blood is binding to hemoglobin, one of the most prevalent proteins in the bloodstream. Hemoglobin is the protein that incorporates the mineral iron at its core and therefore attracts oxygen into the red blood cells so that they can carry that life-giving oxygen to every cell within our body.

Sugar in the blood is constantly, and in a limited way, binding with proteins in and on our cells. But when blood sugar levels are higher than normal, excessive amounts of this irreversible binding take place.

When are the blood sugars most likely to run high? Right after meals. Within thirty to sixty minutes after beginning your meal, your blood sugar is typically going to be at its peak, and that provides an opportunity to gradually reverse the irreversible binding of sugars to proteins.

How can that be? If it’s “irreversible,” how can we reverse it? How can we reverse diabetes, plaque buildup, and autoimmune problems if glycosylation, this glazing effect of sugar to proteins, is indeed irreversible?

The answer is simple. Our bodies were made to constantly recreate themselves. That’s an important concept to grasp. Eventually those cells that have been irreversibly bound by excess sugar will go through their lifecycle. For red blood cells, the life cycle is about 120 days.

After an average of 120 days, those red blood cells will die, break apart, and the body will make new ones. That’s why all of us have the opportunity to be recreated. Our bodies are always recreating themselves. So if we give the body what it needs, it can actually reverse the irreversible.

A1C and AGE levels become elevated with high blood sugars. But did you know that we can get unhealthful levels of AGEs directly from the foods we eat? Yes, one reason foods are unhealthful for us is the amount of preformed AGEs they contain even before we eat them.

So what can we do?

First, avoid highly processed carbohydrate-rich foods, especially those containing excess refined sugars. Second, avoid or highly limit animal products. Animal-derived foods that are high in fat and protein are generally AGE-rich and prone to excess AGE formation during cooking.

In contrast, vegetables and fruits contain relatively few AGEs even after cooking. AGEs formed from high blood sugars or from the foods we eat represent pathogenic compounds that are linked to the initiation and progression of many chronic diseases.

Back to Tom’s story. One week before Tom’s 90th birthday we tested him and he had already reversed his diabetes by lowering his A1c to 6.1%. He did this by making many healthy choices and without need for medications.