The Elephant in the Living Room; the crucial flaw in the conventional medical approach to blood sugar issues

As you may have ready in my previous blog in this blood sugar saga (link here: https://www.drcagewellness.org/post/blood-sugar-basics-what-is-insulin-resistance-what-is-diabetes ) insulin resistance and diabetes are problems of insulin not able to be absorbed in the organs and tissues that need it.  The most crucial organ in that process is the Liver.  There is ample evidence for this.  In the early stages of insulin resistance blood sugar levels and even A1C may be normal, but insulin itself can be dangerously high, meaning the pancreas is over producing insulin in an attempt to force blood sugar out of the blood stream and into the liver and other organs. 

So, with these data scientifically proven beyond any doubt, what do you suppose the conventional medical system’s “standard of care” for insulin resistance and diabetes is?  It turns out that the most common diabetes medications such as metformin all make the pancreas work harder to secrete more insulin.  These drugs to absolutely nothing to correct the root cause of diabetes – the insulin resistance itself. 

I compare this to treating deafness or poor hearing by having everyone who wants to talk to the individual speak louder.  “Just talk or yell louder”, this doctrine says, “eventually they will hear  something!”  Perfectly ludicrous from the standpoint of being hard of hearing, but somehow this logic supposedly makes sense in the conventional medical world of blood sugar control. 

This is what I am calling the proverbial Elephant in the Living Room.  Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE in the conventional medical world KNOWS that metformin and all the other diabetes medications work at the level of the pancreas, telling it to make more insulin, the KNOW it is doing nothing to actually reverse the root cause of insulin, which is primarily in the liver, and they STILL do nothing about this, and keep pushing metformin.  If you are likewise mystified by this, remember that diabetes is the most expensive illness to have over the life of the patient.  In other words, the conventional medical system makes a LOT of money by perpetuating your blood sugar illness for decades, rather than helping you make lifestyle changes to reverse your illness and restore health in about 12-18 months.

So, metformin does nothing to correct the root cause of insulin resistance and diabetes.  At the same time, it has quite a few potentially dangerous side effects.  According to drugs.com, the list includes

More common and severe side effects:

abdominal or stomach discomfort, cough or hoarseness, decreased appetite, diarrhea, fast or shallow breathing, fever or chills, general feeling of discomfort, lower back or side pain, muscle pain or cramping, painful or difficult urination, sleepiness.

Less common side effects

Anxiety, blurred vision, chest discomfort, cold sweats, coma, confusion, cool, pale skin, depression, difficult or labored breathing, dizziness. fast, irregular, pounding, or racing heartbeat or pulse. feeling of warmth, headache, increased hunger, increased sweating, nausea, nervousness, nightmares, redness of the face, neck, arms, and occasionally, upper chest, seizures, shakiness, slurred speech, tightness in the chest, unusual tiredness or weakness

I have very seldom begun working with anyone on their blood sugar issues who wasn’t experiencing a number of these possible side effects.

So, if metformin doesn’t work to correct the root cause and might give you a host of these nasty side effects, what is the answer?  The leading cause of insulin resistance turns out the be the state known as Fatty Liver.  Fatty Liver, it turns out, is primarily caused by inflammation. 

So, the REAL focus to start reversing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes is to start reversing the things leading to Fatty Liver.  This will be covered over the next few blogs, beginning with the next one in this series, the various nutritional approaches. 

Remember, if you have questions, and/or if you are ready to take control of your blood sugar and regain your normal health, please contact us via phone or email.

Dr. Cage