Education

Microgreens may help reduce the risk of diabetes in people who eat them regularly. In those who already have Type 2 Diabetes, microgreens may support healthy blood sugar regulation.

Diabetes is a threat to Americans because only 12% of adults in the United States are metabolically healthy, according to a 2019 report. Researchers generated this percentage based on the waist size, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, triglycerides, and cholesterol readings of more than 2 million adults.

What’s even worse, apparently 99% of us have insulin resistance – a precursor to diabetes. According to another study, which used the HOMA-IR score to measure insulin resistance among a population of 6,247 adults aged 18 to 44, almost nobody had an ideal score below 1.3.

So, let’s explore the connection between microgreens and diabetes.

What are Microgreens?

First, microgreens are seedlings, not sprouts. They are harvested when just 1-3″ tall, after the first full set of leaves have developed. Microgreens have a reputation for high flavor. Not only that, but they are also bursting with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Four Ways Microgreens Support Health

When we think of regulating blood sugars, most people understand the importance of balancing the macronutrients – carbs, fats and proteins. But micronutrients – vitamins and minerals – play a tremendous role in normalizing blood sugars, too.

Microgreens may contain up to 40 times more micronutrients than their mature vegetable counterparts. Amounts vary depending on the specific type of microgreen and its growing conditions. But in general, microgreens offer specific nutritional traits that are important for the prevention and improvement of insulin resistance and diabetes.

1. High nutrient density.
2. Excellent iron and vitamin C profile.
3. Notable magnesium.
4. Abundant folate content.

Nutrient Density and Insulin Resistance

Nutrient density means that based on serving size and calories, microgreens have a higher quantity of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants ratio than other foods of the same volume and calorie count. In other words, they are anything but “empty calories.” Eating empty calories drives cravings up as your body sends signals to eat more to satisfy its nutritional requirements.

On average, a 25-gram serving of microgreens (about an ounce) is only about 25 calories. Yet this small addition to a meal can boost your intake of micronutrients by as much as 25% for that meal. By eating microgreens, you feel more satisfied. You eat less in the long run because your cravings decrease. Lower caloric intake cuts your risk for diabetes by reducing your insulin resistance.

Microgreens, Iron, and Diabetes

Just an ounce or two of radish microgreens gives you 10 – 15% of the recommended daily allowance for iron, and roughly 17% of your RDA for Vitamin C. Iron is difficult to absorb and depends on vitamin C for its assimilation. The pairing of these two nutrients in microgreens means you can absorb the iron more readily. Thus, you are less likely to develop anemia due to iron deficiency.

Diabetes doesn’t cause anemia and anemia doesn’t cause diabetes. But the two conditions are related. Up to 25 percent of Americans with type 2 diabetes also have anemia. There seems to be a direct link between anemia from iron deficiency and higher amounts of glucose in the blood, as shown in this 2014 study.  A 2017 review of several studies found that iron-deficiency anemia was correlated with increased A1C, an average of blood glucose over three months’ time.

The bioavailability of iron in microgreens, therefore, has great potential to impact your risk of diabetes by reducing blood glucose.

Magnesium and Blood Sugar Regulation

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body after calcium, potassium, and sodium. However, the standard diet in America contains roughly 50% of that. That means as much as half of the total population is magnesium deficient, according to this study. Microgreens can boost magnesium intake.

You need magnesium to synthesize insulin and maintain insulin sensitivity. So, a person with insulin resistance needs more magnesium than a healthy individual. This dynamic creates a vicious circle in which magnesium deficiency increases insulin resistance then insulin resistance causes magnesium deficiency. In this study, researchers concluded that keeping serum magnesium within the reference range is essential for normal insulin secretion and activity.

Folate Rich Microgreens

Folate is generally found in leafy green vegetables. Red cabbage microgreens contain three times more folate than the mature vegetable. Other microgreens high in folate include arugula, beet, and broccoli. You require folate for healthy glucose regulation.

Folate levels are generally decreased in individuals with Type 2 Diabetes. But can folate deficiency cause Type 2 Diabetes? A 2018 study on mice examined the effect of chronic folate deficiency on glucose metabolism. The researchers found that folate deficiency could indeed induce glucose disorders in the test subjects.

Adding Microgreens to Your Diet

Although a serving of mature vegetables is about a cup, a serving of chopped microgreens is only a tablespoon or two. So, it is easy to toss them into whatever you are eating. Add them to:

• Smoothies
• Hamburgers
• Hot dogs
• Salads
• Soups
• Stir-fries
• Sandwiches
• Oatmeal
• Sauces
• Spaghetti
• Pizza
• Tacos
• …even ice cream!

Although you can purchase ready-grown microgreens, it is easy and economical to grow your own. You can plant microgreens in less than 2 minutes, and harvest in 7 to 10 days. Purchase a microgreens kit here.

LDL myths abound, but what are the LDL truths you need to know? First let’s discuss what this substance is.

What is LDL?

The first LDL myth is that it is a type of cholesterol. LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, is actually a carrier of cholesterol. Physicians use it as way of estimating cholesterol in the body because it represents the total cholesterol being transported from the liver to the rest of the body.

Here is the truth: LDL is essential to health because it is the one resource to deliver cholesterol to tissues for healing and repair. Cholesterol, as part of your immune system, becomes a kind of internal scab wherever there is tissue damage.

But cholesterol not only repairs tissue. It helps create the outer membrane of every cell in the body. Cholesterol is also the raw material for sex hormones.

Your body makes cholesterol in the liver abundantly! (Diet only accounts for 25% or less of your total cholesterol.) But if your LDL is too low, you cannot get that cholesterol to the cells for membrane synthesis or repair. Also, without LDL to move cholesterol from the liver to your gonads, you could not generate sex hormones.

What is LDL’s significance?

If LDL is so vital, then why do doctors become concerned when it rises? LDL is like water on a fire. If your LDL is high, it may be indicator of great oxidative damage in your body. Ask yourself this. Who needs more water: a person cooking dinner, or a person whose house is burning down?

So, LDL is a red flag. But there is an assumption (LDL myth #2) that the higher your LDL, the greater your risk of cardiovascular disease. In reality, research shows that total amount of LDL does not correlate well with incidence of cardiovascular disease. What seems to matter more is the type of LDL particles, rather than the overall number.

LDL is like a bag of apples. You want a sack of big, healthy apples, not a sack of little, insidious crab apples. The truth is that small, dense LDL – like crab apples – can be included in arterial plaque. This is known as pattern B LDL. It is more atherogenic, meaning it tends to promote fatty plaques in the arteries. Light & fluffy LDL, called pattern A, is less atherogenic because it is too large to be incorporated into arterial plaques.

Cardio IQ is one test that can evaluate the particle size of your LDL.

It is fiction that LDL is the only marker to be concerned about when it comes to heart health (LDL myth #3). LDL typically only becomes a red flag when your arteries are inflamed and attracting an immune response. Conditions that raise this flag include pre-diabetes, diabetes, chronic simmering infections, and toxicity.

Looking beyond LDL myths to other factors

HDLs (high-density lipoproteins) & triglycerides are extremely important disease markers, especially among women. In fact, if you are female, the more your triglyceride to HDL ratio rises above 2:1, the greater your cardiovascular disease risk. Besides that, high triglyceride to HDL ratios tend to correlate with Pattern B (small and dense) LDL’s.

HDLs are protective against atherosclerosis and are optimal at 65-85 mg/dL for women. Low levels may be an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis.

You can increase your HDLs with exercise, omega 3 fatty acids, and a low-carb diet. On the other hand, high-sugar intake, a high-carb diet, trans-fats, high fructose corn syrup, and smoking decrease HDLs.

If your doctor is concerned about plaque deposits, ask what damage your body might be trying to repair. What conditions might be causing enough oxidative damage that LDL is being transported at a higher rate?

Why LDL may be elevated

You might suppose that your LDLs are high because you have too much fat in your diet (LDL myth #4). There are actually several primary reasons why LDLs rise, particularly in women. These are:

• High blood sugars. Since high blood sugars create oxidize blood vessels, it is not surprising that LDLs increase to bring cholesterol to patch up these sites. This is why high LDLs can be a red flag for pre-diabetes and diabetes. So, the reality is that sugar, not fat, has a greater impact on blood lipids.

• Hypothyroidism. Elevated LDL where there is poor thyroid function is common, especially in women. Studies consistently demonstrate elevated levels of total cholesterol and LDL in individuals with hypothyroidism according to this review. If your triglycerides are low, but your LDL is high, you can suspect hypothyroidism is at play.

• Chronic stress. First of all, stress can increase blood sugars more than food can. By this mechanism, stress can increase LDLs. But there’s more. Stress also increases cortisol. Since cholesterol rises with cortisol, it makes sense that more LDL would be needed to transport that cholesterol. Finally, stress promotes hypothyroidism. So, stress increases LDL via low thyroid function.

• Estrogen dominance: Estrogen causes hypersecretion of cholesterol into bile. Since your body recycles 95% of its bile, this means you have higher serum levels of total cholesterol and cholesterol-transporting LDL.

Treating the truth, not the LDL myth

Here is another LDL myth: If you have high LDL, you should always be prescribed a statin.

The obvious answer to elevated LDLs is to address the root issue (blood sugars, hypothyroidism, chronic stress, etc.). It is true that statins reduce LDL cholesterol, but they are toxic to your cellular energy factories, the mitochondria. Statins are capable of preventing you from making coQ10, vital to energy production.

If you need help keeping LDL in check while you work on root causes, you can take a supplement that helps bind LDL away from bile in the GI tract before it gets recycled. One such supplement is CholestePure Plus II, a non-soy blend of phytosterols with berberine for healthy lipid function.

As always, work with a qualified practitioner to address your root causes.

The functional approach to autoimmunity could reduce the number and intensities of your flares. Further, it might stall the development of new autoimmune diseases. The functional approach goes beyond only treating the symptoms of your disease. Its primary goal is to find and reverse the imbalances that cause autoimmunity in the first place.

How Did I Get Autoimmunity?

The current research points to 4 common causes that crop up repeatedly. These seem create a perfect storm for disease in most cases of autoimmunity.

First, there is a genetic or familial predisposition. In other words, there is a tendency toward factors such as poor detoxification, higher sensitivity to allergens, greater inflammatory response, or more exaggerated stress reactions. This vulnerability might be from inherited genes or from family culture.

Second, you develop enhanced intestinal permeability. Everyone has a “porous” digestive system that lets nutrients into the bloodstream while keeping dangerous substances out. Those with autoimmunity just have “bigger holes in their strainer.”

Third, the immune system becomes weak or dysregulated. Since the immune system is a nutrient hog, it becomes feebler when it doesn’t have enough micronutrients to keep it buff. Then, enhanced intestinal permeability overexposes the whole body to things that should stay in the gut. So, the immune system gets hypervigilant. It stops tolerating what it should tolerate.

Finally, a trigger starts the cascade. The trigger can be anything inflammatory – toxins, trauma, infection, allergens, stress. These aggressively activate the immune system. Now, the body attacks itself. It does so because unwanted molecules (from the gut) are embedded in your tissue. Or because your tissue looks like the threat that crossed out of the gut into your bloodstream.

Why Do I Have More Than 1 Autoimmune Disease?

When you take the functional approach to autoimmunity, you understand that your disease isn’t so much about your thyroid or skin, or colon. It’s about a pervasive environment in your body. That environment could allow your immune system to attack any organ or tissue. If the conditions above go unaddressed, the environment is ripe for more autoimmunity of any kind. Thus, once you develop a single autoimmunity, you are more susceptible to another.

How Does the Functional Approach to Autoimmunity Differ from the Conventional Approach?

Functional practitioners take to heart the words of Dr. Alesio Fasano that the autoimmune process can be arrested. How? By preventing the interplay between your genes and your triggers. You stop this interplay by re-establishing barrier function. That is, you close the gate between your gut and the rest of your body.

Your practitioner may rely on medication to provide rapid relief from runaway inflammation. But he doesn’t stop there. He will take steps to keep inflammation from happening in the first place, rather than trying to quell it after the fact. He will also fortify your immune system with nutrients. Additionally, he will work with you to remove or reduce triggers.

Where Do I Begin?

The functional approach to autoimmunity is actually simpler than it sounds. Maximize the raw materials for thriving health. Minimize factors that are destructive to your health, including toxins, trauma, stress, allergen, and infections. Prioritize an environment for healing. That’s it! Your body does the rest.

You can start today with lifestyle choices within your control.

• Maximize hydration and oxygenation. Drink clean, pure water and take deep, long breaths. Eat nutrient-dense whole food to maximize vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, proteins and essential fatty acids. Maintain positive beliefs.
• Minimize stress and automatic negative thoughts. Minimize doubts and fears. Take care to limit exposure to toxins through cleaning products and personal hygiene products.
• Prioritize sleep, recreation and movement. Seek joy, laughter, connection and mindfulness daily. Nurture wholesome relationships. Spend time in nature.

Then, begin working with a functional practitioner to assess where your unique imbalances lie. Contact me if you’d like a free discovery call to find out how I can help you regain your health.

Spring is a time to freshen up your health and your lifestyle. Here we compare a detox vs. a cleanse. Are they the same? What is the purpose of each? How long do you engage in them? What foods are appropriate to each? Who should oversee your protocol? What outcomes can you expect?

 Detox vs. Cleanse Basics

A cleanse focuses on what you are bringing into the body, whereas a detox removes harmful elements from the body. The cleanse increases your nutrition, while the detox decreases your toxicity. You can participate in a cleanse even if you feel weak. But you should only detox from a place of strength. Neither program is a lifestyle. The cleanse doesn’t provide for long-term tissue-building needs. The detox requires heavy respites in between cycles to repair tissues. A detox can be combined with a cleanse.

Cleanse Considerations

Tailored to fatigued, sick, depressed, overweight, inflamed and hurting individuals with chronic pain, a cleanse is an opportunity to ditch poor eating habits. When comparing a detox vs. a cleanse, think of a cleanse as an increase in nutrient-dense foods, chock full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. It is not a way of life, but rather a seasonal opportunity to restart your health. You can undertake a cleanse for a few days or for a couple of weeks. No special medical supervision is required as long as you stay hydrated, supply plant-based protein to your meals, don’t restrict calories or skip meals, and have an end date within 14 days. NOTE #1: Only drinking fruit- or vegetable-based beverages in place of meals is NOT recommended.

During a cleanse, you will remove processed and refined foods and stimulants such as coffee, sweeteners, and chocolate. Many cleanses prohibit animal foods and grains during the protocol because they are difficult to digest or highly antigenic. Therefore, you can view a cleanse as a short-term foray into a whole-food vegetarian-type meal plan. Many people lose weight during a cleanse. Most report a reduction in nagging, chronic symptoms, such as sinus congestion, edema, headaches, digestive distress, joint pain, and tiredness. NOTE #2: If you are not accustomed to lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet, you will probably want to take supplemental digestive enzymes with your meals, such as Enzymedica’s Digest Basic, to avoid excessive gas and bloat.

Detox Considerations

A detox extracts such damaging elements as heavy metals, molds, pesticides & insecticides, and POP’s (persistent organic pollutants). A critical differentiation between detox vs. cleanse is that unhealthy individuals should NOT engage in a detox. Pulling stored toxins out of cells creates inflammation. If all of your elimination paths are not functioning optimally, the toxins can recirculate, making you sick. Elimination paths include bowel movements, urination, breath, and sweat. Good bile function is a critical part of moving toxins from the GI tract into the stool for excretion. Check with a practitioner if you no longer have a gall bladder, have had gallstones or gall bladder attacks, or experience stomach upset with greasy foods.

A detox can last for a couple of days or a couple of weeks, depending on how you feel. If your symptoms worsen, you should take a break and let your body process what has been liberated before you mobilize any more toxins. You should work with a practitioner who can oversee your detox protocol and tailor it to your specific needs and reactions. In the analysis of detox vs. cleanse, the detox is more than just a diet plan; it involves a chelating agent to bind toxins for removal. Food eaten during a detox should be nutritive, avoid empty calories, and not contain additional toxins. For example, you would want to avoid fish containing mercury residues and shop for organic produce.

Individuals usually detox in cycles with a few weeks in between for healing. A cleanse diet is acceptable during detox cycles as long as you get sufficient protein. (It takes a lot of amino acids to activate all those detox enzymes.) Symptoms that might be relieved through detox include chronic malaise, toxin-mediated hypertension, fine tremor, and immune dysregulation.

Sample 7-Day Cleanse Plan

A template provides a framework for meals so you don’t have to figure out what to each day. Once or twice a day, you will have a “smoothie” containing a plant-based protein with supplemental vitamins and minerals, such as Metagenics’ UltraMeal. This helps insure you are meeting your nutritional needs.  In addition, focus on homemade salads, soups, stir-fries, and vegetable sheet pans meals. Boxed or canned prepared meals have too many additives to be considered part of a cleanse, so plan and shop before you start. You may want to set aside a couple of hours to prepare food in advance.

Here is a suggested meal plan:

• Breakfast: smoothie and vegetable bake
• Lunch: salad and soup
• Dinner: Stir-fry and smoothie

Cleanse Breakfasts

Keeping it simple, but still providing abundant nutrition, the following meal ideas allow for personalization and batch cooking so your time in the kitchen is minimized. Prepare large amounts of each recipe where possible so that you only cook once and eat several times.

Smoothie Ideas:

• Creamy & Nutty – chocolate protein powder, coconut milk, 1-2 Tb. almond butter, vanilla
• Tropical – mixed berry protein powder, 1/2 banana, 1 c. mango, coconut milk
• Gorgeously Green – chocolate or mixed berry protein powder, cored green apple, 1/2 cucumber, 1 c. darky leafy greens (such as spinach or kale), almond milk
• Very Berry – mixed berry protein powder, 1 c. mixed berries, almond or coconut milk

Vegetable Bake Suggestions:

• Roasted Roots – any combination of cubed or sliced beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, turnips, or parsnips with onion, olive oil, thyme, and red wine vinegar
• Mediterranean – any combination of sliced zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, fennel bulb, green beans, or cherry tomatoes with garlic, onion, basil, oregano, rosemary, olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Exclusively Cruciferous – any combination broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, or kohlrabi with garlic, olive oil, and brown mustard seeds.

Lunches on Your Cleanse

Salad Inspiration:

• Spring Combo – mixed greens, alfalfa or clover sprouts (or even broccoli sprouts), bell pepper, chopped apple or pear, cucumber, green onion, grated carrot with olive oil and apple cider vinegar
• Italian – mixed greens, olives, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning, olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Super Slaw – grated red or green cabbage, grated kohlrabi, and/or grated chayote squash, apples, olive oil, lime juice, cumin seeds, cilantro leaves
• South of the Border – shredded cabbage, mixed greens, bell pepper, green onion, mango, cilantro, sunflower seeds, avocado slices, lime or lemon juice

Soup Ideas:

• Very Veggie – any combination of cabbage, tomatoes, celery, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, okra, potatoes or sweet potatoes, winter squash, zucchini, turnips, rutabaga, spinach, or kale with broth, onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram)
• Lentil – brown lentils, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and kale or spinach with onion, garlic, broth, coconut milk and curry powder
• Chili – black and/or pinto beans with celery, carrots, bell pepper, crushed tomatoes, tomato juice, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, and chili powder

Cleanse Dinners

Stir-Fry Suggestions:

• Asian – bok choy, mung bean sprouts, snow peas, mushrooms, water chestnuts, napa cabbage, green onions with coconut milk, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, lime juice, and red pepper
• Quick & Easy – carrots, broccoli florets, snap peas, bell pepper, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, sesame seed
• Mediterranean – eggplant, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, olive oil, basil
• Crunchy Crucifers – broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and or Brussels sprouts with sesame oil, ginger, garlic and onion
• Mexican – jicama, chayote squash, corn, black beans, jalapeno, onion, garlic, cumin, lime, avocado oil, cilantro

Lifestyle Habits: Detox vs. Cleanse

For both detoxes and cleanses, hydration is paramount. Drink plenty of clean, pure water. If you need a little flavor, add a squeeze of lemon or lime, or steep an herbal tea in your water.

Whether or not you plan to detox with your cleanse, it’s probably a good idea to incorporate a substance that binds toxins so that they don’t recirculate. Pectin-containing fruits (apples and pears) are considered binders, as are both soluble and insoluble fiber found in most plant foods. Beyond that, supplements containing activated charcoal and/or Bentonite clay can be beneficial. Bio-Botanical Research has one such binder called GI Detox. For your convenience, you may order this binder, along with protein powders and digestive enzymes from my supplement portal if you’d like.

When you are engaged in a cleanse, engage in moderate exercise and make the time to get 8 hours of sleep each night. During a detox, be aware that exercise liberates more toxins, so you may want to take it easy to avoid overwhelming your system. Sweating with sauna is a good way to excrete toxins. Be sure to get plenty of rest!