Our previous article discussed the First of 3 strategies to support our blood sugar metabolism – the Short Chain Fatty acids. To read the entire article click here. Today we will be discussing the second pathway – the Insulin Signaling Pathway.
The SCFA Pathway
Insulin Signaling Pathway
AMPK Pathway
Insulin Signaling Pathway
The Insulin Signaling Pathway is a biochemical pathway in which insulin improves the transfer of glucose into the cells. When we eat carbohydrates and sugar, the pancreas senses the rise in glucose and releases insulin to help with the transfer of glucose from the bloodstream.
Image from Apex Energetics
Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA), chromium, biotin, vanadium, certain mushrooms, berberine and gymnema8 have all shown to affect the insulin receptor function – the “lock” which responds to insulin -“the key”. It works by helping the insulin receptor “lock” respond better to the insulin “key” and in turn assists in the entry of glucose into the cells.
Chromium, Vanidium, zinc,9 Alpha Lipoic Acid and magnesium9 to assist in a process that gets the glucose from “storage” in the body to the cell membrane so that the glucose can actually enter the cell. Once it is inside the cell, glucose is then used to either make energy called ATP or get stored as glycogen or fat for later use.
If insulin receptor locks are poorly functioning10, the insulin cannot attach properly or the receptor becomes resistant to insulin. All the communication and signaling process becomes weakened or disrupted.
Without a strong signaling, less glucose enters the cell for energy production.11 Blood glucose continues to rise which results in high blood sugar. Over time, this can create many health problems.
Excess glucose is absorbed by the liver cells12 and stored as glycogen. Once the liver is too full it starts converting the glucose into fatty acids for long term storage as fat. This process requires a lot of energy and can create fatigue after eating. This extra fat can eventually lead to fatty liver, which creates more problems with our metabolism and promote insulin resistance by the liver.
When an individual lives in a world of chronic high blood sugar, inflammation increases and can affect the kidneys, eyes, heart and brain. Thiamine, N-Acetyl Cysteine, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vitamin E and other antioxidants help with this type of inflammation and related oxidative stress.
Key Products we carry at Renovare that support blood sugar balance and Insulin resistance issues:
It is estimated that over half the population is deficient of magnesium. This may not seem disconcerting unless you understand the magnitude of the impact this little mineral has on our bodies. Did you know that over 600 enzymes require magnesium to work properly and it is the fourth most abundant mineral in our body?
Almost every function of the body utilizes magnesium including supporting a healthy brain, kidney and cardiovascular system. It also is necessary for:
Making energy in the mitochondria
Feeling relaxed, calm and peaceful
Peaceful, restful sleep
Formation of bone and protein
Nerve and muscle function
Regulation of blood pressure
Regulation of blood sugar levels
Maintaining healthy acid-alkaline balance of body
Major loss and stress as well as alcohol consumption are all major causes of magnesium. Also antibiotics, oral contraceptives, diuretics, certain cancer drugs, some prescription medications, and excess soda and coffee consumption can deplete magnesium.
Some of the most common symptoms of magnesium deficiency may include:
Anxiety
Poor Stress Tolerance
Chronic Fatigue or constant fatigue
Muscle Cramps
Numbness
Nausea
Irregular Heartbeat
High Blood Pressure
Migraines
Osteoporosis
Serious Asthma
Seizures
Some mental disorders such as apathy and delirium
Recommended rich sources of magnesium include leafy greens, nuts, seeds, and dried beans. However,eating organic, unprocessed magnesium rich foods is not necessarily enough to increase your magnesium intake. Due to depleted soil, many experts believe supplementation is needed.
Magnesium deficiency is rampant in our society and lending to a sick population. The recommended daily allowance for magnesium is only the amount necessary to prevent disease and a poor substitute for the greater amounts actually necessary for optimizing wellness.
Magnesium is extremely safe. If you take more than your body can tolerate your body will expel it through your stool. The exception to this would be end stage renal failure in which it is necessary for a doctor to monitor blood levels carefully.
Some of our favorites magnesium supplements at Renovare include Brain Relax Maxand Brain Magnesium Boost Pro. You can purchase these products at : https://brainwellnessaz.com/shop/page/2/ or visit or clinic.
You can also purchase Xymogen products directly online at: Xymogen.com and use referral code: “online”, and “gerhart” as the practitioner.
Our Microbiome and Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA’s)
In many ways, we are as healthy as our Microbiome. What is the Microbiome?
Our Microbiome is the trillions of bacteria that live mostly in our gut but also on our skin, in our mouth, throat, sinus, and in the urogenital tract.
Some researchers conclude that up to 90 percent of all diseases can be traced in some way back to the health of our gut microbiome. Our microbiome is home to trillions of microbes, diverse bacteria that help govern nearly every function of the human body in some way. The importance of our gut microbiome cannot be overstated: Poor gut health can contribute to leaky gut syndrome and autoimmune diseases and disorders like arthritis, diabetes, dementia, heart disease, and cancer, while our health, fertility and longevity are also highly reliant on the balance of critters living within our intestines. 3000 new strains of bacteria have been discovered so far.
Human Health = diversity of microbiome = diversity creates immune tolerance
We need Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA’s) from diversity of our microbiome. Diversity of plant fibers in our diet boosts SCFA’s production & diversity of microbiome, High amounts of pesticides, antibiotics in meat, dairy, and processed foods harm the microbiome leading to loss of diversity
Americans have the LEAST diverse microbiomes in the world with more autoimmune diseases than all cancer and Cardiovascular combined!
Our Microbiome:
· We get most of our nutrients from our microbiomes – not from our food or supplements. B-vitamins, Vitamin K, folic acid made by gut bacteria.
o Post-biotics are what microbiome produce – eg. SCFA’s
o Diverse microbiome converts plant foods to powerful anti-carcinogenic enzymes.
o Declining microbiome diversity predicts loss of function/health as people age
o YouCan change microbiome in 3 days – eg. Netflix video binge, little sleep, lots of junk food and alchohol
Junk Food, lack of veggie fiber
Terrible Diet, lack of exercise
Stress – poor sleep, too many fright or adrenalin-junkie action movies
The Most exciting is research showing how gut microbiome can create diabetes
o Lack of diversity of microbiome = extract more energy from food we eat = high blood sugars and weight gain of human host
o Optimal health with lots of microbiome diversity = microbiome gets first shot at our calories and consumes many of our calories first. Help us manage our energy absorption, blood sugar regulation, and body composition so we stay lean easily.
How Do We Boost Intestinal SCFA’s? I
o Support a more diverse microbiome to make more SCFA’s
o Consume more diverse plant food fiber sources (not meat)
o Celery, bok choi, turnips, kale, beets, brussel spouts, etc.
Benefits of More Microbiome Diversity & Intestinal SCFA’s? I
o Signals appetite control
o Lack of diversity, low SCFA’s = always hungry, never satisfied
o Increased diversity, higher SCFA’s = satisfied, less hunger – quickly
· Affects brain function: low diversity tilts us towards anxiety & depression
· Burns fat more effectively for weight loss
o Improved insulin resistance – support lean, low body fat
· Makes tight junction proteins – for gut repair:autoimmune, many food allergies, chem sensitive patients
· Reduces inflammation in the gut, brain, and body
· Enhances immune tolerance to food, chemicals, and self – especially important in autoimmune disease, chemical sensitivity, and food allergies
How do We Boost Microflora Diversity & SCFA levels?
o Eat LOTS of veggies for the fiber. Eat new and different veggies.
o Try new veggies each visit to the market. Add to a Vitamix/blender and enjoy.
o Do NOT do juicing – it removes the critically important fiber
o Mimimize refined sugars and avoid antibiotics and pesticides when possible
Supplementsto boost diversity and SCFA’s:
o Enterovite – the 3 critical SCFA’s in the proper ratio. Can create benefits 1st day of use for those with low microflora diversity.
o Trizomal Glutathione – best tool to reduce gut inflammation that damages diversity
o Apex AD – specific ratio of Vitamin A and D shown to boost immune tolerance
Neuroinflammation or the Brain on Fire is the Root mechanism for Alzheimers, Parkinsons and many of our brain diseases. When our brain is on fire, our brain begins to degenerate. We lose volume and our brain begins to shrink from the inside and outside.
When we tip one way we are making neural connections in the brain, when we tip the other we are removing neural connections in the brain. This moves us towards Alzheimers and other types of dementia.
The research shows us 36 factors that influence towards Alzheimers or towards brain health. They include:
insulin sensitivity
vitamin D – critical for brain health
essential fatty acids
brain derived neurotropic factors
how well our mitochondria works to make energy
glutathione (an essential molecule for antioxidant balance)
improving blood flow to our brain
Reducing oxidative stress
neurotransmitter hormone balance
optimizing our cortisol and stress hormones
improving GABA which is calming to our brain
enhancing detoxification.
How do we help people with Neurodegeneration? We help them by dealing with root issues – not covering up symptoms. We work by solving the puzzle of why we are having our issues. We use a functional medicine, functional neurology approach
Two people can be in the same car accident with one suffering traumatic brain injury that lasts for years. The other person, same accident and same “jolting” to their brain suffers less damage and quickly recovers. Why?
Diminished brain resilience syndrome
Diminished brain resilience syndrome (DBR) is increased susceptibility to mild brain trauma, concussion, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration. DBR is caused by Toxin exposures, Nutrient-deficient food, Pro-inflammatory essential fatty acid ratios, Leaky Gut, Dysbiosis, Chronic Immune activation, Excessive Stress, Sleep deprivation, Poor quality of Sleep, Vitamin and mineral deficiencies (esp. Magnesium, Vitamin D, OmegaBoost 1300 Pro, Brain E DHA 1200 TG, Poor Detoxification (esp. compromised Phase 2 liver detox). This leads to increased susceptibility to concussion injury, reduced ability to heal, and increased risk to Post- Concussion Syndrome (PCS) & Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
In short, our unhealthy lifestyles make our brain susceptible to injury and inability to heal.
DBR from the typical pro-inflammatory, high stress lifestyle helps to explain our increased number and severity of concussions.
How do we make our brain concussion resistant? How do we support healing after concussion? By solving the puzzle below:
Creating a LifeStyle that fits our unique genetic needs is the solution. Since everyone is different, this journey looks different for each person. Some people need help in just a few of the puzzle pieces above, others need help in all 8 puzzle piece areas.
Creating a customize care process to fit your individual needs with metrics to measure progress is what we do. Investing in our brain health to make our brain concussion resistant is a smart investment with side benefits like:
High level focus, memory, and concentration.
High level energy and stamina
Peak Brain Performance in relationships, school, work, and activites.
Inner peaceful balance and wellness
Increased stress tolerance and improved stress management so big problems feel small
Is your child struggling to focus and stay on task with school work? Would you like your child to enjoy succeeding in school? Would you like improved grades without the struggle and frustration?
Here are some things to help:
Get enough sleep (7-9 hours for most). Start by turning off all electronic screens (computers, phones, iPads ) an hour before bedtime. Make sure bedtime is no later than 10 PM.
Eat Brain Smart. Read labels and avoid anything with high fructose corn syrup of with sugar listed in the top 3 ingredients. The less your food has been processed, the better for brain wellness
Supplement Brain Smart. Start with the Core 4 below:
High Grade multiple Vitamin/mineral supplement. My favorite for most is Mega Multi Pro taken 2 at breakfast, 1 at lunch, and 1 at dinner.
Magnesium to calm the brain and improve focus and attention. My favorite is Brain Relax Max Pro.
Optimize Vitamin D levels. Often need Vitamin K-2 with the Vitamin D to optimize function. Vitamin D regulates inflammation in brain and body and an inflamed brain SLOWS mental processing. We recommend D 3 5000 Pro or Vitamin K2-D3 Pro
Optimize Fish Oil. We recommend Omega Boost 1300 Pro
Do a NeuroCognitive Assessment to measure brain function.
Do a Brain Scan to see the brain in action. Allows us to see problems in connections, timing, and brain wave balance that can be improved.
To optimize focus, concentration, and brain function for Peak Brain Performance, we have found the most success by “Solving the Puzzle”
Speaker: Dr. Timothy Gerhart Topic: Living Free of Dementia: Steps to Eating and Supplementing for Peak Brain Performance Foods that make your brain younger Supplements that support brain healing and repair Balancing your brain so[...]
It is estimated that over half the population is deficient of magnesium. This may not seem disconcerting unless you understand the magnitude of the impact this little mineral has on our bodies. Did you know that over 600 enzymes require magnesium to work properly and it is the fourth most abundant mineral in our body?
Brain Relax Max and Brain Magnesium Boost Pro. You can purchase these products at : 
Neuroinflammation or the Brain on Fire is the Root mechanism for Alzheimers, Parkinsons and many of our brain diseases. When our brain is on fire, our brain begins to degenerate. We lose volume and our brain begins to shrink from the inside and outside.
