HEALTH & FITNESS
staying fit
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Insidious Sugar
Integrating Care
I
n the 1990s, many dietary
experts advised us to consume
foods low in fat. Many prod-
ucts were marketed to take
advantage of this eating trend. What
happened, unfortunately, was an
increase in overweight individuals,
including a rise in the incidence of
diabetes.
Close scrutiny of these low-fat
foods showed that they contained
more sugar and certainly
not any fewer calories.
Thus, one bad food sub-
stance was substituted
for another. Sugar has
been termed as "addict-
ing and poison" by some;
but simply, it represents
useless calories that do
nothing more than deposit
more fat in our bodies.
There are three basic
forms of nutrients in
our foods that supply
calories: carbohydrates,
proteins and fats. Carbohydrates, in
turn, are divided into either refined
or complex.
Complex carbohydrates are
comprised of fruits, vegetables
and whole grains. These "carbs"
are good for you as they are slowly
absorbed into our bloodstream, thus
allowing a slow rise in our blood
glucose, keeping our fuel needs sat-
isfied for a sufficient period of time.
Refined carbohydrates (also
known as "simple, processed, bad
or white" carbs) are what I will
merely refer to as "sugar." They are
refined because they have become
converted into a substance that dif-
fers from their natural form. These
foods, in contrast to complex car-
bohydrates, are rapidly absorbed
after ingestion because they do not
require much energy to be broken
down by our digestive system.
This quick absorption causes a
more rapid rise in our blood glu-
cose, which then provokes a surge
in insulin to push the sugar into our
cells for its needs. This is fine if our
needs at that moment require a
rapid source of fuel as in vigorous
exercise. If our requirements are not
as demanding, however, the body
will tend to store the sugar as fat.
Additionally, the insulin surge will
cause a more sudden drop in our
blood glucose, promoting hunger
too soon after our last meal. Supply
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September 24 • 2009
this want with more sugar and the
vicious cycle continues. This may
explain the addictive nature of
sugar; the more we eat it, the more
we crave it. Will power is required to
avoid this; eating sugar in "modera-
tion" can be quite difficult.
There are many examples of
foods that should be avoided if we
want to eat a diet low in refined car-
bohydrates. The prototype is sugar
itself, which pervades
into much of our cuisine.
Even food marketed as
"healthy" can have sig-
nificant amounts of sugar
(many cereals, "health
bars" and dark chocolate,
to name a few).
Fruit juice is another
food that masquerades
as healthy. A serving of
juice has virtually as many
calories and sugar as pop.
Fruit in its natural form has
more fiber and is more
filling (and avoids the processing-
induced loss of vitamins and miner-
als) than juice.
Food made with processed
(white) flour also acts just like sugar
once we eat it. These substances,
as they are refined, are already
broken down before they reach our
digestive system. White pastas and
breads fit this category. White rice
is also refined from its natural form,
thus behaving just like sugar.
When one decides to remove
refined carbohydrates from their
diet, dramatic weight loss often fol-
lows. For example, to eliminate as
little as one bottle of cola (16 ounc-
es, 200 calories) a day amounts to
20 pounds a year! Add to this many
of the other sugar-containing foods
that we eat, and the results can
be significant. The weight loss, of
course, will likely be blunted some-
what if we substitute healthier foods
in their place.
Thus, in order to make our diets
healthier, with weight control as
one of the objectives, cutting out
sugar/refined carbohydrates must
be a major priority. Avoiding these
"wasted" calories will help attain
our desired goals. II
Dr. Lewis is a primary-care internal
medicine physician at Premier
Internists/Millennium Medical Group PC
in Southfield.
I
recently attended a symposium
conducted by the University
of Michigan Department of
Family Medicine. This two-
day symposium was dedicated to
updating physicians, nurses, nurse
practitioners and physician assis-
tants as well as a host of integrated
medicine practitioners on research
and successes of incorporating
integrated medicine in primary care.
It was very exciting to look
at the audience and see
more than 200 medical
professionals gathered
together to learn how they
can incorporate integrated
medicine in their medical
practice.
Some of the highlights:
• Dr. Robert Ivker
of the Ivker Center for
Respiratory Healing spoke
of the "body as a self-
healing organism." He
talked of the risk factors
and causes of chronic sinusitis and
allergic rhinitis. He recommended
natural antifungals such as Allicin
and Candex for fungal sinusitis
treatment and had a myriad of sug-
gestions for treating allergic rhini-
tis, including grape seed extract,
Quercetin, Vitamin C and papaya
enzymes. He spoke of the impor-
tance of diet (reducing dairy) and
clean, moist air for healing mucous
membranes.
• Sahr Swidan, PhamiD, associ-
ate professor, College of Pharmacy,
University of Michigan, spoke on
integrative treatments for head-
aches. She talked of studies that
have been done utilizing vitamins
and supplements as part of her
treatment protocol. These included
riboflavin, magnesium glycinate,
Feverfew, Co-enzyme Q10, pep-
permint oil, willow bark and chaste-
berry.
• Dr. John Stracks, M.D., from the
University of Michigan Department
of Family and Integrative Medicine,
talked about integrative treatments
for depression. He talked about
studies using 5-HTP, Sam-e, cog-
nitive behavioral therapy and full
spectrum lighting in conjunction
with SSRI medications.
• Dr. Andrew Heyman, M.D., an
adjunct assistant professor at U-M,
spoke about medical acupuncture
and the common conditions treated
by acupuncture. This includes acute
and chronic pain control, anxiety,
insomnia, digestive issues, women's
health, headaches, vertigo and
respiratory relief. He talked about
amazing benefits he sees in using
acupuncture to help individuals
move forward in their healing.
• We also heard from Dr. Pamela
Smith, author and director of the
Center for Healthy Living and
Longevity, Ann Arbor,
who spoke of the impor-
tance of saliva testing
and urine testing to
accurately understand
hormonal imbalances
in women. She talked
about the importance of
balanced estrogen, pro-
gesterone, adrenaline,
testosterone, DHEA and
cortisol.
• Drs. Amy Locke and
Caroline King talked
about Vitamin D deficien-
cy as a modern-day epidemic. They
cited the many disorders thought to
be related to Vitamin D deficiency,
including osteoporosis, cardiovas-
cular disease, cancer, diabetes and
multiple sclerosis. Their take-home
message is that there is a high
prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency;
it is easy to screen; there are a wide
range of diseases that can be modi-
fied and supplementation is inexpen-
sive and carries a low risk.
We also heard speakers discuss
integrative oncology, drug-nutrient
interaction, cardio-metabolic risk
syndrome, creating an herbal first-
aid kit and bringing energy healing
within our grasp.
Integrative medicine in primary
care is gaining in importance and
awareness. Patients are asking
more questions about supplements
and nutrition. Physicians are taking
time to educate themselves and
learn more about integrative medi-
cine. This is a very exciting time
for medicine in our state and in our
country. I I
Julie Silver, MSW, Dipl. Ac., is a National
Certification Commission of Accpuncture
and Oriental Medicine board-certi-
fied acupunctutrist and owner of
Accupuncture Healthcare Associates
of Michigan, a West Bloomfield holis-
tic health clinic. Her e-mail address is
acuhealer@sbcglobal.net .