READERS SUMMARY:
1. What is glycation? Why should I care about it?
2. What are the signs I can see if I am doing this to myself without my doctor?
3. What are the steps in glycation and where will it lead me?
4. What are the consequences if I ignore this biologic process?
We established in the Quilt what glycation is. Today we are going to talk about the clinical manifestations of glycation so that you can begin to assess yourself for the signs and symptoms. If they are present then we can give a strategy to stop the progressive damage so you can avoid the ravages of neolithic disease progression that Americans currently face. Glycation is tied to foods with high levels of sugars which have too much of the wrong isotope in the food substances for the light cycle we live in.
First, we have to get you to write some answers down to some questions. Get a pen and paper. Read on and write the answers as you go to see how much biologic concrete you may have collected so far.
The first sign to look for is found in the mirror. Take a good look at your skin. Does it look like it did when you were in third grade? If not, you likely have a problem. AS you look can see well? Do you have eye floaters? Cataracts? You likely have an environmental problem with light. Do you have acne? Do you have scars from skin infections? Have you been diagnosed with asthma or allergies especially from food tied to histamine? Have you suffered off and on with Hives or rashes? Do your colds resolve slowly? Do you suffer from frequent headaches and muscle aches? Another common finding here is the belief of the patient that they have a chronic hypoglycemia. They think they need a constant source of carbs to offset this “physiologic need”. This has a massive effect in your mitochondria by slowing their spin rate down.
At this stage, the first thing we doctors see is a postprandial spike in TG’s on lipid panels. We also see that patients fasting blood glucose is elevated above 90 no matter what they do. If the doctor is dialed in they will begin to see small increases in HS CRP. Nothing shocking but it will be elevated and simultaneously the patient’s sulfated vitamin D3 level with them being in the lower quartile of the lab’s range while their LDL cholesterol rises. Most of the cholesterol in them won’t be sulfated. If we had nanoscopic eyes, on a cellular level we’d see cross-linked cell membranes everywhere (fancy for bad skin), upregulation of RAGE receptors, sluggish glucose transport proteins body-wide, and really bad insulin spikes after we eat. Glucagon and Asporsin hormone regulation are out of whack This is what causes floaters in the eyes. nnEMF drives blood glucose higher and can ruin our eyes and our eyes can ruin the rest of our body slowly below our perception. Our arteries would be beginning to get fatty streaks, and our spinal discs are beginning to lose water content and collapse in height and cause serious pain. Our carotid arteries innermost layer becomes thickened at this point as well and may cause dizziness or slowed cognition that is fleeting.
The second level signs to look for is sudden weight gain with no easy explanation. Skin and acne conditions get a lot worse. Asthma does too. If you’re a woman you may notice real painful periods. Men will see energy levels crater and a lot of cognitive haze. This occurs because your ATPase in your neo-cortex does not spin fast enough. You also may notice you need orthodontics for your moving teeth or orthotics in your shoes for the first time. When you come visit my profession they will notice that your HDL level is dropping while your LDL level is increasing. Your blood pressure is also mildly elevated now and if your doc is real good a carotid ultrasound may show a change in the intima-media ratio. They will likely also tell you that your fasting blood glucose now puts you in the range frank glucose intolerance. If they check your fasting insulin levels they will be up too. Today these tests are rarely done at this early stage of disease. You should consider asking to get these if the picture I am painting is sounding familiar at this point.
The third level signs to look for at your yearly physical is persistent increase in your BP and fasting blood sugar. You know a lack of sunlight cause your BP to rise, don’t you? UVA light releases nitric oxide to lower our blood pressure. The doc still tells you that you are not diabetic yet, but mentions the words pre diabetes often when he talks to you. (Side note: You are likely a diabetic by this time. The manner in which we diagnose diabetes is not sensitive and this is why most people have a 50{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} loss of beta cell function in their pancreas by the time they are finally diagnosed.) Diabetes is linked to a lack of sunlight and way too much nnEMF with a diet that give us highly powered electrons with poor proton quality.
You tell the doctor that exercise is now hard to do and you are not motivated to do it. You gasp for air going up stairs now so you rely on elevators. The ladies who do your pedicures tell you your heels and feet need to be scaled with a razor now. Yourtoenailss grow weird and turn yellow. Your barber notices that you are developing skin tags in your neck folds. Your doctor sees them in your armpits and chest too now. You skin color is very uneven and women get a lot of melasma. If someone orders a HbA1c, they also mention that your HbA1c is over 5.5 now. You’ll also tell your doc your sleep stinks now too. You also begin to complain about changes in your eyes, hair, skin, and energy levels. Suddenly you need new glasses because you develop myopia and you might even get a retinal tear. Testing reveals that you have many hormonal issues present but for some reason your thyroid gland testing is unremarkable but you are really beginning to feel “old” and tired for your age. You notice dramatic changes in your mood and personality too. Your job and marriage become stale and cause you chronic stress. If you go see a functional medicine doctor they will lab you up and note your adrenal stress index is upside down and your DHEA and melatonin levels are in the toilet. They’ll push supplements with some new age diet. As the stress rises you seem to age faster and time begins to speed up. It appears like Decemeber comes every 4 months. Why does time seem to speed up the sicker you get? Is this a real phenomena or an illusion?
If your doc pays attention to these symptoms, and does not try to put you on muscle relaxers, narcotics, ambien, synthroid, prozac, and of course a statin, in depth testing will reveal a dramatic change in your VO2 max testing, HRV test will show less chaos, widespread hormonal disruption, a stiffened heart muscle and generalized peripheral artery disease in all parts of your body. Your cognitive decline is now measurable on a neuropsychologic battery. For men, your erections are no longer firm and your endurance is shot and you rarely wake up with one any longer as you did in your twenties. Men will get up to pee constantly at night. Women notice a drop in libido and vaginal dryness and loss of sensitivity. You may realize you’re also missing a gallbladder, uterus, or ovary by this time too.
As time goes on the fourth level of this progression occurs. You now have chronic fatigue. You find yourself napping during the day as a habit and you can’t sleep well at all at night. You have hunger post dinner and you eat at night before you go to bed because you think it helps you sleep better. Your IGF-1 will be below 100 now. Your medical history now includes new diseases like osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, cancer, and autoimmune disease. Your fasting blood sugars are higher. You HbA1c is now chronically above 6.5 and you urinate a lot at night and the doc has found you have protein in your specimen. The eye doctor tells you that you have floaters or cataracts and your fingers go numb at night from carpal tunnel syndrome. You may find out you have restless leg syndrome or be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. You no longer sleep in the same room with your spouse because you pee so much and talk in your sleep. When you stop talking you’re snoring. You find out you can’t sleep because you have sleep apnea and your EKG shows your heart is enlarged. You’ll have bags under your eyes and they will be discolored.
Just about every blood vessel in your body shows some sort of plaque formation too if someone looks for it. Your pulses are weak and you complain constantly about the temperature being too hot or too cold. You find yourself getting sick more often and it being harder to recover from any minor illness. You are collecting more scars from surgeries that many people just call minor. You are contemplating plastic surgery because of how “tired” your skin looks and how saggy your skin and body now look. Your nose and boobs may look good but they no longer fit your body.
Level 5…You are now formally called a diabetic. Your doctor visits escalate in frequency and intensity and it seems every time you see the doc you get a new medicine and you never seem to get better. You in effect feel like a medical annuity at this point. Well, you have become one truthfully. You may now be on oral medications to control diabetes but the doctor may begin to discuss insulin injections if your labs warrant it as you continue to decline. Your HbA1c is now way over 7.0
The time from the first sign to the stage 5 is variable but it is tied to the length of time you have been actively glycating your proteins from your diet. In most people this occurs over 20-25 yrs. Onset of disease however is completely dependent upon your epigenetic switches. How early and how long have they been switched on to cause disease? The earlier you get these changes the longer you have been afflicted. With the younger generations of today who eat a standard american diet (SAD) loaded in fake carbs, made via hydrogenation (bad hydrogen) we expect that time to shrink in the next five decades.
Stage 6…you now have cognitive decline and you hear the words neurodegenerative disorder, like Alzheimer’s thrown around by your doctor. You forget where your keys, wallet and money clip is now. You have word-finding difficulty. Your golf game is sliding badly. You need to use the shopping cart to get around the grocery store or mall. You have to sit down a lot when you walk. You stop going out and living life as you used to because you realize you can not. You might have already had a heart attack a stent or a stroke but they called it minor!
This is the exact history I found in one of my spine patients who came to see me at age 46 for low back pain. When they arrived at me I went back over twenty years and asked open ended questions about their life. This is the twenty year history I got. This person did not need back surgery. They need an Environmental hack and technology diet intervention that needed to save their life.
This is exactly what glycation looks like from my view. BIOLOGIC CONCRETE is maple syrup that builds up in your mitochondrial matrix to slow down the spin rate of your ATPase. When you live in a blue lit microwaved world it appears from your labs that you eat fructose/sugar/starch/grains consistently. If you actually do that in this environment your diseases will show up in your second decade. If you do it long enough to an EXCESS chronically, and mix in some PUFA (omega 6’s) what you end up with is a mess of neolithic disease and a lot of doctor visits and 18 medications to keep you alive. My profession will be expert in ‘wallet biopsying‘ you to death. What has your life really become? Your now surviving and not living.
ANALOGY TIME: You’ve become a slab of granite. Think of pouring maple syrup on your granite counter top and leaving it there for twenty years and then trying to remove it. Got it? That is what happens in a blue-lit microwaved world to the inside of the gears in your mitochondria. You need to limit the environment of tech light and eat for biophysical hormony with the seasons not for the USDA pyramid or prevailing medical opinion. Fats are wiser than any other food but not for the reasons you think. Fats provide a form of hydrogen that is like DW-40 for the colony of your mitochondria. Make your life music once again. You can do it because I did it. Moreover, I have shared this idea with over a 3,000,000 people now. I want you to shared the secret sauce with everyone too. It is free and easy to do if you just control your environment. It just takes you to alter one thought. Will you do it today?
Nice post. Teach it to not only all the primary care physicians but to all the high school health teachers and we can end these chronic conditions in just a generation.
I just did……I am sharing my thoughts with those who might allow this this thought to change their own DNA. Its there choice. I am trying to make a difference to those who might consider an alternative choice than what we do now for glycating Americans.
When teaching to teens appeal to vanity for biggest impact
@V……I find this works well with all humans.
Great post! I had a few questions and entered the terms "Advanced Glycation Endproducts" and "Glycation" in Wikipedia and did some reading–what an eye-opener! Then I came across this statement:
"Food manufacturers have added AGEs to foods, especially in the last 50 years, as flavor enhancers and colorants to improve appearance. Foods with significant browning, caramelization, or directly added preformed AGEs can be exceptionally high in these proinflammatory and disease-initiating compounds. A very partial listing of foods with very high exogenous AGEs includes donuts, barbecued meats, cake, and dark colored soda pop
i fry everything in olive oil. i used coconut oil for a time, but my daughters didn't like the taste it added to food. after 8 months of this my cpr (not hs cpr) was 0.18 and my HDL was high (72) and trigs low (36), so can i assume i am eating right with not too much omega 6? i don't eat grains or dairy (almost never).
ps is palm oil better than olive oil?
Geez 85% of this sounds like Eli! They have him on all these meds & nothing is working. He has been feeling better for the past 4-5 wks. I am seeing a change in alot of the things you have laid out, with he continue to improve over time? I am most concerned about the blood pressure. Can't thank you enough for how much better I feel! It's truely amazing, I just wish we could have known this a few yrs ago. Might have given mom a chance! I know I won't pass up my chance to "live" life! 🙂
@V. Never fry in olive oil! Coconut oil is my go to number one oil. Palm oil is number two, pastured butter is three, ghee is four, non hydrogenated lard is five, rendered beef tallow is six, the comes olive oil………too many sixes for my epigenetic switches I have found with my own testing
thx dr. kruse. i want to try to go back to coconut and try red palm as well. but i am surprised that my cpr, hdl, and tris are so good with the olive oil. my cpr (prepaleo) used to be 1 point something.
Great post. I am close at level 5. My progression is very close to how you described it. I have had annual physical and my doctor followed the standard practice. Prescribed me medications. Never connecting the dots or discussing where all these symptoms are coming from. I don't even feel like going to my annual physical due in few weeks to heAr probably some more bad news. I already got the news of cataracts in my both eyes Few weeks by the eye doctor.
Doc, what are you trying to do? Put the entire medical profession out of business ;)?
I know the answer, he'll yes!
Can you expand on your issues with olive oil? I understand about the problems of using it for cooking, but what about for salads! Per Mark Sisson "Two tablespoons of the average stuff gives you about 2.8 grams of linoleic acid. That's less omega-6 than most lard and poultry fat, if you're counting. ". Is it OK to include olive oil in moderation in your diet if you are balancing Omega 3:6 at a 1:1 ratio?
What specifically do you mean by "too many sixes for my epigenetic switches I have found with my own testing"? Are you unable to maintain good blood omega ratios when you use oil as a regular part of your diet?
This article (below) suggests avoiding coffee is important for those who are avoiding sugar and alcohol–I have not heard this before and would appreciate any clarification. I gather coffee taxes the liver and thus should be avoided when we are trying to regain leptin sensitivity, but how does it affect blood sugar?
http://blogs.forbes.com/michaelellsberg/2011/07/1…
Dr. Hoffman told me there is mounting clinical evidence linking moodswings to blood sugar issues, and that in his experience bipolar patients respond well to cutting out refined sugar, and coffee and alcohol (which affect blood sugar) from their diets. "You should stop eating refined sugar altogether, and stop drinking alcohol and coffee," he told me.
Curious about the skin tags as it is something I have but since changing my diet have not been getting worse. What causes these and is it a matter of concern?
The rest of it sounds just like my mother in law. She is on a bag full of meds and is almost unable to take stairs. She told me that she has always had low cholesterol but is on a statin after a heart attack 2 years ago. It is ridiculous that statins are an automatic after any heart attack. She just completed a 3 week primal boot camp at my house and has started down the path to better health.
Olive oil is best used at room temp after food is cooked Olive oil has a substantial omega six load but has great polyphenols that offset the omega six risk. My choice is to severely limit omega sixes at all times
@cbg. It has to do with limiting cortisol, excess sugar, fructose and omega sixes all eventually lead to chronic cortisol production. Coffee can do that too especially if it is habitually used.
@Chris. A skin tag is evidence of a high level of omega sixes in the skin cell membranes and is a bad prognostic sign of future inflammatory Neolithic disease. Diabetes being a big one and heart disease being Another.
Curious about the carpal tunnel reference to increased AGE. Would you elaborate on causation?
Thanks!
CTS major cause is glycation in the USA today. Most diabetics are afflicted with some degree of it. So if you have CTS you may have it too. Go see your doc and get it checked. I do a lot of carpal tunnels that could be reversed if people would just follow my advice. Americans want the drive thru response. "Operate so I can do what I want not what works." I hear this twice a day in clinic and is a direct quote from a patient.
Hi Dr Kruse
Can I ask a question about the skin tag. I have only 2, but I have had them for a long time, probably since I was 15 – 16 years old. Thing is my mum was fairly strict with our diet and I have never used soy, corn oil or other bad oils, just olive oil. I understand this is not great, but I cannot imagine my body being that sensitive. We always had butter, full cream milk etc. I am now 39 and diagnosed with high blood sugar (113) at the end of March. I basically stopped all sugar and grains that day without a problem. My weight has come down and I am now fighting the last 5 kilos.
I sleep well, do not snack etc . I do not see myself as LR but I try to eat a good breakfast as per your guidelines. What would you suggest I do as I have obviously have had issues for 25 years without knowing. Scary thought.
Thank you too for putitng all this information out there.
Hey Jack, can you give me your thoughts or opinion on "syndrome w". Real or not,should I be concerned?
thanks
I'm curious about where vitiligo fits into this, as in the past few years I have accumulated a significant amount on my hands, elbows, wrists. I have heard everything from hereditary to autoimmune related. I have been fairly strict paleo for the better part of a year, with some dairy (mostly butter and heavy cream) and I have no clue how reversible it is, what can be done to stop its growth, or if more existing vitiligo is just more apparent as I've been tanning more this year (not burning). Is it truly harmless cosmetic issue, or like other skin conditions is it a marker of future disease?
Scary stuff. I guess I have some glycation damage in my eyes (floaters) and skin. No skin tags but liver spots and other strange stuff. My blood sugar, fasting glucose or HbA1c was never high (until last month – first time high fasting glucose), but who knows what my post prandial blood sugar looks like. I should buy a glucosemeter as Dr. Davis recommends.
@Joe. Vitiligo is sometimes associated with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. I see it closely aligned with thyroid disease. Many derms believe it shows up with gene mutations but the latest research is not supporting of this. I would follow a strict autoimmune paleo diet laid out in Robb Wolf's book.
Read this: Hedstrand H, Ekwall O, Olsson MJ, et al. (September 2001). "The transcription factors SOX9 and SOX10 are vitiligo autoantigens in autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type I". The Journal of Biological Chemistry 276 (38): 35390-5. doi:10.1074/jbc.M102391200.
@Andrea you should……and get your 6/3 ratio checked and get your cortisol and estrogen checked. Dark skin patches is high cortisol, estrogen and insulin until proved otherwise in my clinic.
Syndrome W is a marketing term for "metabolic syndrome" in postmenopausal women.
@Michelle. Skin tags are sure signs of omega 6 issues. The most concerning factor you wrote is you fasting BG at 113. That tells me you are way down the path of serious neolithic disease. I would hack your diet crazy. Something you have done has changed your epigenetic switches and you need to adapt.
Thanks for the reply. I basically went Paleo the day of my blood test! No corn, sugar, soy (no soy for over 10 years, I got that information early!) wheat. Small amount of fruit, I am not even interested in fruit now. I had muscle fatigue in my calves for 23 years, I was told it was compartment syndrome (only cure operation) because I wore high heels etc etc. After reading leptin and muscles…now I think it was that. This has now cleared up, I feel amazing, I can walk whenever and wherever I want, but I think it shows how long term this has been. Happy but depressed, happy that I seem to be finding a solution but depressed as I still hoped to have a child (I know I am a bit late) but it looks like that was never going to happen anyway.
Dr. Kruse,
what do you think about Glucosamine/Chondroitin sulfate for cartilage rehab? Useful?
Research is mixed and I honestly have seen no improvement in most patients who use it. I am however a huge fan of making bone broths with grass fed bones with cartilage attached. And drinking andmaking gravies out of it. I did this myself for my own knee injurymand man did it help. I have quite a few patients doing this for osteoarthritic conditions in the muscle skeletal system.
Thanks Doc. Cate Shanahan writes the same thing in her book "Deep Nutrition": Bone broth is more efficient than the artificial stuff.
Nice tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r4ET9qfE0I&fe…
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Thanks for the great post. I follow a vlc paleo diet (have lost 40 lbs in the last year). Love the way I feel! All my arthritis symptoms disappeared, was previously told I had ankylosing spondylitis. What a load of BS! The thing that concerns me is my FBG, still at 110. HbA1c is pretty good, 5.4. My blood sugar rarely goes above 125, but it never (really, never) drops below 110. Why? I was thinking it might be "physiological insulin resistance", not pathological, per Peter's discussion at Hyperlipid. Is that possible? Do I need to worry if my HbA1c stays low? What else can I do? Thank you so much!
@Kathie I have found when I reengineer humans it can take a few years for their HbA1c and Fasting BG to get back where I want them. I dont worry about it as long as I know the patient is made a permanent lifestyle change. Honestly, I think it worries them more then myself. Keep up the work. You will get there. Keep testing to follow your trend too.
Dear Jack,
Were do you think fasting blood glucose should be. And what is a healthy paleo BG level postprandial.
Thank you for changing healthcare!
@Conan I dont want to sound axiomatic with this but I generally like the fasting BG levels below 85 and post prandial BG are more variable because I have no way to know how a person on the net is eating or how well their liver functions from gluconeogenesis. In my clinic patients I I generally try to get them in the 120-140 range. Those who are close to optimal rarely will break 100 even with a smoothie loaded in fruit and Whey. Everything is relative to the patients context.
@Myree Dex is correct. If your pain is bad you really need a good work up done. Pregnenolone, progesterone, MSH, DHEA-s, Estrogen and MMP9……..HS CRP all drawn at once. I bet you have some serious underlying cytokine issues driving your hormone abnormalities.
Dr. Kruse,
Do you have a nutritionist in the Nashville area that You recommend? I was recently dx'd with type II diabetes (a1c 6.6/BMI 38/sleep apnea). My GP wants me on a statin, but not until my vitamin D levels rise (currently 15). I've been following your diet strictly for two weeks now with good results.
@Chris In Nashville there is no one that has my stamp of approval. But there is a a Nashvillian who now lives in SF that does consults over the net that can help you. Her name is Caitlin Weeks and you can find her here. Tell her I sent you. Her sister and family still live here in Williamson County. http://grassfedgirl.com/ You can find her on twitter too with his handle @grassfedgirlsf she is Jack Kruse approved.
Thanks! Dr. Kruse, what is your opinion of any association with AGE & consumption of meat?
@Chris…….AGE in meat is an issue in two areas……if the meat is grain fed and if the meat is cooked at a temp too high. Other than those two caveat meat rocks. And I eat a ton of grass fed meat.
What is it with carbohydrate vampires? I can eat amazingly clean during the day. But 10pm-2am incredible carb cravings overwhelm me. What could it be? Is it a hormonal issue? Night time elevated cortisol?
I’d be very interested to get your perspectives on this quote from Psychologist Julia Ross: “When you eat a food you’re allergic to, your body gets inflamed. Your body thinks it’s under attack. If your body feels it’s under attack, it releases an anti-inflammatory hormone: cortisol (result: hypertension, fat storage, hold water). This reaction also releases endorphins, which gives you feelings of euphoria. So releasing cortisol becomes addictive, you associate the food with pleasure and this addictive behavior it’s pleasurable. Then you become addicted to the food you’re allergic to. You like eating it! This food induced sense of euphoria comes from several chemical mechanisms in your brain. First of all, the sheer pleasure of tasting your trigger foods stimulates your brain’s pleasure pathways and the release of dopamine and endorphins, (again, the chemicals that makes you feel exhilarated). You also get a quick surge of energy as the sugar hits your bloodstream. Unfortunately, that energized feeling lasts only as long as the sugar rush. Once your blood-sugar levels drop (about an hour or two later), you’re left feeling drained and out of sorts. You’re like an addict looking for another fix.”
Dr. Kruse, what causes the thin skin in mostly elderly people that bruises so severely and tears so easily? I’ve had relatives with this; not all were on blood/heart meds.
@Yvonne It is due to poor collage at the basement membrane in skin coupled with low Vitamin C levels and Magnesium levels.