You may say, it sounds so funny, perhaps unconvincing too. What has a dentist got to do with Diabetes? How can he or she be more important than your Diabetologist or your family doctor who monitors your blood sugar levels, your medicines and Insulin? Well, it is through my experience that I have learnt the vital role that a dentist plays in your reversal of your Diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association, ``if your blood glucose levels are poorly controlled, you are more likely to develop serious gum disease and lose more teeth than non-diabetics. Like all infections, serious gum disease may be a factor in causing blood sugar to rise and may make diabetes harder to control. Other oral problems associated to diabetes include: thrush, an infection caused by fungus that grows in the mouth, and dry mouth which can cause soreness, ulcers, infections and cavities.
- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/oral-health-and-hygiene/diabetes-and-oral-health.html?referrer=https://www.google.co.in/#sthash.mhF6yLAc.dpuf
I totally repent now about the way I ignored the health of my teeth. Although you have been taught since school days that you must visit a dentist once in six months, I've always ignored cavities and even chipping off of teeth. As a result, I have before me this great problem and expense of at least three implants and some fillings. Now, I've taken it seriously, when it is a tad late, but like they say, better late than never.
so, why is the dentist so important, besides what the American Diabetes Association says? Very simple. As I had mentioned earlier, chewing and digestion of food is very important in your path in the reversal of diabetes. Now, it is a known fact that if your thoroughly chew your food (which is wheat-free, dairy-free and sugar-free) it becomes easy for your stomach to digest. Good digestion of food prevents any inflammation of the stomach. Medical experts now point out to the fact that indigestion and inflammation due to indigestion are one of the major causes for your blood sugar levels going haywire.
Health Expert, Chris Kresser states, ``inflammation is both the cause and the result of diabesity. Once obesity and/or insulin resistance have been established, each can further stimulate the production of inflammatory cytokines, forming a vicious cycle of inflammation and diabesity. It follows, then, that the key to preventing and treating diabesity is reducing inflammation. Unfortunately, few clinicians treating diabesity today understand this. Focusing exclusively on regulating blood sugar and fat hormones without addressing other potential causes of inflammation is bound to produce inferior results.
What are these “other causes” of inflammation? In a phrase: the modern lifestyle. Specifically, dietary triggers (fructose, wheat and industrial seed oils), stress, poor sleep, gut dysbiosis and environmental toxins all cause inflammation on their own. When combined together, they are an explosive mix.'' (www.chriskesser.com)
We’ll talk about each of those factors in future articles. For now, the takeaway is that inflammation is probably the single most important mechanism driving the diabesity epidemic.
As per an article in www.health.havard.edu, ``Body's response system is key driver of heart disease, diabetes and chronic conditions. Inflammation is an essential part of the body's healing system. Without it, injuries would fester and simple infections could be deadly. Too much of a good thing, though, is downright dangerous. Chronic low-grade inflammation is intimately involved in all stages of atherosclerosis, the process that leads to cholesterol-clogged arteries. This means that inflammation sets the stage for heart attacks, most strokes, peripheral artery disease, and even vascular dementia, a common cause of memory loss.
``Inflammation doesn't happen on its own. It is the body's response to a host of modern irritations like smoking, lack of exercise, high-fat and high-calorie meals, and highly processed foods.
``Medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies are hot on the trail of inflammation-busting drugs. Don't bother waiting - they are a long way off, are bound to be expensive, and will almost certainly have side effects. Instead, you can turn to simple tools that ease inflammation. We'll focus on diet here, but don't forget about avoiding cigarette smoke (yours or someone else's), exercising, watching your weight, and taking care of your teeth.
Simple changes
What you eat may fan the fires of inflammation. Here are some suggestions:
Get an oil change. Swap saturated and trans fats for olive oil, which has potent anti-inflammatory properties, or polyunsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fats from fish.
Don't be so refined. The bolus of blood sugar that accompanies a meal or snack of highly refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, French fries, sugar-laden soda, etc.) increases levels of inflammatory messengers called cytokines. Eating whole-grain bread, brown rice, and other whole grains smooths out the after-meal rise in blood sugar and insulin, and dampens cytokine production.
Promote produce. The more fruits and vegetables you eat, the lower the burden of inflammation. Why? They contain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of substances that squelch inflammation-rousing free radicals; some act as direct anti-inflammatory agents.
Go nuts. Adding walnuts, peanuts, almonds, and other nuts and seeds to your snacks and meals is another tasty way to ease inflammation.
Cocoa lovers rejoice? In laboratory studies, cocoa and dark chocolate slow the production of signaling molecules involved in inflammation. The trick is to get them without too much sugar and fat.
Alcohol in moderation. A drink a day seems to lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a powerful signal of inflammation. Too much alcohol has the opposite effect on CRP.
Spice it up. Herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, basil, pepper, and many others have anti-inflammatory properties.
I have experienced great changes in my digestive power after I have now been regularly visiting the dentist since the last year or so. He has declared that, ``your teeth will fall apart if you do not care.'' That scare motivates me to visit him. The benefits I find are that, I chew my food much better than before. This has resulted in lesser load for my stomach to digest it. I also eat only that food that I can chew. For example, mushroom pieces tend to slip down your mouth if you do not have enough teeth to bite them. So, I avoid them - mushroom soup is fine. Thankfully, I am able to chew on nuts - if you don't then get them ground them coarse and then have them. Remember, it is very important that you do not have indigestion or inflammation or indigestion because of eating wrong food, or eating the right food, without chewing.
Chew, chew, chew. And eat only the right kind of food. It helps MAJORLY. Just do it and visit your Dentist regularly. He is your biggest saviour to fight Diabetes.
This evening, God willing, I would be going for Dr PramodTripathi's `Muktotsav' event wherein he is going to celebrate the victory of those patients who have cured themselves of Diabetes after successfully passing the GTT (Glucose Tolerance Test). Will write about it tomorrow.
Cheers and a Happy Sunday
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