Wonderfully Made

Good News Of Diabetes

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Lee Wellard & Dr. Scott Grivas

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Series Code: WM

Program Code: WM000421S


00:01 The following program presents principles
00:02 designed to promote good health
00:04 and is not intended to take the place
00:05 of personalized professional care.
00:08 The opinions and ideas expressed
00:10 are those of the speaker.
00:11 Viewers are encouraged to draw their own
00:13 conclusions about the information presented.
00:36 Welcome to Wonderfully Made,
00:38 your host for today is Lee Wellard,
00:40 a lifestyle educator from Wildwood Lifestyle Center.
00:44 And today we have on the set Dr. Scott Grivas,
00:48 thank you for joining us today. Thank you.
00:50 We are going to be looking at a very
00:52 important topic today, one that is,
00:54 one of the most fastest growing debilitating
00:57 conditions in our world today,
00:59 we are going to looking at diabetes,
01:00 but in the contest of the good news of diabetes.
01:04 Dr. Grivas let's just start the program
01:07 by finding out how prevalent is diabetes,
01:10 is it something that's on the decrease?
01:13 What is it today?
01:15 I wish I could say that it is Lee,
01:17 but unfortunately no, diabetes is increasing
01:21 almost daily. I think the last estimate that
01:24 I read was probably close to 24 million Americans
01:29 are afflicted with this disease.
01:31 And also it is occurring in younger ages now,
01:36 even in children. Now tell us what are some
01:39 of the signs and symptoms of diabetes?
01:44 It can vary some actually have very little
01:48 in the way of presenting symptoms.
01:52 But, others may represent excessive thirst,
01:58 increased urination, sometimes weight
02:02 loss actually. Because of an ability
02:06 to metabolize carbohydrates, fatigue,
02:12 just general debility and weakness.
02:14 Now, there are millions of Americans
02:16 I believe that have diabetes but not even
02:19 aware that they have this problem.
02:22 How can these people identify that
02:25 they do have a problem, or do they often just wait
02:28 too long before they do something about it?
02:31 You know if you're not feeling bad you don't
02:34 usually go for checkups that's the tendency.
02:38 But, yes by simply going to your physician
02:42 or to a health clinic and having your
02:45 blood sugar checked. You can pretty much
02:48 tell whether or not you have
02:50 problems with glucose metabolism.
02:52 Right, lets just talk about glucose for a minute,
02:55 what is considered a diabetic range
02:58 when we're talking of blood sugar levels?
03:00 For fasting levels of blood glucose over 125
03:06 would be considered in the diabetic range.
03:09 Pre-diabetes probably some where
03:11 between a 100 and 125 in a fasting state
03:15 Now, when we're talking about pre-diabetes
03:17 we are talking about not full blown,
03:19 we're not there yet but we're actually on our way,
03:22 exactly. So, that can be just as dangerous
03:27 so to speak then someone who maybe
03:30 is on the low side of diabetic but they,
03:34 they're not even aware that
03:35 they have that problem. It shows you,
03:37 you're on the wrong path, and you need
03:40 to make some lifestyle changes.
03:42 Right and as sugar levels change from time to time,
03:45 so we may have a high blood sugar level at
03:50 one point but then it may not necessitate
03:54 that in fact we have diabetes but at the same
03:56 time it could mean that you know we are well
04:00 on the way to developing a lot of the complications
04:03 that diabetics have, sure. Now let's talk
04:06 about some of the complications.
04:09 What are the most serious complications
04:11 that diabetics face today?
04:14 Well, there are two class of complications
04:16 for the diabetic, we call them macrovascular
04:22 and microvascular because most of the
04:24 damage occurs in the vessels,
04:27 the large vessel complications,
04:31 we lump together as heart attacks, strokes,
04:36 peripheral vascular disease involving
04:39 the extremities that often end in
04:42 gangrenous limbs, amputations etcetera.
04:46 The microvascular complications would be
04:51 problems with the eyes. We call it retinopathy,
04:55 an involvement of the small vessels of the eye.
04:59 The small vessels that go into the kidney
05:01 that result in the term is nephropathy
05:06 or kidney insufficiency. And this leads to a very,
05:11 very high incidence of end stage renal failure
05:15 and dialysis complications. The other would be
05:19 neuropathy, the small vessels that
05:22 carry blood to the nerves.
05:25 They're impaired and so you start to get ischemic
05:28 or a lack of blood changes to those nerves
05:32 and they begin to malfunction,
05:36 results in pain, discomfiture in the
05:39 legs and feet. A feeling of burnings,
05:42 sometimes numbness, just discomfort.
05:48 Now, let's get to the, the cause of the problem
05:50 we've seen diabetes dramatically increase
05:53 especially around the mid 1990s.
05:57 What do you believe is the cause
05:59 or the causes of this problem?
06:03 Well, you know we used to think that diabetes
06:05 was a sugar disease, right.
06:08 But, as our understating has increased
06:12 we understand that's really not the case,
06:14 the complication is rising blood sugar.
06:18 But, basically leads it's too many calories
06:22 too much fat in the diet especially animal fats.
06:26 And as people get larger and larger,
06:28 they develop more resistance to their
06:32 indigenous production of insulin, and so you can't
06:35 get glucose into the cell and so the cell then
06:40 it starts from its fuel source but the
06:44 blood sugar begins to raise in
06:47 the blood circulation and this is what is
06:51 very damaging, right to the vessels.
06:54 Now I understand that not all fats are
06:56 created equal, so when we talking about fats
06:58 what particular fats that we're really taking about?
07:01 Primarily the animal fats, cholesterol saturated
07:06 fats that we find that Americans are consuming
07:10 in such a large quantities today.
07:12 Right, right and what you believe has contributed
07:15 to us consuming more of these fats?
07:19 Well, we now have an increase in the fast foods
07:26 that are being offered to people
07:29 as a food substitute. And we've also gone step away
07:35 from ingesting our food in the most natural way,
07:39 we're processing, we are adding things to our
07:43 foods and so forth. So, it is not just as the Lord
07:46 originally gave us, right. We have a lot of
07:49 added sugars, a lot of added fats
07:51 and so forth animal fats.
07:53 It was interesting to me when I came across
07:56 some research about the island of Crete in Greece
07:59 that they have 40 percent of their calories
08:02 from fat and yet they have one of the lowest
08:04 incidence of heart disease in the world
08:06 simply because of the type of fat that they were
08:09 using was predominantly plant-based, yes such as
08:12 the olive and so this can be more of a protective
08:15 role rather than getting these other types
08:18 of denatured fats in more of a process form.
08:21 Sure, now let's talk for a minute about some
08:26 of the medications that people are on,
08:31 it's predominately insulin or metformin.
08:34 What are some of the complications that could
08:37 arise with people using these for long term?
08:42 Well, earlier on when we first began using
08:46 the oral glucose agents, we found studies
08:51 showing that there was actually an increase,
08:53 a raise in the cardiovascular
08:55 complications with diabetes.
08:56 And increased deaths, we are still though primarily
09:01 using agents that are like the Sulfonylurea drugs
09:07 that actually help to stimulate insulin release
09:14 and secretion by the pancreas.
09:16 We now have those that are called insulin
09:19 sensitizers that try to help with decreasing
09:23 the insulin resistance at a cellular level.
09:27 We do have new agents,
09:29 now we've got they what are they call
09:31 the incretins, which are to, they're given by
09:34 injection to help stimulate insulin secretion
09:39 via hormonal pathways in the digestive system.
09:42 Anyway we have insulin.
09:44 We've got other agents that help to retard
09:47 the breakdown of carbohydrates
09:50 in the GI tract, but with all of those agents
09:57 especially the drug agents.
09:59 Not so much the insulin, there is a raising
10:02 incidents of side-effects from changing in changes
10:07 in electrolyte, balance in the blood, nausea,
10:17 GI tract, disturbances like diarrhea with some
10:22 of these agents. Metformin a very common agent now,
10:27 one of the biggest problems there is the
10:29 incidence of what we call like lactic acidosis.
10:35 So, we have to be very careful that
10:37 these people are warned when they are on
10:39 this medication. If they get like a febrile illness,
10:43 if they become sick in anyway if they take
10:46 contrast media, that these patients have to be
10:49 taken off these mediations ahead
10:52 or during the time their illness that they don't
10:55 proceed into this very critical acidosis state
10:59 where people actually can lose their lives.
11:01 Right, and we know that diabetes is a very serious
11:05 disease because of the complications
11:07 and 80 percent of people who have diabetes
11:10 are dying from heart disease.
11:13 Why do we see such a high prevalence of
11:16 heart disease been associated with diabetes?
11:20 Well, with insulin resistance which
11:23 takes place in the diabetic you get a lot
11:26 of changes Lee, that takes place in the
11:30 actual a blood parameters.
11:32 There is raise in fibrinogen levels
11:35 which is a protein precursor to form
11:39 clots in the blood. We have a problem with
11:43 increase inflammatory changes in the walls
11:47 of the vessels with insulin resistance,
11:49 we can measure with this by such parameters
11:52 in the blood is CRP, C-reactive protein.
11:57 So, there is an inflammatory damage
12:01 done with increase in free-radicals
12:04 in the diabetic. This is all changing the
12:07 normal blood flow and blood supply.
12:10 You're building up now plaque in the walls
12:14 of the vessels, there is a raise in
12:16 cholesterol synthesis, a raise in LDL cholesterol
12:20 in the diabetic. A lowering of
12:22 HDL the good cholesterol and all of these things
12:26 are contributing to a impairment of blood
12:32 supply to the organs. And for the heart
12:36 or to the brain that results in the coronary
12:40 artery disease, the carotid artery disease
12:44 which leads to stroke and so forth.
12:46 Would you say that the biggest factor
12:50 of causing diabetes would be one's diet.
12:53 It is, yes probably one of the biggest,
12:56 now there are certainly we have to recognize
13:00 genetic vulnerabilities. Diabetes does have
13:05 certain clustering according to that
13:07 genetic background. But, given the wrong
13:12 lifestyle with that genetic pre-disposition
13:16 then that's where you get into trouble.
13:18 Right, so you're saying that genetics really
13:21 low again the lifestyle pulls the trigger,
13:24 and in your experience you've been a physician
13:27 for many years. You've had a lot of people
13:29 come through Wildwood and had treatment
13:32 as a diabetic, in fact I believe diabetes
13:34 is one of most common things that we're dealing
13:37 with on a day to day basis. How successful
13:40 have you seen people change especially
13:44 with the sugar level once they make these changes.
13:46 Yeah, some change quite quickly
13:50 and dramatically. I remember one individual
13:53 that came to us he was on over a 100 units
13:57 of insulin a day. And we worked with him,
14:02 changing the lifestyle parameters, the diet,
14:05 getting more exercise, weight reduction
14:08 and within a three week period Lee,
14:10 he was off of all insulin with normal blood sugars.
14:14 And I wish I could tell you that was end
14:16 of the story, but he went home
14:19 and he thought I'm doing so well,
14:22 I'll just go back and start having a little bit
14:25 of the other type of lifestyle and within
14:28 some months he was right back again
14:31 in our center again on the same amount of insulin.
14:35 But, the Lord is good and very patient with us
14:38 and again we worked with him
14:39 and the same thing happened.
14:41 He came off of his insulin. He had normal glucose
14:44 levels and he was very, very thankful, amen.
14:47 When he went home I'm hoping that
14:48 he continued to stay with the program,
14:51 praise the Lord. Others may not always have
14:54 that dramatic change and I would want to
14:58 encourage anyone who has diabetes
15:02 not to be disappointed. If at first, you're not
15:05 seeing those kinds of changes because
15:08 you know nature's way of healing are gradual,
15:13 right, these processes and even though
15:16 the Lord is orchestrating all of this.
15:18 We didn't get sick over night, right
15:21 and may not be that overnight we are seeing
15:23 everything just coming back to normal.
15:25 But, for those people who will persevere
15:28 with a good lifestyle change program,
15:31 it's not a question of if there is gonna be
15:34 improvement we know there will be, right.
15:36 It's just giving the Lord time to work
15:39 in these bodies. Right, and it seems the ones
15:41 that are, that are further off the path
15:44 they were on a terrible program that
15:45 seem to do better, as they make some
15:48 of those changes, I remember we were at
15:50 the Kansas city doing a program
15:53 and we had a gentlemen that came in, and I call
15:55 him a walking time bomb, you could hear
15:57 him come in, you could hear him labor,
15:59 every breath he took you could hear.
16:03 And he had so much medicine with him,
16:05 he used to carry around a bag of medicine,
16:07 you can make breakfast cereal out of all
16:09 these medicines. I mean he would take two hours
16:11 just to put his medications in the
16:14 right order, yeah. And I was afraid to tell
16:19 him of some lifestyle changes because
16:21 I felt well if he changes too rapidly he could
16:25 brought them out, and he could go into a coma.
16:28 And anyway we worked with this gentleman
16:31 and in just five days, he went from 202 units
16:37 of insulin that was a minimum he took,
16:39 202 to 225 plus 2000 mg of metformin.
16:44 He was off 200 units in just five days,
16:47 and it was astounding to me just chaining
16:50 his diet alone, he wasn't even
16:52 up to exercising yet. But, it was amazing to see
16:55 that and so for those who maybe on a good
17:00 program already you may not see as much
17:02 change but if you keep persisting God surely
17:05 will bless and I think that's a message
17:07 we want to get through.
17:09 What is the danger of leaving things too long,
17:12 you know often we get people come into the
17:14 lifestyle center, they've already been have
17:17 warning after warning and they've just kept
17:19 pushing themselves and nature has given
17:23 away what are some of the dangers of leaving
17:26 things too late from a blood sugar perspective?
17:30 Well, the more damage that you accrue over
17:34 the years then the harder it is to
17:36 see that reversal. And for the diabetic like
17:40 let's take the type II diabetic,
17:43 their primary problem initially is insulin
17:46 resistance now they may have a little bit
17:48 of beta cell abnormality, that's the cells that
17:51 produce the insulin in the pancreas.
17:54 They may have a little dysfunction,
17:55 but the longer that this process of insulin
17:59 resistance goes on and the blood sugars
18:03 are remaining higher there is an element
18:06 of glucose toxicity that ends up in damaging
18:10 even the pancreas, right. So, that there is last
18:14 production of insulin, so now you've got two
18:17 major problems you see, not just insulin
18:19 resistance but now you've got lower
18:22 levels of insulin. And so we have to caution
18:28 people that the earlier you can intervene
18:31 in these abnormal metabolic processes.
18:36 The easier it is to see return to normal,
18:40 yes, the Lord can do anything right? Amen,
18:43 and He can reverse even those individuals
18:46 that are way far advanced, if that's well,
18:49 but we don't wanna attempt the Lord.
18:51 We want to try to do everything
18:53 we can as early as we can to prevent
18:56 further damage in the body.
18:58 And I believe the studies are showing
19:01 that the average person that is getting
19:05 diagnosed as a diabetic has already wiped out
19:09 a half of the beta cell function that make the
19:13 insulin to help control the blood sugar.
19:15 So, it pays to get it early, amen.
19:19 Let's talk a little bit about some of the
19:22 common misunderstandings of diabetes you know often
19:25 we hear about that, we shouldn't have fruit
19:28 in our diet, as a diabetic
19:30 could you maybe elaborate a little one that?
19:34 well the concern is in the diabetic
19:38 is the fat, we've talked about that,
19:41 but also the simple sugars, free sugars
19:44 we call them. That are not complex as the
19:48 Lord has made them with fiber
19:50 and other plant material. Fruits, yes,
19:54 a diabetic has to be careful with,
19:56 you can't eat too much, but fruits are so good.
20:00 They have so many antioxidants,
20:02 so many vitamins and the diabetic needs those.
20:05 So, we don't limit the use of fruits and say,
20:10 a diabetic should never have fruits.
20:13 We have to fat rate into their carbohydrate plan.
20:16 But, the main areas that we want the diabetic
20:19 to avoid are those simple sugars.
20:22 That are often added to processed foods
20:25 that are in the confectioneries,
20:28 the baked items, the pies you now the cakes,
20:31 the cookies those kinds of things.
20:34 But, complex carbohydrates that
20:37 is the sugars that are the complexed with the fiber
20:40 and other plant material. The diabetic needs
20:44 those and we encourage those.
20:45 And it's important to have that fiber in the fruit,
20:49 it help time release the sugar into the cell.
20:53 You know some diabetes like to use juicing,
20:57 is that any problem to the sugar levels?
21:00 Well, very definitely because when you juice
21:03 unless you have that fiber, if you're juicing
21:06 and you're removing all that fiber then you've
21:08 got a liquid medium with glucose that would
21:10 just go directly into the blood system,
21:14 the stream and raise your blood sugar
21:17 to higher levels after ingestion.
21:20 So, we don't encourage juices for the diabetic.
21:23 Right, now why would we often put even
21:26 diabetics on a two meal a day program.
21:30 You know some people will be quite concerned
21:32 about that, we often here about having
21:34 five or six meals a day, it's very common
21:37 knowledge that people need to be on this
21:41 program so they don't burn them out
21:43 and that's often the concern of the physician.
21:46 Can people last on a two meal a day program,
21:49 is that best for even the sugar
21:52 level of the diabetic? By all means two meals
21:55 are better then three especially for those
21:57 who are over their ideal weight.
22:00 What we have to make certain though is that
22:03 when we do that we are cutting back
22:06 on their medications. Whether it's the drugs
22:09 or the insulin or whatever we're giving,
22:12 and this is where it's very necessary for
22:15 a person who is making these changes
22:17 to be under some medical surveillance.
22:21 So, that we can adjust the medication appropriate
22:26 to their dietary intake, sometimes we almost
22:31 fall into this category of chasing the food intake
22:36 with the medicines by the insulin you see, right.
22:39 But, if you will cut that back then you can also
22:42 then cut back on the amount of food consumed
22:46 and if it is primarily plant-based you've
22:49 gotten a lot more fiber it's lower in calories
22:52 and the diabetic then can lose weight better,
22:56 which is the primary problem you remember
22:59 the increased weight has contributed
23:01 to the insulin resistance. So, you're helping them
23:03 to lose weight as well as controlling
23:07 the blood sugar. I think it's important to also
23:10 keep in mind that if you do go low that don't
23:14 starve yourself either, if you need something
23:16 to pickup your sugar level temporally to get
23:19 you back on track, sure. Now someone that's
23:22 looking at this from home they maybe
23:24 wondering how do I get on this program
23:27 you know they may desire to get off some
23:29 of the medication as they make some of
23:31 these lifestyle changes, how do you as physician
23:35 know when it safe to transition people from
23:40 you know medication on to you know to reduce
23:44 that and to be able to have confidence
23:47 so they able to continue on a safe program.
23:52 Well, first of all Lee would suggest that
23:55 no diabetic that's on a treatment plan change
24:01 that plan without first consulting
24:03 with their physicians, amen. So, that the
24:05 physician knows exactly what this person is doing,
24:08 even in dietary changes. What I also though
24:13 might recommend is that for those who lets say
24:18 can't find that's support system in a home place,
24:24 that coming to a lifestyle center where physicians
24:28 who are well trained in lifestyle medicine
24:31 can address these patients and their needs
24:33 individually entailer a plan from the
24:36 nutritional aspect, exercise, you know all of
24:40 these lifestyle changes with a gradual reduction
24:45 in medications while we maybe also adding
24:49 some other natural agents that may
24:52 help with the blood sugar control.
24:54 So, when people come to lifestyle center
24:58 such as Wildwood we don't just immediately
25:00 cut them off, definitely, the medication but
25:03 we're trying to make lifestyle changes
25:05 while we're reducing some of these medication.
25:08 As we see improvement taking place in individual,
25:10 sure. Now let's talk for a moment for about
25:13 the spiritual motivation of a diabetic
25:18 and this would go for every condition.
25:21 Well, how important do you see the spiritual
25:24 component in making changes to one's lifestyle?
25:29 I see it as very key, because we can
25:33 educate people, we can tell them what
25:36 to do. But, the problem often is they
25:41 cannot find the strength to follow through,
25:44 right. And this is where only that relationship
25:47 with Christ can give them that divine power.
25:51 They may want to do well, they may
25:54 try to do well, but they often find themselves
25:58 falling back into those old patterns.
26:01 And so we tell our patients look we're not
26:04 interested in just trying harder.
26:07 But, we will encourage them to make this
26:10 lifestyle change a matter of prayer
26:13 and to discuss this with the Lord and ask him
26:16 for special grace to change these habits
26:19 because we can't really change ourselves,
26:21 only the Lord can do that.
26:23 Right, I think that's a very point to those
26:26 who are listening that our confidence really
26:29 has to be in a pie outside of ourselves
26:31 because we ourselves got us into a situation
26:35 where we don't have the strength,
26:37 we don't have the ability to change.
26:40 But as we lean on Him, as we trust in Him
26:43 then we see the motivation comes
26:46 to be able to make those changes.
26:48 Alright, maybe you could share a little bit
26:51 from your background you've seen many people
26:54 who've come they followed the program
26:57 and they've started to make some of these
26:59 changes and of course everyone comes different
27:04 you know with different problems,
27:05 different severity and the condition,
27:07 but what do you see is the difference between
27:09 those who are on a good program
27:13 and you know they've made some of these changes
27:16 but aren't doing as well, compared to those
27:19 who were really seem to go all the way,
27:21 what seems to be the main difference?
27:24 When people leave our center, they then go back
27:32 in to their home environment
27:33 Where things are not always as conducive
27:35 to making changes. Right. They will often encounter
27:40 let's say added stress from their work programs,
27:46 schedules are not as easy for them to follow
27:49 like with exercise routine and so fourth
27:52 and so just making sure that they're sticking
27:55 to the program when they go home,
27:58 this is what will make the difference.
28:00 This is Lee Wellard, Wildwood Lifestyle Center.
28:03 Thank you for joining us today,
28:04 I hope it's been a blessing to you,
28:05 please join us next time on Wonderfully Made.


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Revised 2020-08-19