The Blood Sugar Solution translates scientific research into practical recommendations for anyone who wants to get and stay healthy. Soon you will start on this path toward balancing your insulin and your blood sugar. First you need to take some baseline measurements, take a quiz, and take some tests to determine which version of the program you should be following.
There are two versions of the program. The basic program can be followed by anyone. It balances your blood sugar, reduces insulin spikes, balances hormones, cools off inflammation, helps improve digestion, boosts your metabolism, enhances detoxification, and calms your mind and nervous system. Eighty percent of you following the basic plan will have all the tools you need to heal from diabesity and take control of your health.
The advanced program is designed for people with more severe cases of diabesity, including all those who have been diagnosed with diabetes. The genomic revolution and our understanding of the various factors that create imbalances in our metabolism force us to move beyond the one-size-fits-all prescriptions of the past into personalized medicine and health. Some of us are genetically more susceptible to becoming insulin resistant and pump out much more insulin in response to a given sugar load, even if we are thin. Some of us are more likely to accumulate toxins or have inflammation from eating gluten or have sluggish mitochondria or odd populations of gut bacteria, or to have hormonal problems.
The advanced program will help those of you who have more serious biochemical and metabolic imbalances. If you qualify for the advanced program, you will take an additional set of supplements and make a few extra dietary changes.
To determine which plan is best for you and effectively track your progress, you will need to complete three action steps—get measured, take a quiz, and get tested.
You can quickly gather and track critical information about your health with four simple, easy-to-obtain measurements. They tell you volumes about your health and metabolism. Here is what to measure and how to measure it. (You can find special health trackers and online versions of these tools at www.bloodsugarsolution.com.)
I highly recommend getting the Wi-Fi Body Scale and Blood Pressure Monitor. They upload your weight, BMI, body composition, and blood pressure privately into your smartphone and our online tools and trackers. We can provide support and feedback as you go through The Blood Sugar Solution. Research shows that tracking your progress and being accountable doubles your results. You can share your progress with your friends and social network, which also doubles your results. To learn more, go to www.bloodsugarsolution.com/withings.
Once you have these critical measurements, you can determine other key numbers.
After each week of the program has been completed, I recommend you come back to this section to reassess your measurements and see how much your body has changed. Getting feedback about your results is essential and motivating.
Go to www.bloodsugarsolution.com to learn more about our online tools for tracking all your quiz scores, body measurements, blood tests, daily experiences, thoughts, and feelings so you can easily measure your progress over time. At the website you can also anonymously participate in our online research program to help demonstrate the benefits of this approach. More research should be taken out of large institutions and pharmaceutically driven agendas and put in the hands of the people. The collective sharing of data can transform health care from the bottom up. Tracking your progress will help you, but if you share your progress, you can also transform health care and improve the health of others. Please be part of The Blood Sugar Solution patient-driven research program by going to www.bloodsugarsolution.com to enter your data and numbers over time.
Now that you have recorded your BMI and waist-to-height ratio, you are ready to find out whether you should go on the basic or advanced plan. At the beginning of the book, you took a simple screening quiz to see if you may have diabesity. Now you can take a deeper look at the severity of your problem. To do that simply take the quiz below. Score 1 point for each of the following questions you answer “yes” to. Note you can access an online version of this quiz at www.bloodsugarsolution.com.
Next, score 3 points for each of the following questions you answer “yes” to.
Once you have completed the quiz, determine how severe your condition is and whether you should go on the basic or advanced plan by using this scoring key:
While the quiz above will give you a good overall sense of how severe your condition is and an accurate assessment of whether to do the basic or the advanced plan, there are a set of laboratory tests I strongly encourage you to take. There are two levels of testing to properly assess diabesity, its complications, and its causes. No matter what your quiz score indicates, if the basic tests show you have advanced diabesity (see below for interpretation), then you should still do the advanced plan.
I recommend testing for everyone who is considering following this program or who is overweight, has diabetes, or has a family history of type 2 diabetes. The tests listed below should be performed during the preparation phase of the program (more information on how and where to get these tests done will follow shortly).
I have created a special online guide called How to Work with Your Doctor to Get What You Need, where I provide detailed explanations for each of these tests and how to interpret the results. You can download the guide at www.bloodsugarsolution.com. I believe that people can become empowered to learn about their bodies, track their own test results, and use that information to track their disease risks and their progress. I encourage you to become an active partner in your health, and that includes knowing your numbers and following them over time.
NOTE: The abnormal levels noted are based on people who are not taking cholesterol or diabetes medications. If you are on medication, the numbers may look better but you may still have severe untreated diabesity.
If your tests match those listed below, you should be on the advanced plan. If you are on cholesterol-lowering medication, you will have to rely on the insulin response test and the hemoglobin A1c to help you decide if you should be on the basic or the advanced plan.
Go on the advanced plan if:
These tests should be part of a normal screening and evaluation if you are at risk for or think you may have diabesity. If you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or you qualify for the advanced program based on the quiz or the basic tests, it’s important to make sure you get these additional tests done. I also believe they are important for everyone as part of an annual physical and checkup. I explain all these tests in greater detail in the online guide How to Work with Your Doctor to Get What You Need (download it at www.bloodsugarsolution.drhyman.com).
These tests can be done through your doctor, at most hospitals or laboratories, and even ordered yourself through personal testing companies such as SaveOn Labs (www.bloodsugarsolution.com/saveonlabs) and Direct Labs (www.bloodsugarsolution.com/directlabs). They have “Blood Sugar Solution Basic and Advanced Test Panels” that allow you to order the tests yourself.
While many of the problems you suffer from may be healed by going on The Blood Sugar Solution, some of you may need additional medical assistance. Others may already be seeing a doctor for treatment of diabesity. In either case, How to Work with Your Doctor to Get What You Need will give you important information that will help you interface with your medical practitioner in the most effective way possible. Download it at the website.
You should also get follow-up testing done at three-month, six-month, and one-year intervals. This will allow you and your doctor to accurately monitor your progress. Be sure to enter your results online at www.bloodsugarsolution.com to securely and privately track your progress and help revolutionize health care by participating in patient-driven research.
