Defiant Health Radio with Dr. William Davis
Defiant Health Radio with Dr. William Davis
The Little Known Secrets of Slowing Aging by Reducing Glycation
There are a handful of strategies that you can engage that slow the phenomena of aging, i.e., slow or stop the development of skin thinning and development of wrinkles, deterioration of joint health, so-called hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis, reduction in hormonal status, loss of muscle, loss of bone density, etc. One issue that is rarely discussed is the process of glycation, i.e., glucose modification of proteins. Glycation is something you have enormous control over and thereby slow numerous phenomena of aging. You can reduce the likelihood, for instance, of developing cataracts, reduce the likelihood of thinning skin and age spots, reduce risk for cardiovascular disease, reduce potential for joint deterioration. It’s also something you can measure and track.
So, in this episode of Defiant Health, let’s discuss how you can easily and effectively minimize the process of glycation and thereby take over this important aspect of aging.
For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.
A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________
Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*
For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.
*Dr. Davis and his staff are financially compensated for promoting BiotiQuest and Paleovalley products.
Books:
Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight
There are a handful of strategies that you can engage that slow the phenomena of aging, that is, slow or stop the development of skin thinning and development of wrinkles, deterioration of joint health, so-called hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis, reduction in hormonal status, loss of muscle, loss of bone density, etc. One issue that is rarely discussed is the process of glycation, that is, glucose modification of proteins in the body. Glycation is something you have enormous control over and thereby can slow numerous phenomena of aging. You can reduce the likelihood, for instance, of developing cataracts, reduce the likelihood of thinning skin and age spots, reduce risk for cardiovascular disease, reduce potential for joint deterioration. It's also something you can measure and track. So in this episode of Defiant Health, let's discuss how you can easily and effectively minimize the process of glycation and thereby take over this important aspect of aging. Later in the podcast let's talk about Defiant Health's sponsors. That include Paleo Valley, who provides fermented grass-fed beef sticks, bone broth, protein rich in collagen, organic supergreens and low-carb superfood bars, and now 100% grass-fed and finished pastured meats. And Biodiquest, who provides unique probiotics such as sugar shift to support healthy blood sugars. Simple slumber to assist in obtaining healthy sleep. Antibiotic antidote to help you recover after a course of antibiotics, probiotics crafted with the unique property of combining synergistic microbes.
Speaker 1:In this relatively brief conversation, I want to share with you some little-known secrets on how to take control over many aspects of aging, by addressing something called endogenous glycation. And all that means is, first of all, it's endogenous, it's a process that occurs in the body. I did make that distinction because there's also a process called exogenous glycation, that is, ingesting things that lead to this process of glycation. We're not going to talk about that. That's not quite as important. That's a different kind of story. Today we're going to focus on endogenous glycation, that is, glycation occurs within the body due to the foods you eat.
Speaker 1:Now glycation refers to glucose modification of proteins, that is, blood glucose, blood sugar reacts with the amine group of proteins, the NH4 group of proteins, and this is an irreversible reaction. Once you have a glycation reaction the reaction between a sugar glucose and a protein it is irreversible and this is part of the aging process, as it occurs in virtually every organ of the body. Now there's a low level of glycation going on all the time, even when your blood glucose, your blood sugar, is normal, even while you're sleeping. But every time your blood glucose goes above 100 milligrams per deciliter, the glucose begins to react with the proteins in your body. So, as you can imagine, if you had a bowl of oatmeal which we're told is healthy, of course, right, if your blood glucose in a non-diabetic is about 150 milligrams, you are glycating like crazy. Or say you have a slice of pizza conventional pizza and your blood glucose is 170. As a non-diabetic, you are glycating proteins all throughout your body. Now, if it's worse, if you're a pre-diabetic or type 2 diabetic, in which case a bowl of oatmeal and a pre-diabetic would typically give you a blood glucose above 200, and a type 2 diabetic well towards 300. So those people glycate like crazy and those are instances, those are examples of accelerated aging from this process of glycation, glucose modification of proteins.
Speaker 1:So blood glucose is something you want to pay a lot of attention to. In fact, one of the rules I have in my programs is the blood glucose no change rule. If you were doing finger stick blood glucose, for instance, let's say you start at 90 milligrams per deciliter and you eat something 30 to 60 minutes later after the start of that meal, we check another blood glucose, looking for the peak blood glucose, and we look for no change. So if you start at 90, you want a blood glucose of about 90, accepting that these devices are accurate to plus or minus about 10 milligrams. So if we went from 90 to 100, that's essentially no change. But if we went from 90, say, to 180, as it would say with a donut or a bagel, that means you're glycating proteins at a rapid rate all throughout your body, just like the pre-diabetics and type 2 diabetics do. So let's talk about some of the changes that can occur in the various Proteins throughout the body. So if your blood glucose goes above 100 milligrams per deciliter and glucose reacts with the proteins in the lenses of your eyes, so called crystalline proteins in the lenses of your eyes, you develop opacities. That adds up over time to lead to cataracts. If you glycate the Proteins in your retina, it leads to deterioration of vision and can even lead to blindness long term.
Speaker 1:One of the proteins that's ubiquitous in the body in virtue all organs is collagen. Collagen is the structural protein in your skin and dermal layer of skin, in your joint cartilage, in your brain, in your heart. Collagen is virtually everywhere in your body and collagen is very glycation prone. So when your blood glucose exceeds 100, you glycate the collagen in your skin, in the dermal layer of skin, that over time leads to fragmentation and Deterioration of your collagen and it breaks down and your skin becomes thinner and it also develops age spots. So glycation of collagen in the dermal layer of skin accelerates skin aging. If you glycate the collagen in your joint cartilage Joint cartilage is about 70% collagen if you glycate that collagen, your joints Cartilage becomes brittle and stiff and it breaks down over time and that leads to bone-on bone arthritis, so that high blood glucose via glycation also erodes your joint cartilage.
Speaker 1:The immunoglobulins, the antibodies in your in your blood Stream that protect you from viruses and bacteria and other invaders, is also Glycation prone and therefore in pairs it impairs your immune response. So those antibodies, those immunoglobulins, are prone to glycation and it pairs their ability to protect you from infections. Insulin is also glycation prone. So insulin, of course, is responsible for allowing blood glucose to enter the body's cells. But when insulin is glycated it's less able to do its job and you're more likely to develop insulin resistance. That is a poor response into insulin and that's a fundamental process that underlies risk for heart disease, dementia, cancers and other health conditions. So glycating insulin is a very bad thing, and every time your blood glucose goes above a hundred, you are glycating your insulin.
Speaker 1:Now let's pause for a minute to let me tell you something about Defiant Health's sponsors. The Defiant Health podcast is sponsored by Paleo Valley makers of delicious grass-fed beef sticks, healthy snack bars and other products. We're very picky around here and insist that any product we consider has no junk ingredients like carrageenan, carboxymethylcellulose, sucralose and, of course, no added sugars. All Paleo Valley products contain no gluten nor grains. In fact, I find Paleo Valley products among the cleanest in their category. One of the habits I urge everyone to get into is to include at least one, if not several, servings of fermented foods per day in their lifestyles. Unlike nearly all other beef sticks available, paleo Valley grass-fed beef sticks are all naturally fermented, meaning they contain probiotic bacterial species. And now Paleo Valley is expanding their Wild Pastures program that provides 100% grass-fed, grass-finished pastured beef and pastured chicken and pork raised without herbicides or pesticides, and they just added wild-cut seafood caught from the waters of Bristol Bay, alaska. Among their other new products are pasture-raised fermented pork sticks, chocolate-flavored grass-fed bone broth, protein and grass-fed organ complex in capsule form, and new essentially electrolytes in powder form to add to potassium and magnesium intake, available in orange, lemon and melon flavors, and for the fall and winter season they've brought back pumpkin spice superfood bars. Listeners to the Defiant Health podcast receive a 15% discount by going to paleovalicom.
Speaker 1:Backward slash defiant health and I'd like to welcome Defiant Health's newest sponsor, biodicuest. I've had numerous conversations with Biodicuest founders Martha Carlin, an academic microbiologist, dr Raul Cano. They have formulated unique synergistic probiotic products that incorporate what are called collaborative or guild effects, that is, groups of microbes that collaborate with each other via specific metabolites, potentially providing synergistic benefits. They have designed their sugar shift probiotic to support healthy blood sugars. Simple slumber to support sleep. Ideal immunity to support a healthy immune response. Heart-centered that supports several aspects of heart health. And antibiotic antidote designed to support recovery of the gastrointestinal microbiome after a course of antibiotics. The Biodicuest probiotics are, I believe, among the most effective of all probiotic choices for specific health effects. Enter the discount code UNDOC15, undoc All Caps 15, for a 15% discount for Defiant Health listeners.
Speaker 1:Another group of particles that are very glycation prone are LDL particles low density lipoprotein particles. When your doctor gives you an LDL cholesterol, what he's trying to do is very crudely guesstimate how many LDL particles there are. It's not about the cholesterol. The cholesterol is nothing more than an indirect marker for these particles. But it's very unreliable. It's very inaccurate. We can actually measure LDL particles so let's focus on these LDL particles.
Speaker 1:Ldl particles are glycation prone, especially if they're abnormally small. So it's kind of a double whammy in that when you eat something that's made of sugar or the amylopectin A of wheat and grains, so any sugar or the starch of grains is converted to VLDL particles in the liver. That in turn leads to formation of small LDL particles. So consumption of wheat, grains and sugars leads to formation of small LDL particles, and small LDL particles are eight fold more prone to glycation than large, normal LDL particles. So you can see the double action here. You consume something that has the starch, the amylopectin A starch of grains or sugars, and your liver converts it to VLDL particles. That in turn creates small LDL particles that are glycation prone. That is how heart disease is caused by consumption of grains and sugars via small LDL particles that are very, very glycation prone, and so it's actually glycoxidized, glycated and oxidized LDL particles that leads to heart disease. You can see that this idea of LDL cholesterol is outdated, should not even be used anymore. It's glycoxidized LDL particles that are the actual cause for coronary disease, heart attack, sudden cardiac death, but it starts with consumption of wheat grains and sugars and then glycation of small LDL particles.
Speaker 1:Another group of proteins that are glycation prone are some of the structures within DNA and the proteins that surround DNA. That can lead to mutations and that can lead to such things as cancers. So that has to be better mapped out, but the research is suggesting that DNA and related proteins are glycation prone and that can be very dangerous. Now you have access beyond doing finger stick blood glucose to keep your blood glucose from rising. That is my blood glucose, no change rule. You also have access to another test, hemoglobin A1C, that common test that's meant to reflect your blood glucose over the preceding 90 days or so. Hemoglobin A1C is also glycated hemoglobin, so that measure gives you an idea how much you've been glycating the last 90 days or so. 90 days because that's the turnover rate of hemoglobin, because recall that glycation is irreversible but hemoglobin is constantly being turned over. So, even though it's irreversible, the glycation process is irreversible. You get new hemoglobin that's then susceptible to glycation.
Speaker 1:Now what's an ideal level of hemoglobin A1C? We want to keep glycation right to a minimum. So we try to keep hemoglobin A1C to 5.0% or less. It's very typical in my programs that people have hemoglobin A1C values of about 4.7 to 4.8% very low. Now the doctor will tell you such things as 5.7% is okay. Is that true? It absolutely is not true. If you have a hemoglobin A1C of 5.7%, the doctor says, well, you're in the pre-diabetic range, but we'll just watch it right, and doesn't tell you that the risk for cardiovascular death is 300% higher at that level and that at 5.7%, you've been glycating the proteins and the lenses of your eyes, right Kidney tissue, your LDL particles, your insulin, your antibodies, your joint cartilage and you've been exposed to accelerated aging. So please do not accept that advice that hemoglobin A1C is of, say, 5.7% or 6.3% are okay. They're not okay. Index of accelerated aging. So we try to get our hemoglobin A1C to 5.0% or lower.
Speaker 1:How do you do all this? What's easy Don't eat foods that raise blood glucose, right? So what foods are those? Wheat, grains and sugars. Those are the foods that raise blood glucose to very high levels and you thereby glycate the protein in your body. We also address common nutrient deficiencies, nutrients that are lacking in most modern lifestyles Vitamin D, magnesium, iodine and omega-3 fatty acids and when you put them all together you get a synergistic effect on minimizing insulin resistance. So when you're sensitive to insulin that is, you don't have insulin resistance your blood glucose tends to be lower. It doesn't tend to rise to very high levels. If you're insulin resistant that is, the cells of your body, your brain, muscles, other tissues don't respond well to insulin, then your blood glucose tends to be higher and you can have very high blood glucose is eating any kind of carbohydrate.
Speaker 1:Another thing we do is we address dysbiosis, disrupted microbial composition of the colon and SIBO small intestine bacterial overgrowth. When you take action to correct your disrupted gastrointestinal microbiome, you reduce the process of endotoxemia, that is, the trillions of microbes living in your colon and small intestine live and die rapidly. They only survive for a few hours at a time. So there's a rapid turnover of trillions of microbes when they die, especially fecal microbes In the colon and fecal microbes that in so many people have invaded the small intestine, the 24 feet of small intestine. When those fecal microbes, like E coli and salmonella, die, they release some of their toxic components and one of the toxic components is called endotoxin, a component of their cell wall and endotoxin is able to enter the bloodstream, especially if those microbes have made it into the small intestine, because the small intestine is very permeable. So you get endotoxemia when endotoxin enters the bloodstream and endotoxemia is a major driver of insulin resistance and thereby higher levels of blood glucose. So when we correct this situation, you have less endotoxemia and lower blood glucose and thereby less glycation. You've slowed the pace of aging. So there you have it Glycation. Endogenous glycation is the process in which glucose reacts with the proteins of the body and impairs them, impairs their action, whether it's insulin or an LDL particle, and leads to all manner of modern health conditions.
Speaker 1:Now, if you'd like more detail on exactly how we managed to correct dysbiosis and SIBO, please see my other episodes of the Defiant Health Podcast, see my blog, which is drdavisinfinitehealthcom. You can join my inner circle, drdavisinfinitehealthcom inner circle, where we discuss this via live Zoom, as well as discussion forum and a private Facebook page, and we have protocols on how to do all this, including how to make SIBO yogurt what I call SIBO yogurt. That is a collection of microbes that so far has been very effective in eradicating SIBO, just by making something that looks and smells like yogurt. It's not yogurt. Of course you can't buy this in the store. We fermented ourselves in a very specific way to get a very high bacterial count of about 300 billion microbes per half cup serving and that has worked incredibly well unexpectedly well in eradicating SIBO.
Speaker 1:And, of course, if you want more detail on the diet we follow, that is no wheat, no grains, no sugar. That's all detail. Also in my blog there are episodes of this podcast, as well as my wheat belly book, especially the revised and expanded edition. Now, if you've learned something by listening to this episode of the Defiant Health podcast, I invite you to subscribe to your favorite podcast directory. Post a review, post a comment, tell your friends. Thanks for listening, you, you.
