Imbalanced Blood Sugar and Diabetes Linked with Greater Risk of Infections

: flour, bread and other high-carb foods were among the first items to sell out of grocery stores nationwide.

We need to remind those we care about that research has linked elevated blood sugar with alterations in a range of immune and antimicrobial activities.

In fact, infections of all kinds are more common in those with diabetes and poorly controlled blood sugar.

Related eCourse: Regain Control of Emotional Eating Habits (Snacking) and Improve Your Blood Sugar Health

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Pro tip: making healthy diet and lifestyle choices actually adds value to your life! Who knew!? 🤷🏽‍♂️ This data was published by the Italian CDC last Thursday and I’ve debated about whether I should share it or not. Some people seem to think I’m an insensitive as$ for continually hammering the diet/lifestyle drum and making comparisons between non-communicable diseases. To set the record straight—your immune system and metabolism have lots of overlapping and shared machinery. Researchers who specialize in this field of ImmunoMetabolism have been talking about this for years and the topic was reviewed extensively in my 2014 book Belly Fat Effect. The point you need to walk away with is imbalances in your metabolism (insulin resistance, hyperglycemia) precipitate imbalances in the immune system—which make you more susceptible to infectious diseases AND chronic low-grade inflammation. Your body’s interferon response is arguably the most important first line defense when presented with a virus. Interferon related genes have been shown to be reduced in diabetes and other lifestyle-induced disease. Conclusion: you diet choices do matter as your state of metabolic health is linked to your immune health. #coronamemes #coronavirusmemes😂😂😂 #coronavirus #covıd19 #bloodsugar #insulin #diabetes #keto #lowcarb #ketogenic #ketodiet

A post shared by Mike Mutzel, MS (@metabolic_mike) on Mar 25, 2020 at 10:57am PDT

We discuss more about:

-How elevated glucose alters immune function

-Infectious diseases that are more common in diabetes

-Data from Italy showing increased mortality from COVID-19 amongst diabetics

Psst… I’m admittedly biased and generally favor low-carb or cyclical carbohydrate diets.

However, this research connecting blood sugar imbalances with altered immunity and greater risk of infections is widely published in the research—so I’m not just sharing this with you to support my biases.

If you or someone you care about is serious about gaining control over their blood sugar health, this science may help them.

Mike

P.S. Now’s not the best time to binge on bread, flour and sugar, scientists say.

References:

1. Jafar N, Edriss H, Nugent K. The Effect of Short-Term Hyperglycemia on the Innate Immune System. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 2016;351(2):201-211. doi:10.1016/j.amjms.2015.11.011.
2. van Crevel MD DR, van de Vijver MD S, MD PDAJM. The global diabetes epidemic: what does it mean for infectious diseases in tropical countries? The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 2017;5(6):457-468. doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(16)30081-X.
3. Delamaire M, Maugendre D, Moreno M, Le Goff MC, Allannic H, Genetet B. Impaired Leucocyte Functions in Diabetic Patients. Diabetic Medicine. 1997;14(1):29-34. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-9136(199701)14:1<29::AID-DIA300>3.0.CO;2-V.
4. Toniolo A, Cassani G, Puggioni A, et al. The diabetes pandemic and associated infections. Reviews in Medical Microbiology. 2019;30(1):1-17. doi:10.1097/MRM.0000000000000155.
5. N DG, M P, R M, Raghavan L. Study of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and its correlation with glycemic control. Int J Adv Med. 2019;6(5):1637–5. doi:10.18203/2349-3933.ijam20194233.