Case Study: Getting Sugar Cravings Under Control

Helen is a 63 year old lady who came to see me seeking help for weight loss and metabolic problems. By metabolic problems I mean she had a fatty liver and was prediabetic. Helen saw her local doctor every 6 months for a check up and each time her fasting blood sugar crept higher. Helen was scared of becoming a type 2 diabetic.

Helen knew she had a fatty liver. Her doctor ordered a liver ultrasound 5 years ago because elevated liver enzymes were detected in a blood test. Helen carried excess weight around her torso and this is usually a clear indicator of a fatty liver. Helen’s torso expanded each year and she found it extremely uncomfortable to perform day to day tasks. She quickly got out of breath and started sweating from her head.

Helen read all my newsletters and also several of my books. She thought she knew the diet she was supposed to be following, but couldn’t stick to it. Helen had overwhelming cravings for sugar and high carbohydrate foods. She could only stick to a healthy diet until around 2pm each day; after that she was ravenous and ate for most of the afternoon and evening.

There was a lot of stress in Helen’s life. Her mother and sister currently have cancer. Helen worked 2 days a week. On her days off she was very busy driving her mother to medical appointments as well as doing grocery shopping and cleaning for her. Helen was also busy providing her sister with emotional support. She had very little time and energy to care for her own needs.

I asked Helen what she ate each day. Breakfast was 2 boiled eggs and half a tomato. Lunch was a chicken breast salad. Helen tried to practise intermittent fasting, so she didn’t eat breakfast until 10am. The problem was, Helen was overly hungry by then. Her tiny breakfast acted as an entrée rather than a meal. Both breakfast and lunch contained insufficient protein and fat. This, combined with the fact Helen was stressed, rushed and sleep deprived made it impossible to stay away from sugar.

Shortly after her lunch, Helen needed a snack. One snack turned into another and she kept eating throughout the afternoon, and then ate dinner with her husband. Each night Helen went to bed with indigestion and feeling bad about herself. Her mind was filled with anxious thoughts about her sister and mother’s health, so Helen had a very broken sleep.

My recommendations for my patient

• Helen hadn’t been taking any supplements. I strongly recommended she start taking magnesium every evening with her dinner. Stress depletes the body of magnesium. The stress hormone cortisol increases urinary magnesium loss. Magnesium has a wonderfully relaxing effect on the nervous system. It improves sleep quality and stress coping abilities. I told Helen that it would be difficult to stick to a healthy eating plan if she felt so highly stressed.
• I emphasized the importance of eating adequate protein and fat at each meal. Helen’s breakfast wasn’t large enough. I asked her to eat 4 eggs with vegetables and to cook the eggs in olive oil, butter or pastured animal fat. I also asked her to eat breakfast earlier; as soon as she felt hungry. For lunch, if she wanted to eat chicken, I suggested thigh with skin rather than skinless breast. Other more satiating options included salmon, scotch fillet or roast lamb, along with vegetables and salad. Eating more food earlier in the day helps reduce excessive eating in the evening. Dinner was to be a meal similar to lunch. This eating style is outlined in my book I Can’t Lose Weight and I Don’t Know Why.
• For her elevated blood sugar I recommended Berberine capsules and Glicemic Balance capsules. Glicemic Balance stabilizes and balances the blood sugar. This means there are fewer spikes and crashes. This reduces cravings and hunger. Berberine is a herbal extract that gets to the core of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. It improves the efficiency of insulin in the body, thus improves blood sugar and blood fats.
• Helen had a fatty liver for many years. This made her liver less efficient at burning fat and detoxifying her bloodstream. Livatone Plus helps restore healthy liver function and assists loss of stubborn weight from the torso.

Helen has asked for a consultation every 2 weeks, to help her stay focused on her diet and health goals.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.