Some time ago, I reviewed a book titled Drop Acid. The author, Dr. David Perlmutter goes over the mechanisms that raise uric acid levels. The two pathways to making uric acid are purines and fructose. Purines come from rich meats like liver and from seafood. Fructose naturally comes from fruits, but modern packaged food tends to add high fructose corn syrup. Where this all comes together is that high uric acid in your body eventually leads to Type 2 diabetes.
According to Dr. Perlmutter, high levels of uric acid is an early human adaptation that helped them survive winters. Unlike today when we have fruit all year, people typically only had fruit right before winter. Uric acid signals our bodies to do the following:
Store fat
Raise blood pressure
Induce insulin resistance
Conserve glucose for the brain
The first three are obvious results you would see in your typical Type 2 diabetic. If winter is coming and food is scarce, then you would be better off storing fat and having some insulin resistance. Higher blood pressure helps prevent you from passing out if there's no water. So, uric acid has an important function.
The problem is that uric acid isn't meant to always be high. It's supposed to be seasonal to help with food shortages. It also kicks in temporarily when you are becoming dehydrated. After the crisis, uric acid levels are meant to drop.
The way we eat has changed since the times of early humans. Fruit is always available. Protein is always available. There is never a time in which our bodies make less uric acid because the signal, via our diet, is always "winter is coming".
A Brief Pictorial View of How Fructose Activates the Survival Switch
First, we can be more conscientious about what we eat. Packaged foods almost always have added sugar. Restaurants add sugar to their recipes and sauces. In most cases, preparing your own food is better, so long as you don't add sugars.
The next item is a bit challenging. We should eat less frequently. No snacking. Skip meals. Fast occasionally. Avoid sweetened drinks.
When we do it, there are things we can consume that actually help our bodies eliminate or avoid making uric acid such as dairy foods, cherries, coffee, and vegetables.
We can also consume supplements such as vitamin C and Quercetin.
I never would have imagined dairy food being helpful. For many of us, dairy causes some personal discomfort and sometimes the discomfort of others. What I have researched indicates that whole milk, cheeses, and yogurt signal your kidneys to flush out uric acid. Dairy, when combined with meals, also slows down the absorption of sugars in food.
My problem is, how do I incorporate dairy into my meals? Plain yogurt is just not very appetizing. It turns out you can make savory side dishes with yogurt, chopped vegetables, herbs, and olive oil. Or you can make sauces such as Tzatziki that you can use to top proteins.
The most challenging part about changing your diet is figuring out how to incorporate the changes into what you already enjoy eating.
The main point of Dr. Perlmutter's book is that long before you become diabetic or pre-diabetic, uric acid has been actively leaving a path of destruction in our bodies, which starts at a young age. His thesis is that if we manage our uric acid levels early in life, we can avoid developing diabetes in the first place.
I have been bordering on diabetes for many years. I have yet to cross over while other, younger family members have. The difference is that I am more conscientious about what I eat. I am mindful of eating sugars and other carbohydrates. I always try to incorporate vegetables in my meals. My cardiologist recommended maintaining a high fat, low carb diet. I mostly drink coffee and water. What has been lacking is dairy, except for cheese. We like cheese in our home. But we haven't really expanded our menu to include yogurt, cottage cheese, and milk.
After learning about dairy, I've started drinking milk with meals. And I'm learning recipes that include other dairy products.
This is more than about my own health. These dietary changes affect the rest of my family as well. Our children are still in their prime and would benefit from learning how to use dairy ingredients in their meals for their long term benefit. This is why it's important to discover meals they will enjoy and want to have again.
There is more I can do to help stave off diabetes, such as more walking rather than sitting here typing up blog posts. I've also started intermittent fasting, which generally takes the form of skipping breakfast and not eating too late. These are simple things. Changing the way you eat is more technically challenging as it requires incorporating and removing ingredients from what you already enjoy eating.
In this post, I have mainly focused on what we eat. This doesn't mean that things such as exercise and good sleep aren't important. They are. But I've seen many people who know they need to change their diets simply refuse to do it.
We put so much effort at our jobs primarily so that we can afford to feed our families. It is vital that we make good choices about what we feed them too. Our legacy will be their long term health.
#health #nutrition #diabetes #diet #uric-acid #wellness #food #lifestyle
