Dieting doesn't fix the metabolism

Dieting doesn't fix the metabolism.

By Dr. Jonathan Spages

There are countless experts suggesting that dieting is the way to lose weight, lower glucose, and boost the metabolism; however, after working with type II diabetics for 20 years, there is a much better strategy.

When someone has a broken metabolism, their “engine” is not working. There are some “loose screws and bolts” within the engine. If someone puts good fuel, i.e., healthy food, in their broken engine, it doesn't fix the engine. Obviously, putting bad food into the “engine” also isn't a good move either.

When someone makes the sacrifice to starve themselves, do keto, eat organic, or make radical changes, it doesn’t offer long-term solutions because they didn't fix the "motor.” One main problem is that as soon as they stop their diet routine, the weight and the glucose problem rear their ugly heads again.

We all know someone with a horrible diet who should be sick and overweight but does not have those issues. Then there are many struggling diabetics and overweight people with healthy diets who cannot lose weight or keep the weight off long term.

There are 4 organs/glands that comprise this "motor,” which are the liver, thyroid gland, adrenal gland, and pancreas. In order for the engine to become slow and dysfunctional, one or more of these 4 organs has to struggle and not function correctly.

The analogy I use with patients is that these are the 4 tires of their metabolism. Our healthcare system sometimes waits until the tire is “flat” before they start treating it. The better approach is as these tires start deflating to put air in them so the car can run better. In essence, the metabolism can work again for the long term.

A novice practitioner will guess and might be right some of the time, however, sending the patient out for comprehensive labs including blood, urine, saliva (spit), and stool to have an accurate and detailed analysis of where their “tires are deflated or flat." At that point is where a specific and effective solution can be developed and get this “motor” working again. This approach is considered a root-cause approach. It's a more effective solution than radical diets or starvation.

Many type II diabetics I help have tried countless diets and even medications like Ozempic to lose weight, but the problem is that it's only a bandage. Those medications or even weight loss supplements don’t rebalance the liver, thyroid, adrenal gland, or pancreas. Surprisingly, the pancreas tends to rarely be the issue, despite all the opinions you hear from experts. It’s easy to see how the pancreas is doing on blood tests.

The most common deflated tire is by far the liver. As a matter of fact, I have never seen a properly functioning liver in over 10,000 cases over my career. Many times, by just getting the liver "inflated,” then their whole metabolism could start working again.