New way to reduce blood sugar & heart attacks....

Today's Post, Thursday, 5-7-2009

An interesting news story appeared saying that a study found that people who took a dose of a drug that mimicked dopamine every morning had a lower blood sugar surge after all their meals that day (which would also lower their HBA1C reading if they took this drug every day) and had a lower rate of heart attacks than a similar group that did not. (It seems that this might also help with jet lag as it was developed from studies on how migrating birds dodge jet lag & reset their biological clocks as they move across time zones.)

The drug did have some unpleasant side effects in some of the people who took it. And it may be a while before you would be able to get it prescribed to you as a way to control high blood sugar.

BUT, that’s OK since real dopamine may well also do the exact same thing.

And, there ARE things you can do to have higher dopamine levels in general and on demand first thing every morning – just like this drug does.

1. The things you can do generally to increase dopamine also help lower blood sugar and/or make a heart attack less likely, so we highly recommend them!

a) Eating good quality protein tends to increase dopamine. So a breakfast that features two boiled eggs or a protein drink with whey protein or wild caught fish will boost dopamine.

Eating high glycemic or fast carbs, such as refined grains, regular soft drinks, pancakes, jam, syrup, and sugar etc, tends to lower dopamine. Even whole grains are not a lot better. Avoiding the worst high glycemic carbs is critical to keeping a lower and healthier blood sugar level in addition to helping boost dopamine, so this step is very highly recommended. It’s virtually guaranteed to reduce high blood sugar readings.

Whole, organic fresh fruit and vegetables tend to be neutral.

Since that style of eating also tends to help you avoid carrying excess fat and to keep your blood sugar down in general; and eating that way at breakfast helps to reset you for a lower blood sugar all day according to this research, make a special effort to do so at breakfast. And lean towards eating that way all day.

b) Stress lowers dopamine.

Everyone gets stressed & many people more today than ever are stressed. But you can do what you find works to solve your problems better or prevent them.

You can also do tai chi or meditation or other stress relief practice each morning. You can get regular sleep at the same time or close to it each day & make an effort for it to be in a dark & comfortable room and to get at least 6 hours of sleep most nights (7 is close to ideal if you can manage it.) You can also keep in contact most days with friends and family you treat well. And, you can get regular exercise.

Those things make you resilient and raise your ability to overcome stress without it lowering your dopamine level as much.

c) As long as you don’t overdo, strength training and interval cardio tend to boost dopamine.

Even a 7 to 15 minute session most mornings can help. Since doing these two kinds of exercises also reduces or prevents insulin resistance, this is also highly recommended.

2. Here are some supplements that boost dopamine.

a) Every morning when I first get up, before I eat anything, particularly protein foods, or do anything else, I take two 500 mg capsules of l-tyrosine with water. I began this when I read that a study had been done that found that people who did this handled stress better and were more productive under pressure.

Guess what? In researching for this post, I found out your body makes l-dopa out of tyrosine & then makes dopamine out of l-dopa. So, I’ve been accidentally boosting my dopamine level & maybe lowering my blood sugar all this time without knowing it.

b) Other supplements that may boost dopamine I found online include:

Extract of the vicia fabia bean. I’ve never heard of it. But if what I read is accurate and you can find a real and safe supply, it’s said to contain l-dopa. Since that is the direct precursor to dopamine, you may find it worth checking out. For me, I find tyrosine inexpensive, available at virtually every health food store and know it has other benefits. So I’m sticking with that.

NADH. This supplement is better known and tends to increase your energy level AND apparently helps fight jet lag. It costs a lot more than tyrosine. But if you can afford it, this might be a good addition. The fact that it helps fight jet lag supports that it likely boosts dopamine.

Muira puama is said to increase dopamine also. And, since it apparently enhances libido effectively and boosting dopamine has that effect as well, this might be a good supplement to try. It tends to be sold as a libido booster. And some of the many other supplements sold for this purpose may also boost dopamine. Maca tends to enhance nerve transmission in sensory nerves; & tribulus gets its effect from boosting testosterone. So unless Maca’s effect comes from boosting dopamine or testosterone boosts dopamine, those may boost dopamine less.

However, it IS worth noting that since increasing dopamine increases libido, doing everything on this list that you can easily afford will not only lower your blood sugar if it’s high or keep it from getting high and protect you from heart attacks, it will also make you sexier!

Lastly, dopamine tends to make you feel better and more energetic without using caffeine or drugs to do so.

So, I found this new study of great interest.