Up One

Sawyer Stone: [00:00:00] Welcome to Up one, the podcast where we take a deep dive into the science behind supplements, therapies, and diagnostics. I'm Sawyer Stone, your Guide through the Maze of Health Claims. Here to ask the big questions.
Dr. Bill Andrews: And I'm Dr. Bill Andrews With decades of experience in medical research, I've dedicated my career to uncovering.
The real science behind disease, aging, and human health. On this podcast, we don't just skim the surface of scientific studies. We conduct a critical meta-analysis separating credible research from misleading conclusions.
Sawyer Stone: There's a lot of noise out there, conflicting studies, bold claims, and endless marketing up.
One is here to cut through it all and bring you science backed insights that you can actually trust.
Dr. Bill Andrews: We're talking prevention, diagnostics, treatments, and the big question shaping the future of health.
Sawyer Stone: If you're serious [00:01:00] about understanding the science of health and longevity without the fluff, let's take it up one.
Today we're tackling a topic that affects everyone, not just those with diabetes, managing blood glucose levels. Why does it matter more than you think?
Dr. Bill Andrews: Many assume that blood sugar concerns are only for diabetics, but in reality, glucose regulation plays a pivotal role in overall health, influencing energy levels, cognitive function, and even aging.
Sawyer Stone: We'll debunk common myths. Explore the science behind glucose management and provide strategies to maintain optimal blood sugar levels. All righty, Dr. Bill, what is glucose and why is it so essential to human health? Many people think about glucose only in the context of diabetes, but it plays a fundamental role in energy production and brain function.
Why does it matter for everyone? [00:02:00]
Dr. Bill Andrews: Glucose is our main energy source. I mean, well, there's a TP also, but glucose. Glucose is where when, let's say you're a runner and you wanna get extra, do extra well in your races and stuff like that, consuming glucose is a good way to do it, to, to provide your body with energy.
Uh, it gets taken up by the cells, especially the muscle cells, and is used in ener energy metabolism by the mi mitochondria.
Sawyer Stone: How does the body naturally regulate blood sugar and what causes that system to falter? I mean, from insulin resistance to inflammation. What are the main disruptors of glucose balance?
Dr. Bill Andrews: Well, the main way I regulate glucose is con is the amount of glucose you consume, amount of foods, and, and it's not just glucose, it's sucrose and fructose and dextrose and a lot of other sugars, but they, they're all metabolized cells already take up sugars. To some extent because of certain transporters that are on their surfaces.
[00:03:00] Trying to remember, they're, they're called glute, GLUT 1, 2, 3, and four. And also, um, there's other receptors on cell services, um, uh, uh, sugar, I'm trying to remember the name of it. But, uh, SGLT, uh, molecules that take sugar into your cells through a. Uh, active, uh, through a active process instead of just naturally flowing through in the cells.
But we don't have very many of these, especially the glute four receptors. On the surface of our cells. We have glute one and 3, 1, 2, and three, uh, and those, those allow sugar to get incorporated into our cells. Um, but when we do consume a lot of sugar, there's signals that then. Tell our pancreas to start producing insulin, and then insulin will signal our cells to start producing more transporters on their surface, [00:04:00] especially glute four, uh, which then allows the cells to take up more sugar.
When the cells start getting too much sugar, they can reduce their receptors. They also start storing the sugar, especially in the liver. They start storing the sugar as glycogen, which is like a big complex molecule of sugars all attached to one another. Uh, that's easily digestible. It's like the opposite of fiber.
Uh, so it gets stored in that capacity for later use. When you need sugar again, if you actually end up producing too much sugar. Then there's also ways of regulating sugars by using the ST two inhibitors. Example of it, such a drug is called Jardiance that will then block the receptors and cause the sugar to get excreted through your urine.
So that's another way to unnaturally regulate sugar levels. But one of the problems that happens when [00:05:00] you do too much sugar is you get insulin spikes. And then insulin spikes can cause fat buildup in your cells and increase your risk of diabetes and a lot of things. And one of the big problems with producing too much insulin, especially when it's producing fat in your pancreas, is that it stops the production of insulin.
So that's what insulin resistance is. Okay? So you suddenly lose the ability of insulin to regulate sugar. The cells become insensitive to the insulin signaling to make the gluco gluc four receptors on the cell surface.
Sawyer Stone: Alright. How does the body naturally regulate blood sugar? You kind of talked about that a little bit with the pancreas, and if your body is naturally insulin resistant, does that mean that your pancreas isn't working at its full?
A hundred percent.
Dr. Bill Andrews: It means that the cells that consume the sugar [00:06:00] aren't responding to insulin. Okay. Um, and, uh,
Sawyer Stone: and your pancreas makes the insulin Yeah. Toc combat the glucose levels in your body pan.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Yes. Pancreas makes the insulin that, and pancreas is stimulated to make insulin by sugar levels.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah.
Okay, cool. All right. Is blood sugar something that only diabetics need to worry about or does it affect. People without diabetes. And what is the emerging research that can be found on that, about glucose affecting everyone, which I think it does more than anyone realizes.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Well, we definitely, all of us have to worry about our sugar levels.
Uh, sugar is actually a very reactive molecule. People don't realize that, but sugar causes damage, um, when you have high levels and it, it induces inflammation. It induces oxidative stress. It also increases your chances of becoming an addict if you have high level in, aren't processed correctly. Um, but like diabetes, you know, [00:07:00] there's several types of diabetes.
The juvenile diabetes type one more of a, an immune reaction where your immune starts attacking the pancreas cells. And so the pancreas cells die out and don't produce insulin, so you have to get insulin injection. But type two is, is essentially insulin resistance. Your cells not responding to insulin.
And so even insulin injections don't necessarily solve the type two diabetes problem.
Sawyer Stone: So would someone with type one diabetes where the patch that has the insulin pack in it, or is that type two? Or is that both Depending upon what the person is dealing with
Dr. Bill Andrews: it? It depends. It could be both, but mostly type one.
Sawyer Stone: Okay. Do sugar free or keto friendly products. Do you know what the Keto diet is? Yeah,
Dr. Bill Andrews: I'm
Sawyer Stone: okay.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Yeah, I actually just had another podcast on that, and I'm not a big fan of the Keto Diet, but go ahead.
Sawyer Stone: Neither am I. Yeah. Do Sugar free or Keto Friendly Products [00:08:00] Act automatically mean better blood sugar control
Dr. Bill Andrews: by taking a sugar substitute.
It does help. Reduce, uh, uh, sugar levels, but the only sugar substitute that actually does not induce insulin spikes and cause other problems that sugar causes is erythritol. All the other ones do have, uh, the same symptoms as sugar, just at a lesser level.
Sawyer Stone: Interesting. And what erythritol is that? Like a Stevia kind of thing where like they would substitute the sugar in something with erythritol, like they would with Stevia instead of like a cane sugar.
Dr. Bill Andrews: It's like a Stevia, but it's not, I can't remember what the brand name for erythritol is. Um, I just know that there's places you can go and buy like candy that has erythritol in it and, uh, but I don't know the brand names.
Sawyer Stone: Okay. And then I guess to follow up on that, how can consumers separate effective dietary choices from [00:09:00] clever marketing?
Because one of the things that I see all the time, I have a lot of friends that drink a lot of soda, and one of the things that I beg for them to do is to go to Whole Foods and get the like blue sky version of the soda that doesn't have aspartame or doesn't have any of the negative chemicals in it.
But even then there's sugar in that. So how, how can someone. Look at something that's supposed to be marketed as healthier or marketed as no sugar or less sugar or whatever it is. In this world of like very cleverly disguised marketing,
Dr. Bill Andrews: are you referring to things like zevia, like that Whole Foods sell?
Okay. So yeah.
Sawyer Stone: Um,
Dr. Bill Andrews: yeah. I can't remember what the sugar substitute is in that, but I know that it's their alternative to Diet Coke. This is where we get into some critical meta-analysis of peer-reviewed studies, but I've done a lot of critical meta-analysis of peer-reviewed studies on the subject of aspartame and Diet Coke, and I really can't [00:10:00] find anything that says that that's really that bad for you.
In fact, sometimes I think that maybe. Diet Coke is maybe the healthiest drink short of water. Um, but
Sawyer Stone: isn't Aspart a known carcinogenic,
Dr. Bill Andrews: meaning it's you can find support for anything, anything you wanna believe in, in the literature, and there's pros and cons on all that stuff, and that's what critical meta-analysis is usually involved, is reading all the studies.
The biggest problem appears to be the phosphate. That's in there. And uh, sure. Uh, but that's not even a big problem. Aspartame is actually just two amino acids fused together. I can't remember what they are. And, uh, there's not a lot of good data showing that aspartame is bad. And the spart tame has two pronunciations, but I call it a spart tame in the other, I can't remember what the other Aspart.
Aspart, yeah.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah. Okay.
Dr. Bill Andrews: I, I think it's a diet, it's a healthy thing, but I don't want to get into [00:11:00] debates with people because. Some people are just really good at debating and can win any debate. Yeah. Whether or not they're believing what they want or not. But I, I just can't find anything bad about Diet Coke.
I'm sure the same is true for Diet Pepsi because I don't want to advertise Coke or Pepsi. Yes, sir. But yeah. But yeah, personally think that sugar is so bad. I feel like sugar is so bad for you that, uh, even these artificial sugars. Even if there is something bad aren't as bad as sugar is, so yeah, it's still probably better off with the artificial sugars than sugars.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah, I know for me, just like a little personal anecdote is like I am so used to like a Whole Foods lifestyle. Like even if I get a piece of cake, it's from Whole Foods, which means they're using cane sugar that has been bleached and all this stuff. I know that if I go to a friend's birthday party and they get like the sheet cake from the local store.
That my skin, I'll have acne [00:12:00] for a week afterward, like cystic acne that like won't go away with like a patch or like any sort of cream or anything like that because the sugar just negatively affects my body like that and I don't feel good afterwards. I feel very heavy and lethargic and it's very uncomfortable.
Dr. Bill Andrews: I, so we're marketing here. I think Whole Foods is the best store on the planet. I mean, there's a lot of IT companies that try to compete with it, but I do all my grocery shopping at Whole Foods, except that I do get Diet Cokes from amazon.com. But I, I get, I get the caffeine. I get the caffeine free Diet Cokes.
Sawyer Stone: Oh my gosh, I can't even believe that I can barely get myself to drink my electrolytes 'cause they taste. So believe me,
Dr. Bill Andrews: if you could do critical meta-analysis of the peer review studies and find, and that's what up one's all about, is, if I could find anything really supporting the idea. Diet Cokes are bad, but there, there's, there are studies that do say so, [00:13:00] but when I read them, their experimental design isn't that great.
Their data analysis isn't that great. The logic of the conclusions that they draw from their own studies isn't really sound. Uh, and uh, so I'm sticking that my diet Cokes, until somebody does a really good study to prove that really there is something bad about it.
Sawyer Stone: I just think that we would go viral, like if we did like a mini sode on Diet Coke and how you're like this doctor that has done all these peer reviewed studies that is defending the Diet Coke.
Like we might go viral for that because people are so hooked on our diet Coke. The
Dr. Bill Andrews: only reason I wouldn't wanna do it is because I wouldn't have. Time to breathe all day. 'cause of all the debates that I would be getting from people everywhere. Yeah. But I just, oh yeah. I'm more interested in my own personal health than anything else.
Uh, yeah,
Sawyer Stone: sure.
Dr. Bill Andrews: When, when I'm out running an ultra marathon. Okay. Oh no,
Sawyer Stone: you're not gonna say you're drinking a diet Coke on side, are you? No,
Dr. Bill Andrews: I don't drink Diet Coke. I drink real coke. Okay.
Sawyer Stone: Oh my God.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Because when [00:14:00] you're running and exercising, you don't get insulin spikes. Okay. Right. You are, your muscles are burning sugar so fast that you almost can't consume enough sugar to burn it all.
In fact, I, oh, interesting. When I'm running, I typically try to consume 25 grams of sugar for every mile I run because of the body actually burns a hundred calories of sugar per mile when you're running or walking. Okay? Same. Same with walking. Your body's consuming a hundred calories per mile. A hundred calories of sugar is 25 grams of sugar.
Sawyer Stone: So is that like one Starburst square?
Dr. Bill Andrews: I, I don't know about Starburst, but it is one goo. Okay. So I carry, okay. Star. Starburst is, I don't think is something you can carry with you very easily while you're running. I think it smashes and becomes something that you wouldn't want to eat after you seal everything.
But I carry packets of goo with me and I. [00:15:00] When I run a hundred miles, I will actually consume a packet of goo every mile. So I will carry like eight to nine at a time. And then when I come to an aid station, I'll throw the used packets away and grab eight more and put it into my pockets that are on my running shorts, and then start consuming those ones per month.
And I, it's one of the reasons I never run outta energy while I'm running a ultra marathon.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah, I'm gonna have to steal this from my soccer. Alright, well if I feel fine, does that mean that my blood sugar is under control? Can people experience hidden glucose spikes without obvious symptoms? I feel like no.
'cause your heart rate's gonna go,
Dr. Bill Andrews: no. You can have low sugar and high sugar and not know it. And I know this from actually experimenting with glucose monitors myself. Um, for a short period of time and, uh, um, that I quit using them because it really [00:16:00] wasn't necessary for me. But I, when I was using them, I did find that all of a sudden I start beeping saying that I have low glucose levels.
I, I felt fine. Okay, interesting. And then sometimes it would be high level and I refine, or sometimes I would look at the data on the app. I was on the computer and I would see that I went through these processes of high and low sugars and didn't even know it, but they were all, for short periods of time, they would be just a low sugar spike or a high sugar spike.
Okay. And then, uh, things were returned to normal fairly quickly. Hmm. Uh, I assume that's normal. Everybody goes through those to some extents.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah. But Okay.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Yeah. But you know, it's like, it's still still bad to have high sugar levels for your cardiovascular system, especially. Um, you know, sugars because of their mutagenic capabilities, they increase risk cancer even if you feel well, yeah, the high sugar levels could be causing damage that [00:17:00] you don't know about.
So, I, I make a rule. Okay, so here, here's something else that I'd like to, when I speak at cancer conferences and things like that. I always say that if you have cancer, one of the most important things to do is to reduce your sugar intake. Mm-hmm. And I always say keep it less than 20 grams per day, uh, because your muscles consume a lot of sugar.
The, the only other, and your brain consumes a lot of sugar, but the only other cells in your body that consume a lot of sugar are your cancer cells. And so it's a great way to starve your cancer and slow the growth down. Making chemotherapies more, more effective. It also helps kill the cancers by starving them.
So 20 grams of sugar, keeping it that or less a day is good. That's what I do naturally. Okay. I, I, I get all my foods from whole food, and I'm a vegan and I get all these vegan foods and meals and stuff like that, and I just keep track of my sugar [00:18:00] levels and keep it down to. 20 grams a day automatically.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah. I, when I was sick as a kid, my parents would always be like, no sugar for you while you're sick. And even today, like if I have a cold, they're like, no alcohol. 'cause that has sugar in it as well. And I'm like, yes, I know. But when you're sick you wanna have something sweet in the line of thinking of like, no having sugars if you are sick and that includes cancer, but that also includes a common cold.
Does that mean that fruit. Is bad for you now because fruit has a lot of sugar in it, and that also goes for bread, which is everybody's favorite, and cheese, another of everybody's favorite. How does fiber and antioxidants, how does that influence the body's response to these sort of natural sugars that are literally naturally produced in the whole food itself?
Dr. Bill Andrews: Okay, well that's a lot. Let me, let me start with the fruits. [00:19:00] Um, but fruits are rich in fructose. Okay. And of the types of sugars, fructose is one of the worst, but only when it's used in a lot. Okay. So, so fruits that, that, you know, if you have a scale on the pros and cons of a fruit, fruits are good. Okay.
So, uh, so. It's don't, don't worry about consuming small amounts of fructose. Fructose gets processed by cells in a way similar to glucose before it gets into the mitochondria. Glucose goes through a process called glycolysis. Fructose goes through a similar process called FR lysis, so they do get consumed, but fructose tends to there.
There is actually a publication, a great publication, I wanna say like 10 years ago. Showing all about the hazards of fructose, but it's only at high levels. But fructose increases risk of diabetes, obesity and [00:20:00] things, but only it's only gonna be when you do it in excess. Everything has a Goldilocks effect where there's.
A little too much and then there's just, right,
Sawyer Stone: well just to tag onto this, 'cause in, in North Carolina right now, it's May in North Carolina and it's tomato season, which is a fruit, which we know has sugar in it, and it's also strawberry season. And so if my lunches are effectively a tomato mayo sandwich with some arugula on a piece of sourdough and strawberries, am I just like overkill on my sugars right now?
Dr. Bill Andrews: No, I'd be worried about the mail. Okay. So, uh,
Sawyer Stone: it's organic mail from Whole Foods.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Okay. But it's organic. It's the, the fat levels and, and May Yeah. Are really bad. Um, there is vegan male, uh, but uh, that's not the same. And that's, I had
Sawyer Stone: to give up the Duke's may to get to the organic mayo. Yeah,
Dr. Bill Andrews: no, I think that's a very healthy sandwich.
Subtracting out the mayo. Uh, but, uh. [00:21:00] Because you're not overdoing it. Um, and, uh, I mean, if I was to avoid fruits, it would be mostly bananas. Okay. Because they're so high in sugar. Um, they
Sawyer Stone: sure are. That's why they're good for baking.
Dr. Bill Andrews: I, I have this rule that I eat an orange every day. Okay? Okay. I go to the grocery, not an apple.
I depends on your particular taste. Apples are maybe even better, but I just don't like the taste of apples. Personally, I love oranges and, uh. I never ever get tired of them. And so every, so I, when I go to the grocery store, I count how many oranges I need to do one per day before the next time I go to the grocery store.
And I always have one orange per day. Um, and then I also put fruit on my oatmeal in the morning. I get the frozen fruit from rails. Okay. They've got some great large, inexpensive bags of berries. They're frozen, and so I just keep frozen these bags in my freezer and I [00:22:00] put a, like half a cup or something like that on my oatmeal and consume that every, but that's, that's all the fruit I ever get every day is that one orange and the berries that I put on my oatmeal.
Sawyer Stone: Gotcha. All righty. Well, the other thing that I asked about, I said the original is fruit bad for glucose levels because it contains sugar. And we sort of were like. No in moderation. Obviously, if you overdo it, then yes, it will be bad. Is that about right?
Dr. Bill Andrews: Yes. It's just like with everything there's, okay, there's such a thing as overdoing, even drinking water without balancing electrolytes.
Yeah,
Sawyer Stone: yeah. You can almost dehydrate yourself and then, um. So now we're gonna move in a little bit into like the lifestyle and glucose management. So things like fiber, antioxidants, and all of that habits that influence the body's response to natural sugars. So in within that thinking process, what everyday habits are most effective in [00:23:00] supporting healthy blood sugar levels?
We look at the impact of post meal movement, hydration and stress reduction, but also is fiber before a meal. Good. Would a supplement that has fiber, like a gluc glucose control be effective before a meal? Does a glass of water help? What kind of things?
Dr. Bill Andrews: Well, I hadn't really considered the idea of fiber before a meal.
Um, I do believe in taking, having fiber in your meals. Um, it helps with digestion, it helps lubricate your intestines. It prevents constipation as a result. It. Feed your microbiome. Uh, even though your body, by definition doesn't consume fibers in a metabolic way, the microbiome, the bacteria and fungi and things like that in your gut do consume the fiber.
And so it provides healthy benefits. Fiber also makes you feel full. Okay? So [00:24:00] it, it, it, uh, so you're likely to eat less. Your appetite won't be outta control. So. Yeah, I think it's very important to have fiber and good source of fiber is vegetables. I always keep celery in my refrigerator because when I'm feeling like I need a snack, celery always solves a problem 'cause it's crunchy.
'cause in fact, off the tangent just for a second, that's one of the big problems with eating healthy foods. A lot of times you don't get the crunchiness that a candy bar or something like that would give. And so Celery, yeah, celery does the same thing. So I see. I care. See, I do a lot of bell
Sawyer Stone: peppers because of that.
Dr. Bill Andrews: I eat bell peppers whole I love, okay. Oh, me too,
Sawyer Stone: me too. And and
Dr. Bill Andrews: by the way, so good. The best bell peppers are the yellow ones because why They have the lowest amount of sugar.
Sawyer Stone: What?
Dr. Bill Andrews: Yes. Yellow bell peppers have lower amounts of sugar than any other color of bell peppers. They [00:25:00] often, even
Sawyer Stone: the green ones?
Dr. Bill Andrews: Yes. The yellow ones are the ones with the lowest amount of sugar, and they also have the most vitamin C. Okay. Oh, which is good for you. So, so I, so when I go to Whole Foods, I usually clean them out of yellow bell peppers. And I, I, I, I don't know why I didn't mention this before, but I typically eat one yellow L pepper a day too.
I forgot about it. It being a fruit when we're talking about fruits. Yeah. The bell peppers are our fruits. Yeah.
Sawyer Stone: Okay. So we talked about fiber before meals, sort of making you feel full and creating a slick pathway to the end, if you will. What about antioxidants?
Dr. Bill Andrews: So the question is, how does antioxidants help with sugar levels?
Sawyer Stone: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Bill Andrews: As far as I'm aware, not at all, but sugars can be easily converted into free radicals, and so the antioxidants would, well, [00:26:00] at least sugar levels would induce a lot of oxidative stress, production of free radicals, and so taking antioxidants along with the sugar is a good idea.
Sawyer Stone: Okay. Well then let's talk about what everyday habits are most effective in supporting healthy blood sugar levels.
Does that mean taking a walk after you ate? Does that mean having a glass of water alongside your dose of sugar for the afternoon? What kind of de stress reduction in any way like meditating have an effect on glucose levels.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Uh, I can say for sure the first one. Okay. Going for a walk afterwards. Uh, in fact, it's even better to do a walk during.
Okay. So walking while you're eating is the best way to use, control your sugar levels.
Sawyer Stone: What about the timing of meals or even the order of the foods that you eat? Does that affect glucose? Like if you, some, some people say eating late at nine is not good. For [00:27:00] your sugar levels or some people say eating right as soon as you get up in the morning 'cause your body is hungry.
So it has the power to process the sugars. Does something like eating veggies before carbs or pairing proteins with fiber.
Dr. Bill Andrews: I really don't know how to about that kind of subject. Um, I do know that. Eating just before you go to bed is not good because of the fact that your metabolism shuts down as soon as you go to bed, and so you're not digesting.
So things build up and it increases the chances that you're gonna store sugar as fat. Um, okay. But, uh, in terms of the order of things you eat, um, I guess I could imagine, uh, some, I, I, I, maybe there is an advantage to doing the fibers first. Uh, but, uh. Yeah, my focus is more on the biochemistry of what's happening inside the body, on the cells and stuff like that when you eat, uh, yeah.
Than, uh, you know, so [00:28:00] I, I would probably learn more from you than, than you, you would learn from me on that subject.
Sawyer Stone: Well, the only reason that I feel like I know just a hair and hide about it is that Eddie. My dad, he is big on fiber before he eats, and so he like specific, well, there's two different ways.
So we have the organic super fiber that we make and then we also have the glucose control supplement. And if he knows he's having a big meal, like just for example, Thanksgiving or Christmas Day or something like that, about 20 to 30 minutes before he knows the food is entering his mouth, he will have the fiber powder.
With some water and a shaker bottle and shoot that down. I, I think his thought process is that it prepares the body to start processing that. I'm not quite sure if there's science behind it. And then with the glucose control specifically, you know, they, the, the label says to take it to hours before you're eating, to go ahead [00:29:00] and prepare your body to start turning those sugars, that it's intaking when you eat into fibers.
Dr. Bill Andrews: The way I work is, everything you just said sounds so logical, especially since Eddie's doing it, that I'll, I'll convert to that myself. I take Gluc glucose control before meals. I didn't know it was important to take it two hours before,
Sawyer Stone: I'm pretty sure. But I
Dr. Bill Andrews: think Gluc Glucose control is, or anything like glucco control is the probably one of the best things you can be doing.
Because converts the sugar into fiber. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And there's ways of doing it, but glucose control is a really effective way of doing that. So, so in terms of if you want to eat a lot of sugar, make sure you take a glucose control beforehand, uh, to get that sugar converted to fiber. 'cause then the fiber doesn't get incorporated into your body.
But I'd be interested in [00:30:00] seeing the data about why it's important to take it two hours before.
Sawyer Stone: I know I just, I'm looking at the label right now and it doesn't say a specific time. It just says use before meals to help steady your levels, reduce cravings and feel fuller longer. But I know that I've heard him on his webinars and talking to other people just in daily life when he's talking about the product that he says to take it two hours before meals.
And one of the things that I will say against that is I was taking it. Two hours before meals and turning into a ravenous monster about 30 minutes later, and really was not being kind to people around me. And so I started taking it either the second I order my meal or the second I start cooking my meal because that works better for me.
And he always said it was because he's a bigger person than me. So there's more to chew through once it's in his system and there's less chew through [00:31:00] in my body. Who
Dr. Bill Andrews: knows, I'm a bigger person than Eddie. Uh, so I gotta be conscientious about this. I, I've done a lot of critical meta-analysis of peer reviewed studies on glucco control.
I understand how it works really well. I understand the enzymes that are involved. It's a very, very effective way. I, I highly recommend using something like glucose control to control sugar levels. I typically take my glucose control. A minute before eating, so I have my meal in front of me. Okay? Not, I haven't just ordered.
I have my meal in front of me and I just open up my bottle of gluc glucose control and take my gluc glucose control and then eat. Uh, because yeah, I think it's a really, really good idea. Um, I take it along with my et cetera. All right. So yeah, definitely converting. So glucose control is a good thing to do because it converses sugar into fiber.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah. Well, while we're here sort of talking about like the daily intake of sugars and fibers and things like that, [00:32:00] is there a difference between a liquid sugar, like an alcohol or a diet Coke, if you will, versus a food sugar? And does it affect your body in different ways?
Dr. Bill Andrews: A lot of people say soul. I don't understand why that would be true.
Okay. The people, a lot of times people will say, well, natural sugars okay, but natural sugars are still sugars. So I don't understand why that's true. Okay. Yeah. So I think it's not the source of the sugar as long as it's still is the same as sugar.
Sawyer Stone: So when you think about glucose as an effect to your body is weight.
Like if you're looking at it on a graph, is weight going up if your glucose levels are going up and is weight coming down if your glucose levels are coming down? Or are they, I'm not even, what is the, the answer is yes, right word.
Dr. Bill Andrews: The answer is yes on that. Okay. Okay. A lot of sugar causes fat storage and low causes, [00:33:00] glycogen to be consumed and fat to be burned.
Sawyer Stone: Okay, so then if someone is trying to lose weight, getting their glucose levels under control would be a helpful tactic.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Absolutely, yes, absolutely. And even people that are already skinny are still, they benefit from keeping their glucose levels under control.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah, because there are all these adverse like side effects, like your skin blowing up.
In reaction to sugar and some people get like egg eczema patches in reaction to sugar. It's like lots of crazy things happen in reaction to sugar.
Dr. Bill Andrews: And those are inflammatory immune responses. And uh, so if you have a genetic, uh. Pre dis, whatever the word is, uh, to, uh, a, uh, sensitivity to sugars. Yeah. Again, you wanna reduce the amount of sugars, but boy, I'd be sorry for the person that can't even consume 20 grams of sugar without having an immune [00:34:00] reaction.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah. That would be really depressing. I know, like for me and my family, one of the things that we all know about ourselves is that we're a bit insulin resistant. And so there are supplements that we all take to do that. I mean, of course we take the glucco control, but there's also, um, paradox, which also is Grains of Paradise that has an impact on sugar control or g glucose levels.
And then also alpha lipoic acid is one of the supplements that we take
Dr. Bill Andrews: that has an impact. Alpha aoic acid. I, so, so I know a lot about Alpha lipoic acid. It's an antioxidant. It's one of my favorite antioxidants. Uh, but I didn't, I was, had no knowledge of the fact that alpha lipoic acid actually controls sugar levels.
Um, so I, I, yeah, I can learn a lot from you And control, especially supplements and stuff like that on Yeah. Natural, natural supplements that, that regulate sugar levels. [00:35:00]
Sawyer Stone: Yeah, I don't know that I have ever heard him tell me the science on it, but I know, like I've complained before, not now. I'm in a much better place with my body and with food now, but I still take the poke acid just in case it's helping me.
Um, but I know back in the day when I was having an issue regulating my sugar and regulating my body weight and all that stuff, he was saying that thpo acid was helpful to insulin resistant people.
Dr. Bill Andrews: So, you know, 40%. Everybody, especially over like 40 is insulin resistant. It has insulin resistance. Yeah. Uh, so it's a very, very common problem.
But it's like people have to monitor, get blood work to see if they're at high risk of becoming diabetic. 'cause that's what insulin resistance does do is increases your chances of becoming a type two diabetic.
Sawyer Stone: Yeah. And it's scary. Having a sugar, a sugar-based disorder can be really scary because [00:36:00] dipping low or dipping high can really have adverse reactions in your health.
Yeah.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Make you dizzy, make you weak, everything like that. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but you'd have to, I, I'm not a, I'm not an example of such a person, so I don't have personal hands-on experience like you do. I know a lot of people that do have problems with sugar levels and wear glucose monitors all the time, and they're always going off and stuff.
And when, when proteins hit your stomach, they get digested into small amino acids or tripeptides and dipeptides and things like that. I would be worried that taking gluc glucose control two hours before you eat would make it so that enzyme is already inactive by the time you eat. Um, interesting. And it, but I, I don't know about the stability.
There are proteins that are very stable in the stomach. Yeah. 'cause of their tertiary structures. I don't know if that's true about the enzyme alternates, [00:37:00] alternate SRIs, uh, if that's the case with that enzyme.
Sawyer Stone: Well, he's not here right now, but I am at his house, so when I see him later, I will ask him about it and see what he says and let me
Dr. Bill Andrews: know.
Sawyer Stone: I'll, yeah, I'll follow up. Why is glucose regulation being talked about as a key to longevity and disease prevention?
Dr. Bill Andrews: Because sugar molecules induce oxidative stress, oxidative damage, which is clearly well published and tremendously published to be a way to accelerate the aging process. And my own research on telomeres, we have lots of data showing that oxidative stress does accelerate the rate.
Tel shortening and when telomere get shorter, the older you get, but it also, even more important than oxidative stress and free radicals is inflammation. I mean, every single [00:38:00] person I know doing any kinda research or treatments in the anti-aging arena would tell you that the number one cause of aging is inflammation.
Um, and because in, well inflammation. Causes a lot of damage and, and it causes a lot of tissue damage. Uh, there's YouTube videos where I talk about how we age and why we age, and I talk about the roles of inflammation and oxidative stress and how that accelerates the turnover of cells and the shortening of telomeres and all other, the kind of things.
So yeah, so reducing anything that reduces oxidative stress and inflammation will slow down the aging process. Sugar is a way to do the exact opposite. High levels of sugars will increase oxidative stress and inflammation. Same with insulin. Insulin would do the same thing. So to keeping both of those, keeping those low is good.
Sawyer Stone: Okay. Well then my last question for you, Dr. Bell, is [00:39:00] how are blood sugar patterns linked to heart health, cognitive aging, and metabolic resilience?
Dr. Bill Andrews: I'm not sure what metabolic resilience means, but I can tell you that cardiovascular disease and brain health, which is actually probably a cardiovascular uh, phenomenon itself, is that sugar levels do increase the production of plaque in your arteries and in blood vessels.
Heart and your whole body and your brain. And so keeping sugar levels does decrease the chances of cardiovascular disease or strokes, uh, et cetera, and, and any kind of degeneration of brain from clogged blood vessels.
Sawyer Stone: Alrighty.
Thanks for joining us on Up one. If you found today's conversation valuable, be sure to subscribe [00:40:00] and share this episode with someone who's curious about the real science behind help.
Dr. Bill Andrews: Have a topic you want us to break down. Send us your questions. We're here to help you separate fact from fiction.
Sawyer Stone: Until next time, stay curious, stay informed, and let's keep taking it up one.