About: Alan Carpenter

Recent Posts by Alan Carpenter

The Metabolic Syndrome

The Metabolic Syndrome
What is the metabolic syndrome? Back in the 1960s, Gerald Reaven and his colleagues at Stanford University noticed that heart attack patients often exhibited the same suite of conditions. They included high blood glucose, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, and abdominal obesity. In the 1980’s, Reaven termed this suite of conditions as Syndrome X, now…
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Animal, Vegetable, Junk

Animal, Vegetable, Junk
Our obesogenic environment We Americans live in an obesogenic environment. Omnipresent ultra-processed food promotes overeating. In his latest provocative book, Animal, Vegetable, Junk, author Mark Bitmann chronicles the history of food and explains that the food industry created foods so tasty and pleasurable that we eat more than we need. As products of our evolution,…
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Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Continuous Glucose Monitoring
What is a continuous glucose monitor? Fewer than half of Americans with diabetes achieve goals for blood glucose management as set by the American Diabetes Association. Failure to reach these goals increases risk of complications including cardiovascular disease, amputation, impaired vision, kidney disease, and premature death. People with diabetes typically monitor their blood glucose by…
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Minimize Post-meal Blood Sugar Spikes

Minimize Post-meal Blood Sugar Spikes
Post-meal blood sugar spikes increase health risks Reducing excess blood sugar (hyperglycemia), especially after meals, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. A review linked hyperglycemia to increased risk of complications of type 2 diabetes. Physicians use glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to measure blood sugar over the previous 2-3 months. The American Diabetes Association recommends that persons…
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