What is the chief reason that lower carbohydrate diets work is because it does such a good job of dealing with inflammation, gluten sensitivity, autoimmunity and leaky gut syndrome. For years I have talked about how people can become more healthy and the first step to becoming healthy is to regulate blood sugar. Failure to keep your blood sugar levels consistently lower results in loss of limbs, cardiovascular changes such as heart attacks and strokes, cognitive losses, neuropathies and if it's on a list of medical pathologies you are more prone to having it..

So, here is the Intel! There is a growing number of physicians and researchers who believe that fibromyalgia is the result of neuropathy throughout the smaller nerves of the body. In other words, many believe that instead of "central sensitization" with Fibromyalgia, the real problem is that Neuropathy is present not only in the larger nerves of the Nervous System, but the smaller nerves as well called "Small Fiber Neuropathy". There is actually a lot of research that backs this theory up, with the latest study coming out of the most current edition of Arthritis and Rheumatology. It seems that not only were there about 20% fewer superficial nerve fibers present in those who had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, but they also had high levels of a specific marker of Inflammation in some Autoimmune Diseases. The following is a list of inflammatory markers that indicate whether a person has high levels of systemic (whole body) Inflammation present.

  • Kinnins

  • C3 and C5a

  • Factor XII

  • Substance P

  • Histamine

  • Membrane Attack Complex

  • Thrombin

  • Plasmin

  • Cytokines This family contains numerous immuno-modulaters made up of proteins. These proteins carry messages between cells that regulate immune system responses. The most common of these are interleikin (IL) and interferon (IFN).)

  • Chemokines

  • Certain kinds of Immunoglobulins (Ig) These are what are seen in Allergies, Sensitivities, and Intolerances, usually to food, although other things can be involved as well.

  • IFN-y (Interferon Gamma)

  • Various forms of TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factors)

  • A wide array of Interleukins (IL- 6 and IL- 1 are both common culprits)

  • Leukotrienes

  • Prostaglandins

  • Eicosanoids

  • Nitric Oxide

  • Others

There are any number of reasons why Small Fiber Neuropathy is a symptom as opposed to being the actual cause of the problem. We know that Small Fiber Neuropathy is a characteristic of many chronic pain syndromes. Chronic Pain has the ability to alter the nervous system, even causing brain atrophy is one of the most well known, and Small Fiber Neuropathy is just one more example of this phenomenon. We also know that a diagnosis of Neuropathy does not account for all the other problems commonly seen with Fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, autoimmune diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis and others.

Science has known for a very long time that Fibromyalgia is intimately linked to something called adrenal fatigue. After a certain amount of time (it's different for everyone) the body that is trying to process the large amounts of sugar, approximately 160 lbs per person per year. Think about that and when you consider starches which are converted into blood sugars I cannot fathom to wrap my mind around the hundreds of pounds of sugars we consume each year. To compound this problem, the older we become the less efficiency our bodies are in processing these "macronutrients" and the higher our blood sugar rises. One of the very first things the body will do to compensate for this failure of the pancreas alone to control blood sugar is to kick in the Adrenal Glands, the stress glands that produce Cortisol, to help take up the slack. After a period of time the Adrenal Glands become "overworked" or "fatigued". This is why you will never find a person who has Fibromyalgia who does not have Adrenal Fatigue. And because their sugar regulation system is so fouled up, these folks are almost always addicted to sugar and starch. So as we address the question of Fibromyalgia or Small Fiber Neuropathy the question is why? Because you would deal with both in essentially the same manner, by maintaining a watchful eye and practice of keeping the carbohydrates lower.

Just remember that while a Low Carbohydrate diet is a great starting point, for many of you it will not be enough. This is because Type II Diabetes is not simply a "Blood Sugar" issue. Type II Diabetes is considered one of the numerous "imflammatory" health problems. This means that it is driven not only by sugar, which is in and of itself considered to be extremely inflammatory, but potentially by all sorts of other things as well. These can range from gluten or dairy or other food sensitivities, to heavy metal toxicity, parasites, xenohormone exposure, to poor intestinal health, chronic bacterial or viral infections, or any number of others. This is why "monotherapies" (taking supplements for symptoms in the same way one would take drugs for the symptoms) are never a solution for any health problems, including Fibromyalgia.

We use and educate patients to use the Glycemic Index as well as therapeutic advances in nutrition, neuropathy treatment protocols and pharmaceutical grade nutraceutical supplements and others to begin to deal with the circulation issues while maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. Give us a call.