What is A1c?

A-one-c is an abbreviation for Hemoglobin A1c, or glycated hemoglobin, which measures the amount of glucose damage done to our red blood cells, which live an average of three months.

An A1c between 5.7 and 6.4 is called pre-diabetes. An A1c above 6.4 is diabetes, a very destructive disease that drugs have a limited effect on, but diet has a major effect.

An A1c of 5.0 means your average blood sugars the past three months represent an average blood glucose of 97. An A1c of 5.5 is a blood glucose of 111. 6.0 is 126 average blood glucose.

Every adult, and some children should know their A1c, as the higher the average blood glucose, the more damage to tiny capillaries and nerve endings. Peripheral Neuropathy is a condition of numbness or pain and tissue damage that often accompanies diabetes and prediabetes and is caused by this decreased circulation.

Along with the term glycation, meaning sugar damage, is another term, AGES, meaning Advanced Glycation End Products. Health risks associated with AGES are:

The higher our A1c, the more glycation and AGES occur. The lower our A1c, the lower our risks of these degenerative diseases.

While an A1c below 5.6 is considered normal, something closer to 5.0 or below is considered optimal.

There are three monosaccharides - glucose, fructose and lactose. Sucrose, or table sugar, is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Galactose is in lactose from milk and yogurt, which is 50% glucose and 50% galactose. Fructose is the most metabolically damaging sugar. It is now the most common cause of cirrhosis of the liver, or fatty liver, known as NAFLD, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. It does the same damage to the liver as alcohol, but without the buzz.

Dr. Ken Berry’s contribution is recognizing that A1c only measures glycated glucose. However, fructose and galactose are 7-10 times more glycating than glucose. We currently have no way of measuring glycation from fructose and galactose.

We can be fooled by a low or moderate A1c if we are having fruit, fruit juice, honey, milk and yogurt (the galactose in cheese is much reduced by fermentation and enzymatic action). If your A1c is 5.7 or above, that’s a lot of damage from glycated glucose. But if you are also eating fruit, fruit juice, honey, milk or yogurt, the AGES effect is 7-10 times more than glucose. This increases your risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease and Alzheimers greatly.

To keep your blood glucose and A1c low, practice a low carb diet, reducing or better yet eliminating sugar, grains, beans and starches.

To reduce the AGES created by fructose and galactose, reduce, or better yet eliminate fruits, fruit juices, honey, milk and yogurt.

The effects of our diet greatly improve our risks of disease and aging.

Dan Butterfield, LMT, CNMT
Butterfield Therapy Assoc
bfieldtherapy@comcast.net
303-652-0511

Butterfield Wellness Center bfieldtherapy@comcast.net 303-652-0511