You or someone you love has probably been hit by the diabetes epidemic. You just may not know it yet.
According to the CDC, more than 100 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes… and many of them don’t know it.
In fact, only 11.6% of the 84 million people with prediabetes know they have it…
And that means more than 74 million people are walking around with a hidden blood sugar time bomb.
Prediabetes usually turns into full-blown Type 2 diabetes within five years… but it doesn’t have to.
You can take steps right now to stop prediabetes (if you don’t already have it) and prevent Type 2 diabetes before they cause irreversible damage to your health. And those crucial anti-diabetes steps start in your gut.
Quick Answer: Your gut microbiome plays a major role in how your body handles blood sugar and metabolism. Beneficial gut bacteria help control nutrient absorption, hunger, energy storage, and the production of butyrate, a short chain fatty acid involved in healthy blood sugar management. When the gut falls out of balance (dysbiosis), it makes less butyrate and produces more LPS toxins, which can drive inflammation that interferes with blood sugar control. Research even suggests gut bacteria can predict after-meal blood sugar responses more accurately than food alone. Keeping the gut microbiome in healthy balance, including with spore probiotics, is one supportive way to help the body manage blood sugar.
How Does Your Gut Microbiome Manage Your Blood Sugar?
Your gut microbiome helps run digestion and metabolism, influencing which nutrients you absorb, when you feel hungry or full, how energy is stored, and how your body handles blood sugar. Beneficial bacteria also make butyrate, a compound involved in blood sugar management.
One of the most important jobs of your gut microbiome (the trillions of bacteria in your gut) involves digestion and metabolism. The bacteria in your gut control:
- which nutrients your body absorbs
- when you feel hungry or full
- how energy is stored in your body
- how much energy (usually in the form of fat) gets stored
- whether you gain or lose weight
- how your body handles blood sugar
In addition to that, beneficial gut bacteria produce a special compound called butyrate, a short chain fatty acid (SCFA). Butyrate plays a vital role in blood sugar management and metabolism, preventing diabetes and obesity.
Metabolism is the process that converts food into energy.
Does Your Microbiome Affect Blood Sugar More Than Food?
Research suggests your gut microbiome can influence blood sugar even more than the food you eat. In one study, gut bacteria predicted after-meal blood sugar responses about 62% of the time, compared with 32% to 40% for the meal alone.
In turns out that your gut microbiome can have an even bigger effect on your blood sugar than the food you eat!
A groundbreaking study found that considering what people ate could accurately predict after-meal blood sugar spikes around 32% to 40% of the time.
But when researchers looked at the specific bacteria in the gut microbiomes of the subjects instead of the meals, they correctly predicted blood sugar response 62% of the time.
The scientists realized that people’s unique gut microbiomes affected their blood sugar levels more than the foods they ate.
That’s why it’s so important to make sure your gut microbiome is in good balance. Because without a healthy microbiome, your body can’t handle blood sugar the right way.
How Does Dysbiosis Affect Blood Sugar?
When pathogens outnumber beneficial bacteria (dysbiosis), the gut makes less butyrate and more LPS toxins. Those toxins can breach the gut barrier and trigger widespread inflammation, which interferes with healthy blood sugar management.
When the bad bacteria (pathogens) outnumber the beneficial bacteria (probiotics) in your gut microbiome, it creates a condition called dysbiosis. And when dysbiosis sets in, it increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
So how does dysbiosis cause diabetes and keep it going? Without enough beneficial bacteria in the gut, your microbiome won’t produce enough butyrate to keep blood sugar levels under control. Studies show that people with diabetes have fewer butyrate-producing probiotics in their guts, making it even harder to keep blood sugar in normal ranges.
On top of that, bad bacteria have negative effects on your immune and digestive systems. They make it harder for your body to handle sugar (glucose) the right way. (Read more)
The main weapons of pathogens are called lipopolysaccharides, or LPS toxins.
Here’s how dysbiosis leads to diabetes:
Step 1: LPS toxins overwhelm your gut and attack its protective barrier.
Step 2: LPS toxins punch through the gut barrier and escape into the bloodstream, causing a condition called toxic streaming.
Step 3: Toxic streaming takes those LPS toxins all over your body, setting off immune system overreactions and inflammation wherever they land.
Step 4: The widespread inflammation brought on by toxic streaming interferes with blood sugar management… leading to Type 2 diabetes.
That sounds like bad news, but it’s actually good news.
Because the flip side of this is true as well: Restoring the gut microbiome to healthy balance can help stop toxic streaming and get diabetes under control… maybe even stop it from happening in the first place.
Do Diabetes Drugs Work Through Gut Bacteria?
Interestingly, one way many diabetes drugs are thought to work is through their effects on the gut microbiome. That is more evidence of how large a role the gut plays in blood sugar, even without medication.
It’s a little known fact that one way many diabetes drugs work is through their effects on the gut microbiome. Of course, it doesn’t take prescription medications – or their potential side effects – to conquer dysbiosis and create a healthy microbiome. But that’s more evidence that the gut plays a surprisingly large role in diabetes.
Toxic Streaming Speeds Up Diabetes
Now that scientists know about the connections between dysbiosis, toxic streaming, and diabetes, they’re focusing more research on this bad relationship.
Some of their recent findings include:
- Dysbiosis speeds up the onset and progress of diabetes
- People with diabetes have 66.4% more LPS toxins (also called endotoxins) in their blood than non-diabetics
- Higher levels of LPS toxins are linked with severe complications of diabetes, including kidney disease and vision loss
With this evidence stacking up, researchers are looking into harnessing the power of a healthy microbiome to prevent, manage, and treat diabetes. The first step toward that is rebalancing the gut to stop toxic streaming.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gut Health and Blood Sugar
How does the gut microbiome affect blood sugar?
Gut bacteria help control which nutrients you absorb, when you feel full, how energy is stored, and the production of butyrate, a short chain fatty acid involved in blood sugar management and metabolism. A balanced microbiome supports healthier blood sugar handling.
What is dysbiosis?
Dysbiosis is a state in which harmful bacteria (pathogens) outnumber beneficial bacteria (probiotics) in the gut. It is associated with lower butyrate production and higher levels of LPS toxins, which can fuel inflammation.
What is butyrate and why does it matter?
Butyrate is a short chain fatty acid made by beneficial gut bacteria. It plays a role in metabolism and blood sugar management, and studies show that people with diabetes tend to have fewer butyrate-producing bacteria.
Can the gut microbiome influence blood sugar more than food?
One study found that looking at a person's specific gut bacteria predicted after-meal blood sugar responses about 62% of the time, compared with 32% to 40% when looking at the meal alone, suggesting the microbiome has a strong influence.
Can spore probiotics support healthy blood sugar?
Spore probiotics help balance the gut microbiome and support beneficial bacteria. The strains in Just Thrive were shown to substantially reduce toxic streaming, which is one part of healthy blood sugar management. Supplements support general wellness and are not a treatment for any disease.
How Do Spore Probiotics Help Balance Your Gut?
High quality spore probiotics help bring the gut microbiome into healthy balance by crowding out bad bacteria and supporting a wide variety of beneficial bacteria. The strains in Just Thrive were shown to substantially reduce toxic streaming, one part of healthy blood sugar management.
High quality spore probiotics balance your gut microbiome and keep it in healthy shape.
The four spore probiotics in Just Thrive quickly conquer bad bacteria and support a wide variety of beneficial bacteria, allowing them to flourish and establish a healthy gut microbiome.
The clinically proven strains of spore probiotics in Just Thrive were shown to substantially reduce toxic streaming, a critical part of healthy blood sugar management.
Reboot your gut microbiome with Just Thrive spore probiotics and take back control of your blood sugar.
