The Blood Sugar Brain Connection: What Your Genes Reveal About Your Cognitive Future (Part 2)
By Dr. Cynthia Libert, Functional Medicine Physician | Caring for the Body, Center for Functional Medicine
This post is adapted from the Re-Think Aging podcast. You can listen to the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FBCRWfKYHM
Welcome back. I'm here with Carol McCarthy, brain health coach and functional genomics coach, for part two of our series on the blood sugar brain connection. In the first episode, we introduced Carol's story and began exploring the connection between blood sugar, insulin resistance, and our risk for cognitive decline. In this episode, we get practical about what to actually do with that genetic information.
I want people to understand that genetic testing is a beginning, not an endpoint. Most patients feel overwhelmed looking at a long list of genetic snips and wondering where to go from here. That is what I love about coaching. It gives you another human to walk alongside you on the journey, someone who can help you prioritize and understand the nuances in the report. AI is here and it is not going anywhere, but I would contend there is no substitute for having an actual live, compassionate, heart-centered human being to walk you through that information.
What Functional Genomics Coaching Actually Does
Carol explained it this way. The world of genomics is exploding, and with that comes an overwhelming amount of data. A single genomics test can reveal hundreds of pieces of information about your genetic vulnerabilities. Coaching gives you a partner who takes that complex data and translates it into an actionable road map, one that outlines doable steps you can take every day to support your unique genetics.
There is so much conflicting health and diet advice out there. As Carol put it, "one day we're told fat is good, the next day fat is bad, then fat is good again." From a genomic standpoint, none of it is right or wrong. It is only right or wrong for you.
Bio-Individuality: Why One Diet Doesn't Fit All
In functional medicine we use the term bio-individuality. It means every one of us is unique. Our chemistry, our metabolism, our genetics, our biochemistry, all of it is unique, and we need to work with that rather than against it. Eggs might be wonderful for one person and not so wonderful for another, depending on genetics. Genetic coaching cuts through the noise and helps craft a lifestyle plan that fits your unique biological needs.
This mirrors what we do in functional medicine every day, helping people make sense of lab data, prioritizing what matters, and being selective about supplementation so patients don't end up taking 35 things a day.
Leaving Protocol-Driven Medicine Behind
Part of what disillusioned me with conventional medicine was watching a system that took a patient's symptoms, matched them to an ICD-10 code, and then matched a pharmaceutical to that diagnosis. It took out the creativity, the artistry, and the human connection. There is absolutely a place for pharmaceutical medicine and conventional care. But I love working with people as unique individuals and helping them with their specific vulnerabilities.
Coaching has been part of my practice since 2010. It moves away from a top-down, paternalistic approach and instead walks alongside people, asking questions that draw out what is already inside them: their needs, their goals, their challenges. The patient is involved in creating the plan.
A Case Study: From Fear to Hope
Carol shared the story of a woman who joined the brain coaching program because her mother had Alzheimer's, and she was afraid of following the same path. She was also dealing with chronic headaches, insomnia, and a pre-diabetes diagnosis, while working all day and caring for her mother at night. She had turned to food for comfort, and she was not ready to touch that.
Genetic testing revealed vulnerabilities for insulin resistance and for vitamin D pathway issues that could be affecting her sleep. But the real surprise was a poor ability to detox inhalational toxins, the kind found in cigarette smoke, pollution, and mold. She had grown up with two smoking parents and worked as a hairdresser surrounded by strong chemical smells, which she had been masking with air fresheners and candles.
Once she understood this vulnerability, she made changes: requesting a station near a window at work, switching to haircuts without chemical treatments, adding plants, and replacing plug-in air fresheners with an essential oil diffuser. Within a month, her headaches improved and her sleep got better. That progress gave her the confidence to eventually tackle her diet too, and over time her hemoglobin A1C began to improve. As Carol said, she moved from a place of fear to a place of hope.
Practical Takeaways for Blood Sugar and Brain Health
Carol shared several practical strategies:
- Food order. Fiber acts like a mesh that slows glucose absorption. Eat your vegetables first, then protein and fat, then carbs last, to flatten your glucose curve.
- Don't eat naked carbs. A carb eaten alone, like an apple by itself, spikes glucose faster than a carb paired with fat and protein, like an apple with almond butter.
- Move after meals. Muscles use glucose for energy. A walk after eating can flatten a glucose curve dramatically. Carol described using a continuous glucose monitor and seeing a flat line after a post-meal walk, compared to a curve on a day she didn't walk.
- Eat a savory breakfast. American breakfasts tend to be full of sugar. A vegetable omelet instead of pastries and juice sets your glucose tone for the day.
- Manage stress. Stress releases cortisol, which calls for energy, which comes from glucose. Managing stress helps keep glucose in check.
My Own Practices
I shared a few things from my own life around managing blood sugar: aiming for 30 grams of protein three times a day, a daily fiber drink, strength training three days a week, guarding my sleep with the help of an Aura ring, taking a weekly Sabbath away from my computer, and avoiding ultra-processed foods. None of this happened overnight. It has taken decades of learning what works for me.
Closing Thoughts
As Carol said in closing, if you have been sick for a long time, or afraid of becoming sick for a long time, don't give up hope. If you build a team around you that truly cares, hope becomes your new normal, and it is contagious.
Work With Our Team
If you are in North Carolina or one of the other southeastern states where I am licensed, we can work with you one-on-one as a patient. If you live outside that area, our Re-Think Aging community welcomes anyone in the US. We also offer a Brain Health and Longevity Membership, where Carol and our other coaches walk patients through an annual journey of discovering their unique vulnerabilities and coaching them toward prevention and flourishing.
Ready to take a root-cause approach to your health? Start with a free strategy session with the Caring for the Body team.
Whole-person care. Science-backed. Faith-informed.