Topic
Topic Triage Cascade layer External factor
All Sugar & glucose External factors Gut & liver Immune Weight Heart Brain & mood Hormones Joints Energy & sleep Thyroid Skin
Type 2 diabetes High glucose readings and a clinician already in the picture. Prediabetes Borderline A1C, a warning light — not a life sentence. Insulin resistance Hungry after meals, stubborn midsection, sleepy after starch. Metabolic syndrome The cluster: waist, pressure, triglycerides, glucose. Sugar crashes Shaky, sweaty, ravenous two hours after a sweet hit. Glycemic swings Spikes then crashes — the low-GI conversation, before full keto. Cravings Sweet tooth, snacky evenings, never quite full. Daily sugar load The spoonfuls, sauces, and ‘healthy’ bars that keep insulin on call. Juice & soda fructose Liquid sugar — the liver sees it first. Seed-oil load Frying oils and packaged fats that crowd out olive and fish. Ultra-processed food Barcode dinners, emulsifiers, and a gut that never sees a plant. Alcohol load The extra sugar, the extra liver shift, the extra 3 a.m. wake. Sleep debt Short nights that raise next-day hunger and glucose. Chronic stress load Cortisol on a loop — salt cravings, a gut that clamps. Sitting still Muscles that never clock in as a glucose sink. After antibiotics A course that saved you — and emptied the meadow. Wheat & gluten load Daily bread, seitan, and a gut that may be waving a flag. Dairy load Cheese as a food group — some guts and skins vote no. Sweetener stack Packets, diet soda, keto treats that still train a sweet tooth. Late-night eating The kitchen still open at 11 — glucose and reflux like that. All-day grazing Never a real meal, never a real rest for insulin. Fatty liver Right-side heaviness, poor fat tolerance, slow mornings. Fat digestion Bloat after meals, pale stool, gallbladder history. Acid reflux Burn after meals, a sour throat at night. IBS pattern Cramp, rush, or stall — a gut that overreacts. Constipation The meadow plate stalled somewhere. Yeast overgrowth Sugar cravings, fuzzy tongue, a gut that ferments you. Bloating A balloon by 4 p.m. Fermenting small gut Gas within an hour, food that ‘ferments you’ — a SIBO-style pattern. Gut barrier (leaky pattern) A lining that lets extra noise through — food reactions, skin, joints. Food sensitivities The same foods that used to be fine now write the afternoon. Low stomach acid pattern Heavy protein, burps, B12 questions — not always ‘too much acid’. Slow emptying Food sits. Nausea. A stomach that forgot the clock. No gallbladder Fat bombs after surgery are a different conversation. Urgency & loose stool A dash after meals, or after antibiotics. Post-infectious gut A bug came through. The gut never quite reset. Gas & fermentation You can narrate every vegetable. Something is fermenting too high. Oral thrush pattern A coated tongue after sugar or antibiotics. FODMAP sensitivity Onion, garlic, sugar alcohols — a ferment, not a moral failing. Histamine from the gut Leftovers, ferments, and a flush that isn’t ‘allergy season’. Autoimmune load A body that mistakes itself for the enemy. Catching everything Every office cold finds you. Seasonal allergies Itchy eyes, a tap for a nose. Sinus congestion A face that never quite drains. Asthma & airway A tight chest that reflux and dairy sometimes join. Hives & welts A map on the skin after a food, a leftover, a stress hit. Histamine intolerance Wine, leftovers, ferments — flush, itch, a pulse that jumps. Food-allergy pattern Immediate reactions belong with an allergist — we only map the grocery. Recurrent infections Sinus, throat, bladder — the same loop. IBD-style gut inflammation Blood, night urgency, weight drop — clinic first, plate second. Immune joints Knuckles that swell beyond ‘I worked out’. Post-viral fatigue A virus left. The battery did not come back. Itchy eyes Not just pollen — sometimes dairy, sugar, or a dry house. Year-round congestion A tap that never shuts. Dairy and wheat are frequent suspects. Night sweats Sheets wet, not from the room. Sugar, alcohol, hormones, infection — clinic if new. Swollen glands A neck that stays thick. Persistent nodes are a clinician, not a salad. Slow healing Cuts that linger. Protein, zinc, vitamin C, and glucose in range. Mouth ulcers Canker sores on a loop — iron, B12, and a sharp toothpaste are the usual talk. Belly fat A stubborn midsection and blood-sugar swings. Weight that will not move The scale and the mirror arguing with every ‘diet’. Visceral fat Fat around the organs — the kind sugar loves. PCOS Cycles, androgens, and insulin often travel together. Gout A screaming big toe after beer, sugar, or a crash diet. Keto flu Headache, fog, and feeling wiped in week one. Muscle slipping away The scale is kind; the arms are not. Yo-yo dieting Every restart is louder. Insulin and the gut remember. Blood pressure High readings, puffiness, salt confusion. Cholesterol puzzle Numbers jumping as fat leaves the liver. High triglycerides The blood-fat that tracks sugar more than steak. Heart & vessels A family story, or you want the long game. Puffiness & fluid Rings tight, ankles thick, face puffy in the morning. Palpitations A skip, a flutter — electrolytes first, clinic if it keeps up. Brain fog Words hiding, focus slipping, post-lunch crash. Migraine Lights, nausea, a day stolen. Anxious edge A body that will not downshift. Low mood Flat mornings, little spark, heavy evenings. Memory slips Names, keys, the reason you opened the fridge. Tingling nerves Pins in feet or hands, often after years of sugar. Focus & attention Tabs everywhere, nothing finishes. Sugar mood swings Nice for twelve minutes. A different person at 4 p.m. Binge urge A switch flips. Not hunger — a hunt. Tinnitus A ring that salt, sugar, and jaw tension sometimes join. Restless legs An evening crawl. Iron and electrolytes are the usual lab talk. Menopause Heat, sleep, mood, and a waist that changed the rules. Low testosterone Drive, muscle, and morning energy feeling muted. Estrogen balance Puffy, moody, cycle-heavy — or the opposite. Low libido The spark went quiet. PMS The week the cravings and the fuse arrive together. Endometriosis pattern Pain that is not ‘just a period’. Clinic owns imaging; the plate owns inflammation. Fertility kitchen A grocery pattern while a clinic handles the rest. Aches & joints Stiff mornings, sore joints, puffy fingers. Arthritis Knuckles, knees, weather in the bones. Fibromyalgia Wide pain, wrecked sleep, fog on top. Stiff mornings An hour to unfold. Walking and the oil swap are the cheap experiments. Low energy Heavy afternoons, coffee dependence, slow mornings. Poor sleep 3 a.m. wakeups, restless legs, wired nights. Muscle cramps Twitches at night, charley horses, eyelid flutters. Wired & tired Salt cravings, afternoon crash, feeling fried. Afternoon crash A wall at 3 p.m. — usually the lunch, not the calendar. Unrefreshing sleep Eight hours, still cooked. Apnea and glucose are the usual suspects. Shift work A clock that never matches the sun. Thyroid sluggish Cold hands, hair shed, stubborn scale. Hashimoto’s Autoimmune thyroid — iodine is a conversation, not a megadose. Cold intolerance Sweater weather in July. Thyroid and iron belong on the lab sheet. Skin flare Acne, itch, or a keto rash while adapting. Hair thinning More in the drain, slower growth, brittle strands. Eczema Itch, crack, a barrier asking for fat and zinc. Psoriasis Plaques that sugar and seed oils often aggravate. Rosacea A flush that alcohol, heat, and histamine foods like. Adult acne Jawline that dairy and glucose still vote on. Dry, cracking skin A barrier short on fat-soluble vitamins and omega-3. Brittle nails A keratin report card — protein, biotin, iron, thyroid. Scalp flakes Not always shampoo. Yeast, omega-3, and sugar show up here too. Eye strain & vision Night driving, screens, a family of eye issues. Kidney strain pattern Dehydration, uric acid, and crash diets. Water and a clinician, not a cleanse. Bone density D, K2, protein, and loading the skeleton — not juice. Athletic recovery Soreness that outlasts the session. Protein, salt, sleep. Alcohol pause kitchen The week after the week. Liver, B1, electrolytes. Pancreas noise Upper pain after a fat-and-alcohol night. Emergency if it screams.