Dr. Keith Wayne Berkowitz, M.D., the Founder and Medical Director of the Center for Balanced Health, combining expertise in both traditional and complementary medicine, will discuss how to identify, understand and implement strategies to successfully combat reactive hypoglycemia.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 30.3 million Americans have diabetes and another 84.1 million American are at risk with pre-diabetes or elevated blood glucose.

Because of this, our attention has been concentrated on treating high blood glucose while largely ignoring other blood sugar disorders. Poor eating habits, the addition of unhealthy ingredients, increased stress and poor sleeping habits has led to the increased incidence of this underappreciated blood sugar disorder: reactive hypoglycemia.

Individuals with reactive hypoglycemia can often have symptoms that include: headaches, increased irritability, difficulty concentrating, palpitations, light-headedness, fatigue, anxiety, excessive sweating or urination, leg cramps, dizziness and clamminess. Other symptoms can be related to eating. Patients I see with this diagnosis often feel more tired after meals, feel “sick” when they either miss a meal or if a meal is delayed.

The presentation will be followed by a multi-course, low glycemic dinner with wine pairings created by Chef David Bouley.

About Dr. Keith Berkowitz:

Keith Wayne Berkowitz, M.D., is the Founder and Medical Director of the Center for Balanced Health. He combines expertise in both traditional and complementary medicine. Prior to starting the Center for Balanced Health, he was the Medical Director and Business Director of The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine. He was an associate of Dr. Robert C. Atkins since 1999.

Before joining The Atkins Center, Dr. Berkowitz spent five years as a faculty member in the Department of Medicine at North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, New York. In this capacity, he was responsible for patient care, as well as supervising and teaching medical students as a clinical instructor at New York University School of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Berkowitz consulted with Island Peer Review Organization in New Hyde Park, New York, overseeing quality management and has reviewed questions for the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Berkowitz is also a diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners and a member of the American College of Physicians, the Medical Society of State of New York, the Foundation for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine and the American College for Advancement in Medicine.

Dr. Berkowitz received his Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, where he majored in economics and graduated with honors. He then attended medical school at New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York, receiving his Doctor of Medicine in 1995. Dr. Berkowitz did a combined internship and residency in internal medicine at North Shore University Hospital and Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

While in medical school, Dr. Berkowitz was a program director for City College of New York and the United States Information Agency. In this role, he managed the first Central Asian/American Exchange Program for more than 100 students and teachers. He also developed an academic program and trained teachers and mentors to prepare inner-city youth for New York City’s specialized high schools. Dr. Berkowitz is the co-author of The Princeton Review Medical School Companion (Random House, 1996).

He has recently graduated from Columbia University Business School, in New York City, where he received an M.B.A and became a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.

He has been interviewed by Newsweek, New York Magazine, Newsday, The Sunday London Times, Associated Press, CNN, INC Magazine, amNY, Wins 1010 online and The New York Post. Additionally, he has been featured on ABC News, WOR Radio, WCBS Radio and RAI TV