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Insulin Resistance... knowing you have it
may help how you deal with many common health conditions
Insulin,
produced and released into the blood by the pancreas, is a master hormone of
metabolism. It affects virtually every cell in the body. It regulates
blood sugar, controls the storage of fat, helps direct the functions of
amino acids, fatty acids, and carbohydrates, and it regulates the liver’s
synthesis of cholesterol. It also functions as a growth hormone, affects
appetite control, kidney function and much more. Without it you would die
in a matter of days. But insulin can be a double edged sword... too much of
it, on a consistent basis, creates a whole other set of serious problems; by
raising blood pressure and cholesterol levels, storing food as fat instead
of using it for fuel, causing the kidney’s to retain excess fluid, damaging
arteries, elevating triglycerides, and changing needed protein and sugar
into fat.
Although it’s a controversial subject, more and more scientists are
beginning to agree that “insulin resistance” is the common denominator in
many serious health conditions. When cells become resistant to insulin,
processes designed to respond to the body’s needs malfunction.
According to respected research scientist, Dr. Ron
Rosedale, MD, the way to treat virtually all the so-called chronic diseases,
such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels,
and osteoporosis, is to treat excess insulin itself.
How is high insulin single handedly responsible for all
these diseases?
Let’s start with Cholesterol:
The majority of
cholesterol is made by liver cells, along with the intestines, and the
skin. Cholesterol provides the structural framework for cells. High
insulin triggers the fat storage cycle, and therefore the creation of new
fat cells. Since cells require cholesterol for their creation, when fat
cells are created, then cholesterol is created. So, fat storage, triggered
by high insulin, ultimately results in the overproduction of cholesterol.
Although
it is true that fat is the raw material the body uses to create cholesterol,
new fat cells cannot be created without raised insulin levels. Dietary fat
has no affect on raising insulin; it is an overload of simple carbohydrates
that create skyrocketing insulin levels. You can basically eat all the fat
you want, and unless insulin raising carbohydrates are present, it will not
be converted to cholesterol. Remember, fat doesn’t raise insulin levels,
carbohydrates do, and high insulin creates cholesterol.
How does excess insulin affect arteries and blood
pressure?
Excess
insulin causes the smooth muscle cells in the linings of arteries to both
grow in size and increase in number. These larger muscle cells make arterial
walls thicker, and less elastic. When arterial walls are less elastic,
plaque tends to form, as well as causing arterial spasm, which is the
underlying cause of heart disease. Plaque forms after cracks and stress
fractures appear when the arteries, which need to be flexible and bend, are
stiffened by the thickening we just talked about. Cholesterol basically
comes to the rescue to plug the holes.
Because
of the narrower, thickened arterial walls, the heart must use greater
pressure to force blood through, so now you’ve got high blood pressure. And
to make matters worse, insulin causes the kidneys to retain salt and fluid,
adding to the blood volume, and increasing pressure even more. Drugs that
reduce blood pressure do nothing to treat and restore the elasticity of
arterial walls – which is the underlying problem.
Typically, many people with high blood pressure are
familiar with this scenario…
-
You gained weight,
and then subsequently develop high blood pressure.
-
Your doctor tells
you to cut back on salt, and prescribes a mild diuretic.
-
Your blood pressure
drops, but now you are showing an increase in your cholesterol.
-
The low fat diet
your doctor encourages has little affect on your cholesterol
-
The next thing you
see is a rise in both triglycerides and blood sugar.
If you see yourself in
this progression, then you may want to stop and evaluate your diet.
Heart attacks are 2 to 3 times more likely to happen after a high
carbohydrate meal
Why? A high
carbohydrate meal has an immediate affect of raising blood sugar, which then
raises insulin levels. This triggers the sympathetic nervous system which
causes arterial spasm, or constriction of the arteries. If any other
factors are present that make an individual susceptible to a heart attack,
then this high insulin condition is likely to bring one on.
Hypertension and Heart Disease
Statistically, there is
no significant decrease in deaths from
heart disease for people who are treating the condition with drugs. Studies
have shown that people who ignore their condition didn’t develop heart
disease at any greater rate than those taking daily medications. A tidal
wave of new research has shown that high insulin is actually the real
culprit. Ironically, many medications such as diuretics and beta-blockers,
designed to reduce blood pressure in hope of preventing heart disease,
actually increase insulin levels…the very thing that is believed to cause
the problem. It has now been shown that correcting insulin problems can
reduce both high blood pressure and heart disease.
Excess insulin interferes with magnesium storage, leading to high blood
pressure
If your cells become
insulin resistant, you can’t store magnesium, and it is excreted in the
urine.
Magnesium plays an
important role in muscle relaxation. Since intracellular magnesium is
required for all energy producing reactions that take place in the cell,
without it your blood vessels constrict, increasing blood pressure,
and reducing cellular energy.
Insulin resistance and osteoporosis…
As we said earlier,
excessive insulin causes the excretion of magnesium in the urine, but along
with magnesium it is also excreting calcium. Both calcium and magnesium
are instrumental in building bone matrix, therefore an ongoing deficiency of
calcium and magnesium sets the stage for osteoporosis.
Anyone who is working to
prevent or correct osteoporosis by supplementing with calcium and magnesium
will obviously not be receiving the benefit if they are unable to retain
these valuable supplements. If you supplement with calcium and magnesium,
these supplements will just pass right through you unused if your body is
unable to utilize or store them because of excess insulin.
Vitamin C and insulin
White blood cells need a
high dose of vitamin C for proper function. And vitamin C is essential to
the manufacture of Collagen, the main structural protein that makes bone,
muscle fiber, tendons, ligaments, skin, hair, and strong arterial
structure. Since Vitamin C and glucose (sugar) have similar chemical
structure, they compete when entering cells. If there is more glucose, then
there is going to be less vitamin C allowed into the cell. Remember when we
were talking about how high insulin levels cause arterial walls to thicken,
form plaque, then crack and become filled with cholesterol to plug the
holes? Well, collagen helps artery walls remain strong, flexible, and
plaque free. If vitamin C is essential to the production of collagen, but
it cannot be absorbed because it is competing with high glucose levels, then
you can see how a breakdown in the system is inevitable. High insulin, and
its far reaching affects, leaves nothing untouched.
How does insulin resistance begin?
When the
body senses a rush of sugar, (from eating too much of the wrong kind of
food, such as refined sugar and starch) your pancreas panics and
overcompensates, producing an overabundance of insulin in an effort to
normalize (lower) blood sugar levels. This rush of insulin then causes
blood sugar to plummet too low. Some people experience nervousness,
shaking, mental fogginess, and profuse sweating if blood sugar drops too
low.
To get blood sugar back up, hormones including cortisone and epinephrine,
are released that stimulate the brain to crave sweets, or breads. If
you give in to these cravings and have a sugary treat, or refined grains, or
a big bowl of cereal for example, then it starts all over again...your blood
sugar spikes up, causing the pancreas to release more insulin...then it
falls...on and on.
This
rollercoaster effect will ultimately disrupt the finely tuned regulation
mechanism, causing some elements to remain in a constant state of activity,
while others simply become worn out and ineffective. Cells become insulin
resistant when they are trying to protect themselves from the toxic effects
of high insulin; receptor cells begin to malfunction, and the pancreas pumps
out more and more insulin because the cells are no longer reacting properly
to it. As insulin sensors become more and more overloaded they become
sluggish. You need more and more insulin for it to have any affect on the
cells. This loss of sensitivity is insulin resistance. Eventually, some
people become so resistant to insulin that their pancreas can no longer
manufacture enough insulin to effectively lower blood sugar, therefore
leading to the onset of Type II Diabetes.
Children are even more
sensitive to the affects of blood sugar ups and downs because their cells
are extremely sensitive to insulin. Because of this extreme sensitivity, a
small amount of insulin is able to easily handle a large amount of sugar…but
not forever. Years of high insulin levels will eventually take their toll.
How does high insulin create body fat?
Eating
foods that cause a spike in blood sugar create excess food “energy”. In
order to have someplace to put this excess energy, the body must make new
fat cells, with insulin being the facilitator for the creation of these new
cells. Excess energy triggers an increase in insulin, and the fat storage
cycle begins. Since cholesterol is the framework for cells, when new fat
cells are created, so is cholesterol. Remember that fat storage starts with
insulin, so if you don’t eat foods that cause an excess of insulin, you
won’t trigger the fat storage cycle. Foods that enter the bloodstream
slowly, and don’t spike blood sugar up don’t cause excess insulin to be
produced and therefore don’t contribute significantly toward fat storage.
Your food choices are really the key here.
Insulin resistance and body fat...
After a
while, when your body is continually in the state of having to deal with
excess insulin, it makes a shift and no longer knows how to properly burn
fat anymore. It now requires high blood sugar for fuel. As a person
becomes more and more resistant to insulin, their body starts storing more
and more of the excess sugar as fat instead of burning it for fuel. You
can see why it is so difficult to lose weight, or maintain a consistent
weight if the body is in an insulin resistant state. It can be very
discouraging for people following mainstream recommendations for low fat
diets, who are still eating refined starch and sugar, when their efforts
show little results.
What’s
surprising for most people to learn is that eating healthy, natural
dietary fat does not create body fat unless it’s eaten with an excess of blood sugar raising carbohydrates.
In the absence of insulin raising carbohydrates, the body uses dietary
fat, and stored body fat, for energy. The key to maintaining normal body
weight is to have the food you eat be used as energy to fuel your body.
Remember, dietary fat has absolutely no effect on raising insulin levels;
refined carbohydrates and sugar are responsible for creating too much
insulin, and excess insulin is what triggers the fat storage cycle.
The
more normal insulin levels are…the more the body will use stored body fat
for fuel
The slower the rate that carbohydrates enter the bloodstream, the
lower insulin production will be. The more normal insulin levels
are, the more likely you are to use stored body fat for energy. High
insulin levels limit the immediate use of dietary fat for energy, encourage
fat storage, and prevent the use of existing body fat for energy. Exactly
the opposite effect most people are hoping for when they eat too much.
Dietary fat is only fattening when eaten with an excess of
blood sugar raising carbohydrates.
Dietary fat is not the bad guy it’s been made
out to be
Both fat
and fiber in natural foods help to slow the rate of entry of carbohydrates.
Plus healthy fat contains the hormone cholecystokinin (CKK) that tells the
brain you’re full and to stop eating. This is why non-fat foods are
disastrous for people trying to lose weight. And to make matters worse,
many non-fat foods replace the fat with extra sugar. Take a look at the
labels and you’ll notice fat has been replaced by various forms of sugar,
like corn syrup, fructose, etc. – insulin raisers.
Learn to
recognize the signs of insulin resistance
Some of the common
complaints from people suffering from insulin resistance are:
Start
noticing if you are experiencing low blood sugar symptoms after a meal.
Learn to recognize drowsiness or lack of energy, and unhealthy cravings, as
a sign that your system is out of balance. If you’ve just recently eaten,
but are still craving “something else”, or sweets, be aware that you are in
that dangerous roller coaster zone – and day after day it’s only going to
get worse until you make some dietary changes.
It is
possible to change your metabolism if you make dietary changes. Start
making better choices at your meals. For example, instead of having a big
bowl of pasta with a little tomato sauce on it, flip your proportions around
and have a tiny amount of starchy pasta, with a generous serving of sauce.
If you eat out a lot, this could take some effort. Ask your server to
bring the pasta and sauce in separate bowls so you can regulate your
proportions. Take the bun off your hamburger, and skip the starchy fries
all together. Or better yet, cook your meals at home and replace the
starchy pasta with spaghetti squash.
Protein
stimulates a reduction in insulin secretion, and fat and fiber slow down the
rate at which carbohydrates enter the blood stream. Eating primarily
unprocessed carbohydrates like fruits and vegetables is a huge key to
avoiding, or correcting insulin resistance.
“Natural” foods keep the process at an even keel, but
processed, refined foods contribute to insulin resistance
Sugars
and starches in their natural, unrefined form, enter the
bloodstream at a moderate rate. Because they are digested slowly, they
provide a steady, even supply of fuel over a period of several hours.
Natural carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables, that contain beneficial
soluble, natural fiber, enter the blood stream much slower and therefore
don’t create the volatile spikes in blood sugar that processed and refined
sweets and starches do.
Processed foods such as bran, rice cakes or breakfast cereals that are
perceived to be high in fiber, and therefore "healthy", are deceiving because they contain the wrong
kind of fiber, insoluble. Natural foods contain soluble
fiber. The more a carbohydrate is “processed” (using man-made processing
methods), the more you break down its cell structure, and the more it
negatively affects insulin levels. This also applies to foods that are
specifically processed to make them “instant”, like instant potatoes,
instant rice, and instant oatmeal. Processing negatively affects the
beneficial soluble fiber. Consumers are paying the high price of health for
convenience and time saving foods.
Natural,
unprocessed foods also provide many vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and other
nutrients that have been removed or destroyed in the refining process.
These nutrients contribute toward keeping the whole body in good repair.
When cells are not insulin resistant, as they should be, the
entire process of sugar regulation is kept at an even keel. Then, if the
body goes for a long period without food, fuel reserves stored in the liver,
are called upon, giving a steady supply of glucose, or fuel.
“Refined” sugars and starches, are handled
very different by the body than natural sugars and starches
The more
“refined” the carbohydrate is, the stronger and more rapid the insulin
reaction. Refined sugars and starches enter the blood stream in a rush,
causing a radical and sudden increase in blood sugar. Insulin and other
hormones flood into the bloodstream in an attempt to bring blood sugar
levels back to normal. Processed, or refined, carbohydrates are foods like
bagels, pasta, cookies, cakes, breads, crackers, snack foods, cereals, etc.-
basically foods that are not in a natural form. The number one food
consumed by Americans is refined carbohydrates; white bread, rolls, and
crackers. Doughnuts, cookies, and cake are next, with alcohol number three.
The food refining process creates “sugar concentrates” that spike blood
sugar, because they lack naturally occurring fiber. In addition,
refining strips food of vital nutrients necessary for the body’s energy
requirements, repair, and digestion. Artificially adding synthetic
nutrients back into refined foods so they can be labeled “fortified and
enriched” creates harmful nutrient imbalances.
Fortification adds only a handful of virtually useless synthetic vitamins
and minerals instead of the full contingent of inter-reacting, co-factors
that existed naturally before the refining process. And children can have
severe reactions to synthetic vitamins, such as Vitamin D2, which is added
to pasteurized milk.
So…what can you eat?
At this
point, many people become confused and ask, “but, what do I eat”? The
answer is, you eat real food. You eat the really good, pure,
healthy, “straight from the earth”, “unmessed with” kind of food. If it’s
in a box, a bag, or some kind of package - don’t eat it! Your health is
simply not worth the small convenience of buying pre-packaged food. You
have the choice to fall for all the marketing hype or you can take a look at
the current health situation of the United States and decide for yourself if
you want to destroy your health and the health of your family by eating
“synthetic” food.
It’s not too late. You CAN turn insulin resistance
around
It’s simple. Reduce your consumption of insulin spiking
processed carbohydrates; that means reduce refined grains, starches, and
sugar. Diet is the only answer to breaking this vicious cycle. With proper
diet, you can retrain your brain into regulating this powerful hormone,
insulin, and maintaining the proper balance for its many functions.
Take
note of this important statement – there are currently no drugs that
can significantly lower insulin levels. There is no
pharmaceutical “quick fix” for this one. It can only be treated by
dietary manipulation. Diet causes this malfunction, and diet is
the way to bring insulin resistance back into check. Restructuring
your diet to reduce excess insulin and returning insulin sensors to normal,
can reverse many serious conditions, especially blood pressure, cholesterol,
blood sugar, and triglycerides. Thickening of the arteries and
early plaque formation can take much longer, sometimes years, to correct.
All in all, diet can be extremely beneficial in both reversing and
preventing further damage.
Tips for eating, and things you can add to your diet to
help increase sensitivity
Protein: You should eat
protein with every meal, and it should be eaten first, before any other
food. Eating your protein first will stimulate the hormone glucagon,
causing the release of stored carbohydrate in the liver, and reducing
insulin secretion. The release of glucagon helps keep the brain satisfied,
making it easier to control the intake of carbohydrates.
Water:
Drink at least 64 ounces of pure water every day. Don’t drink chlorinated
water.
Reduce caffeine
consumption: Caffeine tends to increase insulin levels.
Natural
fats: Add some healthy,
natural fat to your diet. Cold pressed olive and coconut oil are very
beneficial. Natural fats create a chemical reaction that tells your
brain you are full, making you naturally feel satisfied. Raw or germinated
nuts are a great source of natural fat.
Omega
3 Essential Fatty Acid:
To help
make cell walls more fluid, so nutrients and waste pass in and out of cells
as intended, increasing your consumption of Omega 3 oils can be very
beneficial. You can increase cell sensitivity by increasing the fluidity of
cell membranes. Omega 3 oil, or alpha linolenic acid, can be found in
flaxseed oil, deepwater fish, fish oil, eggs, and walnuts. Omega 3 and
Omega 6 are essential to the body and must be provided by diet.
The
correct healthy proportion of Omega 3 and Omega 6 should be a 1 to 1 ratio;
one part Omega-3 to one part Omega-6. Unfortunately, because
of our high consumption of man-made vegetable oils, the typical American
diet is about 1 to 15; in other words, one Omega-3 to fifteen parts
Omega-6. This disproportionate ratio of 15 times too much Omega-6
dramatically interferes with the absorption of Omega-3. To return to the
proper proportions, the use of vegetable oils should be eliminated and
Omega-3 should be increased. Neptune Krill Oil is one of the most
absorbable forms of Omega-3 available.
(Note:
unhealthy vegetable oils/hydrogenated oils are in virtually every baked good, cracker,
bread, bagel, and donut – AVOID THEM!)
Many
health challenges come back into balance in as little as weeks or a couple
months. Typically cholesterol drops substantially by three weeks, and high
blood pressure within a week or two. Diabetes can greatly improve and blood
sugar levels normalize within just a few weeks.
By eating a healthy balance of natural foods you can ward off health
disasters and alter what goes on inside your body in a positive way.
Additional Info:
Read our latest report
on eating healthy in a world of fast food, and convenience pre-packaged
foods: Wondering
how to eat healthy in a world of "processed" foods?
Be sure to read our report on MSG, a dangerous food
additive that damages the hypothalamus gland, which regulates weight
control: MSG - A dangerous excitotoxin
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