Saving your life: Skip the sugar and lower the carbs
Some days I feel like I’m speaking a cryptic language when talking about fat and carbohydrates.
“No, cheese is not a problem.”
“Yes, you can have the whole egg for breakfast.”
“Yes, you may put some butter on those vegetables.”
A very long story short – research years ago was scant on what caused heart disease, what made cholesterol go up or down, and the balance of nutrients that caused weight gain or loss.
If you want the long history story read this fascinating article called “the soft science of dietary fat” which talks about how committees of various health care organizations came up with the guidelines we so diligently followed: never eat more than 3 whole eggs per week, limit fat to less than 30 percent of calories, etc.
Studies in the last 2 years have shown otherwise: sugar is the culprit and not fat. Saturated fat does not cause heart disease and high sugar diets do.
How can this be true?
Carbohydrate is the key regulator of insulin release and insulin is the regulator of fat metabolism – whether it gets stored or oxidized for fuel.
When one eats more carbohydrate or sugar than one can utilize the body releases additional insulin. If one is insulin resistant, or carbohydrate sensitive, the pancreas can secrete many times (9 to 900x) the amount of insulin in response to consuming carbohydrates than for those who are insulin sensitive.
Translation: when someone is insulin resistant eats a slice of bread, their pancreas can secrete 9x-900x the amount of insulin than an insulin sensitive individuals’ pancreas secretes.
It?s like the insulin resistant person just ate at least 9 slices worth of bread!
It’s far different from just overeating your calories and can take 4-5 days for your body to recover, hence the need to skip those “cheat days” or “cheat meals.”
This metabolic condition is actually called metabolic syndrome and/or hyperinsulinemia. Hyperinsulinemia increases potential for fat storage and predisposition for heart disease, inflammation, etc.
Take home: carbohydrates are the regulators of insulin release, which control metabolism, weight management and your risk for heart disease.
So what do you do if you have insulin resistance? For starters consider getting blood parameters checked and have a consult with an RD or MD who specializes in it.
So unlocking the code is as simple as knowing your body type, how your individual metabolism works and then getting the help you need to keep your body healthy and stay motivated.
The saying “man does not live on bread alone” could save you from diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. AND during COVID steering clear of extra carbs and sugars makes your system more resilient from the virus.
July 21, 2015 @ 3:46 am
I really enjoyed reading these article you really stressed out the importance of lowering the sugar intake