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Two Keys to Weight Loss



 
 
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Old June 3rd, 2004, 08:26 PM
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Default Two Keys to Weight Loss


I'm diabetic and t2 and have gone to great pains to educate myself about
all asspects of the disease, including insulin and it's role in metabolism
and the progression of resestence in diabetes. For one with a metabolic
disorder, consideration of the ratio of macro food sources is important,
for those without them it is ony so if one is putting one's health at risk
of obesity etc. by over consumption of all food sources and the unhealthy
content of easily available foods. If we are talking about low carb for
weight loss it is another question and far too many urban myths are afloat
then can be supported,ex. high carb foods should be avoided because they
will make you fat, which is only the case if one is over consuming to the
excess of one's energy needs. The body can not store energy that is being
used for daily activity, regardless of macro source and the body is happy
to store that energy from any macro source.


You're diabetic, correct? I believe I've seen you on ASD. You're T1
though, not T2 if I remember. You probably know a good deal about
diabetes as you are diabetic, but you are either undereducated about
insulin resistance because you are T1 or GROSSLY misinformed &
confused about your disease if you are T2. Insulin resistance is a
risk factor for fat-creation and storage independent of consumed
caloric energy. This is rudimentary, foundational knowledge of the
syndrome. Here is a brief outline of what happens...

1) LOW RATE OF TRANSFORMATION OF SUGAR INTO THERMIC ENERGY.
Insulin resistance does not strike all tissues equally. Tissues with a
high demand for energy such as muscle tend to lose sensitivity first,
storage/processing organs like the liver and adipose last. As anyone
with IR will tell you, being insulin resistant and eating a high-sugar
diet translates into feeling like *crap* all day. This is because when
you are insulin resistant sugar is being preferentially metabolized by
the liver and stored in fat cells, instead of being taken up by the
energy using tissues as needed as your body has a really hard time
doing this. This equates to a pervasive state of lethargy, tiredness,
fogginess, etc.

2) HIGH RATE OF FAT STORING, LOWERED ABILITY TO USE STORED FAT.
Hyperinsulinemia is a condition where insulin levels are higher than
they should be for the physiological need of it. This basically means
that hyperinsulinemic people produce too much insulin per unit of
energy consumed... the body "overproduces" the hormone for some
reason, usually because of peripheral insulin resistance. Insulin
resistant people - yet diabetic or not - all tend to have
hyperinsulinemia. It is IMPOSSIBLE to burn body fat in a
hyperinsulinemic environment, just as it is impossible to store fat in
a hypoinsulinemic environment (i.e. out of control T1 diabetes). I'll
explain why.

Insulin is an anabolic (tissue - fat - building) hormone. It is also
the master metabolic hormone, meaning the state of insulin in the body
determines the nature of all metabolic processes. The antagonist to
insulin, and therefore the catabolic hormone (tissue wasting), is
glucagon. Insulin and glucagon cannot be dominant at the same time, as
they work as antagonists, counter weights, a see-saw keeping
metabolism regulated. Insulin rises in response to energy intake.
Insulin falls when consumed energy is low. Glucagon rises in response
to energy deficiency (such as hypoglycemia or fasting). Glucagon falls
when consumed energy is high. A drop in insulin is a prerequisite for
catabolic action (lipolysis, gluconeogenisis) to occur.

So what does all this mean? IF ONE is hyperinsulinemic - meaning they
produce too much of the fat storing, anabolic hormone insulin per
caloric energy consumed - this means their body more readily turns
energy into fat. No problem, you are probably thinking. Then they just
eat a normal energy diet and feed off of their body fat! Wrong. It
doesn't work like that. As I said before, the only way for catabolic
activities to occur is when insulin levels fall and glucagon levels
rise. However, insulin and glucagon are *antagonists*, and being
hyperinsulinemic precludes having inordinately high amounts of insulin
per calories consumed. The body CAN NOT AND WILL NOT produce glucagon
when insulin is high, as insulin is the "master hormone". The actions
of insulin influence the actions of all other metabolic hormones -
when insulin is high the body thinks this means lots of energy is
present, and therefore it will not produce the catabolic hormone
glucagon. This is the physiological basis for complications of
hyperinsulinemia, such as the disease of chronic hypoglycemia. This is
also the reason behind why IDDM patients need to have glucagon on
hand. If they accidentally take too much insulin and for whatever
reason won't be able to eat sugar in the event of a severe hypo, they
need someone to administer glucagon to them so catabolic energy
synthesis may occur. Failure to do this means death from hypoglycemia.
Their bodies won't produce the glucagon on their own due to the high
amounts of synthetic insulin present, the only way to save their lives
is to pump them full of sugar *or* to inject catabolic hormone.

There is just one way for a hyperinsulinemic person to lose weight
(other than treating the hyperinsulinism with a low glycemic diet).
Reduce caloric energy to ridiculously low, unsustainable levels.
Remember what we have established already, a hyperinsulinemic person
produces too much insulin in response to sugar consumed. A normal
person does not. A normal person can restrict sugar calories to
reasonable levels and this is enough to drop insulin so that glucagon
may rise and catabolic activity may be facilitated (i.e. 1400 calories
will produce safe body fat loss for a metabolically normal small
woman). However, a hyperinsulinemic person must make much more severe
caloric restrictions in order to drop insulin low enough to allow
glucagon to rise and facilitate catabolism. Depending on degree of
hyperinsulinism, they must restrict calories very severely to see
weight loss. A person of similar build with bad enough
hyperinsulinemia may even GAIN weight on that aforementioned 1400
calorie diet!

So what we have here is a double threat to body weight - a high rate
of storing energy as fat, and a debilitated ability to elicit
catabolism (body fat burning). You may be wondering how
hyperinsulinemic people function if their bodies are using less energy
than others. They are storing fat, not burning energy sufficiently,
yet they are alive with needs for energy just like everyone else. It
seems to "violate the law of thermodynamics". If what I am saying is
true, being hyperinsulinemic must be a lot like walking around
starving all the time. The answer is that yes, IR people are basically
walking around effectively starved for energy, as contradictory as
that sounds. It matters not that they may be even eating more calories
than other people, the fact is that energy is only being put onto body
fat and it is not going to fuel the brain, muscles, etc. There is a
deficiency of energy for vital metabolic processes. Debilitating
fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of insulin resistance / T2
diabetes. The fatigue, fogginess, inability to concentrate, the
tiredness - these are symptoms of your body being starved for energy.
This is why LCing, metformin treatment, etc often produces a "burst of
energy" for IR people. It's not that they are GAINING energy relative
to normal people on a normal diet, it's more an issue of their bodies
using ADEQUATE ENERGY for the first time ever. Normal people won't
experience energy gains on LC because they don't have problems using
sugar for energy.

In closing, yes, insulin resistance with hyperinsulinemia is a RISK
FACTOR INDEPENDENT OF CALORIES for weight gain. It causes an increased
rate of anabolism (body fat storage), a debilitated capacity for
catabolism (body fat burning), a debilitated capacity for sugar energy
usage (resulting in fatigue, fogginess, feeling like a tired slug,
etc) which then results in compensatory slashing of metabolic rates
(as is seen in starvation or other conditions where energy is
restricted from the body - in this case adequate calories may be
present, the problem is the body can not use them for thermogenesis
due to the IR, so the body is effectively "starving" for energy).

wrote in message -n
et.com...
Oh where is logic when we need it? Even assuming your take on insulin,
greatly over simplified and misleading as stated, on what does the insulin
have to work if there are fewer calories then required to maintain weight
status? Does insulin generate calories and weight gain out of thin air?
If all calories are used to maintain daily activity, or less then
required, does insulin still cause a weight gain? "Silly" does seem the
correct word here.

Assuming that calories are the only factor involved in weight
management in humans, then you may have a point, otherwise this is a
silly exercise in theoretical weight management. Calories do not
trigger fat storage, hormones do, insulin to be precise. Calories are
secondary to hormonal flunctuations.

TC

 




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