- Messages
- 574
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
- Dislikes
- Snide people
Note: Applies to T2 only
Zoe Harcombe published a blog post today with some very interesting points (as usual).
The bit that got my attention was this.
Anyway, the advice on lowering insulin is very sound, I think.
Zoe Harcombe published a blog post today with some very interesting points (as usual).
The bit that got my attention was this.
What does work?
The saying “eat less/do more” sounds so simple, it’s just a shame that it doesn’t work. There is an equally simple little phrase, which has the benefit of being right. Weight is not about eating less and/or doing more. Weight is about Storing fat and Un-Storing fat.
To lose weight, we need to stop Storing fat and start Un-Storing fat. To stop storing fat, we need to switch off insulin. To start Un-Storing fat, we need to enable glucagon. (Explanations for the roles of insulin and glucagon are in Ref 7). Note – we cannot switch glucagon on – we cannot force the breakdown of body fat (not easily anyway) – but we can create the right environment whereby glucagon is able to do its work.
The three most important ways to switch off insulin are i) Stop grazing: constant eating will keep insulin active and will keep us in an energy/fat storing mode. ii) Manage carb intake: every time we eat anything with a carb content (or a protein content to a lesser extent), we activate insulin. iii) Use the right fuel: I shared a photo with the ingredients in a Weight Watchers chocolate brownie and asked what on earth the body’s response to such a chemical cocktail would likely be (Ref 8).
ONLY once insulin has been switched off is it even possible for glucagon to break down body fat (which is what weight loss actually is). Once insulin has been switched off, the two most important ways to encourage/enable glucagon are i) Limit alcohol: the calories in alcohol don’t count, but alcohol impairs the operation of glucagon and can thus impair the breakdown of body fat. ii) Move: being active in some way signals a requirement for fuel and requires energy to be put back into the blood stream. The first energy to be used up will be any glucose stored. Once this is running low, the body will turn to fat. The lower the carb intake, the sooner the body will need to look for fat to breakdown to fuel activity.
It started me thinking about whether I have always produced too much insulin and whether this has led to increased insulin resistance and hence T2. ie, a chicken and egg situation. My current fasting insulin is still comparatively high, despite being on a keto diet, and I put weight on remarkably quickly without strict diet control.The saying “eat less/do more” sounds so simple, it’s just a shame that it doesn’t work. There is an equally simple little phrase, which has the benefit of being right. Weight is not about eating less and/or doing more. Weight is about Storing fat and Un-Storing fat.
To lose weight, we need to stop Storing fat and start Un-Storing fat. To stop storing fat, we need to switch off insulin. To start Un-Storing fat, we need to enable glucagon. (Explanations for the roles of insulin and glucagon are in Ref 7). Note – we cannot switch glucagon on – we cannot force the breakdown of body fat (not easily anyway) – but we can create the right environment whereby glucagon is able to do its work.
The three most important ways to switch off insulin are i) Stop grazing: constant eating will keep insulin active and will keep us in an energy/fat storing mode. ii) Manage carb intake: every time we eat anything with a carb content (or a protein content to a lesser extent), we activate insulin. iii) Use the right fuel: I shared a photo with the ingredients in a Weight Watchers chocolate brownie and asked what on earth the body’s response to such a chemical cocktail would likely be (Ref 8).
ONLY once insulin has been switched off is it even possible for glucagon to break down body fat (which is what weight loss actually is). Once insulin has been switched off, the two most important ways to encourage/enable glucagon are i) Limit alcohol: the calories in alcohol don’t count, but alcohol impairs the operation of glucagon and can thus impair the breakdown of body fat. ii) Move: being active in some way signals a requirement for fuel and requires energy to be put back into the blood stream. The first energy to be used up will be any glucose stored. Once this is running low, the body will turn to fat. The lower the carb intake, the sooner the body will need to look for fat to breakdown to fuel activity.
Anyway, the advice on lowering insulin is very sound, I think.
