Obesity and type II Diabetes have reached epidemic proportions, especially in the USA. On a 2015 Diabetes summit it was stated that globally every 7 seconds someone dies from the complications of diabetes.
There are about 3.5 million sufferers of DM II in SA, but the figure is likely to be much higher, as many cases go undiagnosed (an estimated 78% in Africa, where the diagnosis is often made late, i.e. when complications have set in).
Symptoms are: dry mouth, thirst, frequent urination / bedwetting, fatigue and abdominal pains.
Complications include: heart and blood vessel disease (heart attack, stroke, hypertension), damage to nerves, kidneys and eyes, foot ulcers, infections, osteoporosis, cancer and Alzheimer’s (now also called type III Diabetes).
The link between DM II and obesity is so common that the term “Diabesity” has been coined.
The precursor to Type II DM is insulin resistance and related is Metabolic Syndrome: Insulin resistance, central obesity and increased BMI, elevated triglycerides and LDL, low HDL, hypertension, inflammation (e.g. in the lining of the arteries) and often gout, abnormal liver functions (due to fatty changes), increased blood clotting and excretion of albumin in the urine.
Type II DM is a state of inflammation and blocked signalling in the body, the result of insulin resistance (which can already start in utero if the mother has a high carbohydrate intake. If the fetus is female her eggs can also transfer the tendency to insulin resistance).
The main causes are: too much (non-fibre / refined) carbohydrate intake, especially grains, lack of exercise, stress / distress, insomnia, toxicity and related decreased testosterone and DHEA.
- Stress presents challenges to the adrenal glands / cortisol and can lead to Metabolic Syndrome.
- There is a very prominent link between DM II and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s), which are resistant to being broken down, such as pesticides, solvents, even pharmaceuticals.
- Most toxins are fat soluble and are drawn to and stored in fatty tissues. These include cell membranes, and resulting inflammation affects receptor function, not just insulin receptors, but also others, e.g. thyroid hormone receptors, etc. Bad vegetable oils which are rancid attach to cell membranes and cause inflammation.
Glucose is meant to be the emergency / “turbo-charger” fuel, whereas fat should be the normal fuel. Insulin is needed to transport glucose into muscle cells for this purpose. If the blood glucose level is high and muscle activity does not take place, insulin stores the sugar: first as glycogen in the liver (which is quickly saturated), then as fat tissue, especially around the waist. This scenario also means that insulin levels remain high if non-fibre carbohydrate intake is too high and physical exertion too little. This is where insulin becomes very toxic. The cells in the body try to protect themselves from the constant exposure to insulin by becoming resistant, which means that more insulin is needed to have the same desired effect of keeping blood glucose levels within normal limits. Compare this with having to speak louder, then shout, when someone is going deaf. When the pancreas is finally exhausted and runs out of steam to produce even more insulin, the blood sugar goes up and we have arrived at type II Diabetes.
We have a lot of hormones that raise blood sugar (glucagon, cortisol, adrenalin, growth hormone, thyroid hormones) and only one that lowers it (insulin), which shows where the emphasis was in the distant past. The body is not geared to the consumption of big loads of sugar, which is where the pancreas “panics”, overreacts, and pumps out an overdose of insulin, which lowers the blood sugar too quickly and causes an intense craving for sweets. The hormone that jumps to the rescue first with low states of blood glucose is adrenalin, the flight-or-fight hormone, which pushes up the heart rate and blood pressure, also makes one sweaty, jittery, nervy, aggressive, etc. Consuming sweet stuff following the craving, the blood sugar will shoot up again and the process repeats: the glucose-insulin-adrenalin roller coaster, which eventually leads to insulin resistance.
Checking blood glucose levels only, and concluding that all is well, when the results are normal, is missing the boat: insulin can be seriously raised for many years (especially in those people with a strong pancreas!), indicating insulin resistance, which can lead to a host of diseases, not just Diabetes.
I.e. high levels of insulin -> insulin resistance -> diseases: CVS disease (heart, aortic, femoral, etc.), type II DM, cancer, osteoporosis, hypertension and any inflammation related disorder.
In conventional medicine insulin is often used when blood sugar in type II Diabetes is poorly controlled. If type 2 Diabetes is the result of too much insulin and subsequent insulin resistance it should be clear that adding insulin here is going to increase the resistance and add fuel to the fire. This has been called “DIE” (Doctor Induced Exacerbation)…
Effects of insulin:
- Aging: centenarians have one thing in common: low insulin!
- To store nutrients (insulin is an anabolic hormone):
- Glucose, as glycogen (liver) and as saturated fat
- Protein
- Magnesium (if not adequately absorbed into cells -> hypertension, drop in energy and worsening of insulin resistance = vicious cycle)
- Vitamin C. Made from glucose and they compete with each other for absorption. White blood cells need 50 x more Vit C inside the cell than outside to combat pathogens, i.e. with increased sugar levels, the phagocytic index (as a measure of immune function) goes down by 75%, i.e. much less Vit C absorbed -> more infections!
- Sodium retention -> possible hypertension, even cardiac failure
- Stimulates sympathetic nervous system -> hypertension, heart attack
- Mediates blood lipids. Insulin resistance -> increased LDL, esp. small, dense LDL (most oxidisable).
- Mitogenic, meaning cell proliferation, e.g.:
- endothelial cells (which line the inside of blood vessels and which don’t become resistant, i.e. they keep on growing by the mere direct contact with insulin) -> blocked up arteries: stroke, heart attack)
- cancer cells, which have > 20 x the number of insulin receptors on their cell membranes than ordinary cells, and feed on glucose. Insulin resistance is especially related to breast and colon cancer.
- Increased blood clotting via increased platelet adhesion and diminished Nitrous Oxide production -> stroke and heart attack.
- Controls other hormones, e.g. thyroid hormones (insulin is needed for the conversion of T4 into T3, the more potent thyroid hormone), also needed for the production of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and their precursor: cholesterol. DHEA levels are diminished with insulin resistance. Also: testosterone and progesterone are not working properly, nor is growth hormone: with insulin resistance the body doesn’t know any more how to build things, because all these anabolic hormones are controlled by insulin.
- Osteoporosis: insulin resistance leads to increased magnesium and calcium excretion and drives calcium into arterial walls, not into bones. Just giving calcium (especially synthetic calcium!) for osteoporosis and presuming your body will automatically put it into your bones is a dangerous perception.
Insulin resistance follows the sequence: liver fist, then muscles, then fat tissue.
- Liver resistance: cannot respond to insulin and hence produces a whole lot of sugar when one sleeps: early morning (fasting) high sugar levels.
- Muscles resistance: cannot burn up the sugar adequately.
- Fat tissue resistance: can no longer store glucose as fat, so weight increase slows down, but with higher blood glucose levels. This also means that the body can no longer burn fat adequately (as insulin prevents that), so even if you stop eating you won’t burn up the fat adequately, rather get energy from the muscles where sugar is also stored. This means: chewing up muscles, not fat.
Oxygen and glucose are similar in the sense that they are a double edged sword: without them we die and with too much we get ill and may also die.
When oxygen combines with a molecule or element it oxidizes it. Oxidation is the process of burning / degeneration / decay / aging.
When glucose combines with something its called glycation, which is just as bad. Glucose is especially attracted to proteins to produce Advanced Glycated Endproducts (appropriately: AGE’s), which don’t get metabolized and do damage, e.g. to nerve tissue. So the macrophages (large white / immune cells, which gobble up baddies) start ingesting AGE’s. This has a profound inflammation response, e.g. re arthritis, allergies, etc. It also puts extra strain on the immune system re the production of macrophages, which are meant to gobble up pathogens, the baddies from outside.
Leptin:
The overlooked hormone, made by fat cells, only fairly recently discovered.
- Responsible for controlling appetite and fat storage.
- Responsible for telling the brain to burn fat for energy.
- Responsible for signalling the liver what to do with its stored glucose.
Leptin resistance coexists with insulin resistance and they exacerbate each other’s ill effects on the body.
Like insulin high leptin levels (as with leptin resistance) cause inflammation and are associated with the same range of chronic illnesses as with insulin resistance.
How to reverse insulin resistance:
- Exercise (increased blood flow to muscles enhances insulin sensitivity), e.g. short burst exercises.
- Strict low GI / GL diet.
- High fat – low carb diet, e.g. Mediterranean, Paleo, Ketogenic, Banting diets.
- Generally single ingredient foods, which are fresh, clean, organic: use common sense!
- Protein: 1-2 gram per kg lean body mass, more re a lot of physical activity. No meat from grain-fed animals, as you’ll be eating the saturated fats they have made from carbohydrates. So: grass-fed beef, venison, wild-caught fish, etc.
- Fat: mostly unsaturated (as most of us have plenty saturated fats that need to be burned), e.g. coconut and olive oil, avo’s, nuts (mostly mono-unsaturated fats, which is the best fuel).
- Fibre, e.g. beans, legumes, veg, etc.
- Intermittent fasting is very effective for weight loss: eat all your daily food in a period of 8-10 hours, which means fasting for 14-16 hours out of every 24 h.
- Omega 3, especially re cell membrane integrity, modulation of inflammation, heart protection / circulation / blood pressure, reduction of triglycerides and increase of HDL, and more.
- Magnesium, including re heart function and rhythm, hypertension, stress, energy production, enhancing HDL, and more.
- Chromium: 500-1000 ug daily re DM 2.
- Alpha Lipoic Acid: stimulates burning of sugar, growth of nerves and prevents glycation (and the AGE’s).
- Co-enzyme Q10: Lowers blood pressure, reduces HbA1C, increases energy, anti-oxidant.
- Others: Vitamins C, Bco (Biotin), E and D3, Glutamine (can be used as fuel in the brain, hence lessens sugar cravings), Vanadium / Vanadyl sulphate (mimics insulin, but uses different receptor), Inositol, green tea, cinnamon, turmeric.
- NB: nutritional, medical food formula’s, which contain most of the above and more, designed to deal with the metabolic pathways related to insulin resistance, Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes II.
- Dealing with stress / emotional issues / insomnia.
- Detoxification