A lot of emphasis has been placed on avoiding fats in the diet, particularly saturated fats. After all, fats are calorie-dense, containing about nine calories per gram, while proteins and carbohydrates contain approximately four calories per gram. Repeated warnings have been issued from government and other well-established sources to avoid saturated fats -- not only to prevent obesity but also to avoid cardiovascular diseases -- particularly atherosclerosis. Constant, authoritative warnings to avoid fats have made the public focus almost exclusively on reducing their fat intake.
When examining the labels on foods, the first and often only concern for many people is the saturated fat content. Accordingly, people pay less attention to the calorie and sugar, or refined carbohydrate, content of foods, and consume more calories and more refined carbohydrates as a trade off. This behavior coincides with the expansion of the public girth.
In the midst of the worldwide epidemics of obesity and diabetes (diabesity), the realization finally hit home that it isn’t primarily the fat, but the calories and refined carbohydrates that are the major culprits in these epidemics.
Improving Insulin Sensitivity
In order to help people develop a weight-loss program that is safe and efficient, I often steer them towards class of weight-loss supplements that promote fat loss and muscle gain in an interesting, somewhat indirect way—by improving the working of the insulin system. These supplements, which can also be used to help manage blood sugar in diabetics and hypoglycemics, include trivalent chromium, popularized by the ChromeMate brand, and cinnamon extract, often sold under the name Cinnulin. They are known as “insulin sensitizers.”
Metabolic Syndrome
About 40 years ago, a British scientist, named John Yudkins, wrote a series of articles implicating the heavy consumption of sugars in the increasing prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular disease. He described the syndrome that we now refer to as “metabolic syndrome” or pre-diabetes. Yudkin proposed the idea that insulin resistance is the silent precursor to conditions ranging from obesity and diabetes to hypertension and atherosclerosis.
Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps the body’s fat, muscle and liver cells convert glucose obtained from food into energy. Insulin resistance occurs when the body’s cells become unresponsive to insulin, and excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream, setting the stage for metabolic syndrome—and weight gain. Certain refined carbohydrates are rapidly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and, when consumed in excess, can bring on insulin resistance by desensitizing cells to insulin. Often, the pancreas begins to produce more insulin in an effort to regulate elevated blood glucose levels, but eventually the pancreas loses its ability to produce sufficient amounts of insulin, which results in type 2 diabetes.
Research has shown that elevated insulin levels can also result in high blood pressure and more advanced forms of cardiovascular disease. It’s no wonder that many supplements now used in the war against obesity—widely-accepted to be a major risk factor in the development of both diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the leading causes of death in the U.S.— work by helping people overcome the insulin resistant state. I have investigated many of these in the laboratory and via clinical studies and will discuss these in the upcoming articles.
The Anti-Aging Bottom Line: Living a long healthy life and maintaining a healthy body weight go hand in hand. Natural products can be instrumental in helping you achieve your weight-loss goals. However, it is important to understand the role insulin resistance plays in weight gain in order to create an effective weight-loss regimen. You may want to consider taking supplemental chromium or cinnamon, or formulations containing these products.
QUICK TIP: You might be surprised to learn that, according to Jean Carper, bagels are as bad for blood sugar as white bread, sugar and potatoes. Learn More
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