The link between carbohydrates and insulin resistance

The hormone insulin plays a major role in the metabolism of carbohydratesand their conversion to energy in the body. When you eat carbohydrates, they are converted into glucose in the bloodstream, which triggers the release of insulin. This virtually escorts the glucose to the body's cells, where it can be used as energy. If there is too much glucose, the insulin turns it into glycogen, which is stored in your muscles and liver ready to be converted back toglucose when it is needed.

However, in the high-refined 'carob' world in which we live, we often have too much glucose floating around in the bloodstream, and then insulin converts it to fat. And our body cells may become so flooded with insulin that they cease to be responsive to it, so the pancreas keeps producing more and more insulin in an attempt to get energy to your cells. This is known as 'insulin resistance'.

Over a period of time, less and less glucose gets used as energy, and more and more gets laid down as fat. Since insulin also sends messages to the brain to tell you that you are hungry, more and more insulin means increasing cravings for carb-laden food.

The only people who are benefiting from refined foods are:

• The dentists who have to patch up your decaying teeth
• The pharmaceutical companies who have to sell you drugs to sort out the symptoms of your ailing immune system and your susceptibility to chronic and degenerative disease
• The food manufacturers, who are only really interested in profit. If you add to this a high intake of caffeine, alcohol, smoking and a lack of exercise, then you will almost certainly be taking a wobbly walk down the road to ill health.

Is it enough just to cut out refined carbohydrates?

Totally banishing all things processed and adopting a healthier diet based on fresh produce is a definite start, but if you have a weight problem linked to insulin resistance, it may not be enough, because if you are still eating a diet that is too high in the wrong sort of carbohydrates — coupled with not eating enough protein or fat to slow down the rate at which these excessive carbs are hitting your blood-sugar levels — you will still have problems. A low-fat/high-carb diet can give you a nasty shock every time you jump on the scales.

The thing to remember is that all carbohydrates have an effect on your blood sugar, and every gram of carbohydrate consumed is equal to one gram of glucose in your bloodstream. So if you are eating more than your body can burn for energy, or can safely store as glycogen in the liver, the rest will be turned to fat.

The key factor in balancing blood-sugar levels and banishing thesymptoms of insulin resistance is controlling your intake of carbohydrates. In order to do this effectively you need to know which ones have the greatest impact on your blood sugar and which do not.

Initially, this will need a little time and effort on your part as you learn about the different sorts of carbohydrates. You may find that the changes you have to make to your diet are quite drastic, but before long — as you start to feel and look better — you will be amazed at how little you miss the wrong kinds of carbohydrates such as processed and sugary foods. Youwon't feel the need to pile your plate high with potatoes and pasta, because your newly balanced blood sugar levels won't be crying out for acarbohydrate fix.

Health Concern: FAT? continue...

How much Fat do you Need?

Very little. Just about any food you can think of contains some fat, and when your diet is made up of at least 75 percent vegetables, fruits, and grains with a few nuts and seeds but without added oils, fats, cheese, or butter, as in the Lifestyle Diet, about 15 percent of your calories will be in the form of fat anyway. This is all you need. The body is capable of making its own fatty acids from the foods you eat with the exception of linoleic acid, and the mere three grams you need per day is more than supplied by eating a couple of tablespoons of sunflower seeds or one small dish of oatmeal. Even leafy green vegetables such as kale or spinach contain about 10 percent of their calories in fat. It is hard to be fat-deficient. Studies of people put on very low-fat diets, even when as little as .7 percent of their calories are taken in the form of fat as linoleic acid, have shown no adverse physical or psychological effects.

Even official bodies have recently begun to recognize the need to reduce dietary fats for the sake of preserving health. The U.S. Senate's Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs recommended in its report "Dietary Goals for the United States" a reduction of fat intake from the present 45 to 30 percent as well as a decrease in sugar consumption to 15 percent of total calories and a corresponding increase in the consumption of complex carbohydrates—the fruits, vegetables, and grains that are the foundation of the Lifestyle Diet. For long-term health and beauty, you should make an even greater reduction so that only about 15 percent of your daily calories are taken in fat.

This is in line with the Pritikin and other low-fat, low-protein diets which have recently caused great interest in both the medical profession and the general public. Pritikin recommends a diet of 80 percent complex carbohydrates, 10 percent protein and 10 percent fat. Although a radical departure from the traditional British, European, and American dietary habits, regimens like the Pritikin diet can not only substantially reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar, but can also lead to an automatic weight loss and leave people feeling and looking years younger. Such a low protein, low fat diet can also literally beautify a woman both physically and psychically.

At first such a change takes a bit of getting used to, but soon it becomes second nature and the increased vitality, slimness, and good looks it brings you in a few weeks help make it an easy way to eat permanently.

When these are broken down slowly throughout the day, they provide the pancreas with a steady flow of glucose at a rate of about two calories a minute. When you eat something sweetened with refined sugar, the glucose poured into the system (say 100 calories or more all at once) suddenly soars. So does the production of pancreatic insulin in reaction to the insult. When this insult occurs repeatedly, as it does in the usual Western diet, with its average of two pounds of sugar per person per week, the blood sugar levels become depressed, then soar, then become depressed over and over again by a pancreas made trigger happy. In many people this leads to hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, with its corresponding fatigue and mental and emotional symptoms. It can also result in diabetes and in the development of allergic reactions to foods and to petrochemicals, which have recently been linked with diverse mental disorders as well as many acute and chronic forms of illness.

Repeated eating of sugar and products containing it can also result in deficiencies in the B-complex vitamins and an imbalance in certain important minerals. And just in case you are reassuring yourself that you, after all, only eat raw sugar, you should know that one sugar is just about as bad as another. Raw sugar does contain some of the natural vitamins, minerals, and fiber that are found in the sugar beets or sugarcane from which the sugar has been taken but raw, brown, and turbinado sugars are all still highly concentrated simple sugars which create the same metabolic problems as white sugar. As such, they are potential disease-makers. The Lifestyle Diet excludes every form of refined sugar—from chocolate to jams to packaged breakfast cereals with their hidden sweetness. It does allow a little honey for sweetening muesli (two tablespoonfuls a day) plus one tablespoonful of blackstrap molasses if you want it for its nutritional value.

The mother of all hormones

When the subject of hormones comes up, most of us think in terms of themale and female hormones, testosterone and oestrogen. Some of us even take tablets to replace what our doctors feel we lack in these hormones. But we tend to ignore, or remain completely ignorant of, what scientists term the Mother of all hormones - DHEA.

What is DHEA?

DHEA is an acronym for the hormone produced by our adrenal glands known as

dehydroepiandrosterone (dee-hydro-epi-an-dros-ter-own). It is often called the

'Mother of all hormones' since it is the building block used by the body to produce many other vital hormones. These include the sex hormones (oestrogen and testosterone) as well as important steroid hormones. They play a vital role in mineral metabolism, building muscles, controlling stress, maintaining male and female characteristics and keeping the body strong and full of vitality.

Research has shown that the level of DHEA in the body is directly linked to the aging process, since the body produces less of the hormone with age.

Dozens of scientific studies have proved a direct relationship between a low DHEA level and cancer, head disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, Parkinson's disease, obesity, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis. One of the long-term studies involving 5 000 women found that DHEA levels fell drastically up to nine years before the development of breast cancer.

Low levels of DHEA can lead to depression, chronic fatigue, headaches, weakness and an elevated susceptibility to infections caused by viruses or bacteria. Its effect on the immune system has led researchers to believe that DHEA may play an important role in fighting AIDS.

Studies have shown that the body's production of DHEA starts to drop sharply from the age of 30 to very low levels at age 80. This is the largest decline of an important biochemical yet documented.

Directly after birth the brain uses so much DHEA for growth that the levels decline dramatically. As the brain approaches its final development stage, the levels once again increase. In a 12-year study of 240 men aged between 50 and 79 years, researchers found that DHEA levels were inversely correlated with mortality, from heart disease as well as from other causes.

DHEA production varies widely from person to person. Some people seem to maintain youthful levels into later life while others seem to become deficient in DHEA at a young age. Chronic illness and major stress at a younger age, deplete the hormone more rapidly.

Research indicates that DHEA:

• plays a major role in protecting brain neurons from senility-associated disorders such as Alzheimer's and dementia and improves memory function;
  

• increases natural hormone levels, and therefore the libido, necessary for a healthy sex life;
• strengthens the immune system;
• plays an important role in preventing heart disease by helping to lower cholesterol;
• allows insulin to function more efficiently, thereby normalising blood sugar levels and reducing the risk of insulin resistance and/or diabetes;
• is an anti-ageing hormone in that it acts as a buffer against stress-related hormones, in particular cortisol, which damages the body and causes destruction of tissue -the main cause of rapid ageing;
• actively helps the body burn kilojoules for energy rather than storing them as fat.

How can DHEA did weight loss?

Simply by controlling your stress levels as explained in the chapter Stress can make you fat! Stress is a major contributing factor to obesity as well as most of the other auto-immune diseases. Because of the drastic decline in DHEA as we grow older, the body loses its buffer against stress-related hormones, particularly cortisol. To summarise the stress cycle:

• while experiencing emotional stress, adrenaline and eventually cortisol flood the blood stream with excessive levels of glycogen,
• which requires insulin to make it available as energy for the muscle cells;
• however, as a result of long periods of undue stress, coupled with a diet rich inrefined carbohydrates such as white flour and sugar, the body tends tobecome insulin resistant,
• which means the insulin cannot make the glycogen in the blood available as energy, so the blood sugar levels remain unduly high,
• and because high glycogen levels are extremely dangerous, the blood sugar is then stored as fat on the body, in unusual places such as around the stomach area, on the upper arms, back, neck and face.

The process is simple to understand: undue emotional stress for long periods of time + high levels of adrenaline and cortisol + high levels of blood sugar + insufficient or inefficient insulin = body fat + a plethora of auto-immune diseases.

The answer to your spiralling, chronic obesity might therefore be to control your stress levels, which will then cause your weight to be controlled so much more readily. Clinical studies have concluded that DHEA levels are inversely related to cortisol, which means that as cortisol increases, DHEA levels decrease.

Supplementation with DHEA will help your body by acting as a buffer against cortisol and the obesity-promoting chain reaction it evokes.

Drink to your health vitality continue...

Liver & Gall Bladder Cleanser

Excellent for the morning after.

65 ml Daily Health Juice

45 ml beetroot juice (yes, raw beetroot, but peel it-the skin is very bitter) 65 ml cucumber juice

Diabetes or Cholesterol Juice

500 ml carrot juice

65 ml lemon juice (peel the lemon before extracting juice) 125 ml celery juice

180 ml onion tea (see below)

200 ml dried bean broth (see below)

125 ml lettuce juice

125 ml parsley tea (see below)

Mix the juices well and store in the freezer in 125 ml containers. Defrost at room temperature and drink 125 ml twice daily for effective cholesterol and blood sugar control. This quantity is sufficient for 5 to 6 days.

Dried Bean Broth

Soak a cup of dried beans overnight in cold water. Drain and cover with fresh water in a small saucepan. Simmer for an hour or so, until the beans are very tender, replenishing the water to keep the beans well covered. Stir from time to time. When cooked, season with pure herb salt (from health stores), strain, and use the broth in your juice. Enjoy the beans mashed with a little herb salt and olive oil - you've taken the trouble to cook them! Excellent for diabetes and cholesterol control.

Onion Tea

4 large onions, un-peeled but quartered

2 litres water

Bring the onions and water to the boil, reduce heat and simmer covered with a lid for 45 minutes. Remove from heat, mash the onions well - still inside the water - and allow to cool. Strain, pushing the pulp firmly against the sieve to extract as much juice as possible. Keep refrigerated or frozen in small quantities. Use as required. Excellent for cholesterol and blood sugar control.

Parsley Tea

1 litre water

1 bunch parsley

Briefly boil together the water and parsley. Allow to cool, then blend in your blender until smooth. Keep frozen in small quantities to use as required.

Juice for Glands

This juice is ideal for optimising glandular function,

65 ml Daily Health Juice

45 ml pineapple juice

30 ml beetroot juice

45 ml celery juice

125 ml onion tea

Juice for Hayfever

65 ml carrot juice

65 ml spinach juice 65 ml lettuce juice

65 ml cucumber juice 10 ml horseradish juice

(If you don't have fresh horseradish, stir 2,5 to 5 ml of pickled or creamed horseradish sauce into the juice before drinking.)

The GI of food: How low should you go?

Just as all kilojoules are not equal, so all carbohydrates are not equal. Extensive and in-depth clinical trials and studies over the past decade or so have brought about what has become known as The Glucose Revolution, which also happens to be the title of a world best-selling book by Australians Professor Jennie Brand-Miller, Kay Foster-Powel and Dr Anthony Leeds.

Carbohydrates always used to be regarded as the main reason for obesity. Regrettably that theory has remained stuck in the minds of many people in the medical profession and slimming industry and to this day many dieters are following low-carbohydrate diets - much to their detriment, as you know.

Well, here is what every dieter should know about starch: forget all that tripe you were taught and start eating your starches, but eat them wisely. Eat mainly starches with a low GI (Glycaernic Index).

The GI of food indicates the way it scores according to its effect on your blood sugar levels. Carbohydrate foods that are rapidly converted to glucose during the digestive process and therefore rapidly increase your blood sugar (glycogen) levels, have high GI values. Carbohydrates that break down slowly, naturally release their glucose into the bloodstream at a slower rate, therefore raising blood sugar levels at a slower rate. At the school we call this the 'carbo speedometer'. Of all foods, refined sugar (sucrose) and glucose have the highest GI, namely 100. All other foods are rated on a scale from 0 to 100 according to their effect on the blood sugar levels, or to put it plainly, the rate at which they drip into your bloodstream.

Much has been said about the incredible weight-loss benefits of the so-called Mediterranean diet. The popular belief is that it works so well because of the good fats found mainly in the olives and the oily fish prescribed in this diet. Yes, that is true. However, the other main reason for its success seems to have been overlooked. In fact, it is probably the most important reason why it is such an effective, healthy and delicious diet - it also offers loads of (and mainly) low GI starches. That includes beans, pulses and pasta to name but a few, Paradoxically, the one flaw in this diet is the fat: too much of the 'good' fat can make you as fat as bad fat does. And on this diet you are allowed to consume far too much of that lovely good fat! Just think of those tables groaning with tappas and antipasti.

That diet aside, following a low GI eating plan will, in my opinion, be the very best you can do for your weight loss efforts, mainly because of the way in which you are able to manipulate and control your blood sugar levels and consequent insulin production.

The main benefits of low CI foods

• They cause a gradual rise and fall in blood sugar levels, thereby causing lower insulin levels, which makes it easier for fat to be burnt and less likely to be stored.
• They assist in lowering blood fats.
• They are more bulky and are therefore more satisfying.
• They reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Can sugar change your behaviour?

Hypoglycaemia - believed by some to be the cause of behavioural changes such as hyperactivity - has become one of the buzzwords of the past few years. Unfortunately, much of what is believed about it is not based on scientific fact. Firstly, it is not a disease but a condition in which the level of sugar (in this case, glucose) in the blood is below normal. It can occur as a symptom of organic disorders such as diabetes, or as a result of shock or anxiety.

Hypoglycaemia can also occur if for some reason the body loses its ability to maintain blood sugar at a constant level. In this case, eating sugar can result in a rapid rise, then a dramatic drop in blood sugar, with the accompanying symptoms (headaches, weakness, fatigue and dizziness). This condition (known as reactive hypoglycaemia) is very rare. It is difficult to diagnose, partly because the symptoms are so varied and could result from any number of other causes, including anxiety. However, it may well be that some individuals are particularly sensitive to a drop in blood sugar levels after consumption of a sugar load which triggers off the production of just a little too much insulin. Treatment for those who genuinely suffer from this disorder includes cutting out sugar and eating several small, balanced meals a day.

Some people believe that hypoglycaemia is a relatively common disorder and that it is responsible for behavioural changes that occur after eating sugar, such as hyperactivity and even criminal behaviour. In the USA, this theory gained such popularity that the defence used in a certain murder trial was that the defendant had eaten sugar- containing confectionery and was therefore not responsible for his actions! Prison diets were also changed so as to exclude all forms of sugar. Subsequently, however, controlled scientific experiments have failed to show a link between sugar consumption and hyperactivity - some studies have even shown sugar to have a calming effect!

How fibre affects the body continue...

Appendicitis

Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix, the small blind-ended tube at the beginning of the large bowel. Although the underlying causes of appendicitis are not clearly understood, there is evidence that regular intake of fibre may prevent the development of the disease.

Hiatus hernia, varicose veins and piles

Many doctors believe that abdominal straining due to constipation encourages the development of conditions such as hiatus hernia (where the top of the stomach is pushed upwards, out of the abdomen and into the thoracic cavity), varicose veins and haemorrhoids (piles). It is often necessary to have surgical treatment for these conditions. Treating constipation with high fibre diets and, as a result, avoiding straining, may prevent these problems and may even reduce the need for more drastic treatment in some cases.

Coronary heart disease (CHD)

Coronary heart disease is the most common cause of death in affluent Western countries (see page 151). A large number of factors influence the development of the disease, of which raised blood cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and hypercoagulability (the tendency of the blood to clot too easily) are probably the most important.

Researchers believe that high-fibre, low fat diets protect against CHD by lowering blood cholesterol and probably also by decreasing blood pressure and the clotting ability of blood. It is especially the water soluble or gel-forming dietary fibres - found in oats, legumes and some fruit and vegetables - which help to lower cholesterol levels. While it should be borne in mind that diet is but one of the many factors which influence the development of CHD, it is also one of the controllable ones.

Diabetes mellitus

There are two forms of diabetes mellitus, a disease characterised by the excretion of glucose (sugar) in the urine (see What is diabetes? on page 175). Both forms are today treated with a high carbohydrate, high fibre, low fat diet. Fibre in the diet normalizes the body's response to dietary carbohydrate (glucose tolerance). A regular high intake of dietary fibre also improves insulin function by increasing the sensitivity of muscle and fat cells to the hormone.

Gallstones

The body manufactures these crystalline substances when the amount of cholesterol in the bile is so high that the bile salts cannot keep it in solution. The stones may block bile ducts between the liver and gall bladder or between the gall bladder and small intestine, resulting in severe pain and even jaundice. As in the case of other diseases of affluence, a number of factors may contribute to the development of gallstones. It has however been shown that high fibre intakes stimulate the production of those bile salts which keep cholesterol in solution, thus decreasing the risk of gallstone formation. Populations who follow high fibre diets have a significantly lower risk of the disease than those on the average refined Western diet.

To what degree is fibre involved?

Although research has proved that dietary fibre has a positive effect on body functions in general, the degree to which it is involved in the risk and development of the above diseases is still unclear. Studies are hampered by the fact that a variety of causes play some role and also because high-fibre diets differ in more than one respect from low-fibre ones. For example, they usually have a lower fat content - especially saturated fatty acids from food of animal origin - and are higher in vitamins and minerals. These factors could add to the beneficial effects seen in people who eat a high-fibre diet.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disorder in which the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin, a hormone which prevents blood sugar levels from rising too high, or in which the insulin that has been produced does not function properly. It does this by helping body cells to take up glucose - either to metabolise to energy or to store as glycogen or fat.

If an individual manufactures too little insulin, there are two possible forms of treatment: The young, more severely affected diabetic can only survive if given daily injections of insulin for the rest of his or her life. However, if diabetes develops at a later age, treatment with pills is usually effective. These pills are not insulin; they are essentially compounds which give the pancreas the necessary stimulus to produce more insulin to cope with the carbohydrate (sugars and starches) which the individual eats. Because sugar causes a dramatic rise in blood sugar levels, diabetics should obviously avoid it in their diets; indeed, they should avoid all unnecessary food in general if they are overweight, as not only is the insulin requirement related to food intake, but excess weight has an aggravating effect on the condition. Obese diabetics who develop the disease in later life can often be treated by diet alone.

A low fat, high fibre intake - which 'dilutes' the contents of the digestive tract - slows down the passage of glucose into the blood stream and hence the elevation of the blood sugar is less dramatic.