Currently viewing the category: "insulin resistance"

Sodas Make Ya Dumb!

By On · Add Comment · In diabetes, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), insulin resistance, omega-3 fatty acids, soda, soft drinks, sugar dysregulation

Duhhhhh….does soda make you fat? Don’t know…but it might make you dumb. So says a recent study out of the University of California, Los Angeles, which observed what happened when rats were fed a steady diet of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the principle constituent of soft drinks.

Researchers trained 24 rats over a five day period to complete a complicated maze (Barnes maze test, feeding them standard rat chow. They then randomly assigned the rats into four dietary groups: half receiving HFCS as their main beverage source, and half receiving water. Each group was then split into two, those with added omega-3 fatty acids to their diet (rat chow) and those without, so that the four groups looked like this:

  1. high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) only
  2. high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)  + omega-3s
  3. water only
  4. water only  + omega-3s
All four groups continued receiving powdered rat chow throughout (with or without the omega-3s). The results showed a few interesting things. First, although there was no difference in final weight or size of the rats, the HFCS groups preferred eating the sugar to the rat chow–they must have been American–although caloric intake stayed consistent among all the groups.

Second, although the rats were found to be in the same initial cognitive condition prior to their special diets, after six weeks the rats that were deficient in omega-3s showed a decline in memory, and thus a reduced ability to complete the maze. Hmmm…. And the results were even worse for the rats deficient in omega-3s and high in HFCS.

But even more interestingly is that the cognitive deficiencies (memory loss) were ameliorated by adding omega-3s to the diet. Whoa!… The researchers conclude that omega-3 deficiency led to a vulnerability of the rats’ brains to the high fructose corn syrup. Fascinating.
“The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.”

The researchers believe that the lack of omega-3s caused the brain to become insulin resistant, which would increase the sugar concentration in the blood. This sugar dysregulation then, they think, disrupts the brain’s ability to process sugar, a necessary food source for the brain to process thoughts and emotions.

“Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain, where insulin appears to disturb memory and learning,” Gomez-Pinilla said.

High-fructose corn syrup is commonly found in soda, condiments, applesauce, baby food and other processed snacks. The average American consumes more than 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

“Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think,” said Gomez-Pinilla.

“Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage.”

So the take home lesson here is two-fold: One, and for me the most important, is to make sure you are getting sufficient omega-3s in your diet. Because the typical western diet is high in omega-6s and low in omega-3s, then supplementing, in my opinion, is the best bet.

And two…HFCS is garbage! I’ve been saying it for over a decade, and nothing’s come along to alter my opinion. The typical American is both omega-3 deficient AND consumes too much HFCS. Think about that if you still can…

Disrupted Rhythms Linked to Diabetes

By On · Add Comment · In biological clock, circadian rhythms, disease, genetic mutations, insulin resistance, melatonin, sleep patterns, type 2 diabetes, vitality

More evidence that disrupted body rhythms affect health…negatively. I wrote a piece recently for the Champion’s Club Community on rhythmic sleeping. The premise: we do much better when we follow our natural rhythms, whether talking about dietary habits or sleep patterns. And by observing our rhythms, we’ll be less likely to throw our physiological fluctuations off.

Case in point: Researchers from Imperial College London found a connection between disruptions in the biological clock and type 2 diabetes. They found that people who have rare genetic mutations in the receptor for melatonin have a greatly increased risk for adult-onset diabetes.

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is a hormone present in numerous living organisms from animals, to plants, to microbes. In animals, circulating levels have an effect on many processes related to the biological clock (our daily sleep-wake cycles), among many other processes including cancer suppression.

Melatonin works primarily through activation of melatonin receptors (MT1 and MT2). Along with the sleep-wake cycle, melatonin influences insulin release getting the body ready for sugar metabolism following a meal. Mutations in the MT2 receptor (four rare ones to be exact) is associated with a six times increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which is a disorder of decreased insulin receptors causing insulin resistance and relative deficiency. The researchers report that the mutations of MT2 receptors disrupt the connection between the body clock and insulin release, resulting in abnormal control of blood sugar.

The investigators looked at over 7,000 people to evaluate the MT2 gene. They identified 40 variants associated with type 2 diabetes, four of which are very rare and make the receptor incapable of responding to melatonin. The effect of these four variants was then confirmed in an additional group of nearly 12,000 people. While the study found a link between the mutations and diabetes–no direct causal relationship was concluded.

So I go back to the main point of my thoughts on body rhythms–it’s best to maintain our rhythms for the most part. What I mean is that if you generally eat three meals a day, you’d be wise to not fluctuate from that rhythm, and eat at pretty much the same time every day. And the same is true for our sleep cycles: it’s best to develop and maintain a rhythm, so that you don’t disrupt your own metabolism by interfering with your natural body clock. Erratic sleep patterns are the quickest way to a sleep disorder, which will diminish health.

This current study is just further support of what I believe to be a universal principle of rhythm. Live within universal laws and you will feel–and demonstrate–the most vitality. Along with practicing the other six keys to optimal health, observing natural rhythms will help you avoid the extreme fluctuations that can lead to dis-ease.  Oscillate wisely.

Don’t Give Up Exercising

By On · Add Comment · In calories, exercising, fat, insulin resistance, lose weight, metabolism, physical fitness, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, type 2 diabetes

A message that I try to get out in my book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health, is that exercising for purely aesthetic reasons is a sure to lead to frustration and disappointment for many. It’s the best way to guarantee an abandoned physical fitness program when things don’t turn out the way you’ve fantasized. I think a much better approach is to exercise for the myriad of physiological or health benefits you will surely enjoy if only you can keep up the effort.

I think what happens is that people want to lose weight and “get ripped.” Nothing wrong with either of these desires. But what happens when it doesn’t occur over night, or in a few months? Well, many people end up frustrated, and say, “This isn’t working.” They then come up with all kinds of implausible excuses why it’s not working for them: genetics, slow metabolism, or the old, “I work out all the time, but I never seem to lose weight.”

Well here’s good news this week out of the University of Michigan: Fat metabolism speeds up in just one exercise session. That’s right! Just one workout and fat burning increases. This lowers your chance of developing insulin resistance–the hallmark of type 2 diabetes–and increases your ability to burn fat in the future. How? Exercising increases the ability to store fat in the muscle tissue as triglycerides, which makes it available for quick energy; much quicker than the fat filled adipose tissue we store around our bellies, butts and hips.

So even if you find that you “never seem to lose weight” no matter how much you exercise, just know that despite what seems to be slow going, you’re doing yourself a great physiological and health service by working out regularly. If what you say about working out all the time is true, then you might need to be honest with yourself and cut the calories you’re ingesting everyday in the form of food, booze or soda. But you can be sure that your metabolism is working faster and burning fat more efficiently if you are exercising. And even if that’s the most you get out of it, you are still doing your body a world of good.

Antioxidant Brain Cleaner

By On · Add Comment · In antioxidants, brain fog, free radicals, insulin resistance, memory, mental function, oxidative damage, type 2 diabetes

Want to know which natural substances have been shown to clear the mind of brain fog and improve mental function and memory? Antioxidants, that’s what.

An interesting study out of the University of Toronto found that antioxidants, like vitamins C and E, can clear mental sluggishness, confusion and forgetfulness in people with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by insulin resistance and high blood sugar. This type of diabetes is known as adult-onset diabetes because it is usually related to lifestyle–that is, poor diet, lack of exercise and obesity.

People with type 2 diabetes often get brain fog following a fatty meal. This mental sluggishness, the researcher have found, is due to oxidative damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals damage cells, tissues, and DNA, which can lead to cancer. They also speed up the aging process. Case in point, according to the Canadian scientists, brain fog in type 2 diabetics “makes the 50-year-old brain more like the 75-year-old brain.”

So what makes this study important? If brain fog is caused by oxidative damage from free radicals, don’t you think everybody might benefit from antioxidant supplementation? Yeah, so do I. Once again, that’s vitamins C and E, as well as vitamin A and selenium. And if you’ve read my book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health, then you know I really like alpha-lipoic acid (ALA). ALA is known as the universal antioxidant because it is both water and fat soluble, and it crosses the blood-brain barrier easily. It’s powerful and I highly recommend it. Research conducted at UC Berkeley showed alpha-lipoic acid to improve brain function and memory.

I don’t know about you guys but my mind is important to me, so I’m all about supplementing with antioxidants. If supplements aren’t your thing–and I’d strongly advise you to reconsider–then at least pound the real fruit juices I talked about in an earlier post. But for those of you who supplement regularly, don’t forget to include vitamins C, E and ALA in your nutritional regimen.

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