What Do the Experts Say pt.3

Hello, blog followers. I hope you’re all doing well. When I left off in yesterday’s blog, I said we would talk today about what diabetes actually is. I found the following, (which I will put in quotes so my ramblings don’t become confused with the actual article), on Men’s Health website in an article entitled, "A Cure for Diabetes." It is the simplest explanation I have been able to find.


"So what exactly is diabetes? In freshman-biology terms, it's a disease of the hormone insulin. Secreted by your pancreas, insulin moves glucose -- the form of sugar your body uses for energy -- from your bloodstream into your cells. Problems arise, however, when, often due to excessive weight gain, your cells start to become resistant to the effects of insulin. (It knocks, no one answers.) As a result, more insulin is required to dispose of the same amount of glucose. (The knock becomes a loud banging.) This condition, called insulin resistance, is the first stage of type-2 diabetes.


As insulin resistance worsens over time, your pancreas has to pump out enormous amounts of insulin to force glucose into your cells. (Hey, let's use a sledgehammer!) Eventually, your pancreas has trouble keeping up, leaving you with chronic high blood sugar, a.k.a. hyperglycemia -- the defining marker of diabetes and the root cause of the calamities that arise from it. Alas, it only gets worse from here: If the resistance continues to mount, some of the insulin-producing beta cells inside your pancreas can "burn out" and stop working altogether. (In type-1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder destroys most or all of the beta cells.) Once beta cells burn out, you're looking at a lifetime of daily insulin injections.


Or not, if you believe Dr. Vernon.


Unlike protein, fat, and fiber -- which have little if any impact on blood sugar -- carbohydrates such as starch and sugar are quickly broken down into glucose during digestion, which is then absorbed into your bloodstream. The more you eat, the higher and faster your blood sugar rises. Therefore, if you have diabetes, it would make sense to control your blood sugar by limiting your carbohydrate intake. Another benefit of consuming fewer carbs is that you often end up consuming fewer calories, and that can help lower weight, which, in turn, reduces insulin resistance."


My take on all this is even simpler. If your body can’t handle sugar, then don’t eat it! Within a week or so after adopting a low carb lifestyle, I HAD to stop taking my meds. Dr. Yancy explains, "When you cut out carbohydrates, reducing insulin and other diabetes medications isn't just a benefit, it's a necessity," says William Yancy, Ph.D., lead author of the Duke study. "Otherwise, blood-sugar levels would drop too low."


So, now that you know what diabetes is and from previous blogs, how it can ravage your body and pocketbook, and some of the American Diabetes Associations backward recommendations for treatment, I hope you get where I’m coming from and why I’m so passionate in getting the low carb/high fat word out. Tomorrow, let’s talk about historical, pre-insulin treatments, and why we’re so eager to push drugs as opposed to diet. Thanks, again to all of you who are taking time out of your busy day to read my ramblings and if there is ever anything I can do to help you please don’t hesitate to contact me via contact@ourlowcarblife.com See ya!

Men's Health, "A Cure for Diabetes"
http://www.menshealth.com/men/health/other-diseases-ailments/the-cure-for-diabetes/article/4a935e4e40fae010VgnVCM20000012281eac