One of the biggest health problems nowadays in western countries today is how to tackle obesity. It appears that obesity and overweight are not just about the disrupted balance between energy intake and consumption. It’s about the type of ingredients you’re ingesting with simple sugars being the #1 cause of insulin resistance which subsequently causes the rapid fat accumulation.
The study, published in the journal Obesity, substituted the sugar intake of 43 obese children with starch. The results have demonstrated that sugar is dangerous not because of its calories, but because of the strain it places on the metabolism.
Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, who is the author of this study, said his research found the children’s cholesterol improved and their insulin levels dropped.
“Everything got better,” Dr Lustig claimed to Independent. “These findings support the idea that it is essential for parents to evaluate sugar intake and to be mindful of the health effects of what their children are consuming.”
We tested his claims
For 9 days, I myself have eliminated every trace of simple sugars in my diet, but made sure to eat regularly, without any additional changes to my dieting habits. That means: meat. It also means pasta and potatoes with just small amounts of veggies. No fruits whatsoever. 1 glass of tasty, cold, white wine during the dinner and 1 shot of bourbon before lunch or late at night were also the part of the ritual.
But no simple sugars outside those in wine and bourbon. No sodas or sugar-sweetened soft beverages. No cakes, no chocolate. And just two thin slices of white bread per day.
During the trial period, my “recreational activities” included 8 hours of sitting behind the desk on average and perhaps one short, slow walk to pick up the cigarettes and groceries. Oh, I did shoot some pool, if you wanna count that in recreational activities.
The result was surprising to say the least.
Intestinal bloating got seriously reduced and my weight dropped by 8 pounds.
So what happened?
My insulin response improved, while pancreas was not forced to overproduce insulin, that’s all. The body was able to metabolize the nutrients with added efficiency since no cells were insulin resistant. In addition, my leptin response got better but in all fairness, I did take my time to finish my meals. It’s a trick I often use to fool my brain.
You see, brain learned from the harsh past and made sure that knowledge got transferred through cellular memory. As a result, the brain creates certain “leptin lag.” Along with insulin, leptin is another important hormone which, among everything else, tells you that you had enough. Brain deliberately withholds the release of leptin just to make sure you have stashed some reserves because, you never know what might happen, right?
So by slowing down with your chewing and ingestion, you’re fooling your brain’s inner clock. Eat for 15 minutes instead of 3, which is the average time to ingest hamburger, and you’ll receive the “enough” cue before it’s too late.
Which leads us to the biggest problem you and I have with sugars!
You see, every non-alcoholic beverage you had today, contains high levels of simple, industrial sugars (glucose and fructose) but have an insignificant satiety index. You simply don’t know that you had enough because brain didn’t release the leptin in adequate amounts. And since the liver will help out when you overwhelm your blood with glucose, you’ll start collecting fat.
It’s a simple process actually. Nothing too complicated about it. You eat, and thus, you trigger the insulin secretion. Insulin is the main regulator of blood sugar. But. You don’t want the constant peak of insulin throughout the day because two things will happen:
1) The liver will respond to unusually frequent and high presence of insulin and help out by converting excess blood sugars in fat, raising the triglycerides.
2) The cells will become annoyed by the constant insulin presence and develop acute and even chronic insulin resistance. And that shit can lead to Type 2 Diabetes and many other health issues, with obesity taking the primary role.
That’s why you have a movement advocating the low-carb diet. But there’s a problem with it. Cut carbs entirely and do not substitute with natural, slow digesting carbs found in veggies and fruits and your intellectual abilities will seriously deteriorate. In other words, you’ll become less prone to deploy complex thinking which will seriously reduce your odds in this complex and hard system we all are living in!
It’s all about the balance and everyday physical activities. Also, make sure to get up from your chair every 45-60 minutes and stretch for 5. Sedentary lifestyle also increases the chance that you’ll develop insulin resistance.
Just do what you did while you were a boy and you’ll be fine.
