Low Carbohydrate Diets: Understanding The Grim Long-term Effects
Diabetes is growing faster now than at any point in human history, yet despite this doctors continue to prescribe low carbohydrate diets, a strategy that is often viewed as the most effective nutrition approach for optimal diabetes health. On the surface, this appears to make sense because low carbohydrate diets often result in rapid weight loss, reduced A1c values, and decreased blood glucose. However, more than 85 years of research has clearly demonstrated that low carbohydrate diets cause insulin resistance, the behind-the-scenes condition that complicates and worsens all forms of diabetes (1–30). A growing body of evidence now shows that diets low in fat and high in unrefined carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, and whole grains are remarkably effective at reversing insulin resistance in patients with type 1 diabetes, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes (20–25,31–42). Insulin resistance results from the accumulation of fat in tissues that are not designed to store fat, mainly in your liver and muscles (2,3,9–14,16–18,27,43,44). When you eat a low carbohydrate diet high in fat and protein, fatty acids are burned for energy, however they also accumulate in tissues like your muscle and liver. When your muscle and liver begin accumulating fat, both tissues begin rejecting insulin in an effort to block more energy from entering. Essentially, the more fat you eat, the weaker insulin becomes. Low carbohydrate diets are the easiest way to develop insulin resistance. In the research setting, scientists induce insulin resistance and diabetes by feeding laboratory animals a low carbohydrate diet high in fat and protein. These animals gain weight, develop severe insulin resistance, and show early signs of diabetes in as little as 8 weeks (1,45,46,46–5 Continue reading >>
- The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus
- How Low Can You Go? Expert Advice On Low Carb Diets and Diabetes
- The interpretation and effect of a low-carbohydrate diet in the management of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
What Is The Perfect Diet For Weight Loss And Diabetics? What Is Insulin Resistance?
Have you heard but don’t understand what is insulin resistance? Are you gaining weight no matter what you try? Are you pre diabetic or been diagnosed as a diabetic (T1 or T2)? Has your appetite always been out of control? Well watch this fabulous Tedx talk by Dr Sarah Hallberg and see how insulin resistance can be playing a part in all the above conditions. Everyone can benefit from cutting carbs. Not only will it reduce your risk of T2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular risk factors and more importantly, your inflammatory markers are reduced which has huge implications for cancer prevention. Why are the guidelines still recommending for diabetics to consumes carbohydrates when they are intolerant to them? The message for so long has been “eat whatever you want, then medicate for it”. This is such nonsense. None of us should be eating so many carbs, let alone diabetics. We can have the beginnings of insulin resistance for years, even decades, before we are classed as pre diabetic or T2 diabetic. Having such high circulating levels of insulin is the problem. High insulin levels leads to insulin resistance. Our cells start to require more and more insulin to function. Click To Tweet So now you have watched the talk, lets look again at what insulin resistance is. We are all advised to eat far too many carbs, whether it is ‘healthy wholegrain’, sweets, ice cream, ‘natural’ muesli bars, cereals, bread or potatoes. This constant high level of circulating glucose (which all carbs are converted to) requires more and more insulin to push that glucose into your cells as glycogen. We can only store so much glycogen in our body so the remainder is stored as fat. Insulin is our fat storing hormone. Remember that again, insulin is our fat storing hormone. So whilst our b Continue reading >>
Carbohydrates And Blood Sugar
When people eat a food containing carbohydrates, the digestive system breaks down the digestible ones into sugar, which enters the blood. As blood sugar levels rise, the pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that prompts cells to absorb blood sugar for energy or storage. As cells absorb blood sugar, levels in the bloodstream begin to fall. When this happens, the pancreas start making glucagon, a hormone that signals the liver to start releasing stored sugar. This interplay of insulin and glucagon ensure that cells throughout the body, and especially in the brain, have a steady supply of blood sugar. Carbohydrate metabolism is important in the development of type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body can’t make enough insulin or can’t properly use the insulin it makes. Type 2 diabetes usually develops gradually over a number of years, beginning when muscle and other cells stop responding to insulin. This condition, known as insulin resistance, causes blood sugar and insulin levels to stay high long after eating. Over time, the heavy demands made on the insulin-making cells wears them out, and insulin production eventually stops. Glycemic index In the past, carbohydrates were commonly classified as being either “simple” or “complex,” and described as follows: Simple carbohydrates: These carbohydrates are composed of sugars (such as fructose and glucose) which have simple chemical structures composed of only one sugar (monosaccharides) or two sugars (disaccharides). Simple carbohydrates are easily and quickly utilized for energy by the body because of their simple chemical structure, often leading to a faster rise in blood sugar and insulin secretion from the pancreas – which can have negative health effects. Complex carbohydrates: These carbohydrates have mo Continue reading >>
Why A Low-insulin-index Diet Isn't Exactly A 'lowcarb' Diet
A Conversation with David Brazel on Obesity Research Of these two ideas, time-restricted eating is by far the most important idea. But eating foods low on the insulin index when you do eat makes it much, much easier to go for periods of time without eating at allwhether those periods without eating are the last few hours before bed and then skipping breakfast the next day,or going without eating for more extended periods of time. So it is worth understanding what low-insulin-index eating is. I found it fascinating to study the available information on which foods generate a large insulin response to write " Forget Calorie Counting; It's the Insulin Index, Stupid ." There are many surprises. I distilled six general principles: Avoid sweet beverages, including fruit juice If you drink alcohol, lean towards white wine instead of beer But there are many other things to learn from the evidence on which foods have a big insulin kick. For example, in addition to avoiding pancakes, bread and potatoes, and yogurt marketed as healthy that has a lot of sugar added, certain fruits, such as honeydew melon, seem to have a powerful insulin kick, with a reported 95% confidence interval of 63 to 123. (I think the insulin index of other types of melon is simply unknown because no one has done the experiment yet.) One of the most important things to know is that meat is moderately high in its insulin kick because certain proteins can cause a substantial insulin response. Consider these numbers from among those I retail in " Forget Calorie Counting; It's the Insulin Index, Stupid ," selected here to make a point: Australian brown pasta (I assume with no sugar added): 29 Australian white pasta (I assume with no sugar added): 29 The point is that white fish and steak are in the 30-50 insuli Continue reading >>
Low Carbohydrate Diets: Understanding The Grim Long-term Effects
Low Carbohydrate Diets: Understanding the Grim Long-Term Effects Diabetes is growing faster now than at any point in human history, yet despite this doctors continue to prescribe low carbohydrate diets, a strategy that is often viewed as the most effective nutrition approach for optimal diabetes health. On the surface, this appears to make sense because low carbohydrate diets often result in rapid weight loss, reduced A1c values, and decreased blood glucose. However, more than 85 years of research has clearly demonstrated that low carbohydrate diets cause insulin resistance , the behind-the-scenes condition that complicates and worsens all forms of diabetes (130). Understanding the Biochemistry of Insulin Resistance A growing body of evidence now shows that diets low in fat and high in unrefined carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, and whole grains are remarkably effective at reversing insulin resistance in patients with type 1 diabetes, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes (2025,3142). Insulin resistance results from the accumulation of fat in tissues that are not designed to store fat, mainly in your liver and muscles (2,3,914,1618,27,43,44). When you eat a low carbohydrate diet high in fat and protein, fatty acids are burned for energy, however they also accumulate in tissues like your muscle and liver. When your muscle and liver begin accumulating fat, both tissues begin rejecting insulin in an effort to block more energy from entering. Essentially, the more fat you eat, the weaker insulin becomes. The Laboratory and the Real World are Polar Opposites Low carbohydrate diets are the easiest way to develop insulin resistance. In the research setting, scientists induce insulin resistance and diabetes by feeding laboratory animals a low carbohydrate diet Continue reading >>
- The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus
- How Low Can You Go? Expert Advice On Low Carb Diets and Diabetes
- The interpretation and effect of a low-carbohydrate diet in the management of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
If Low Carb Eating Is So Effective, Why Are People Still Overweight?
If low carb eating is so effective, why are people still overweight? I find myself getting asked this question, or some variant of this question, with increasing frequency as I speak and write about the Alternative Hypothesis I find most compelling surrounding obesity and chronic disease. One implication of the Alternative Hypothesis, as you probably understand by now if youve been reading this blog, is that many carbohydrates, especially if consumed at the levels most Americans consume them, promote fat gain. In other words, overweight people are not the lazy, constantly grazing, weak-willed individuals many in the mainstream have led us to believe. They just eat the wrong foods (rather than simply too much food). Remember, I was one of those doctors in the mainstream once upon a time. While I always tried (and hopefully succeeded most of the time) to treat overweight patients with respect, I silently judged them. Why cant you just eat less and exercise more? Only when I realized, despite my diet which rigorously adhered to formal recommendations and my 3 to 4 hours of exercise per day, that even I was getting too fat for comfort, did I begin to question the Conventional Wisdom of why we get fat. Of course, not everyone (fortunately) was born with my level of genetic susceptibility to insulin resistance (stated another way, not everyone is born with my level of carbohydrate sensitivity). In my experience, about 10-20% of the population (my lucky wife included) seem resistant to carbohydrates and maintain exquisite insulin sensitivity, almost independent of diet. Roughly 30-40% of the population are, conversely, very sensitive to carbohydrates and appear to be quite insulin resistant until nearly the last gram of sugar and most carbohydrates are removed from their diet Continue reading >>
How To Start A Low-carb Diabetes Diet
There is strong evidence that eating fewer carbohydrates helps improve blood sugars. This makes sense intuitively: carbohydrates are broken down by the body into sugar, directly leading to high blood sugars. Eat fewer carbohydrates and you will typically end up with less sugar in your blood. For those with type 2 diabetes or are newly diagnosed with type 1, fewer carbohydrates mean that your body’s natural insulin production will have an easier time processing your blood sugars. If you take insulin, you will have a much easier time taking the appropriate amount of insulin. Before you start a low-carbohydrate diet, talk with your healthcare provider. If you are taking blood sugar-lowering medications, then eating fewer carbohydrates without lowering your medication dosage may cause dangerous low blood sugars. There are studies that show that people with diabetes can achieve success on both low-carbohydrate and high-carbohydrate diets. Those pursuing high-carb diets are often primarily eating more vegetarian or vegan diets that are high in complex carbohydrates and fiber. They are also frequently athletes who burn large amounts of sugar during exercise. We will look at other dietary approaches in a future article. If you would like to dive into the research on low-carb diets for diabetes, please skip to the last section in this article. Also, be sure to read Key Facts About Carbohydrates Everyone with Diabetes Should Know. What Is a Low-Carb Diet? There are many different ways to define and follow a low-carb diet. In this article, we are generally looking at people who wish to eat fewer carbohydrates than they are currently eating. There is no one way to follow a low-carb diet. Generally, people try different amounts of carbohydrates until they reach an amount per day t Continue reading >>
Yes, A Low-carb Diet Greatly Lowers Your Insulin
Is “eat less and run more” really the only thing you need to know in order to lose weight? Why is it then that most people lose weight on a LCHF diet, even when eating until satisfied? And this without even any increase in exercise? To think that this should be so controversial! The best explanation, in a simplified version, looks like this: Carbohydrates – > insulin – > obesity Thus more carbohydrates lead to more insulin which leads to more fat accumulation. With more details this can be written as follows: Too many (bad) carbohydrates – > pathologically high insulin levels – > obesity What constitutes “too many” varies from person to person depending on sensitivity and activity level (how much carbs you burn). Intensely exercising young men can often tolerate a fair amount of carbs, while heavily overweight older diabetics can only tolerate minimal amounts without problems. The opposite is the following: Less carbs – > lower insulin levels – > loss of excess fat Insulin is a fat storing hormone. And the easiest way to increase your insulin levels is to eat more carbohydrates. The easiest way to lower insulin levels is to eat fewer carbohydrates. This seems very straight forward. But some are still adamant opponents. Without being able to come up with any better explanation as to why a low-carbohydrate diet works (it does) they still don’t want to accept this explanation. They come up with all kinds of objections. Some don’t even want to recognize the most basic, that carbohydrates increase insulin levels or that a low-carb diet lowers insulin levels. Their complicated objections don’t matter much in reality. The truth is clear in study after study on humans. Insulin levels are much higher when you eat a lot of carbohydrates and lower on a lo Continue reading >>
Is Your Low Carb Diet Making You Metabolically Inflexible?
The answer for a lot of people is “Yes.” Let me explain both kinds of insulin resistance and pay particular note to the italicized portion at the bottom. Once again “eat less do less” isn’t helping but leaving out carbs actually harms your cells and the result is a withering metabolism. I wrote this about a year and a half ago and I (actually my editor at the time and I) use the word toxin pretty freely. Since then I have come to think the word toxin is overused and is often the defense of someone that really doesn’t know what they are talking about. Insulin Resistance With the growing population of type 2 diabetes, most everyone has been informed of insulin resistance yet it is poorly understood. The result of excessive intakes of empty carbohydrate foods lacking vitamins and minerals leads to jacked up blood sugar levels. These constantly jacked up blood sugars lead to chronically elevated insulin levels because insulin and blood glucose should rise in a relatively similar fashion but not ALWAYS be high. The result of inadequate vitamins and minerals (namely magnesium) leaves an exhausted liver and pancreas; two crucial organs to insulin’s stability and reliance. Chronically elevated blood gucose is toxic and inflammatory. The inflammation centers itself in the abdominal cavity and arteries, focusing on the liver and pancreas and widening to other parts of the body as it progresses. The body handles toxins by storing them in the body. This leaves your fat stores full of toxins. Your organs become ‘fatty.’ You store excess body fat. This is metabolic syndrome. Many doctors are forced to inform their patients these days of their ‘fatty livers.’ Over time, an overworked body with excessive glucose becomes insulin resistant which is a precursor to ty Continue reading >>
The Ketogenic Diet And Insulin Resistance
We recently touched on how you can use the ketogenic diet to control symptoms of diabetes such as elevated glucose and triglycerides. In this article, we examine research showing the impact that the ketogenic diet has on levels of the hormone insulin, a key regulator of blood sugar in the body. What is Insulin’s Role in the Body? Before we look at the research, we need to know our main players. Insulin is a protein-based hormone produced by beta-cells located in the pancreas. The pancreas, which is located under the stomach, also produces enzymes that aid with digestion. Insulin’s primary purpose is to regulate the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. The digestive system breaks down carbohydrates, such as sugars and starches, into a molecule called glucose. This compound can be used by cells to produce energy through a process called cellular respiration. Insulin allows cells in the body absorb glucose, ultimately lowering levels of glucose in the blood stream. After a meal is consumed, blood glucose levels increase and the pancreas responds by releasing insulin into the blood. Insulin assists fat, liver, and muscle cells absorb glucose from the blood, resulting in lower levels of blood glucose. Insulin stimulates liver and muscle tissues to store excess glucose as a molecule called glycogen and also reduces glucose production by the liver. When blood sugar is low, the hormone glucagon (produced by alpha-cells in the pancreas) stimulate cells to break down glycogen into glucose that is subsequently released into the blood stream. In healthy people who do not have type II diabetes, these functions allow levels of blood glucose and insulin to stay in a normal range. What Is Insulin Resistance and Why Is It a Problem? Unfortunately, for many Americans and other peopl Continue reading >>
Low Carb Vs. High Carb - My Surprising 24-day Diabetes Diet Battle
Twitter summary: What I learned from doubling my carb intake: the same average blood sugar, but four times as much hypoglycemia, more work, stress, & danger. As a teenager, I ate a high carb diet that included lots of Goldfish crackers, white sandwich bread, pasta, and white potatoes. It was tasty, but it put my blood sugars on a wild roller coaster every single day. Things turned around in college when I learned about nutrition, got on CGM, and spent time with health conscious friends. I soon realized that eating less than 30 grams of carbs at one time was a complete gamechanger. I’ve stuck with that approach ever since. But is this lower carb method actually better for my blood sugars, or have I just been fooling myself? To find out, I took on a somewhat terrifying self-tracking experiment: 12 days of my usual, lower-carb diet, which averaged 146 grams of carbs per day (21% of daily calories). My carbs were primarily from nuts, seeds, vegetables, and a bit of fruit. 12 days of a higher-carb, high whole-grain diet, which averaged 313 grams of carbs per day (43% of my daily calories). My sources of carbs were NOT junk food: plain oatmeal, whole wheat bread, quinoa, wild rice, and fruit. Neither of these was unrealistic. My lower-carb diet was nowhere near Atkins level (20 grams per day), and the higher-carb diet was consistent with the “average” 45% carb diet in people with diabetes (according to ADA). Even though this was a one-person (n=1) experiment, I wanted to be as scientific and fair as possible: eating whole, unprocessed foods in both periods; counting and tracking every single gram of carbohydrate (LoseIt! app); wearing CGM 24/7 and downloading the glucose data to document what happened (Dexcom G5 and Clarity); taking insulin before meals (5-15 minutes pr Continue reading >>
A Practical Guide To Carb Tolerance And Insulin Sensitivity
One of the biggest reasons why people go Paleo is the metabolic benefits. Most people find Paleo to be very therapeutic for a whole cluster of carb-related problems: high blood sugar (or the rollercoaster of highs and lows), insulin resistance, and all the related issues. These issues can make weight loss difficult or impossible, but on the flip side, addressing them through diet can make it easier and more pleasant than you ever thought could happen! On the other hand, though, there are a lot of myths and half-truths floating around about diet, exercise, and carb metabolism. So here’s a quick review of what it all means, and the evidence supporting various different complementary strategies for improving your carb tolerance (preview: it’s so much more than dietary carbs). Note: This article is not written for diabetics. Diabetes is a very complicated disease and strategies that are right for other people might not be appropriate. If you have diabetes, see a doctor! What Is “Carb Tolerance”/Insulin Sensitivity? (If you already know how insulin and glucose work, this section has nothing new for you; just skip down to the next one) Very simply put, insulin sensitivity (or “carb tolerance” in everyday language) is a healthy hormonal state that allows your body to digest and store carbohydrates without a problem. In healthy people, here’s how it works: You eat something with carbs (let’s say a potato, but it could be anything). Your digestive system breaks down the starch in that potato into glucose. Glucose is a simple sugar – this is the form of carbohydrate that you’ll either use for energy or store as fat. Your blood sugar temporarily rises as the glucose enters the bloodstream. This is not a big problem, because… Insulin (produced in the pancreas) Continue reading >>
- Effects of resveratrol on glucose control and insulin sensitivity in subjects with type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis
- Effects of resveratrol on glucose control and insulin sensitivity in subjects with type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis
- Alpha Lipoic Acid: Improve Insulin Sensitivity & Fight Diabetes!
How Does Low Carb Work?
Putting type 2 into remission with low carb One thing we can be certain of, low-carb diets do work for people with diabetes. They keep HbA1c levels lower than standard low-calorie diets and theyre effective at promoting weight loss. Low-carb diets work on a simple principle but it is still possible to get things wrong so watch out for any mistakes that might be made. Low carb diets are very good for people with diabetes for the following reasons: Reducing the bodys need for insulin reducing insulin resistance Out of the three energy-providing macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fat), it is carbohydrate which has the greatest effect in raising blood glucose levels. Protein has a small to moderate effect on blood sugar and fat has the smallest effect. Protein and fat can also raise blood sugar levels but to a much lower extent than carbs. A healthy low-carb diet for diabetes is one that is low in carbohydrate, includes moderate protein and is high in healthy fats. Read more on how to follow a low-carb diet A follow-up benefit of lower and steadier sugar levels is a reduction in hunger. High carbohydrate diets lead to wider swings in blood sugar levels. Both high and low sugar levels can induce hunger so its best to stick to a diet that leads to steadier sugar levels. When followed well, low-carb diets are good at keeping you feeling satisfied between meals because a strong intake of vegetables provides the nutrients that the body needs and healthy fats provide energy in a gradual, sustained way. If a low-carb diet is sufficiently low in carbs and not too high in protein, it should induce ketosis; the process in which the body breaks down body fat to use as energy. Because ketosis is the breaking down of body fat, this is therefore highly desirable for people wantin Continue reading >>
Insulin Made Simple
Most people are vaguely aware that insulin has a relationship to blood sugar levels, but unless they have diabetes or live with someone who does, they know little more than that. Our six questions and answers explain how insulin works and its relationship to metabolic syndrome. What is insulin? It’s a hormone made and released by the pancreas, an organ or gland that is part of your endocrine system. What causes the pancreas to make and release insulin? Your blood sugar (glucose) level needs to remain within a relatively narrow range to avoid an overload. When it rises as a result of consuming foods full of sugar, white flour and other quickly metabolized carbohydrates, the pancreas receives a signal to produce insulin to carry glucose to the cells. There glucose is at the ready to provide energy as needed. What happens to excess glucose? When you consume more carbs than necessary to meet energy requirements, the excess glucose has to be transported and stored somewhere. Insulin helps convert the excess carbohydrate foods you eat into either glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrate in the muscles) or into fat stored in fat cells. How does that relate to fat buildup? Insulin promotes the storage of nutrients and simultaneously blocks the breakdown (metabolism) of protein, fat and carbohydrate in the body. When the insulin level rises, it puts the brakes on burning fat for fuel and simultaneously encourages fat storage. How can you avoid storing fat? When you limit your carb consumption, you stimulate increased fat burning and decreased fat storage. In fact, fat breakdown and fat burning are exquisitely sensitive to changes in the amount of insulin released in response to dietary carbohydrate. Small decreases in insulin can almost immediately significantly increase fat Continue reading >>
Low-carb Diet For Insulin Resistance
Losing weight and making healthier food choices are two of the most important modes of treatment recommended for people with insulin resistance, also known as prediabetes. Following a low-carb diet can help you with both. But before you get started, consult with your doctor and a dietitian to go over the diet plan and discuss health and safety concerns. Video of the Day Insulin is a hormone responsible for carrying glucose from your bloodstream into your cells. The cells can then use the glucose for energy. Insulin resistance means your body makes insulin, but the hormone can't do its job effectively. To compensate, your body produces more insulin, and you end up with consistently elevated blood sugars and, eventually, diabetes. Excess weight and lack of activity are the two most common causes of insulin resistance, which is why diet and activity are recommend as the primary forms of treatment. Eating healthy foods and using portion control are typically recommended to promote weight loss. Low-carb diets may be especially effective, however, because they not only promote weight loss but improve insulin resistance as well, according to a 2007 article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Cutting Carbs to Fight Insulin Resistance While there are no clear guidelines for what makes up a low-carb diet, most experts agree that limiting carbs to 50 to 150 grams a day is considered a low-carb diet, and limiting to 20 to 50 grams a day is a very-low-carb diet. Many low-carb diet plans begin with a very-low-carb restriction to induce ketosis -- the process by which the body uses fat for energy instead of glucose -- which is a telltale sign for fat burning. The very-low-carb plan seems to work best for people with insulin resistance, according to the 2007 Americ Continue reading >>
