March 18, 2009 End of Day

Okay…the end of the day. Busy, busy, busy…just like everyone else! Had a great day today...using a pedometer now to count the number of steps I take (at least it is a start towards exercise) and I reached 3018 steps today! Not bad for someone who can’t do stairs. Had a bit of trouble making time to each lunch today…got busy and wasn’t hungry (now that is new) but did fit it in.

Okay…I promised to disclose what I am learning from my research…and why these findings have made me very excited about this journey. So let’s get started. First, USA Today states that obesity is a worldwide epidemic with 65% of adults in North America being overweight or obese; so at least I am not alone. Of course, part of the research revealed the obvious conclusion that food plans that are balanced (include carbs, proteins, and fats) are essential for good health. But the question then became, “what particular carbs, proteins and fats are important”?

I have been wondering for quite a few years now why it seems I put on weight so quickly while other people don’t (just smelling donuts seems to add pounds to my butt). Well, part of the problem is that I have becoming increasingly insulin resistant. Insulin is a hormone in the body that is required to move glucose into the cells. Insulin is released from beta cells in the pancreas and is triggered when glucose levels rise in the blood…which occurs after we eat food. The higher the increase in glucose; the more insulin released. Glucose is a sugar molecule that feeds our body. Carbohydrates are foods that contain long chains of sugars. Glucose spikes (fast increases in blood glucose levels) occur from foods that are quickly broken down into sugars. These foods are usually the fast foods and processed foods and include breads, flour, rice, cereals and potatoes. These spikes stimulate high insulin release. The more we eat these foods, the more insulin we produce and the harder the beta cells in the pancreas work. The more insulin floating around in our blood stream, the more the cells are bombarded with it. The cell’s natural reaction is to become insensitive to the insulin. It’s kind of like having someone yelling at you all the time…eventually you just tune them out so no matter how loud or often they yell, you just don’t hear them anymore. The more insulin resistant a cell is, the higher the concentration of insulin it will take to effectively more glucose into the cells. This of course, sets up a vicious cycle of having to produce more and more insulin…and crave more and more carbohydrates. Type 2 diabetics are usually insulin resistant. They make huge quantities of insulin…but the cells are no longer paying attention. So these people have a high blood insulin level and a high blood glucose level because the glucose can’t get into the cells. If they can keep the glucose levels from spiking, through a disciplined diet, then they can function. Eventually, the beta cells become exhausted and stop functioning and this person will then need to take insulin into their bodies through pills or needles. So I am pre-diabetic…meaning I have high insulin levels but my glucose levels are still within normal range…my cells are building up an insulin resistance but for now, they are still sensitive enough to allow the high insulin levels to move the glucose into the cells.

Which leads me to my next breakthrough…glycemic index (GI). This is something developed in 1981 by Dr. David Jenkins. It is a measure of how quickly our bodies are able to absorb long chains of sugars that make up carbohydrates. The way the scientists measured this is to see how quickly foods caused the blood glucose levels to rise compared to consuming straight glucose. The faster the food made the glucose levels rise, the higher the rating on the index. So the foods I mentioned earlier (the ones that are broken down and absorbed faster after we eat) have a high score on the glycemic index. Again, these foods are usually the fast foods and processed foods and include breads, flour, rice, cereals and potatoes. Fruits and vegetables (for the most part) however, have a low score because they take longer to be absorbed into our bodies. Usually, the glycemic index is extremely good at predicting the food’s insulin index but there are a few exceptions in which a low glycermic index results in a high insulin index (such as dairy foods and to some highly palatable energy-dense "indulgence foods"). Some foods (such as meat, fish, and eggs) that contain no carbohydrate, just protein and fat (and essentially have a GI value of zero), still stimulate significant rises in blood insulin.
GI values can be interpreted intuitively as percentages on an absolute scale and are commonly interpreted as follows:
Classification GI range Examples
Low GI 55 or less most fruit and vegetables (except potatoes, watermelon), grainy breads, pasta, legumes/pulses, milk, products extremely low in carbohydrates (fish, eggs, meat, nuts, oils), brown rice
Medium GI 56 - 69 whole wheat products, basmatic rice, orange, sweet potato, table sugar, most white rices (eg, jasmine),
High GI 70 and above corn flakes, baked potato, watermelon, croissant, white bread, extruded cereals (eg, Rice Krispies), straight glucose (100)
A low GI food will release glucose more slowly and steadily. A high GI food causes a more rapid rise in blood glucose levels and is suitable for energy recovery after endurance exercise or for a person with diabetes experiencing hypoglycemia.
Like anything else in life, this is not a cut and dried sure-thing situation. There are many criticisms to solely using the GI to determine which foods to eat. For example, the glycemic index is significantly altered by the type of food, its ripeness, processing, the length of storage, cooking methods, and its variety. The glycemic response is different from one person to another, and even in the same person from day to day, depending on blood glucose levels, the degree of insulin resistance, and other factors. The glycemic index of one food may be affected by the other foods eaten with it. High-glycemic-index foods may have a low carbohydrate content, and low-glycemic-index foods may have a high carbohydrate content.
So what does this all mean? Well, the obvious conclusion is that a food plan that is balanced and contains mostly low glycemic foods (or very small quantities of high GI foods) is best. But it also means that people with a high degree of insulin resistance start off at a distinct disadvantage with high insulin levels that lead to carb cravings. I have spent a lifetime forming habits that grab for quick food fixes…and the advertisements and easy accessibility to these foods doesn’t help. So if I am to move successfully towards health, I am going to have to get rid of the carb cravings, becoming educated on what foods are best for me, and learn new habits. Okay…so now I have a basis of facts to build a game plan.

That is why I chose to use the USANA RESET program to literally reset my body away from carb cravings using low glycemic foods and help prepare me for a positive and effective journey towards health. I will talk about the USANA program in the next blog and I will also include some bizarre information I have gathered regarding MSG.