Insulin and Its Metabolic Effects
Let's talk about a couple of case histories. These are actual
patients that I've seen; let's start with patient A. This
patient who we will just call patient A saw me one afternoon and
said that he had literally just signed himself out of the
hospital "AMA," or against medical advice. Like in the movies,
he had ripped out his IV's.
The next day he was scheduled to have his second by-pass
surgery. He had been told that if he did not follow through with
this by-pass surgery, within two weeks he would be dead.
To make a long story short, this gentleman right now is on no
insulin. I first saw him three and a half years ago. He plays
golf four or five times a week. He is on no medications
whatsoever, he has no chest pain, and he has not had any
surgery. He started an organization called "Heart Support of
America" to educated people that there are alternatives to
by-pass surgery that have nothing to do with surgery or
medication.
"They have known since the fifties that if you restrict calories
but maintain nutrition .animals can live between thirty and
two-hundred percent longer."
And the common therapies for osteoporosis are drugs, and the
common therapy for calaudication is surgery. For cancer
reduction there is nothing. But all of these have a common
cause.
The same cause as three major avenues of research in aging. One
is called caloric restriction. There are thousands of studies
done since the fifties on caloric restriction. They restrict
calories of laboratory animals.
They have known since the fifties that if you restrict calories
but maintain a high level of nutrition, called "C.R.O.N.'s:"
Caloric restriction with optimal nutrition, or adequate
nutrition, which would be CRAN"S, these animals can live
anywhere between thirty and two-hundred percent longer depending
on the species.
"Then there are Centenarian studies. They all have low
triglycerides for their age. And they all have relatively low
insulin."
Then there are Centenarian studies. There are three major
centenarian studies going on around the world. They are trying
to find the variable that would confer longevity among these
people. Why do centenarians become centenarians? Why are they so
lucky? Is it because they have low cholesterol, exercise a lot,
live a healthy, clean life?
Well the longest recorded known person who has ever lived, Jean
Calumet of France who died last year at 122 years, smoked all of
her life and drank.
What they are finding on these major centenarian studies is that
there is hardly anything in common among them. They have high
cholesterol and low cholesterol, some exercise and some don't,
some smoke, some don't. Some are nasty as can be and some nice
and calm and nice. Some are ornery, but they all low sugar,
relatively for their age. They all have low triglycerides for
their age.
And they all have relatively low insulin. Insulin is the common
denominator in everything I've just talked about. They way to
treat cardiovascular disease and the way I treated my
stepfather, the way I treated the high risk cancer patient, and
osteoporosis, high blood pressure, the way to treat virtually
all the so-called chronic diseases of aging is to treat insulin
itself.
"Glucose was meant to be fuel used in an emergency situation,
such as running from a saber tooth tiger."
What about fuel? That's the other reason we eat. There are two
kinds of fuel that your body can use with minor exceptions,
sugar and fat. We mentioned earlier that the body is going to
store excess energy as fat. Why does the body store it as fat?
Because that is the body's desired fuel. That is the fuel the
body wants to burn and that will sustain you and allow you to
live. The body can store only a little bit of sugar. In an
active day you would die if you had to rely one-hundred percent
on sugar.
Why doesn't your body store more sugar if it is so needed? Sugar
was never meant to be your primary energy source. Sugar is meant
to be your body's turbo charger. The brain can actually exist
without a whole lot of sugar, contrary to popular belief.
Glucose was meant to be fuel used if you had to, in an emergency
situation, expend and extreme amount of energy, such as running
from a saber tooth tiger.
"Vegetables are great, I want you to eat vegetables but there is
no essential need. "
Vegetables are great, I want you to eat vegetables. The
practical aspect of it is that you are going to get carbs, but
there is no essential need. Fruit is a mixed blessing. But most
foods fall in the middle somewhere. Things like strawberries,
you are going to get something bad with strawberries, you are
going to get a lot of sugar with strawberries, but you are also
going to get a food that is also the second or third highest in
antioxidant potential of any food known, the first being garlic
the second either being strawberries or blueberries. So, there
is something good to be had from it. So I will let some patients
put some strawberries in let's say a protein smoothie in the
morning. But if they are a hard core diabetic, strawberries are
out.
"Eating is the biggest stress we put on our body and that is why
in caloric restriction experiments you can extend life."
Most food is a double edged sword. Eating is the biggest stress
we put on our body and that is why in caloric restriction
experiments you can extend life as long as you maintain
nutrition. This is the only proven way of actually reducing the
rate of aging, not just the mortality rate, but the actual rate
of aging, because eating is a big stress.
Your primary fuel should be coming from fat. So you want to
increase the ability of the cells in the body to burn fat. You
want to make that glucose burner into a fat burner. You want to
make a gasoline burning car into a diesel burning car.
"You want everybody, athletes especially, to be able to burn fat
efficiently. So when they train, they are on a very low
carbohydrate diet."
With athletes, let's think about that. What is the effect of
carbohydrate loading before an event. What happens if you eat a
bowl of pasta before you have to run a marathon. What does that
bowl of pasta do? It raises your insulin. What is the
instruction of insulin to your body?
To store energy and not burn it. I see a fair amount of athletes
and this is what I tell them, you want everybody, athletes
especially, to be able to burn fat efficiently. So when they
train, they are on a very low carbohydrate diet. The night
before their event, they can stock up on sugar and load their
glycogen if they would like.
"Your primary energy source ideally would come mostly from
mono-unsaturated fat."
In general, over 50% of the calories should come from fat, but
not from saturated fat. Saturated fat is a hard fat. We can get
the fats from foods to come mostly from nuts. Nuts are a great
food because it is mostly mono-unsaturated. Your primary energy
source ideally would come mostly from mono-unsaturated fat. It's
a good compromise. It is not an essential fat, but it is a more
fluid fat. Your body can utilize it very well as an energy
source.
"Animal proteins are fine and are good for you, but not the ones
that are fed grains."
Animal proteins are fine and are good for you, but not the ones
that are fed grains. Grainfed animals are going to make
saturated fat out of the grains. Saturated fat in nature occurs
to a very tiny degree. Not in the wild there is very little
saturated fat out there. If you talk about the Paleolithic diet,
we didn't eat a saturated fat diet. Saturated fat diets are new
to mankind. We manufactured a saturated fat diet by feeding
animals grains. You can consider saturated fat to be second
generation carbohydrates. We eat the saturated fats that other
animals produce from carbohydrates.
"I would go 20% of calories from carbs, 25 to 30% of calories
from protein, and 60-65% from fat."
.I would go 20% of calories from carbs. Depending on the size of
the person, 25 to 30% of calories from protein, and 60-65% from
fat. You can get non-grain fed beef.
Insulin is not the only cause of disease.You may find an
excellent source of insulin information at:
http://www.overcome-diabetes.com . There are other
considerations such as iron. We know that high iron levels are
bad for you. If a person's ferritin is high, red meat is out for
a while, till we get their iron down. SO there are other things
involved about if we are going to allow a person to eat red meat
or not.
There is a great deal of difference between a non-grain fed cow
and a grain fed cow. Non-grain fed will have only 10% or less
saturated fat. Grain fed can have over 50%.
"There is a big difference. A non-grain fed cow will actually be
high in Omega 3 oils."
There is a big difference. A non-grain fed cow will actually be
high in Omega 3 oils. Plants have a pretty high percentage of
Omega 3, and if you accumulate it by eating it all day, every
day for most of your life, your fat gets a pretty high
proportion of Omega 3. I would try for 50% oleic fat, and the
others would depend on the individual, but about 25% of the
other two.
I like sardines if they will eat them. Sardines are a very good
therapeutic food. They are baby fish so they haven't had time to
accumulate a bunch of metal. They are smoked so they are not
cooked and the oil is not spoiled in them. You have to eat the
whole thing. Not the boneless and skinless. You need to eat all
the organs and they are high in vitamins and magnesium. .....
"Insulin is by far your biggest poison." You may find an
excellent source of insulin information at:
http://www.overcome-diabetes.com
So if people are worried about chromosomal damage from chromium,
what they should really be worried about instead is high blood
sugar. Insulin is by far your biggest poison.
The lowering of insulin is going to be better than any possible
detriment of any of the therapies you are using. Insulin is
associated with cancer, everything.