A friend sent me the link for a e-book called "The Dark Side of Fat Loss, Lessons from the Underground" by: Sean Croxton
I have found it very interesting so far and helps explain what my body is going through with insulin resistance and how to break out of that cycle! Here are just a few facts i found helpful!
symptoms of insulin resistance
• General
fatigue, especially after meals
• Difficulty
losing weight
• Always
hungry
• Need
for sweets after meals
• Cravings
for sweets are not satisfied by eating them
• Frequent
urination
• Waist
circumference equal to or greater than hips
• Excessive
thirst
•
Irritability
and anger when going too long between meals
Because excess sugar in the blood—the technical term is blood glucose—is
actually quite toxic. When glucose is too high, it can slowly wear down and
damage cells throughout your body including your brain cells, eye cells, kidney
cells, blood vessels, red blood cells, and more.
Knowing what you know about leptin resistance, you can probably guess
how insulin resistance works. However, this time it’s not your brain that
becomes deaf, dumb, and blind to the hormonal call but rather your liver and
muscle cells. By consuming an inappropriate diet as well as the contributing
factors listed on page 40, your liver and muscles eventually put chewing gum in
their keyholes. Denied access to its receptors, insulin can no longer
effectively bind and carry out its job of clearing glucose from the blood. This
is really bad news for the rest of your cells, as they slowly drown in a sea of
destructive sugar.
To make matters worse, elevated insulin gives
rise to inflammation, which triggers the release
of more cortisol. One of cortisol’s main duties is
to increase blood sugar. That’s the last thing you
want! With even more sugar being dumped into
the bloodstream, a vicious cycle ensues.
And you get fatter.
the consequences of excess insulin
• Insulin
impairs fatty acid metabolism, keeping you from burning fat.
• In
men, insulin increases estrogen by way of upregulating the hormone aromatase, which
converts testosterone to estradiol (estrogen). Men with
elevated estrogen tend to hold fat on the chest, hips, and thighs.
• In
women, insulin increases testosterone, which may lead to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a condition that causes
excess hair growth and infertility.
• Insulin
impairs liver detoxification. As you will learn in Chapter 9, the liver is a
key player in
thyroid function as well as metabolizing and removing
excess hormones from the body.
• Insulin
stimulates interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory substance
known to damage the body
in many ways. Inflammation is involved in most, if not
all, disease processes.
Caloric restriction will never defeat hormonal physiology dating back
over 2 million years.
It’s not about the calories. It’s about standing up to the resistance.
Insulin and leptin resistance, that is. Balancing blood sugar and becoming more
insulin sensitive through diet, lifestyle modification, and removing hidden
stressors will turn OFF fat-storing LPL and turn ON fat- burning HSL and
glucagon. Eating more of the right foods will turn UP your thyroid and relight
your metabolic fire so you can keep the pounds off for good.
Just Eat Real Food.
In other words, eat like your ancestors.
•
Whole, unprocessed, and unrefined
•
Pasture-raised and wild
• Local, seasonal, and organic
really simple rules for
choosing real foods
•
If it wasn’t here 10,000 years ago, don’t eat it.
•
If it’s in the media, it’s probably bad for you.
•
If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, don’t eat it.
•
If your great-grandmother didn’t eat it, you
probably shouldn’t either.
•
If it comes in a box or bag, don’t eat it.
•
If your dog won’t eat it, you shouldn’t either.
•
If it doesn’t rot or spoil, don’t eat it.
• If it’s been sprayed with chemicals, don’t eat it.
