If you’re a diabetic, you have heard of insulin. Chances are pretty good that even if you’re not diabetic, you’ve at least heard the term before. But here is why you should be aware, and to some extent concerned about this little fella.
1. If you can’t or want to lose weight, insulin is most likely the reason.
2. If you are diabetic (Type I, Type II or prediabetic), insulin is the reason.
3. If you get hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic (i.e. you can’t regulate your blood sugars), insulin is the reason.
4. If you struggle to keep your blood pressure and cholesterol under control, insulin is the reason.
5. If you have Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and/or other chronic diseases, insulin may very well be one of the reasons.
For the sake of this article, let’s concentrate on the first one. Why insulin is making you FAT.
Insulin is made by beta cells inside the pancreas. By the way, if you’re really curious about the cell biology behind how the beta cells actually make insulin, I recommend checking out this video on YouTube by khanacademymedicine. Their channel is one of my go to spots to geek out on the internet. Anyway, simply remember that the pancreas secretes insulin (among other things like digestive enzymes).
Insulin is a hormone. A hormone is a class of chemicals (more specifically, a class of signaling molecules) that are responsible for regulating certain physiology and behavior inside your body. It’s job is to signal your cells that, “glucose is here!” Once insulin docks with the cell, the cell will then (and only then) activate glucose transporters, which allow the glucose to enter the cell to be used for energy. More directly, without insulin, your cells would starve.
But what if the cells already have enough glucose, and quite simply, don’t need anymore energy? The body needs to keep blood glucose levels below 100 mg/dL [1], which equates to roughly 1 teaspoon of sugar (5 grams) that can be safely floating around in your system at any given time.
Insulin’s other function is to make sure the concentration of glucose in your blood does not exceed dangerous levels – which, if chronic in nature, may will result in cardiovascular disease, nerve damage (neuropathy), kidney damage or failure, damage to blood vessels of the retina potentially leading to blindness, clouding of the normally clear lens of your eye (cataract), bone and joint problems, skin problems, bacterial infections, fungal infections and nonhealing wounds, and teeth and gum infections. By the way, early symptoms of the aforementioned chronic conditions may present as frequent urination, increased thirst, blurred vision, fatigue, headache, fruity-smelling breath, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, dry mouth, weakness, confusion, coma and abdominal pain. [2] Yuck! How’s that for making you think twice about downing a McCafe Shamrock Shake? I wonder how many McDonald’s would sell if they listed all those side effects on the menu?
Luckily, humans have evolved to deal with excessive indulgences such as Dairy Queen, Dunkin’ Donuts and the office bagel day – albeit, historically, this was called “summer” when fruits were plentiful and the body needed to store energy for times of famine. So what does insulin do with all that excess sugar floating around in your circulatory system? Well, it ingeniously stores all that potential energy as…FAT. That’s right! See, your body just can’t metabolize that entire “Gotta Have It” serving of your favorite Cold Stone Creamery concoction in one sitting, especially after cramming your face hole with a charbroiled double cheeseburger, large onion rings and large Coke from Carl’s Jr.. Insulin does it’s best to make sure the cells get all the “energy” they need from it and then, the rest…goes to storage. I mean, packing on a few extra pounds is much better than losing your eyesight, right?
Let’s try an analogy – let’s say your garbage collector comes every week to pick up your garbage, but he can only pick up 2 bags every week (yeah, not a very good collection service, but just bare with me).
- Let’s also assume you have a household that’s Heading Healthy, and you only produce 1 bag of trash per week. Sounds good. Your house will get all of the trash picked up each week. Let’s say they have a party! Ooo, yeah! Now we’re talking. But, cleaning up for the party resulted in 2 extra bags of trash to put out for the week. Uh oh. Now there are 3 bags out there, but the collector will only pick up 2. The math says, your left with 1 bag on the curb until the following week. If you continue your healthy habits, you’ll only produce 1 more bag of trash (for a total of 2) for the following week. So, the next time the collection service comes around, you’ll be trash free.
- Let’s now assume you have an UN-healthy household, and you produce 3 bags of trash per week. Remember, the trash guy (or gal) only picks up 2 per week. The math says, your left with 1 bag on the curb until the following week. But, next week you produce 3 more bags to pile on the curb – now there’s 4. They take 2, you keep 2. Next week, you make 3 to add to the 2 (now you have 5), they take 2, you keep 3…you get the point? Each week, more and more trash piles up in your driveway, because the waste management service simply can’t keep up with all the trash being produced. Don’t even think about having a party! Oh, you’re going to anyway? Sure. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s only trash, right? Well, soon you won’t be able to park that nice care in the driveway; soon, the mail carrier won’t be able to deliver your mail; soon, you’ll miss paying your bills because you couldn’t get your mail, and you’ll default on the house you can’t get out of because you’re surrounded in mountains of trash; and don’t even get me started on the smell!
In the above example, you could equate the property with your body; the house as your habbits; you are insulin; and the trash is sugar. The collection service is simply your body’s way of metabolizing and excreting what comes in.
Now, I’ve used glucose and sugar above, but this also carries over to carbohydrates. After all, carbohydrates are simply that – sugars. Yes they come in all sorts of forms and tastes and textures, but don’t be fooled. Carbs ARE sugars. After passing through your digestive system, glucose (sugar), is what almost ALL carbohydrates get broken down into. That’s not to say that “all carbs are the devil.” Not at all. It’s really a volume problem, and some products simply produce more trash than they need to. Likewise, you have the power to choose foods that have a higher level of nutrient density – which will yield much less trash YOU’RE ultimately responsible for getting rid of.
So, I hope I’ve at least made the connection between getting fat and insulin – and more so, how what (and how much) you eat affects insulin and how you gain weight. You see now why they call insulin the “fat storage hormone?” In another post, I’ll talk about ways you can keep insulin out of the picture so you can finally shed some of those unwanted pounds. I’ll also show you how easy it is to prevent and even reverse metabolic diseases (like diabetes) with simple lifestyle changes and NO medications within weeks!
[1] https://www.
