tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post4108809058099031803..comments2024-02-25T02:24:14.972-08:00Comments on Whole Health Source: What Causes Insulin Resistance? Part VIIStephan Guyenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09218114625524777250noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-69023273788473492972012-05-13T19:24:46.953-07:002012-05-13T19:24:46.953-07:00The pancreas loses beta cells due to aging, geneti...The pancreas loses beta cells due to aging, genetic factors, insulin producing diets etc., which then causes IR. There has been animal research done with the ayurvedic herb called Indian Koni that has shown the ability to regenerate pancreatic beta cells and thereby reversing IR. People who have the IR body type (apple)...or who develop it...can perhaps change the fat distribution of their body by "fixing" the lack of pancreatic beta cells. Would this be a fair conclusion?Element Kennelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11111655428017803786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-28962963661145943672012-02-08T12:23:54.195-08:002012-02-08T12:23:54.195-08:00Meri, Helsinki said...
Why is high ferritin a...Meri, Helsinki said...<br /><br /> Why is high ferritin a problem? Mine's 81<br />_________<br />Anthony lists some studies here:<br />http://anthonycolpo.com/?p=2116<br /><br />on that page, search for "Faccini".<br /><br />Those studies look generally applicable. I never looked at the the full text though. I'll look again someday ... another item for the ol to-do list : ( <br /><br />As a counterpoint (if you want one), this study (it's NOT a controlled experiment, so the result could be data mining) <br /><br />http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/103/1/52.full<br /><br />confirmed slightly better insulin sensitivity among donors, but not better overall cardiovascular outcomes. <br /><br />I donate at the minimum period Canadian Blood Services allows, (56 days), but I'm maybe 90% convinced it'll be good for me when all's said & done. "improved markers" doesn't do "it" for me.Sanjeevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09522727136330797375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-33083948236737940702012-02-05T02:16:24.411-08:002012-02-05T02:16:24.411-08:00Why is high ferritin a problem? Mine's 81 (ran...Why is high ferritin a problem? Mine's 81 (range 5-100) but I can only donate blood in September and only if my waiting period (had an operation in September last year) is not continued.<br /><br />I'm not supplementing iron.Meri, Helsinkihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09487136520579431658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-22402973040985424652012-02-03T13:35:16.207-08:002012-02-03T13:35:16.207-08:00Is the metabolic syndrome caused by a high fructos...Is the metabolic syndrome caused by a high fructose, and relatively low fat, low cholesterol diet? -> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3258689/pdf/AMS-7-1-8.pdf.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09917531397118353422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-15185720196022778342012-02-01T17:49:28.689-08:002012-02-01T17:49:28.689-08:00Have you looked at Westman's studies and other...Have you looked at Westman's studies and others that reverse diabetes and insulin resistance with low carb diet? Where is the evidence that a low car diet causes insulin resistance? I've never come across that anywhere but on this blog.Goosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05869094694626568794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-71607278582831080532012-01-29T15:02:38.817-08:002012-01-29T15:02:38.817-08:00Paula Deen is getting a lot of "I told you so...Paula Deen is getting a lot of "I told you so" reactions upon her announcement of type 2 diabetes. Everyone implicates butter. How much blame does butter deserve? Your research leads to cellular energy excess as the number one contributor to insulin resistance. Is it fair to say that fat adds to cellular energy excess in the presence of glucose-rich foods because the glucose has to be used for energy first? Baked yam good, baked yam and a stick of butter bad? Now inflate reward: baked yam, salt, a nice chunk of butter, plus brown sugar? <br /><br />And... Lets say you pretty much just eat yams and greens and wild salmon and the amount you eat leaves you with zero excess cellular energy. Its all steamed and not seasoned so reward isn't inflated. And you farm it all and catch it all but it's all so abundant that you have to work to get it but it's not a stressful life. Now lets say you decide to keep everything constant but you create a huge excess of cellular energy by eating the same number of calories via a huge glob of rendered lard after each meal. In theory, that should increase the risk of insulin resistance, right? In other words, you can be a hunter-gatherer with abundant "paleo" food in a stress free life and still become insulin resistant by walking around with excess cellular energy. And it should make you fat too, right? But the increasing insulin resistance and increasing body fat are outgrowths of the same energy excess and simply correlative. The fat gain doesn't cause the IR and the IR doesn't cause the fat gain. Is that right?marshallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00635961145287195297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-80933295288454868972012-01-28T20:24:55.727-08:002012-01-28T20:24:55.727-08:00Stephen,
Thanks for the great series. I'm sti...Stephen, <br />Thanks for the great series. I'm still having a hard time placing exactly what a high-reward food is. Is it just a lot of flavor? Is it completely individual to the person? Is it defined by a response in the brain? Are there some sort of macronutrient qualities that are typical of a high reward food? I bet I could think of a few foods that are in this category, but I'm not sure why they belong there. Thanks!Kieranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01806059777770099752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-84518384595552245162012-01-28T19:48:14.564-08:002012-01-28T19:48:14.564-08:00Great post Stephen. You make some very interestin...Great post Stephen. You make some very interesting points. While those studies support your idea, it doesn’t seem to be a universal phenomenon (at least in the rodent world). Hamsters eat more and gain more weight in a similar paradigm:<br />http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3513798Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05022558754270362782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-63353662670570644902012-01-28T15:30:11.680-08:002012-01-28T15:30:11.680-08:00Stephan, you always do a great job of explaining m...Stephan, you always do a great job of explaining mechanisms. Could you help me understand one now? In the factors that contribute to insulin resistance, you list very low carb diets (<10%). Yet from biochem textbooks, the following sequence is indicated : Low serum glucose ->low serum insulin -> insulin receptors up-regulate. How does this get modified in the very low carb situation?<br />Thanks so much!mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08667581634650513221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-89874922892954186952012-01-27T09:47:23.306-08:002012-01-27T09:47:23.306-08:00Sarah,
I can binge on unsalted plain potatoes. I ...Sarah,<br />I can binge on unsalted plain potatoes. I don't think I can binge on collards. Potatoes are like beer for me. (I can binge on broth, meat, carrots, blueberries, squash and nuts, too.) The "feel good buzz" sneaks up on me in these foods. <br /><br />Eating three unsalted, unflavored foods in soup: beef, potatoes, and collards is still a lot of variation. I don't know if I would binge, drinking nothing, but the same exact sport drink every single day. None of the ingredients taste different in the drink. One item wouldn't have a higher "buzz" to search for. <br /><br />If I live in a world of abundance of flavor, I start to lose weight. Everything tastes good, so I start to skip meals on accident. Eating is not important. I'm not searching for the "buzz". Eating two times a day keeps me happy.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10319449874245760501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-31865623308217785432012-01-26T20:58:02.895-08:002012-01-26T20:58:02.895-08:00Hi Float,
OK, sorry for being snippy. I agree th...Hi Float,<br /><br />OK, sorry for being snippy. I agree the study you propose would be interesting-- if it has been investigated, I'm not aware of it. I do know that environmental enrichment in general protects against just about anything you measure, including obesity. I mean enrichment as in more space, running wheels, toys etc, as opposed to keeping an animal in a small cage with nothing to do but eat.Stephan Guyenethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09218114625524777250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-11229779273213459692012-01-26T20:04:10.896-08:002012-01-26T20:04:10.896-08:00Stephan wrote,
“You made it sound like what you we...Stephan wrote,<br />“You made it sound like what you were talking about is whether to restrict junk foods like donuts, or not. If you were referring to well-seasoned home cooked foods, you didn't mention it. So think it over a little before accusing me of constructing a straw man.”<br /><br />Sorry about that. I assumed you knew what I was talking about since I had started this discussion with the quote from those food reward researchers who recommended a savoury diet to regulate hunger. Obviously they wouldn’t have been recommending that people eat junk food in doing so. <br /><br />As for the two instances of binge-eaters who are managing well on the bland food diet, it’s possible that the diet is having the effect. But of course it’s also possible that they happen to be exceptions to the rule or that their success is simply the result of nondiet factors such as expectancy (placebo) effects (which most everyone is susceptible to to varying degrees).<br /> <br />Do you know if a study has ever been done in which they compare the effects of a junk food cafeteria diet on rats that have been living on the standard one-item-only chow versus a more varied and more palatable, but still healthy, chow (perhaps the same chow as before but with different flavors attached)? If not, that would be an interesting test of a less palatable versus more palatable baseline diet in enhancing resistance to junk food, at least in rats.Floathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03718501579195864792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-65658772540913876882012-01-26T13:09:26.555-08:002012-01-26T13:09:26.555-08:00@Amy - OK, I didn't originally read your state...@Amy - OK, I didn't originally read your statement as 'switching to' beer (but as 'being subsequently confronted by'); that part makes sense now. (Though still not sure how that ties into the collards/potatoes.)<br /><br />While there are good parallels, I think there are also important distinctions between alcohol and food reward. For an alcoholic, the very presence of alcohol in a beverage makes it problematic--maybe even gin in goat milk; not trying to be funny, but just as an extreme example.<br /><br />For binge eaters, it's not food per se that's the problem, but certain TYPES of foods (junk food, homestyle 'comfort' foods [which are possibly wholesome], etc.). Give a binge eater unrestricted access to plain potatoes and steamed collards and boiled chicken breasts--and nothing else--and they probably won't binge. A binger will most likely not 'just eat more to get the buzz' because those foods provide a negligible 'high', if at all.P2ZRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06156172615124219665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-82254159058541120542012-01-26T09:56:19.605-08:002012-01-26T09:56:19.605-08:00"If you're a binge eater, you're a bi..."If you're a binge eater, you're a binge eater. Over the long run, you'll successfully learn to eat more food to get that "food buzz" feeling."<br /><br />I agree with this. I certainly think that certain populations will press against the limitations seeking that "buzz" their binge usually provides. It is possible [just harder] to binge on volume oriented fibrous foods. People can and do stretch their stomach to accomplish the buzz or finish the binge on calorie dense foods.<br /><br />I think low reward mostly helps with passive over eating. It seems reasonable that low[er] stimulation would likely be a helpful element in broader treatment though. My own late MIL had her longest stretch of sobriety eating low carb. Measured in years. <br /><br />For whatever combination of reasons she was least "turned on" to binge [food or drink] and had better control of all her disordered behaviors on that diet [and actually she was my introduction to it, very persuasive]. <br /><br />I think it's relevant to distinguish between people who more than likely could use psychiatric treatment and people who are generally functional but over eat.<br /><br />For those populations simple environment changes certainly could make a big impact. I think environment may be even more relevant for very disordered individuals but it'd be a sophisticated process better handled one on one with a professional imo. <br /><br />The fact that very unwell people try to self treat serious illness with various diets isn't something anyone has much control over. When asked "does it work?" we have to first establish what it was supposed to do.<br /><br />I'm curious about Stephans opinion/response to this issue.bentleyj74https://www.blogger.com/profile/10392630441060383111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-85429969277600443482012-01-26T08:10:54.624-08:002012-01-26T08:10:54.624-08:00Sarah,
The point is that people don't stop bei...Sarah,<br />The point is that people don't stop being alcoholics by switching to the lower reward beer. Having been raised by an alchoholic, they will drink and drink until they get a buzz or pass out. They drink slower if they drink something high reward like rum.<br /><br />Low food reward won't work any better than low-carb or low-fat for weight loss. If you're a binge eater, you're a binge eater. Over the long run, you'll successfully learn to eat more food to get that "food buzz" feeling.<br /><br />Then you have strange people like me, who if I feel a strong "buzz" through either food or rum, the sensation overwhelms me and I stop drinking/eating. I can only eat so many chips. It's easier for me to get drunk of beer because I don't feel completely overwhelmed by the experience. <br /><br />We still have a lot to learn about the brain.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10319449874245760501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-10351165268176112492012-01-26T08:08:42.613-08:002012-01-26T08:08:42.613-08:00Hi Float,
I was not making a straw man argument; ...Hi Float,<br /><br />I was not making a straw man argument; you were not being clear about what you meant. Here's what you said:<br /><br />"Many of them practice some type of dietary restraint during the day only to cave in by day’s end and binge on junk food. What this rat study shows is that the restraint need not simply consist of a reduction in calories but also a reduction in palatability (and many diets reduce both calories and palatability)."<br /><br />"For people with a tendency to binge-eat, it obviously doesn’t need to be in front of them (and they very often eat alone). To access the food, they can simply walk across the street to the local convenience store or pick it up at the supermarket on the way home - or stop in at the donut shop as I used to do."<br /><br />You made it sound like what you were talking about is whether to restrict junk foods like donuts, or not. If you were referring to well-seasoned home cooked foods, you didn't mention it. So think it over a little before accusing me of constructing a straw man.<br /><br />I was thinking about this last night, and I have had at least two people independently write me to say that a simple food diet has helped them with binge eating behaviors. If highly palatable food is your trigger for binge eating, it make sense that reducing exposure to the trigger would help. I can't guarantee that it will help all binge eaters, but it has helped some people.Stephan Guyenethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09218114625524777250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-6122416874302013932012-01-26T08:05:48.888-08:002012-01-26T08:05:48.888-08:00Hi bentleyj74,
I quite agree that one can't ma...Hi bentleyj74,<br />I quite agree that one can't make blanket statements about which foods are harmful, and I admit that my comment about processed foods was an overstatement on my part. God forbid that I become one of those diet nazis. I guess that's one of my issues with the bland food diet (not that Stephan's a diet nazi). I think it's probably helpful for a subgroup of people (and I may even be one of those people) but it might be counterproductive for others. And people with a tendency to binge-eat may be in that category. I just wish there would be some acknowledgement of that and at least a cautionary note posted in that regard. Professionally, I would get into deep doodoo making the kind of recommendations that Stephan has been making given the current state of the evidence. Yet I'm quite sure he has considerably more sway over people, with his neurobiology background, than I ever would.Floathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03718501579195864792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-61863860432338145112012-01-26T07:07:25.823-08:002012-01-26T07:07:25.823-08:00I think what's probably missing from rat studi...I think what's probably missing from rat studies is the psychological backlash that humans experience when something is perceived as being "too restrictive" coupled with the freedom to rebel at will.<br /><br />At the same time, any serious bodybuilder can tell you that for anyone who is not a Navy Seal or POW very low body fat is accomplished in part with low reward foods in those last few weeks. Anecdotally we all know that for most people the last bite of pizza goes down the hatch full or not, the last carrot...not so much.<br /><br />Pair that info with the notion that it's the eating behaviors people have when they are alone rather than social eating that binge eaters usually fight with and the pattern for success starts to emerge imo. <br /><br />I'd keep nutritious food that was minimally stimulating for me [note I didn't say bland] around the house and set the parameters that were individually necessary around high reward foods/situations.<br /><br />People know what their "over eat" foods are. I don't think we should graduate from "It's the fat!" to "It's the carbs!" to "It's the processing!". Just about everyone knows whether "insert wholesome food here" should be on the "sometimes" shelf with cookies or not for them personally.<br /><br />Surrounding yourself with foods you find very tempting is a plan to fail for people and I hear Stephan saying that as well as acknowledging that although it is generally true that processed commercial foods are generally higher reward it isn't uniformly true or a reliable SINGLE agent.bentleyj74https://www.blogger.com/profile/10392630441060383111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-59504229232931422392012-01-26T06:02:45.200-08:002012-01-26T06:02:45.200-08:00Hi Stephan,
You wrote:
“So what are people suppos...Hi Stephan,<br /><br />You wrote:<br />“So what are people supposed to do, eat unrestricted quantities of junk food? That is clearly not a good strategy, so some form of restriction is in order.”<br /><br />My goodness, you do have a tendency to make use of straw man arguments. Obviously, recommending that people “eat unrestricted quantities of junk food” is just silly and not what I’m suggesting. Rather, the other option is to eat highly nutritious food that is made to taste as good as possible. And this is obviously what those food reward researchers were recommending when they suggested eating savoury rather than bland or sweet foods in order to regulate appetite.<br /><br />You also mention low-carb diets as reducing appetite, but LC diets are not necessarily low in palatability and many LCers claim quite the opposite. In fact, having a rather natural tendency to eat plain foods myself, I’ve sometimes been puzzled by the extent to which successful LC and paleo dieters spend so much time discussing how to make delicious meals. But it now makes sense when looked at from the perspective of minimizing the contrast effect in palatability between their LC/paleo diet and the junk food with which we’re surrounded. In fact, perhaps the preparation of highly palatable LC and paleo meals is a significant predictor of success on such diets. Some researcher should look into that.<br /><br />As for the anecdotal evidence that you are collecting, it means little when pondering whether a bland food diet should be recommended to people with a true food addiction and with tendencies to binge-eat. How many people attempting the diet, or even visiting this site, have such tendencies? Rather it seems like many people here, including those who have attempted the bland diet, have a somewhat successful history of LC or paleo dieting and are looking to the bland diet to correct some of the deficiencies they experienced with those diets. These may in fact be the people for whom a bland food diet works well. But for those for whom the contrast effect will be a problem, then the diet may be the polar opposite of what they should be attempting. Those individuals might do considerably better to eat a healthy, minimally processed diet that is made to taste as good as possible. <br /><br />Beyond that, of course, there are numerous other reasons why people may be successful with the bland diet that have nothing to do with the diet itself (expectancy effects, generalization of perceived ability to control one’s eating, etc.)Floathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03718501579195864792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-38428326811580943242012-01-26T04:41:30.999-08:002012-01-26T04:41:30.999-08:00@Stabby: 30mg/day of MK-4 is a very large (and ver...@Stabby: 30mg/day of MK-4 is a very large (and very expensive) dosage.Nigel Kinbrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03368973941328529619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-52734942581787312552012-01-26T04:39:07.667-08:002012-01-26T04:39:07.667-08:00Sad to say that my dad is diabetic. He doesn't...Sad to say that my dad is diabetic. He doesn't smoke, walks daily (but probably not enough), doesn't have much stress, not overweight but he is a vegetarian. I'm not against vegetarian but the fact that he eats mostly overly flavored, carb heavy, nutritious depleted mock meats is what bothers me. Hard to change his diet though. Sigh.Water Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04166252172785279531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-40187484778685473812012-01-25T22:50:26.995-08:002012-01-25T22:50:26.995-08:00Hey Stephan, great series. Have you seen this pape...Hey Stephan, great series. Have you seen this paper that claims that vitamin K2 improves insulin sensitivity through modulation of osteocalcin metabolism? http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/9/e147.fullAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-79358095746830304742012-01-25T20:23:17.131-08:002012-01-25T20:23:17.131-08:00I think it's mostly decreased compliance over ...I think it's mostly decreased compliance over time why folks on VLC gain weight back. It's hard doing VLC forever and avoiding a lot of carb foods. Don't feel satisfied on VLC.Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03181442844616803097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-3440847933530405022012-01-25T14:22:37.717-08:002012-01-25T14:22:37.717-08:00@Float
I've been thinking about what you said...@Float<br /><br />I've been thinking about what you said because I've seen people do what you describe and specifically you are talking about disordered eating rather than passive overeating. <br /><br />In my opinion it really comes down to accepting the limits that dietary strategy as an independent variable can produce. <br /><br />I would not suggest that a person with disordered eating behaviors attempt to sweet potato themselves well however that doesn't mean FR can't be informative and put to good use IN broader treatment.bentleyj74https://www.blogger.com/profile/10392630441060383111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1629175743855013102.post-10637995813330047372012-01-25T13:04:52.146-08:002012-01-25T13:04:52.146-08:00Hi Alex,
I don't recall saying that. The LC ...Hi Alex,<br /><br />I don't recall saying that. The LC diet studies (Shai et al. in particular, which was overall the best one IMO) show that the "average person" loses weight rapidly on LC, regains some of it over the next year and then plateaus at a somewhat reduced weight if they remain compliant. <br /><br />Why do people regain on LC diets? I don't think anyone knows for sure, but I can speculate. Some of it has to do with increasing carb intake when transitioning from a VLC induction phase to a LC maintenance phase. Some of it is decreased compliance over time. People also learn to cook/eat around the restrictions, bringing the palatability/reward value of their diet closer to what it was before going LC.<br /><br />I don't see any reason to think that the effectiveness of simple food would diminish over time if compliance remains good, but that remains to be demonstrated.Stephan Guyenethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09218114625524777250noreply@blogger.com