Insulin:
Insulin is the most effective way to activate the signaling pathways that trigger the Growing Mode; and modern eating leads to large and continuous secretions.
Insulin is a storage hormone with several functions, among them, to mediate so that glucose can enter cells, something impossible without its presence.
When we eat carbohydrates, glucose in the blood rises and the beta cells of the pancreas secrete insulin, which binds to their specific receptors located on the cell membrane and gives them the signal to let it in. When this happens, multiple signaling pathways are triggered, which are those that mediate the biological actions of insulin.
(Note: We have simplified the explanation, because we will see much more about this hormone throughout this series of blogs.)
Insulin and metabolism:
Let’s look at some key points presented very eloquently by the scientist Dr. Benjamin Bikman.
In a book dating from the early twentieth century (1), before the use of insulin, it was already observed that type 1 diabetics had about a 15% faster metabolism.
Type 1 diabetics have a tiny to non-existent insulin production, which suggests that the lack of insulin was the reason for that acceleration and that, could be confirmed in a study more than six decades later (2).
In that study (as in the original observation), type 1 diabetics had a metabolism around 15% higher, but once they were administered insulin that 15% dropped in just hours, suggesting that this was the main reason.
Insulin is a storage hormone and therefore, its function itself is accumulation, which makes it a great metabolism slower.
When the ratio of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) is altered, the levels of this hormone are altered as well. So it is easy to observe the metabolic changes that occur.
Let’s see some examples:
1 – Eight obese adults (3) were fed a standard hypocaloric diet to produce a reduction of 10 to 15% in weight and then, during a period of 4 weeks, they were fed three types of diets:
As expected, the group that had the most advantages at the metabolic level was the one with the lowest insulin secretion, that is, the one with the lowest carbohydrate diet.
2 – In a follow-up of type 2 diabetics who began to use exogenous insulin (4), it can be seen step by step how as insulin administration increased, body weight also increased, while caloric intake decreased.
The presence of insulin itself promoted an average weight gain of 10 kg, even with lower calorie consumption.
3 – Two groups with different diets were compared (5), one with a low-fat and calorie-restricted diet and the other with a very low-carbohydrate diet to minimize insulin secretion, but without caloric restriction.
The result was that participants in the low-carbs group, even if they could eat the amount they wanted, naturally ended up eating about the same number of calories as the restricted group, while losing 2, 5 times more fat.
Even if vegetable seed oils may have an important role in metabolic dysfunction (subject that we will talk about in future blogs), the more we investigate the science, the more we can confirm that if we want to benefit metabolism, the goal is not to reduce calories, but to reduce and stabilize insulin secretion.
(TakeAway: Insulin itself slows down the metabolism and increases both body weight and appetite. A diet that minimizes the secretion of this hormone has the best effect in suppressing appetite, improving metabolism and reducing weight in a sustainable way.)
Insulin and health:
The problem is not limited to an aesthetic issue. Insulin is the most efficient activator of the Growing Mode, and as we will see, exaggerated secretions are related to a large number of diseases.
Among these, is type two diabetes, a dysfunction that like many others, has grown in parallel with the consumption of vegetable seed oils and poor-quality carbohydrates such as refined flours, breakfast cereals and especially, table sugar.
Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in many countries, and the statistics are only getting worse.
According to the world health organization (6):
- Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2016.
- The number of people with diabetes has increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.
- In 2016, approximately 1.6 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes.
- In 2012 alone, 2.2 million people died from causes attributable to high blood glucose.
- Almost half of all deaths attributable to high blood glucose occur before age 70.
Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, and lower limb amputation:
- Diabetic retinopathy, which occurs as a result of accumulated long-term damage to the small blood vessels of the retina, is a major cause of blindness.
- 6% of global blindness can be attributed to diabetes.
Insulin resistance is one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity, for that reason, well dedicate a good part of this blogs to this hormone.
In the next blogs of the series The Balance of Health we will talk about how insulin resistance develops, how to prevent it and how to reverse it.
See you in the next blog where we’ll discuss the development of insulin resistance.
References:
1 – A Study of Metabolism in Severe Diabetes.
2 – Increased energy expenditure in poorly controlled Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients
3 – Effects of diet composition on postprandial energy availability during weight loss maintenance.