Insulin management is a key to staying young

As stated in weight management, if you would like to live long well, the research has been done.  Premature aging means that outwardly you look older than your calendar age, inwardly your body isn’t healthy, and you die before your time.  Since inner affects outer, the next step to successful aging is also to take care of what’s going on inside your body.  A key step is insulin management.

Why insulin is important

Research has shown there is one common thread among centenarians (those who live to 100 and have their faculties about them).  They all have low insulin levels.  According to Dr. Ronald Rosedale, “If there is a single marker for lifespan, as they are finding in the centenarian studies, it is insulin, specifically, insulin sensitivity.

“How sensitive are your cells to insulin? When they are not sensitive, the insulin levels go up in your blood stream. Who has heard of the term insulin resistance?  “Insulin resistance is the basis of all of the chronic diseases of aging, because the disease itself is actually aging.“

How insulin works

Cells consume fat and sugar (glucose) for fuel.  A hormone called insulin acts as a key for glucose to enter cells.  Insulin is produced by an organ called the pancreas.  Aging and/or overeating causes the insulin receptors on cell membranes to lose their insulin sensitivity. Not as much glucose gets into your cells.  Results:

• Less energy for you because your cells aren’t burning as much fuel (fatigue),

• More glucose floating in your blood stream because it can’t get into the cells (diabetes),

• More fat in your body because excess glucose is converted into triglycerides which in turn are stored in your fat cells thereby leading to overweight and obesity.

Sugar is a carbohydrate
Carbohydrates (carbs) are either with fiber (like whole grains) or without fiber (like many processed grains).  Processed grains have had their hulls and germs removed.

The pancreas releases insulin after you eat carbs.  This causes a rise in blood sugar.  Insulin ensures that your cells receive some blood sugar necessary for life, and increases glycogen storage.  However, eating carbs also drives your body to use more carbs, and less fat, as fuel.   Yes, your cells prefer to use fat for energy, but will first get rid of the sugar that’s there.

In other words, when we eat too much carbohydrate, we’re essentially sending a hormonal message, via insulin, to the body (actually, to the adipose cells). The message: “Store fat.”

Not only do increased insulin levels tell the body to store carbohydrates as fat, they also tell it not to release any stored fat. This makes it impossible for you to use your own stored body fat for energy. So the excess carbohydrates in your diet not only make you fat, they make sure you stay fat.

If you want to use more fats for energy, the insulin response must be moderated. That means eat good carbs and avoid bad carbs.

A good carb has fiber in it.  A bad carb has minimal or no fiber.
The next time you go to the grocery store, check out the fiber content of whole wheat vs. “enriched” bread.  The whole grain has a lot more fiber.

A Simple Rule: “If it’s white, don’t bite”

“Good” carbs are generally with color.  Think fruits, vegetables, legumes/beans, and whole grains.  They are usually the way Mother Nature originally made them.  For example, whole grain hasn’t been “refined” and “enriched.”  It’s what Ma Nature made in the first place.

“Bad” carbs are generally without color, usually off-white.  Think white sugar, white flour, white bread, etc.  You want to avoid bad carbs because that will reduce your risk of weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease.

Eating good carbs helps to keep your blood pressure regular, your blood sugar stable, excess pounds off and your cholesterol level healthy. Eating bad carbs does the opposite.   It’s as simple as that.

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