Category Archives: Insulin

How to actually lower your cholesterol

Posted on April 15, 2012 | 3 Comments

As a Registered Dietitian, I have seen hundreds of patients trying to lower their cholesterol via a low fat, low cholesterol diet. Many patients come to me desperately trying to figure out why their cholesterol keeps increasing after years of avoiding fried foods, meat, bacon, eggs, and cheese. I learned in school,

What's going on here?

that if a patient was not seeing results with a low fat, low cholesterol diet it probably meant they weren’t REALLY avoiding the foods they needed to avoid. Just a few years ago I believed that if a patient was truly eating lots of whole grains, very little fat, and avoiding red meat at all costs, they should have low cholesterol. But, after a while in this field, seeing one unsuccessful patient after another, I started to see that this was clearly not happening. How could ALL my patients be lying to me about what they were actually eating? Sure, there is a genetic component to high cholesterol and some people’s numbers are high no matter what they do, but these cases are rare. I didn’t feel that genetics was accounting for the lack of change I was seeing in my patients when they changed their diet according to my recommendations

The thing is that I was eating a “heart healthy” diet myself, exactly as I had learned in school. I knew I had a family history of high cholesterol and had to be careful with my diet.  But, even in following the traditional recommendations (and who knew them better than me?), my total cholesterol was over 200. My LDL (bad cholesterol) was borderline high. How could this be?  I ate oatmeal with fruit for breakfast, whole grain bread with fat free mayo, low fat cheese (or fat free, yuck!), and turkey for lunch, and whole wheat pasta with veggies for dinner! I used only olive oil for cooking, didn’t eat fast food, never ate anything fried, avoided eggs, and didn’t eat much red meat. Why was my cholesterol so high at only 27 years old? I had all the information and was following the recommended diet I had learned in school. Why couldn’t I lower my own cholesterol? Why were my patient’s struggling as well? Clearly there was something that was not right.

Part of the reason I became a dietitian is because I love how often the field changes, requiring a lot of research and constant learning to stay on top of all the new information. I like to try things out on myself before I make recommendations and don’t like to recommend diets if I am not seeing the results I think I should.  I couldn’t accept that the low fat diet I was following was not keeping my cholesterol under control, especially since I was following exactly what I was taught and what was fully accepted by the medical and nutrition communities.

So, I hit the internet and did some research, I desperately wanted real results for my patients and myself, and didn’t want to provide information that clearly wasn’t working. I attended a few “alternative” nutrition conferences to try to discover different ways of thinking about heart health. After a lot of research into what would actually lower my cholesterol, I changed my diet. I quit following the “recommended” heart-healthy diet and I added back many foods that I had been avoiding for years.

After 6 months on this new diet, my cholesterol went down 32 points, my LDL was down 27 points, now all within normal levels. I also convinced a coworker to try the diet with me and her total cholesterol dropped 20 points and LDL dropped 25 points after only 2 months. Her HDL also increased by over 20 points, and she was not exercising (exercise usually raises HDL)!

When I told my doctor what I had done, including the dietary changes I had made, he told me it was impossible, that it couldn’t have been my diet that changed my cholesterol. He said “You must have a different kind of metabolism from other people!” Really? Clearly, he was wrong, it was my diet. It’s not his fault, his area of expertise is not nutrition and he is just following what the rest of the medical community has accepted as dogma. When you know better, you do better.

So I wrote a program manual called “How to actually lower your cholesterol” to help people like myself who are doing everything they can, following all the recommendations as closely as possible, and still not seeing the results they want with their cholesterol levels. It outlines exactly what you need to do to get your cholesterol down fast. Are you ready to see real results? Are you ready to shock your doctor with your drastically lower cholesterol? The book is available here via Amazon.com for kindle or here in PDF format via Lulu.com! Enjoy!

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Posted in Books, Gluten Free, Healthy Lifestyle, Insulin, Wheat

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The Wheat Series- Part 4: Wheat and Your Mind

Posted on January 31, 2012 | 6 Comments

In the other blog posts in this series (read Part 1, 2, and 3) , we have seen how wheat can affect our blood sugar, metabolism, and immune system. In this post I wanted to discuss something that was VERY surprising to me when I first learned about it, how much gluten can affect our minds.

I was a psychology major in college (before I went back to school to become a dietitian) and my interest in psychology and health remains (I even thought about doing a PhD in health  psychology). I have seen that many patients struggling with mental illnesses (bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, etc), who also had issues with diet and weight. I would say that when I worked with the pre-gastric bypass population about 50% (or maybe even more ) of those patients struggled at some point with anxiety, depression, or other psychological disorders. I always thought that the mental issue was affecting the diet (overeating, under eating, binges, sugar cravings, etc), and never really thought that maybe the diet was contributing to the mental illness. That is until I heard Nora Gedgaudas speak at the Ancestral Health Symposium. Nora’s talk discussed how blood sugar regulation is key regulating the endocrine and nervous system, controlling our hormones, emotions and behavior. Surges in blood sugar are destabilizing because of the effect it has on insulin, leptin, and other hormones, stimulating over-arousal and exacerbating anxiety-related issues. Remember the effect that wheat has on our blood sugar due to its high content of amylopectin?

But, its not just the blood sugar surges that contribute to the mood swings, depression, anxiety, etc, its the actual gluten itself. Gluten polypeptides have been found to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Once gluten is in the brain, it attaches to morphine receptors, the same as opiates. It has also been found that the drug naloxone (used to reverse the action of heroin and other opiates) blocks the binding of gluten to the brain’s morphine receptors. When naloxone was given to “normal” subjects (blocking the opiate effect of gluten), they consumed approximately 400 fewer calories from carbohydrate sources. Consumption of wheat can therefore lead to a mild feeling of euphoria and  when it is not consumed, people can experience withdrawal.

Nora, in her practice, has seen significant improvement in mental illnesses by using a gluten-free, Paleo diet approach in combination with therapy and biofeedback. If you are struggling with depression/anxiety or other mental issues, it may be worth a shot. For more information, there are several testimonials about anxiety, depression, and the Paleo diet on Robb Wolf’s site.

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Posted in Emotional eating, Gluten Free, Healthy Lifestyle, Insulin, Paleo, Uncategorized, Wheat

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The Wheat Series- Part 2

Posted on January 18, 2012 | 3 Comments

In the last post in this series, I discussed how modern wheat is different from ancient wheat because of genetic modification due to the need for greater crop yields. Modern Triticum aestivum (wheat) is unable to survive without human intervention, fertilization and pest control.  Kind of reminds me of Jurassic Park when the scientists made the dinosaurs  in the movie all lysine dependent (trying to keep them dependent on humans to live) then the dinosaurs mutated and we all know how that story ended…ooops! The point is don’t screw with mother nature, she knows what she’s doing.

Due to genetic modification, modern wheat is about 70% carbohydrate and is lower in protein than ancient wheat (read more about ancient wheat at www.growseed.org). The carbohydrate in wheat is 75% amylopectin and 25% amylose. Amylopectin is very efficiently digested and easily turned into sugar.  The specific type of amlyopectin in wheat is amylopectin A which has been called a “super carbohydrate” as it is the most readily turned into blood sugar of all the types of amylopectin.

Amylopectin

In this study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, participants were given a diet of 70% amylose or 70% amylopectin. Those on the amylopectin diet had higher glucose and insulin responses after a meal. Due to the high amylopectin content, white bread has a higher  glycemic response than table sugar (according to the glycemic index). So why does this matter for health?

The reason it matters is because of insulin. As I have discussed in previous posts, high blood sugar (from amylopectin and other refined carbohydrates), leads to increased insulin, which leads to increased inflammation, and then to chronic diseases (diabetes, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, and even mental illnesses- more on that in a future post). Insulin is also a storage hormone and causes food to be stored…excess food leads to excess storage (ie FAT). The only way to get rid of fat is to allow insulin levels to decrease enough in the body so the fat can actually come OUT of the cells. So, due to its high amylopectin content, wheat elevates blood sugar leading to not only excess weight, but a whole myriad of other health problems. How is this a “safe” food again?

PS When I was writing this post, I came across this article from 2011 that basically says how great the genetic modification of wheat is. Ha! Enjoy!

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Posted in Autoimmune, Gluten Free, Insulin, Wheat

Fat and Heart Disease

Posted on January 17, 2011 | 1 Comment

Shocking information: high fat diets DO NOT increase your risk for heart disease. Even more shocking….saturated fat intake does not increase your risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). It seems that we had it all mixed up.

There is one man to blame for most of this, his name is Ancel Keys. He was a researcher out of the University of Minnesota who started his work in the 1950s. He began to be interested in the cholesterol/fat connection with heart disease during a trip to Europe in the 1950s. He noted that the wealthy members of society (who ate more meat and fatty foods) had greater levels of heart disease. He concluded that fat consumption must be the cause of the heart disease. He spent the rest of his life trying to prove that theory and spread the information as far and wide as possible.

The problem is that there were holes in his initial research. When he compared the rates of heart disease and dietary fat in different countries, he had data available for 22 countries. He chose to only use 6 of those countries, the ones that best fit into his hypothesis. Once the data was re-analyzed for all 22 countries, there was no connections to be found. He was also only comparing TOTAL fat to TOTAL cholesterol. We know that different types of fats have different effects on the amount of cholesterol in our blood.

The problem was that Keys had the media on his side. He was able to get the American Heart Association to support him, he was able to get an article in Time magazine saying that all Americans should decrease their fat consumption. Before the final evidence could come in, before the long-term studies could be done, the media and the public embraced the idea. With support from multiple “health” organizations and the government, this became dogma. The issue is that he was wrong.

Here are some studies that state the complete opposite:

Dietary Fat Intake and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women

Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular risk

Ok, so thats great! Fat does not cause heart disease. What does that mean you should do? How does this apply to your diet?

  • Don’t be so afraid of fat. Does that mean you should eat deep fried everything? NO! (The breading well get you, but thats another blog post)
  • Increase your amount of healthy fats. Avocados, nuts, olive oil, even a little butter (grass-fed if possible).
  • Protein + fat (i.e. meat) is very filling. You cannot consume as many calories from protein as you can from carbohydrates. You will feel more satisfied and therefore eat less.
  • Fat does NOT make you fat. Excess calories, too many refined carbohydrates, and metabolic derangement due to insulin issues make you fat.
  • Omega-3s are awesome fats that reduce inflammation and are great for people trying to lose weight and for those with autoimmune conditions. See how much you should be taking here.

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Posted in Gluten Free, Healthy Lifestyle, Insulin, Paleo, Weight Loss

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Paleo and PCOS

Posted on October 7, 2010 | 2 Comments

The more I explore the whole “Paleo” concept, the more I realize how many different conditions can be helped by the elimination of grains, legumes, and dairy. I was chatting with an amazing Crossfit friend yesterday who mentioned that she was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and that she feels it is connected to why she is having difficulty losing weight, even with her awesome CF performance. So, I got to thinking about PCOS, insulin resistance, and Paleo. Enter Google….
Here’s what I have discovered….
PCOS is STRONGLY influenced by insulin resistance. Some people are more prone to be insulin resistant for a variety of factors such as genetics, poor diet, obesity, lack of physical activity, etc. When insulin is high in the body, it causes an increase in testosterone release (male hormone). That is why women with PCOS tend to grow body hair in weird places and can have male pattern baldness. Insulin resistance causes an imbalance in all the androgens (sex hormones) in the body leading to infertility, ovaries with cysts (ie polycystic), weight gain, and lack of sex drive. Insulin itself is a storage hormone, causing the body to hold on to things (ie fat) which additionally contributes to the weight gain, etc. Its a total feed-forward mechanism….poor food choices –> increase insulin release –> cells don’t respond as well to insulin after awhile –> high blood sugars –> more insulin –> weight gain…I mean this could go on forever and ever. Amazing how many different functions in the body insulin has…Robb Wolf even says that blood sugar control may be a secondary or even tertiary function of insuiln. Who knew?
Ok, so what can we do about it?
It goes back to needing to control insulin release and making our tissues sensitive to the action of insulin again. MDs will put people on Metformin to help increase their insulin sensitivity and decrease gluconeogenesis (the formation of glucose in the liver). Metformin can have gastrointestinal side effects and who wants to be on another medication?
Basically it goes back to what I wrote about in my “Insulin and Inflammation” post from August. Diet, exericse, less stress, sleep, fish oil. But, I feel that diet is vital for those with PCOS.
1. Avoid grains and legumes. Carbohydrates, cause the release of insulin, which sets off the whole process. Gluten also leads to inflammation which causes restistance to insulin.
2. Avoid sugar…same reasons as above.
3. Avoid dairy. Dairy is for growth. Babies need milk when they are growing. If you are overweight, why would you consume something that will cause you to GAIN weight? Doesn’t make sense.
4. Increase intake of green leafy vegetables which have calcium. Calcium can help normalize PMS symtpoms…but don’t get it from dairy.

Overall, some of these changes can be challenging. But, do one at a time until they become a habit and then pick a new goal. It’s especially important if you are trying to get pregnant as PCOS can cause infertility. If that is the case, you should really be strict about these changes.

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Posted in Autoimmune, Exercise, Gluten Free, Insulin, Paleo, Weight Loss

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“The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet” by Robb Wolf….a review

Posted on September 30, 2010 | 6 Comments
First, I want to start out by saying that Robb Wolf’s nutrition seminar changed my life as I have said multiple times in this blog. So, here is my review of the book.

Robb Wolf is a funny guy. When he really gets into it he actually has some seriously laugh-out-loud phrases in his book. My favorite of all was “refined carbs are like an ecstasy-soaked beer binge at the playboy mansion.” Pretty damn funny if you ask me. I liked that a lot of the book was written in his own language and you can almost hear his humor/personality while reading it. It is refreshing to read something that isn’t so uptight and formal. Even though he is definitely an “expert”, he doesn’t come across as a know-it-all which is always a good thing.

I think he did an ok job trying to explain very complex biochemical pathways to a lay audience. But, overall there was a lot that could have been left out to make it simpler. I feel that he jumped around a lot from hormones, to digestion, to discussion of gluten, and all over the place. Sometimes I had a hard time trying to figure out where he was going with a specific chapter.

I felt the chapter on “how to” exercise could have been left out of the book and maybe saved for a second book. I know he is a gym owner and really into the exercise thing, but I felt like it was random to include that part in a diet book. Exercise is important, so I guess any type of encouragement of it is a good thing.

I wish there had been more testimonials included in the book as they are the most powerful part of the Paleo diet for me. The before/after pictures at the beginning were awesome, but I think examples could have been scattered more throughout the book. I wanted to see more specific numbers (LDL, weight changes, etc) so I could know what to expect. Sometimes I felt that he relied too much on the whole “give me 30 days and try it” argument, whereas more client-specific stories would have been helpful.

All-in-all, based on the experience I have read online from those who have followed the Paleo Solution, I truly believe it will work. I feel that Robb really wants to help people and was trying to get as much knowledge as he possibly could into 319 pages. I would recommend the Paleo Solution to those who want to get started with a healthier lifestyle, lower cholesterol, and improve autoimmune issues. It will give you the direction you need in terms of what to do with your diet (includes a 30 day meal plan) and why you should do it. Enjoy!

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Posted in Autoimmune, Books, Exercise, Gluten Free, Insulin, Paleo, Recipes, Weight Loss

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Insulin and Inflammation

Posted on August 31, 2010 | 2 Comments

This past weekend I had the privilege of being able to see a lecture by Robb Wolf the author of an up-coming book called The Paleolithic Solution. I have been listening to Robb’s podcasts in my car the last few months and he is doing a few lectures right now in order to promote his book and this weekend it happened to be located only about an hour from my house. Luckily my wonderful Crossfit coach wanted to go also, so off we went to “geek out” for the day (Robb is a PhD biochemist, parts of his lecture would be tough for a non-science person). So over the next few weeks I am going to try to present to you what I learned at the lecture and why I find it so ground breaking and important.
I think everyone already has an idea that Type II Diabetes rates are out of control. Type II is referred to as insulin resistant diabetes because the problem is not that there is no insulin, but that the body’s cells are no longer responding to the insulin. We used to think that this was due to obesity, that fat lined the cells walls and the insulin just couldn’t communicate with them anymore. But lately there has been a lot of research that there is actually a third factor at play here: inflammation.
Chronic-low grade inflammation has been proven to disable insulin receptor sites on cells, not allowing the insulin signals to be properly interpreted by the cells, causing a rise in blood glucose (the sugar just can’t get where it needs to go), and leading to Type II Diabetes (when your fasting blood glucose is over 126mg/dL). Therefore, being of a normal body weight is not enough to prevent Type II Diabetes, we need to actually look at helping to lower levels of inflammation. (Inflammation plays a key role in a TON of other diseases which I will discuss over the next few weeks).
Ok, so if being at a normal weight isn’t enough to reduce your risk factors, what can you do to help?
1. Sleep. We are chronically sleep deprived. Lack of sleep increases levels of inflammation, increases stress hormones, and just overall makes for a non-productive day. Robb Wolf recommends you sleep as much as you can without getting fired or divorced. I find that I feel my best if I go to bed around 10pm and wake up at 730am. Yeah, thats 9.5 hours. That’s just what my body needs. :-)
2. Diet. Avoid foods that increase/spike insulin levels. These are going to be all of your refined carbohydrates. If it doesn’t look the way it did coming out of the ground (i.e. it was processed in some way) don’t eat it. Examples: donuts, muffins, bread, cake, pasta, pie, cereal, etc. These foods cause spikes in insulin and an autoimmune reaction which leads to an increase in the inflammation process.
3. Exercise. Exercise is a key factor in increasing insulin sensitivity. Our bodies were not built to sit around all day. Build exercise into your work day. Take walking breaks. Try to get in at least an hour 5x a week.
4. Fish oil. Part of the problem with the increase in inflammation is the imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fats in our diet. Increase your omega-3 to via fish oil supplementation. Robb Wolf recommends .25g per 10lbs of body weight for those who are already healthy, up to 1.0g per 10lbs of body weight for those who have known insulin resistance or are obese. Ask your doctor before taking such high doses, especially if you are on a lot of other medications already.
5. Manage stress. I think this is the hardest for most people because there are so many factors in life that we can’t control. Stress causes our immune system to work overtime because our bodies think there is something we are fighting against. I am going to try to include some stress management tips in future blogs to help you out with this.
Hopefully, over the next few weeks I will be sharing the rest of the information with you that I learned from Robb’s conference. It has really changed how I look at my own diet and health. Look for more food/cooking pictures and articles in the future also!

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Posted in Autoimmune, Gluten Free, Healthy Lifestyle, Insulin, Paleo

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