Nutritional Counseling Most of the body’s burden is related to poor nutrition. With proper nutrition, you'll notice more energy, less stress, better sleep, faster recovery, and more vitality. The majority of people’s lifestyle include poor nutrition. Each year the average American consumes 150 lbs. of sugar and 566 cans of soft drinks (“liquid candy”).  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that is equal to “52 teaspoonfuls of added sugars per person per day.” Can you imagine yourself sitting at the kitchen table gobbling down 52 teaspoons of white sugar – every single day?  Well, that’s exactly what most of us are doing without even realizing it! Junk food consumption has increased drastically in the last few decades.  Compared to 1981, in 2001 the average American consumed in one year: 45 large bags of potato chips – up 78%; 120 orders of French fries – up 130%; 190 candy bars – up 80%; 120 pastries or desserts – up 95%; 150 slices of pizza – up 143%.

Toxins “stimulate neurons to death”

Junk foods and soft drinks contain dangerous additives, chemicals, and many are laced with excitotoxins such as MSG and aspartame.  Excitotoxins are “substances added to foods and beverages that literally stimulate neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees.”

Our modern unhealthy diet and lifestyle will first have a devastating effect on the colon, before damaging other organs.  This is where the saying “death begins in the colon” comes from.

Predisposing Factors in Insulin Resistance                             Y or N

1.  Elevated glucose, when fasting (above 110)

2.  Had diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes)       

3.  History of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)

4.  Poor glucose tolerance (during lab test)

5.  Adult onset diabetes (Type 2)

6.  Elevated blood pressure

7.  Elevated triglycerides

8.  Ovarian cysts (polycystic ovaries)

9.  Ancestors had diabetes

10.  Ancestors had elevated blood pressure

11.  Ancestors elevated triglycerides

12.  Family history of heart disease

13.  Elevated uric acid (>7.9 on blood test)

14.  Diagnoses of heart disease

15.  Sedentary lifestyles, absence of aerobic exercise

16.  Premature birth

17.  Birth weight under 5.5 lbs.

18.  Weight gain > 20 lbs. since age 18 (women), age 20 (men

19.  Weight about the same, but fat percentage increase

20.  Waist over 30” (women), 36” (men)

21.  Minority, ethnic groups who have adopted a “Western”

diet.  Ex:  American Indian, Naruans, Aborigines, Maoris,Hawaiians, Polynesians, Melanesians, Hispanics, Japanese, Africans, etc.

22.  Craving for sugars and breads

23.  Elevated cholesterol

24.  Need coffee to start the day

If you scored more than 5 yes answers, you may be experiencing insulin resistance.  The degree of insulin resistance can be determined by a lab test.

FOUR LIFESTYLES THAT HELP YOU “EARN” INSULIN RESISTANCE:

There are other ways to earn insulin resistance other than by eating sugar or having a genetic predisposition to it.

Lifestyle 1:  Skipping breakfast

This is a big one.  During sleep, the body’s metabolism has continued to work.  In fact, your body burns a majority of its calories during sleep.  The muscles burn fat and glucose.  On waking, the body’s reserves are low.  It’s time to break the fast.  With the activities of the day, more energy is expended.  As blood sugar drops lower with the morning’s activities, the pancreas becomes more and more ready to drive glucose into the starving cells.  Like a track runner before the starting gun, the pancreas is ready to do its job.  This causes the over-exuberance that will slowly develop insulin resistance over time as the body is forced to adjust to a more rapid pushing of glucose into the cells.  Even a tiny, balanced breakfast served on a saucer or a properly balanced food bar can prime the fat-burning hormone “pump” through blood sugar stability.  Thus, breakfast is essential for the dietary control of the fat-burning mechanism.

Lifestyle 2:  The Humongous Supper

Eating lightly all day and then overeating at supper is another way to earn insulin resistance.  Dieters often do this.  They start the day with good intentions and eat lightly.  In the name of calorie reduction, they skip lunch.  But by supper, their bodies are screaming for the comfort and well being of eating.  So, having behaved so “good” all day, the evening meal runs berserk.  The person can’t shut off the appetite that starts screaming for carbohydrates and emotional gratification.

Oftentimes these people are very dedicated workers.  They have a piece of fruit in the car on the way to work and a quick, light lunch eaten while working.  Then, after 10 or 12 hours of working hard, they eat a big supper to unwind, relax, and catch up.  This big evening meal shocks the pancreas with work, both digestively and with blood sugar control.  Further, this is very poor timing.  The body is given its primary energy fuel at a time the person is preparing to rest and sleep.  The cells know the circadian rhythms and are preparing for rest and repair during sleep.  Then a huge load of glucose hits, followed by a huge dose of insulin.

The pancreas gets stretched like a rubber band:  too much sugar, too little, too much, too little.  Finally, it becomes exhausted.  This situation becomes more complicated when human growth hormone naturally diminishes with age, the metabolism slows down, and the adrenal glands are on a “hair trigger” to release cortisol due to caffeine intake and the stress of daily life.  These lifestyle factors take their toll.  We must learn a new lifestyle to break this detrimental cycle.

Lifestyle 3:  Dessert for Breakfast

A third way to earn insulin resistance is to begin your day with a soft drink or sugared breakfast cereal, or just toast.  Pancakes with syrup will do nicely.  These sugary/starchy foods convert to glucose at an alarming rate, putting the pancreas into the Rapid Rate Induction Mode.  This high/low stretching of glucose metabolism leads to pancreatic over - reactiveness which, in turn, leads to resistance of the cells.

Understanding this, we could say that each person has a certain number of “shocks” their pancreas’ can withstand.  Some people can tolerate only a few.  These are the obese children, genetically prone to glucose intolerance.  Some people can handle 20,000 shocks, so they become hypoglycemic in their mid 20’s and diabetic in their 30’s.  Other people can take 50,000 shocks and don’t have problems until they are in later middle age.  Then they blimp out.  Finally, some people just seem to get away with it.  These are the thin, trim people, who probably smoke and eat all the sugary desserts they want in their late 90’s and can’t understand what all the fuss is about.  George Burns was the “poster child” for this genetic profile with his cigar and martini at age 100.  The key element here is:  how many shocks can you take?

Lifestyle 4:  Concentrated protein With Concentrated, Refined-Carbohydrate Meals

Generally, the premise of balanced nutrition is to have all three macro-nutrients on the plate with every meal.  Avoid the protein/carbohydrate combination that can actually cause an elevation in insulin response.  We’ll not take on the topic of “food combining” here, but I will point out that when a concentrated protein such as meat is eaten with a concentrated, refined carbohydrate such as instant mashed potatoes or apple pie, the insulin response can be even greater than eating just the carbohydrate.  Here is where the case for quality foods is so important.

Life styles can create weakness in the digestion which lead us spiraling into the depths of symptoms, disease and degeneration. 

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