01/01/2025
Metabolic Health Continues…..
I know you were all waiting with baited breath so here you are!
Lets start as we mean to go on.
Insulin resistance affects 88% of adults – it is the most common health problem.It would seem to be a missing link. Dr Ben Bikman has dedicated his career to it. He notes that blood glucose is not as useful a marker as measuring fasting insulin in blood. You want it to be high-20s in pmol/l. This indicates insulin sensitivity. Ask your GP to do that. If it is high, measure one more time to check as it ebbs and flows, even in a fasted state. There are other blood markers but more about that another time. I R contributes to all chronic non-communicable disease. It creates inflammation.
Chronically elevated insulin is the major and most modifiable cause – eating too often !
Clients who have ‘5 small meals per day’ present to my clinic a lot. If I recommend ‘no snacking’ (which I rather insist on) and to have 2-3 square meals per day, clients often rail against this saying things like “I cannot go long without food” or “I get hangry”. This reflects poor metabolic flexibility and the ‘cure’ is intermittent fasting. Naturally, all these new behaviours should be under the regard of a health pro, however, missing a meal never hurt anyone and likely did you good. So the ‘hangry’ client will have a bit of discomfort for a day or two but the body will adapt. It is wonderful like that. Fasting used to be a common practice in traditional cultures including our own. The constant sight of attractive, colourful packaging on display in shops as well as relentless advertising from ‘Big Food’, lures us into temptation at all times of day and night.
Calley and Casey Means are making a powerful case about this right now and are excellently credentialed to do so as a former Stanford educated surgeon and former big food lobbyist turned virtual whistle blowers.See links……. However my heroes like Dr Joe Mercola, Dr David Perlmutter, Dr Robert Lustig and others have been trying to drum these issues home for MANY years now, but of course failing to impact the ‘health’ services as these agencies have virtually zero training in nutrition. Odd.Why, I hear you ask? Calley and Casey Means do a reasonable job of explaining why there is no attention paid to that which you consume. Link to them in comments:
Some useful starter strategies to address IR:
Control carbs
Prioritize protein
Don’t fear fat
Structured fasting
Cook then cool starchy carbs (then re-heat)
Use apple cider vinegar most days if you can
Limit daily fruit intake
Move after meals
See you on the other side!
