It used to be all about estrogen. It was postulated that obese women, and there are too many of us, synthesized estrogen in adipose tissue. Now there is some thought that insulin is also part of the problem, due to high carb diets we are all following to keep fat levels low.
But we know now that that's all bunk, right, and we should be following a "plant-based, Meditteranean, low carb, right oil and fat" diet.
Anyway, an article of interest is "Insulin, Insulin-like Growth Factor-I, and Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women." Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol 101, Issue 1, Jan 7/09.
The multitude of authors conducted a study and looked at 835 subjects who were nondiabetic. They looked at their various blood profiles and concluded that insulin levels were positively associated with the risk of breast cancer but with a few caveats, like hormone use. Obesity was also associated.
The conclusion was "these data suggest that hyperinsulinemia is an independent risk factor for breast cancer and may have a substantial role in explaining the obesity=breast cancer relationship."
They observed "strong positive association" between risk of breast cancer and high fasting insulin levels in postmenopausal women who weren't diabetic and weren't on hormone therapy.
This means that women who are obese have to lose weight, get their insulin levels down and get active. It also mentions high estradiol levels but I'm not sure what women can do about that, other than lose the adipose tissue that produces too much estrogen.
I'd love to hear some medical comments on this.
Showing posts with label insulin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insulin. Show all posts
Friday, June 12, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sugar Sugar
Honey, ah sugar sugar,....
You are my candy girl, and you've got me wanting you.
You know the rest.
And it's a sad fact that sugar is the origin of many of our problems, personally and as a society. Not only is obesity a personal problem, it is a societal problem.
Gary Taubes did us a great favour with his research on obesity and its patterns and causes. Were it not for him, we would still be thinking that low fat diets were the Greatest!
While exercise is a must for every human being who can do it, it is more important how you eat. If you exercise at a high rate every day, but eat a high carb diet with lots of saturated fat in it, chances are you will have high triglycerides, low HDL and high LDL. You probably have a bad level of C reactive protein as well, which is an indicator of how much inflammation you have in your body.
More and more, research in places like Harvard and Duke Universities is pointing to inflammatory processes and the size of your LDL particles as good indicators of your risk for cardiac disease. And researchers are realizing that "good fats" are important in lowering some of that risk.
A lot of these risk factors are related to the amount of sugar in your diet. High glucose in the blood throws everything off.
Heck, I would even bet that women with problems with their periods that is blamed on perimenopause and other such things, are probably insulin resistant and if they embarked on a program of walking and taking something like Metformin, their problems would stop as their insulin resistance decreased. It happened to me, but I don't want to generalize to a population. My doctor was absolutely skeptical at first, but no longer. She has studied hormones and now thinks that high blood sugar is the cause for many problems.
Want to change one thing in your diet? Reduce the amount of carbs you ingest. Switch to sugar free pop, eat an egg or egg substitute for breakfast instead of that cereal from a box, and look at the yogourt and fruit that you eat, and think about how many carbs are in them. The fewer carbs, the better.
You are my candy girl, and you've got me wanting you.
You know the rest.
And it's a sad fact that sugar is the origin of many of our problems, personally and as a society. Not only is obesity a personal problem, it is a societal problem.
Gary Taubes did us a great favour with his research on obesity and its patterns and causes. Were it not for him, we would still be thinking that low fat diets were the Greatest!
While exercise is a must for every human being who can do it, it is more important how you eat. If you exercise at a high rate every day, but eat a high carb diet with lots of saturated fat in it, chances are you will have high triglycerides, low HDL and high LDL. You probably have a bad level of C reactive protein as well, which is an indicator of how much inflammation you have in your body.
More and more, research in places like Harvard and Duke Universities is pointing to inflammatory processes and the size of your LDL particles as good indicators of your risk for cardiac disease. And researchers are realizing that "good fats" are important in lowering some of that risk.
A lot of these risk factors are related to the amount of sugar in your diet. High glucose in the blood throws everything off.
Heck, I would even bet that women with problems with their periods that is blamed on perimenopause and other such things, are probably insulin resistant and if they embarked on a program of walking and taking something like Metformin, their problems would stop as their insulin resistance decreased. It happened to me, but I don't want to generalize to a population. My doctor was absolutely skeptical at first, but no longer. She has studied hormones and now thinks that high blood sugar is the cause for many problems.
Want to change one thing in your diet? Reduce the amount of carbs you ingest. Switch to sugar free pop, eat an egg or egg substitute for breakfast instead of that cereal from a box, and look at the yogourt and fruit that you eat, and think about how many carbs are in them. The fewer carbs, the better.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Gary Taubes explains it so well
Watched his lecture at Berkeley again.
At the hour point, he cuts to the chase. Fat storage happens because of alpha glycerol phosphate, which is needed to bin fatty acids into triglycerides. AGP (my abbrev.) comes from burning glucose and nore is available to store fat when insulin levels are high. Want to store less fat? Keep insulin levels in the blood low. Take in less glucose.
Yalow and Berson in 1965 say "Insulin is the principal regulator of fat metabolism". Gary talks about how emaciated type I diabetics can be, as they no longer produce their own insulin. They have nothing to drive fat accumulation with. When treated with insulin therapy, Dr. Best (yes, that Dr. Best) describes how they develop adipose deposits in the stomach where the insulin is injected.
My husband and I started the South Beach Diet in late September 08. My husband has lost 25 pounds and his blood profile has improved so much his doctor is ecstatic. My husband's triglycerides are WAY down from where they were. The doctor had recommended South Beach. I have lost 17 pounds. Don't you hate men who always win in the weight loss game? My profile is improving as well. LDL and HDL levels close to normal.
It's the insulin, stupid.
At the hour point, he cuts to the chase. Fat storage happens because of alpha glycerol phosphate, which is needed to bin fatty acids into triglycerides. AGP (my abbrev.) comes from burning glucose and nore is available to store fat when insulin levels are high. Want to store less fat? Keep insulin levels in the blood low. Take in less glucose.
Yalow and Berson in 1965 say "Insulin is the principal regulator of fat metabolism". Gary talks about how emaciated type I diabetics can be, as they no longer produce their own insulin. They have nothing to drive fat accumulation with. When treated with insulin therapy, Dr. Best (yes, that Dr. Best) describes how they develop adipose deposits in the stomach where the insulin is injected.
My husband and I started the South Beach Diet in late September 08. My husband has lost 25 pounds and his blood profile has improved so much his doctor is ecstatic. My husband's triglycerides are WAY down from where they were. The doctor had recommended South Beach. I have lost 17 pounds. Don't you hate men who always win in the weight loss game? My profile is improving as well. LDL and HDL levels close to normal.
It's the insulin, stupid.
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