Children And Insulin Resistance

Obesity is a big problem in our society and getting bigger all the time. Nearly 1 in 5 school age children age 6 to 19 in the United States is considered obese. Obesity leads to many other problems not the least of which is diabetes.  The toll that obesity plays on the lives of Americans is greatly under reported because people come in for a problem due to obesity, but a secondary diagnosis gets the credit for the visit.

One of the biggest problems is that when people try to address the problem, they often look first at the quantity of food.  I believe that the place people should start is what type of food is being eaten.  Another big problem is that “professionals” try to come up with a universal solution that will work for everyone and there isn’t one.  There are lots of reasons children and adults are obese and each one needs a different solution.

However a majority of obese people do fall into one category……

As part of this childhood obesity awareness month campaign, I want to share the solution that could help this majority who are dealing with obesity.  The problem many have is called Insulin resistance.  Unfortunately there isn’t a quick cheap blood test for this problem but if you follow this protocol for 2 weeks you should see some changes and that can help you decide if this applies to you.

describes a problem that people have if they can’t break down starch in a normal manner.  For people with this problem it’s all about what you are eating. And here is why they way some people handle starch is so devastating…

Starch is made up of lots of glucose molecules.  We use these glucose molecules for energy so they are important.   Normally when a person eats starch, their body will break down the starch over time to release the glucose molecules.  Then the glucose molecules go into the blood to be carried to where they are needed (mostly muscle cells).  When enough glucose has gotten into the blood, the body responds by producing insulin which goes throughout the body and tells the muscle cells to wake up and pull in some glucose molecules from the blood so they can use it as energy for muscle contraction. The blood glucose levels are now down far enough that the body stops producing insulin. The digestion of the starch continues and by the time enough glucose has been released into the blood to raise the blood glucose levels to the point that insulin is released, the muscles have had time to  use up the glucose they took in last time so they are ready to bring in more when the insulin tells them to.

Their body breaks down the starch molecule too quickly. So instead of it taking a full day to get the glucose molecules slowly into the blood, the glucose molecules are released quickly and the blood is flooded with glucose.  Now when the insulin talks to the muscle cells, they do their job and pick up some glucose molecules.  But there is so much glucose in the blood to begin with, the body needs to release more insulin so it can get the glucose levels down to a safe level…. but there hasn’t been enough time for the muscles to use up the glucose from the last time so they can’t take in any more.   The body starts to panic because the blood glucose level is still high so it releases even more insulin. Now there is so much insulin that the fat cells start to respond and pull in all the extra glucose molecules from the blood.  They can do this because unlike muscle cells, fat cells can easily expand to make room for more glucose. This is how the fat starts to develop and if the diet stays the same the fat keeps growing.

The fat cells are supposed to store the extra glucose for use later by converting it to fatty acids which can be used for energy when the body needs it, however when the insulin levels are so high, the insulin won’t let the fat cells release the free fatty acids.  This is why people with this condition have such a hard time loosing weight.  The over production of insulin not only stimulates the fat cells to pick up glucose, but it also keeps them from releasing the free fatty acids so working out just working out won’t give you the results you are looking for.

why there is so much obesity in the country.  So much of today’s diet consists of starches.  Either there is some type of high starch food at every meal like bread or grains or potatoes.  This means that kids are spending most if not all of the day overloaded with insulin meaning that the fat cells are getting bigger and bigger and not able to release the fat when the kids do get a chance to do some exercise.

Stop eating foods with high starch content.  White potatoes are a big one.  (Want to supersize those fries)  Bread is another.  Most people have some type of bread at every meal.  Stop the madness.  Wrap your sandwiches in lettuce instead of bread. Going gluten free is not enough if you really want to get to the bottom of this problem.  You should go grain free.  That includes corn and rice etc.  I know there are a lot of “experts” that claim that you need to eat x number of carbs each day.  This just isn’t true.  We have only been eating grains for about 10,000 years…..which account for only 3% of human history.

The solution is quiet simple… No more grains, no starches (potatoes), no sugar. This may sound drastic, but this problem demands something drastic and once you get used to it you wont want to go back!