We’ve been researching and writing about the role of insulin for awhile now, but truthfully, we’ve never really understood how it works. Until now, that is. We stumbled onto a great article researched and written by Andrea Albright, author of HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT BY FEEDING AND NOURSIHING YOUR SPIRIT. She does a good job of explaining in simple terms how insulin works and how key it is in why we store fat—we think we “get it” now. Here’s the article:
Insulin is an extremely important hormone produced in the pancreas. Its primary function is to regulate the amount of sugar in the blood (after eating a big meal...or when eating foods with a high concentration of sugar). For visual learners (like us), here's our first set of formulas:
Big Meal or Lots of Sugar
High Blood Sugar
High Blood SugarInsulin Production
Insulin is such an important hormone to the body that when it is not working properly, a very serious disease results — DIABETES. A diabetic doesn't produce enough, or may not produce any insulin in order to regulate their own blood sugar. As a consequence, when they eat a sugary meal... or if they stuff themselves too full... or eat too many starches... their blood sugar shoots up too high and that can make them pass out or get dizzy, become highly irritable, very tired, really thirsty, and many other bad things.
You're probably wondering, then, "What does this have to do with me losing my love handles?"
It turns out that insulin is one of the major indicators to the body of when it should make fat. Instead of watching for how many calories are in the blood and deciding it's time to make fat, the body watches for how much insulin is in the blood. Recently research discovered there are a series of processes that can happen when the body has more than enough glycogen or when it gets a really big calorie spike after a big meal... it makes some of that into fat. When we get these insulin spikes after a big meal or when we eat lots of sugar, it tells our body, "Ah, time to go into fat-producing mode".
Insulin levels tell the body to store fat. When there is too much insulin in the blood, it pushes the glycogen into fat cells instead of into muscle or liver cells, where we want them to be stored for energy. The more glycogen is 'pushed' into fat cells, the bigger the fat cells become. This makes us fatter, and eventually when our current fat cells are filled up to the max, our body makes NEW fat cells... MAKING US EVEN FATTER. Oh, fun.
HOW then, DO WE KEEP INSULIN LEVELS STABLE SO WE WILL STOP STORING FAT?
That's the problem with eating these man-made foods that we all love to eat. It's also a problem with eating a large meal. When we eat large meals...WE'RE GOING TO STORE FAT. When we eat very simple carbohydrates (like table sugar) that send the blood sugar skyrocketing up...WE'RE GOING TO STORE FAT. When we eat high-processed foods (like white bread)...WE'RE GOING TO STORE FAT.
You get the point. So now the question, "What DO I eat to keep my insulin levels stable and avoid storing fat?" In a nutshell:
1. Eat NATURAL Foods. This takes practice, but eventually it becomes easy. Ask yourself, "What does this look like in nature?" And then stick to foods that remain in their natural form. Examples are eggs, vegetables, fruits, whole meats and fish (not the processed kinds sold as lunch meats or frozen fish sticks), beans, nuts, and grains (like rice and oatmeal).
Now, we’re not saying the occasional whole grain bread, or whole grain pasta is horrible. But we should keep these to a minimum.
Remember, processed foods send blood sugar skyrocketing, which makes the body produce insulin and store fat. Natural foods keep our blood sugar low and keep our insulin levels stable. And that means NO FAT STORAGE.
2. Eat Small Meals. When we stuff ourselves, we flood the system with calories. Blood sugar levels shoot up and the body releases insulin to push the sugar into fat cells. When we keep meals small, we don't flood the system with a sudden burst of calories. And this keeps insulin levels stable and stores the glycogen (energy) in the muscles and liver and NOT in fat cells.
Bottom line: TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY AND THE BODY WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU. When we eat a small meal of natural foods, our body knows exactly how to regulate energy. And what happens when we eat a small, nutritious meal? Instead of feeling tired afterwards, we feel energized. And instead of storing fat, we store glycogen for bursts of energy. This keeps the body lean and energetic throughout the entire day. THIS is the body's built-in "fat prevention system".
Now that we know HOW it works, it should be easier for us to make choices that support our body and prevent it from storing fat. Ah, but if only it were that easy. If all it took were to know WHAT to do (eat less and exercise more), we’d all be skinny and healthy. It takes more — a mental, emotional, even spiritual makeover…breaking addictions, to eliminating negative thinking, to finding a deeper source of motivation that will keep us inspired for a lifetime. This is why Alice does yoga and Patty works with a trainer at her community center gym. And if you’ve been struggling with your weight loss maybe you’ll want to consider this route as well.
Meanwhile, we’ll continue to devote this column to inspiring and motivating information, but one thing’s for sure…we’re all in this together. So if YOU have helpful information, please do share! Meanwhile, let’s try this week not to feed those fat cells!
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