delivered to the cells to be used for energy. Diabetes is diagnosed by a fasting blood-glucose level of greater than 126 mg/dL (on two separate tests) or a blood-glucose level greater than 200 mg/dL at any time.
Type 1 diabetes, which accounts for only 10 percent of diabetes cases, is caused by a deficiency of insulin production by the beta cells of the pancreas. That is, type 1 diabetics lack insulin, and they tend to be very thin and have a hard time gaining weight. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 percent of all diabetes cases. It is caused by insulin resistance — the body produces sufficient insulin, but the insulin is unable to work properly. The result is higher-than-normal levels of blood glucose because the glucose is unable to be processed by the cells and used for energy, so it remains in the bloodstream. When we measure insulin levels in type 2 diabetics, we find their insulin levels are actually very high, meaning that the body is compensating for insulin resistance by producing even more insulin! One of the big problems with chronically elevated insulin levels is that they cause constant hunger, and fat cannot be used as a fuel as long as insulin levels are elevated. As a result, type 2 diabetics tend to be heavy. The goal of Turbo Metabolism is to improve insulin sensitivity so that these soaring insulin levels can drop down to normal.
Heart disease, cancer, lung disease, stroke, and diabetes are the leading killers of our time and account for two-thirds of all deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the percentages of total deaths by the seven leading causes are as follows:
1. Heart disease: 24.1 percent
2. Cancer: 22.7 percent
3. Chronic lower-respiratory diseases: 5.9 percent
4. Accidents (unintentional injuries): 5.6 percent
5. Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 5.3 percent
6. Alzheimer’s disease: 4.9 percent
7. Diabetes: 3.0 percent3
If you are a nonsmoker over the age of forty, you can further narrow down the causes of death and disability to heart disease, strokes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. These are all characterized by impaired metabolism (problematic energy delivery) at their core.
If you really think about it, the actual causes of death underlying these diseases can be boiled down to a handful of largely preventable lifestyle choices, such as tobacco use, poor diet, and physical inactivity, all translating to impaired energy transactions in the body (impaired metabolism). Many of these lifestyle choices or behaviors stem from unmanaged stress, lack of social support, and poor sleeping habits.
In fact, the manifestation of a disease such as diabetes is simply the tip of the iceberg. Many decades before disease becomes evident, sinister “conspiracies” are brewing. Insulin receptors are becoming blocked and inflammatory chemicals are poisoning our vital organs and metabolic processes as a result of our behavior and choices. Essentially, we are gradually overwhelming the balance of nature. Using our car analogy, we are “gunking up” the engine, slowly plugging our intricately designed valves and fuel injectors, through the choices we make with our forks, fingers, and feet. The channels of glucose transport — that is, fuel delivery to the cells — are quite literally blocked by fat! Eventually, we completely overwhelm the body’s capacity to cleanse itself; the scales are tipped and we are diagnosed with a disease.
The root cause underlying the problem is the excess of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor, toxic stuff masquerading as food, which essentially blocks the insulin receptors on the muscles and the liver and in the blood vessels. This causes serious difficulty with fuel delivery and utilization, incapacitating our energy-delivery system. These tissues essentially become “accessory fuel tanks” as we live in a constant state of feast without giving the system a chance to burn off the extra fuel.
Table 1.1 summarizes how physicians diagnose metabolic syndrome. Increased waist circumference plus any two of the criteria in the table results in the diagnosis. Metabolic syndrome is so dangerous because abdominal obesity (midsection or “belly” fat) produces harmful substances that cause inflammation and damage circulation and internal organs.
As stated above, your entire bloodstream can only handle three to four teaspoons of sugar at a time. Actually, the total amount of sugar you should consume in a day is zero teaspoons because refined sugar does not exist in nature. The body can extract all the sugar it needs from real unprocessed plant foods.
Table 1.1. Diagnosis of metabolic syndrome (a diagnosis includes increased waist circumference and any two other risk factors)
The Role of Insulin
Insulin is the glucose-disposal hormone that is designed to move sugar from your bloodstream to your muscles to be used as energy. In fact, muscle is the largest insulin-sensitive tissue in the body. So one way to increase insulin sensitivity is to activate your muscles! Using our car analogy, insulin acts as the fuel injectors, supplying glucose (fuel) to the engine (muscles, brain, and other vital organs). Our insulin level soars when we both consume a high-calorie, low-nutrient diet — a diet high in manufactured, processed food that is mostly refined carbohydrates (sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and white flour) and unhealthy fat (feedlot meat, cheese, industrially prepared vegetable oils) and low in fiber and micronutrients — and couple it with a sedentary lifestyle, high stress, and lack of sleep. In response to constantly elevated insulin levels, the cells, tissues, and organs become insulin resistant or insensitive. This is like how we “tune out” and no longer hear a constant sound, like a fan or traffic outside our window.
As shown in figure 1.2, constant and repeated spiking of blood glucose from a toxic diet of highly processed foods loaded with refined carbohydrates (such as from refined grain flours, sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup) leads to a constant elevation of insulin levels. With repeated glucose spikes, insulin levels have no chance to retreat to normal levels. This constant elevation of insulin makes us constantly hungry and leads to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Thus, the formula is, repeated glucose spikes cause constant elevation in insulin levels, which leads to constant hunger and eventually disease. The key is to eat foods that release glucose slowly so that insulin levels stay low.
To summarize, in the presence of high levels of insulin, fat cannot be broken down into free fatty acids to be used for energy. This means that as long as you continue to consume a diet high in sugar and processed carbohydrates, your body will not be able to go to “fat-burning” mode. Thus, persistent elevation of insulin causes high levels of circulating blood glucose as well as fat accumulation. It also starts a perpetual cycle of hunger and cravings for sugar and high-glycemic foods (processed grains = fast carbohydrates = sugar releasing). The glycemic index is the degree to which food is processed to glucose in the body (for a chart of specific foods, see appendix 4). To hop off this cycle, your goal should be to follow a lifestyle that calms these raging insulin levels. Low insulin levels translate to less hunger, fewer weight problems, more fat burn, and less illness. When we provide the body with the right fuel, we begin to correct the hormone imbalances that wreak havoc on the entire system.
Figure 1.2. Blood glucose and insulin levels: With repeated glucose spikes, insulin levels have no chance to retreat to healthy levels
Insulin Resistance
You may wonder: How exactly does it happen that belly
