Insulin isn't the problem; lack of Insulin is the problem!

Lifestyle is a word that gets thrown around a lot in our society. Are you a city slicker, red neck, or hillbilly? Are you a religious zealot, faithful, or agnostic? What kind of house do you live in? What kind of car do you drive? Are you affluent, middle class, low income? Are you a slacker or a workaholic? There are books, TV shows, and movies about lifestyle that people love to take in. Like Lifestyles of the rich and famous or people magazine. There is a lot of noise about our lifestyles but most of it is around superfluous things. What actually matters when we talk about lifestyles is what we do on a day-to-day basis with regard to our physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental, and spiritual needs.

With regard to our physical and nutritional needs I want to correct a notion that I had and I believe many people have and that is, "Too much insulin is the cause of diabetes and metabolic syndromes."  This is actually incorrect, it is the opposite.  

Metabolic Syndrome and type II Diabetes are hormonal problems whereby Insulin is not able to do it's job because cells are over filled with energy, or Insulin is being negated by counter-regulatory hormones.  And in type II diabetes there is also not enough Insulin being made by the Pancreas to lower blood sugar sufficiently. Insulin is not the problem, it is the lack of Insulin or lack of Insulin action that is the problem. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that builds up the body. It does this by transporting Glucose, Amino Acids, and Fatty Acids into the cells, breaking down sugar even further to pyruvate for better absorption, suppressing the liver from making excess sugar, dilating the arteries so more oxygen can reach the cells, and regulating testosterone production.

Glucagon, Catecholamines and glucocorticoids are the counter regulatory hormones. Catecholamines include Epinephrine, Nor epinephrine, and Dopamine. Dopamine, nor epinephrine and epinephrine are the major blood circulating catecholamines. Dopamine is involved in the control of your movements. Epinephrine acts with the sympathetic nervous system to initiate a quick response to stressful situations. And nor epinephrine is a key neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and sympathetic divisions of your autonomic nervous system. Glucocorticoids are naturally-produced steroid hormones that inhibit the process of inflammation and includes Cortisol. Cortisol's primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis (the process whereby the liver makes more sugar); suppress the immune system; and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. But both Catecholamines and Glucocorticoids stop insulin from being able to store energy in the cells.  (The reason for this will be discussed in a later post)

 

So if STRESS is causing an Insulin resistance problem for many Americans, what kind of stress? Well, that would be Nutritional stress, Physical Stress, Emotional Stress, Chemical stress (aka Environmental), emotional stress, and even spiritual stress. Nutritional stress could be skipping meals or over eating regularly. Physical stress can be from over exercising, lack of sleep or our job if it demands us to be physical. Emotional stress can come from the stress of our relationships or the loss of a relationship. Environmental stress can be from the chemicals in the air or water, tobacco, alcohol, additives in our food. Spiritual stress can be the stress that comes from trying to always be a good person and not acknowledging that we are a whole person good and bad or the stress of feeling like we are always being judged on whether we are a good person, or simply a lack of faith that could be needed to get us through the rough times.

How many of us Americans have some of these stressors? I would venture to say all of us. We can't go on skipping meals, loosing sleep, eating chemicals and preservatives, neglecting relationships, and trying to be perfect expecting our health will be fine. When we do these things day-to day and year-to-year we set up a tug-of-war between Insulin and the 3 counter-regulatory hormones that leads to hormone escalation and on to decomposition when the Pancreas can no longer keep up Insulin output. It's really no wonder we have a diabetes crisis in America and other industrialized nations. We go through four or five stages on the metabolic continuum until we end up very sick. The stages are,

• Stage 1- Insulin sensitive: too much energy input. (too much food) but Insulin and response to Insulin is still functioning normally
• Stage 2- Insulin Sensitive: Cells every where but muscle cells are able to take up insulin. Weight gain starting
• Stage 3 – Insulin resistance: Muscle and Fat cells can not take in Insulin but the Liver is still insulin sensitive. High Fasting Insulin, High triglycerides, increased visceral fat, normal blood sugar
• Stage 4- Insulin resistance in the muscles, fat, and liver. No new weight gain low insulin levels, high triglycerides, high blood sugar.

During the healing process it's important to remember that we didn't damage our body overnight so we can not heal overnight. There are stages that we went through getting ill and will have to go back through those stages on our path to health.

Although the number of people in America with Insulin Resistance and Diabetes is high and expected to keep rising there may be hope for slowing progression with education and coaching. As a coach it will be my job to recognize the signs that someone may be headed for Insulin resistance. In order to intervene in this progression without causing more damage I need to work a 5 step program and help clients alleviate stressors.

1. Nutritional stress: It is important to feed people who are Insulin Resistant because if their Insulin is being blunted by the Counter-regulatory hormones they are malnourished. So this first step is a balanced healthy diet with a lot of supplements.
2. Emotional stress: After a proper nutrition program is in place it is important to manage emotional stress. This is a tough one. First the person has to be honest about what stressors they are under. Then once the stressors are identified a plan for how to deal with these stresses needs to be established.
3. Physical Stress: After the nutritional and emotional stressors are dealt with it's time to deal with the physical stress of things like not sleeping, exercising too much or not at all. If dealing with the nutritional and emotional stressors still have not helped reduce the physical stressors like not sleeping, more counseling may be needed.
4. Environmental: After Nutritional, Emotional and Physical stressors have been eliminated one must eliminate environmental (chemical) stressors and these include preservatives, sugar substitutes, caffeine, soda, alcohol, tobacco etc.
5. Spiritual: Finally, then it's time to address the spiritual stressors. Everyone needs to feel they have made a mark, they are important and they are good. It's at this time, after all the other stressors have been dealt with, that people can determine whether they have been true to themselves and what why or why not.

As a health coach it will be my job to identify current health issues and potential health issues and guide my clients through the journey to wellness. Understanding the five aspects of health and how they intertwine is imperative to bringing a client to full whole health. The interconnectedness of our bodies, our mind, our soul, and the environment must be focus when diagnosing and healing.