Research regarding obesity, diabetes etc.

at 12:54 PM

A few tidbits from some research articles I've browsed:

1. High intakes of saturated fats are correlated with increased insulin resistance, (type II diabetes is basically a disease of increased resistance to insulin-my words).

2. Reduced levels of polyunsaturated fats are correlated with increased insulin resistance.



The big idea: The quality of fat in your diet affects your insulin sensitivity. Your goal should be to keep your insulin sensitivity up. So your body can respond to small levels of insulin.


3. Fructose present in table sugar and high fructose corn syrup leads to obesity and higher risks of type II diabetes.



Shocking: If you do a search on pubmed (a website for scientific papers) about high fructose corn syrup, you will find many research articles on the evils of this chemical which is of course present in sodas, certain types of ketchup, etc. So the science shows that fructose can lead to increased triglycerides and lipogenesis (storing fat).

But do you actually believe that if the industry replaced HFCS with sugar it would solve our obesity problem? I am compelled to say this again... we eat way to much of everything, it is not just one factor!

Bottom line: keep your insulin in check, which translates into...keep the consumption of refined carbohydrates to a minimum. The less insulin you produce, the fewer pathways your body will have to store fat. In addition, the quality of fats that you consume is a big factor in this equation. HFCS may be horrible for you but may not be any worse than sucrose (table sugar). Read the nutritional information on the back of packages. THE FEWER INGREDIENTS THE BETTER.

Some studies suggest that obesity and asthma go hand in hand.