If You Can’t Lose Weight, This is Probably Why!
by Dr.Gerard Cassista
It has been said that America as a nation is gaining approximately 6 pounds per year per person. It has also been seen that losing weight has become much more difficult and keeping it off almost impossible in the last few years. One of the major reasons for this is something called insulin resistance. If you are a man with a waist bigger than 40 inches or a woman with a waist bigger than 34.5 inches, you are probably insulin resistant. If you are insulin resistant, for you losing weight is a nightmare.
For a quick explanation of exactly what insulin resistance is, it is important to understand that Americans eat 6 to 7 times more carbohydrates than protein. Carbohydrates breakdown into sugar to provide energy, and protein provides building blocks to our body. If too many carbohydrates are eaten at the same time, or a few low-quality sugars are eaten, our sugar levels can spike. When this occurs insulin is released to transfer the sugar out of the blood and across the artery walls to cells waiting on the other side. If our diet is loaded with soft drinks, doughnuts, ice cream, candy, white things like pizza, bread and pasta, or any combination of the above, our sugar level spikes several times a day. This causes insulin to remain at such a high level throughout the day that the insulin itself becomes inflammatory to the artery walls. When the artery walls become inflamed, insulin can no longer carry sugar across the wall to cells on the other side. This is called insulin resistance because the artery becomes resistant to the insulin. When this process occurs the cells on the other side of the artery are starving for sugar which they need to be able to create hormones, energy, and for general cell repair. This leads to fatigue, anxiety, mood swings, depression and a general feeling of low energy and low motivation.
The process I just described is the first domino to fall. As sugar concentrations rise in the blood, your heart has to pump syrup rather than blood. Because of this blood pressure begins to rise. Sugar can no longer be taken out of the arteries because of the inflammation and therefore is deposited into fat cells. This is a big part of gaining weight around the middle. Inflammation in the arteries causes our bodies to ask for and produce cholesterol. Cholesterol has many important jobs in our body. One of its jobs is to act like an internal Band-Aid and stick to the inside of arteries that become damaged or inflamed to help them repair. How much cholesterol do you think your body needs and asks for if all of your arteries are inflamed? Cholesterol shoots through the roof. Taking cholesterol-lowering medication only stops the production of cholesterol and does nothing for your body asking or needing it. Studies show just as many people die on cholesterol-lowering medication is not. Artificially lowering the number does not solve the problem.
There is a simple way to turn insulin resistant around forever, and that is to not spike sugar levels. If this is done for a three week period, the arteries will begin to heal. Soda is one of the major offenders of sugar spiking. Changing our lifestyle to eat small meals frequently is a first step. Eating fruits, vegetables, and high-quality proteins such as grass fed beef, free range chicken, organic eggs and mercury free fish is what is necessary to turn things around. Avoiding all the high sugar foods mentioned earlier is a must. Eating small snacks in between meals such as a small hand full of almonds, celery, carrots, broccoli or other healthy snacks will keep you as full as you want to be.
Once the artery walls have healed, sugar now can be transported to the cells on the other side. Your energy level goes up almost immediately. Cells on the other side begin doing what they’re supposed to do and hormones can become balanced. You are no longer pumping syrup and blood pressure decreases. Sugar is not stored and you begin losing weight. The arteries are no longer inflamed so your body does not ask for cholesterol, and it essentially goes away. It should be no surprise that our health condition is the way it is because of the diet most Americans eat. Following these guidelines can change that and change your life forever.