Insulin and its relationship to sugar and fat stores

One of the most wonderful things about the body is its ability to monitor the environments that it lives in. Both the internal and the external environments affect its ability to sustain a balance by secreting different chemicals. If someone jumps out of the bushes as you walk up to your door at night and screams “BOO!” your body instantly secretes adrenaline. That adrenaline allows you to see better, think and move more quickly and some have found super human strength from the process. Then, once the brain has made sense of the supposed danger your body begins to tremble which is again an involuntary process begun by the brain to burn off the adrenaline and return the body to a balance. Amazing! Insulin is a chemical that the body uses to rid the blood of excess sugar. Again, as a result of the body’s desire for balance. Unfortunately, sugar is carried off and converted into fatty tissue. Simple sugars and carbohydrates pass through the small intestine quite easily and quickly. This can throw a lot of sugar into the blood causing it to spike and throw the body out of balance. As I said earlier, insulin is the body’s defense against this. The body stores fat when insulin is present in the blood. It is a stimulus/response reaction to unwise eating. Now, for the help I promised you. Blood sugar is less likely to spike if you make a few easy substitutions. If we can slow down the process of digestion which slows the sugar as it passes through the small intestine into the blood stream there is no need for the body to secrete insulin. The trick is to eat complex carbs and sugars. Eating more fibrous foods slows the digestive process and keeps us feeling full longer and keeps the foods we eat from being converted into fat. Instead of eating a white potato try a sweet potato. Eat natural brown rice instead of white rice, whole grain bread not white bread. In my book “Coach Without A Whistle”, available by order through my website…just click on the bookstore icon of your choice and it will be delivered to your door…I recommend you learn to eat a low glycemic diet and I provide a list of foods and their corresponding index numbers. Learn as much as you can about which foods are okay to eat and make your own eating plan using the foods you enjoy. The trick is to keep the blood sugar from spiking. I often watch the choices people make when I go out to eat with my wife and friends. We all make smart choices for our entrees. We choose grilled chicken, broccoli, and sweet potato over white potato or white potato instead of fries. But then some follow with a desert or an after dinner drink. SUGAR!!! That’s just the transport system the body needs to expedite the digestion and kicks off the insulin production. All of those wise choices down the drain. Now, to be fair…the fiber in those wiser choices slows the sugar down somewhat, but the simple sugar also speeds up the digestion too and might spike the sugar, which defeats the goal of eating leaner. Stop the insanity!!! If you want to drop a few pounds to look great in those summer clothes then stop eating and drinking the simple sugars. Just eat and drink with some discipline. Make the wise choices and pat yourself on the back for them instead of feeling deprived. Many bodybuilders and super models find that if they truly eat clean for a week it is possible to have a cheat meal. Now, if you choose to go this route you have to understand that the cheat meal has to be on the same day and the same meal in that day every week. For instance, when I diet hard after a week I enjoy taking my wife out for breakfast on Saturday mornings. I eat as much of anything I want. After several weeks my desire for the bad foods subsides and I find that I eat less and less of the “crap” foods.

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