Insulin!

Evening all!

The more i read about Insulin the more i get interested about it. But because it seems like there is soo much information i need to take in can someone start me off the right direction of how to control insulin levels, what it is/how it works and manipulate it for maximum fat loss (what im interested in). (And how the truck loads of fruit -which is a considerable carb source for me- which im consuming per day would affect my fat loss)

Thanks!

lilbigman

I think they are trying to out-alpha you.

from basic limited knowledge.. 

insulin is a hormone which instructs the body or makes the body take up carbs into your muscles to help feed them. simple carbs cause a larger insulin spike than complex carbs - this is why having them after working out with protein is useful they may help push the protein into your system and muscles. your muscles will already be depleted of energy stores(glycogen).

So to control them you can cut out simple sugers and introduce slower digesting carbs causing a smaller insulin rise. 

when you have no insulin floating around because of no carbs available this is where the body turns to stored body fat for energy. This is whey ppl do cardio on an empty stomach like after waking up.

Fruit can be included in a cutting diet its all about timing it in the day where those carbs can be used. Having a sugary fruit for example before going to sleep and not requiring the carbs from it wont really help with fatloss - i guess if its factored in with the whole diet you may be ok.

again knowledge is sketchy here, try wiki

look good naked :D

Another thing you may be interested in looking at is glucagon which is the 'antagonist' hormone to insulin. Its secretion is stimulated by the ingestion of protein. Google that.

Don;t get too hung up on these things but look at how issues like GI (II) and GL (more googling maybe!) fit into a healthy diet. For example just because fruit contains sugars doesn't mean you shouldn't eat them.

Drew Price BSc MAppSc R.Nutr. CSCS
Sports Nutritionist and S&C coach
My BLOG

Moderate to Low carb/ketogenic diets tend to be great resources for information on insulin management and the actions/functions of said hormone like the zone et al!

Peace be the Journey!

I picked up something - if you are trying to lose fat/weigh then eating truck loads of fruit is not going to help:
yes fruit is healthy, but moderation is your key - 5-9 portions of fruit per day - a portion is approximately the size of the palm of you hand level - thats about 1 med apple, 8 grapes, sml banana, 2 small plums sized.

About insulin - the basic principle to understand when dieting is this: if insulin levels are raised fat burning is turned off. The higher insulin goes above baseline the less fat burning you get - or none at all. The second thing is that once insulin has been raised fat burning does not turn back on again immediately. So a quick spike - say from a energy drink can inhibit fat burning for over an hour or more.

These two facts can be made into a big deal, made very complicated or used to help you get lean:
For me what they mean is: have a health diet that avoids refined sugars and carbohydrates; keep your portions in check and space your meals out over the day instead of having big feedings.

Which are what any healthy dieter should be doing.

Ketogenic diets - have been mentioned: what these do is use the body's starvation response to help you lose tissue.
Ketones are the brains second fuel: red blood cells only run on glucose - so they get first dips on that, the brain also runs on glucose but has the ability to sqitch to ketones when there is not enough glucose to go round.

What a ketogenic diet does is restrict carbohydrate sources - that is the source of glucose - so that your body produces ketones. When ketones are being produced the brain uses them, blood cells get glucose and the rest of the body has to put up with energy derived from the only source left - fat - which is metabolised into energy to meet the demands of being alive.

The thing is - none of this is worth anything unless you create a condition where you are using more calories than you eat: unless you meet that requirement you will never get leaner or lighter.

Les Willis
Nutrition Consultant
Healthy Action

I used to think I knew what busy was - now I am too busy to think about it!