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Metabolic Health From a Structural Rather Than Chemical Viewpoint


Very often, metabolic disfunction (insulin sensitivity, pre-diabetes or diabetes) is looked at as a chemical problem in your body and we have discussed it that way previously.  We are going to take a bit of a different look.

 

The fat cells in your body have the important job of accepting and storing energy in the form of fat and then releasing that energy when needed later.  This happens when you eat a large meal.  The energy through your blood is stored in your muscles first.  When there is energy left, it is stored for later use in fat cells because it is not good for your body to store energy in your blood.

 

Storing energy in fat is a good thing.  We have a bit of fat storage for times when we need energy, but don’t have food or enough food on hand.  The energy is released for use at that time.

 

Each fat cell can only hold so much fat.  When your fat cells start getting full, they signal your body to produce more fat cells.  This process of producing more fat cells is limited and some people will produce more fat cells than others.  This is the biggest factor in people getting metabolic disfunction at different sizes.  Everybody gets metabolic disfunction when their fat cells no longer function as they should because they are full.  As the fat cells approach fullness, they will retract their insulin receptors from the surface of the cells so the glucose will not enter the cell as easily and over fill the cell.  This is when the glucose in the blood starts to rise.

 

Why this look from a structural rather than biochemical viewpoint that we had talked about previously? If you view it as a biochemical problem, you will look for a chemical solution.  If you see it for the structural problem that it is, you will first look for the structural solution.

The structural solution to the problem is to reduce the fullness of the fat cells to restore them to their normal function.

Do you need to go low carb?

·         High blood glucose is dangerous for many different parts of your body including organs and blood vessels.  So, going low carb while you get your fat cells un-full and restore them to normal function will do that.

 

Do you need to stay low carb?

·         Maybe, but probably not.  If you reduce the fullness of the fat cells and restore them to their normal function of storing and releasing energy, your body will be able to process carbs as it did before even if you have had metabolic disfunction for years.  It is possible though that you have some pancreas damage from years or decades of putting out more insulin than was the pancreas was able and you now need to have a lower carb intake because your pancreas cannot keep up.

 

Could you just go low carb without losing weight?

·         That could lower your resting blood sugar and A1c, but it is not fixing the underlying problems of fat cell disfunction and fat around your organs.  It is like taking pain pills for a sore foot without pulling out the tack.

 

This is why losing weight and more to the point losing fat, lowers your resting blood sugar and A1c.

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