What causes blood-sugar dysfunction, and what to do about this problem
In this Endurance Planet podcast Dr. Phil Maffetone and host Tawnee Prazak explore the importance of maintaining healthy and stable blood-sugar levels, especially for athletes.
In a healthy body, the hormone insulin is responsible for enabling glucose (the simplest form of carbohydrates) to be carried across the cell’s insulin-dependent membrane into muscle fibers and other cells. If the action of insulin is hindered (sometimes due to a fault in the cell’s insulin receptors), the body becomes incapable of properly metabolizing carbohydrates, often leading to increased insulin production (hyperinsulinemia) and eventually to diminished insulin sensitivity (insulin resistance or carbohydrate intolerance). This can lead to hunger, and more carbohydrate foods being converted to stored fat.
It should be noted that insulin-independent glucose receptors also exist in human muscle. So even with little or no insulin during exercise, muscle energy can be maintained (especially when fat-burning is high).
— from the White Paper Carbohydrate Intolerance – Its Implications in Health and Fitness.
New study on diet and diabetes
A new study by Dr. Mark Cucuzzella and colleagues showed successful, relatively rapid and dramatic reductions in blood sugar, medication, weight, and other health problems in patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes using simple dietary recommendations — eliminating refined carbohydrates. This was done at the West Virginia University hospital facility where we teach our course, and was recently portrayed in making serious strides toward the goal of ridding itself of unhealthy food and drink. The study is: “A clinician’s guide to inpatient low carbohydrate diets for remission of type 2 diabetes: toward a standard of care protocol.” Diabetes Manag. 2019; 9(1): 7–19)
Other resources
In addition, In case you missed it, here are some key articles to help you take charge of blood-sugar blues:
Rethinking roles of carbohydrates and fats for performance
