The Fifth Secret of Successful Weight Loss - Reduce High Levels of Insulin

Hyperinsulinaemia is a condition of having high levels of insulin in the blood. This is caused by eating high amounts of carbohydrates. I definitely believe I have a problem with this. PCOS is related to this and I was diagnosed with that in about 2002. I also managed to control it with diet, which essential meant reducing my carbohydrate consumption. I believe I got this condition as a result of being (almost) vegetarian. I have never really liked red meat. As a result, I think I compensated for this by eating more carbohydrate than I should. Eating out as a vegetarian is getting better, but for a long time the only options really were high carbs (like pizza or pasta) and cheese - often there was no real protein source. As I said right at the beginning, my carb / sugar consumption has gone up since I had BB, and this is what I think needs to be brought into check.

I believe I was insulin resistant before, and I possibly am again. I can't remember the exact mechanism but it is described in The Atkins Diet, but basically it is a vicious cycle. Too much insulin leads to an accumulation of fat, the fat cells become insulin resistant, meaning you need to produce more insulin, and as a result you produce more fat cells, which increases insulin, which increases fat cells .... and so on!

Again the book has lots of info in this and more, such as how insulin resistance leads to diabetes and heart disease. It also talks about the Atkins Diet and a Low GI Diet. Dr Mansfield recommends both, but he does suggest you do the elimination diet first to rule out any sensitivities.

Another thing I know about carbs (from elsewhere) is that they provide energy. If you are going to exercise or do something else energy demanding, eat carbs. If you are going to sit on your bum all day, don't eat them! You may also have heard of people who don't eat carbs after a certain time of day, based on the idea that you don't need them when you sleep either!

During the last couple of weeks on the elimination diet I have introduced three types of sugar, wheat, corn, bread, chocolate... I think I have actually eaten more carbs that I usually would as is necessary to test for sensitivity. However, I plan on reducing them all again once the reintroduction of rye and oats is complete. We'll see what happens to my weight as a result (I do plan on keeping records still).

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If you are interested in buying the book it is available at Amazon, Waterstones and The Book People. It maybe be worth checking them all as prices do change. Amazon also have a Kindle Version