Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance contribute to numerous serious health concerns and disease. I’ve been battling insulin resistance (and possibly metabolic syndrome) for about 5 years and probably longer.
I’m a pretty good student. I’ve researched these topics in the medical journals. I’m pretty good at being able to decipher a good study from a bad one or at least a poorly designed one. I’ve worked with MD’s, including Functional Medicine docs who include holistic approaches to health. All to no avail really.
In a previous post I mentioned the site Whole Health Source and what I like about the author and the site. I am incorporating some things I read into a new program that I began this week.
The goal is to heal (resolve) my insulin resistance. I’ve designed my own program that feels intuitively right for me based on my own experience, known physiology, and what just seems to make sense to me from an anthropological perspective.
This is not a “cookie-cutter” approach; although, one might want to consider eliminating cookies (even though they are so “portable,” GB)! It’s very important to be armed with knowledge and then defer to our own bodies for individual wisdom.
I’m calling this “primal” for a couple of reasons:
- I’m curious about this Paleolithic approach with respect to gene expression. I’m “trying on” some of these ideas in my program.
- I mentioned my Soulful Warrior NWOB in yesterday’s post and I’m holding it in this endeavor.
Tomorrow I will break down my strategies into 6 categories – Diet Pattern, Exercise, G.I. Health, Macronutrients, Stress Management and Intermitten Fasting. I don’t want to make this post too long.
Much of what I will describe are things I’ve already been doing. However, I have not yet found the magic combo – so to speak. The most significant changes I will be incorporating will be within my diet. But, even here I’ve been doing most of this but the tweaking will prove significant, I believe.
There will be complete elimination of some things at least for the rest of this year and possibly for good. This is where it is going to get really tricky and how and what I measure will be very important. I’m a Foodie and I want to continue savoring meals and sharing these with friends.
Sugar is the poison. I have long ago eliminated typical sweets – I never actually had a “sweet tooth.” However, I always liked the idea that alcohol – red wine specfiicaly – was healthy. Well, for one with IR, alcohol is pure sugar and it has to literally be off the table for me. Additionally, alcohol is processed by the liver in a very unique way and it is taxing. However, the biggest dietary change for me will be with respect to grains.
So, tomorrow I’ll post my strategies and how I will measure progress. I am really excited and hopeful about this AND it feels good that I designed this program uniquely for me.
As always, would love your comments/feedback!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Sheila, I wish you success with this new endeavor – life is a series of trial and error and I commend your willingness to try new things and continue the search. I will be following along on your journey.
I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that sugar is “poison” and that when comparing the amount of unnecessary sugar we are loading our bodies with in the form of processed food it is toxic. However, one idea that I still struggle with when comparing our bodies to cavemen/women is life expectancy… I'm sure this requires more research on my end.
Hi Karen – Thanks for your comment!
With respect to life expectancy, it is more about how are genes are expressed now from our ancestors. I'm not sure of these exact facts; however, reading just last night, the author of “Primal Blueprint” indicated that the average life span was 33 yrs but it dropped dramatically through the 1500's. Then is went up dramatically with the discoveries in medicine and science in general that made our lives “easier.”
The biggest life threatening challenges were the to the primal man was the environment, incluidng wild animals. The strongest genes did survive and through natural selection evolved. There are cases where if a primal man was able to avoid these external physical threats, they lived until around 100 – back then!
We do live longer – but what is the quality. And from an evolutionary standpoint, our genes have not mutated to handle the food we eat now – this process takes 1,000's of years.
So, I'm new at this and not as interested in the history data. I'm focusing on my own anectodal results because I've tried everything else. And, this is not much different than what I had been doing. I really am just eliminating grains to manage insulin.
Thanks again Karen!
Sheila