Better Nutrition July 2020

What’s New
Agatston’s new diet lowers carbs
enough to turn on enzymes that burn
excess body fat, but not so low that
it’s difficult to maintain. And it ends
the pattern of eating throughout the
day—the popular pastime of “grazing.”
In terms of the underlying science, it
combines two effective principles: the
keto diet and intermittent fasting.
Agatston has found that for most
people, eating a bit more unprocessed
carbs and protein than you would in
the very-low-carb keto diet can produce
comparable benefits. But it’s easier than
a “diet” that inevitably ends one day.
Timing of food is equally important.
For years, many nutritionists have
believed that small, frequent meals—
every three hours or so—were essential
to keep levels of blood sugar stable and
prevent cravings. Not so, says Agatston;
“We now know they do the opposite.”
Why Eating Often Is Deadly
You probably know that eating carbs
raises blood sugar, and then insulin
levels rise in response and blood sugar
drops. It’s a normal reaction, but eating
too often can make it go haywire.
With frequent meals or snacks, insulin
rises significantly more than it would
with fewer meals. Even if you ate the
same amount of food in one large meal,
your insulin would rise significantly less.
“When your insulin levels are high,
they’re blocking access to fat,” says
Agatston, “So, you’re walking around
hungry all the time, even though you
have a lot of excess fat.”
High insulin is what enables bears
to gorge and continually gain weight
through the summer and early fall.
“Bears are ravenously hungry even
though they have 400 pounds of stored
fat,” he says; “They can eat 30,000
berries per day.”
Consequences of High Insulin
Over time, insulin levels become
chronically elevated. In addition to
fostering obesity and making lasting
weight loss impossible, elevated insulin
leads to many of today’s chronic health
problems, including:
*
*
*
High blood pressure
Reduced immune function
Inflammatory belly fat
* Diabetes
* Prediabetes
Fatty liver disease
*
* Atherosclerosis
Memory lapses and mental decline
*
Increased risk for breast, gastric,
*
colon, pancreatic, and liver cancers
Hidden Insulin Danger
“Most Americans are walking around
with high insulin,” says Agatston. It’s
a problem even among teenagers. Yet,
most doctors aren’t aware of the danger.
Outside of diabetes treatment, insulin
isn’t routinely checked as a marker of
health. And in the rare cases where an
insulin test is performed, it measures
only fasting insulin rather than the real
danger—disrupted insulin patterns.
In truly healthy people, insulin levels
peak about 30 minutes after eating
and then gradually drop back to their
baseline within an hour or two. With too
much sugar, processed carbs, and frequent
meals and snacks, insulin takes longer
to peak and longer to drop. And then,
it stays chronically high, keeping you
chronically hungry.
Elevated insulin keeps blood sugar
levels in a normal range for decades,
masking the underlying problem. But
eventually, blood sugar will also rise, and
that’s when prediabetes or type 2 diabetes
is diagnosed. Meanwhile, elevated
insulin levels have been causing damage
for years. Agatston sees people in their
30s, or even younger, with plaque in their
arteries because of high insulin. But their
blood sugar levels are normal.
The Real Insulin Test
Although few doctors outside of
research settings are familiar with it,
there is an insulin tolerance test that
Agatston uses to detect abnormal insulin
patterns. It requires several blood
samples: before you have a glucose
drink, 30 or 60 minutes later, and again
after 90 and 120 minutes. If insulin
takes more than 60 minutes to peak,
“When your insulin levels
are high, they’re blocking
access to fat,” says Agatston,
“So, you’re walking around
hungry all the time, even
though you have a lot of
excess fat.”
or if it’s higher at 120 minutes than it
was at 60 minutes, there’s a problem.
For more information about the test,
you can search “insulin response to
glucose” at questdiagnostics.com. You will
need to work with a health professional.
However, if you’re struggling with
hunger, low energy, weight, mental
focus, high blood pressure, prediabetes,
type 2 diabetes, or heart disease, a diet
that promotes healthy insulin function
can help turn things around.
34 • JULY 2020