From insulin resistance to high energy performance
It was June 2011, I was dealing with several symptoms, fatigue, mental fuzziness, depression, weight gain. My dad just completed an amazing transformation the year before, he lost 65 pounds and his blood pressure was lower than mine; he was 70. I had to change something, so as a nerd, I did the only thing I knew -- research!
I found a website that discussed the symptoms of insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. Many of the symptoms listed there were parallel to mine. Though the website was really describing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors -- high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, Low HDL (or good) cholesterol, and belly fat -- that increases risk of heart disease and diabetes.
I made the decision to cut carbs and learn about other ways fuel my body. I came across an amazing video on YouTube called Big Fat Fiasco, it has five parts, it's well worth the watch. This was pivotal for me to get educated about the lipid hypothesis and how we've been lied to for forty years.
Bottom line, fat does not make you fat, carbs do. We were told by the McGovern commission to avoid saturated fats, eat lots of grains and as a country, we did. Now we have the highest obesity rates, heart disease and diabetes in the world. This article has excellent feedback on the current USDA guidelines.
So I spent more time reading blogs by Gary Taubes, Tom Naughton, Tribe of Five and read a great book "Don't Die Early, the life you save could be your own" to get things in order. Then last year (2012) I had my full blood panel done after spending over a year eating just the opposite of every Dr. advised. My regular diet of organic bacon, free range organic eggs floating in the bacon grease, grass-fed beef steak, cashews roasted in coconut oil and little to no grains. The results are below.
Notice my HDL is 25 points above midrange, triglycerides are very low, LDL is well below the range. On another page it showed my CRP (C-reactive protein) which is an indicator of inflammation was very low. So if eating this way is so very very deadly, how come my numbers looked so good? This whole site is dedicated to answer that simple question.
I found a website that discussed the symptoms of insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. Many of the symptoms listed there were parallel to mine. Though the website was really describing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors -- high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, Low HDL (or good) cholesterol, and belly fat -- that increases risk of heart disease and diabetes.
I made the decision to cut carbs and learn about other ways fuel my body. I came across an amazing video on YouTube called Big Fat Fiasco, it has five parts, it's well worth the watch. This was pivotal for me to get educated about the lipid hypothesis and how we've been lied to for forty years.
Bottom line, fat does not make you fat, carbs do. We were told by the McGovern commission to avoid saturated fats, eat lots of grains and as a country, we did. Now we have the highest obesity rates, heart disease and diabetes in the world. This article has excellent feedback on the current USDA guidelines.
So I spent more time reading blogs by Gary Taubes, Tom Naughton, Tribe of Five and read a great book "Don't Die Early, the life you save could be your own" to get things in order. Then last year (2012) I had my full blood panel done after spending over a year eating just the opposite of every Dr. advised. My regular diet of organic bacon, free range organic eggs floating in the bacon grease, grass-fed beef steak, cashews roasted in coconut oil and little to no grains. The results are below.
Notice my HDL is 25 points above midrange, triglycerides are very low, LDL is well below the range. On another page it showed my CRP (C-reactive protein) which is an indicator of inflammation was very low. So if eating this way is so very very deadly, how come my numbers looked so good? This whole site is dedicated to answer that simple question.