It's actually said to be a vicious circle:
High carbohydrate intake/ lack of exercise causes high insulin levels which
eventually leads to "down-regulation" of insulin receptors, or insulin
resistance. The blood sugars then go up. The body then needs to use secrete
more insulin to push the sugar down. Then there is more down-regulation, ie
more resistance. This continues and the state of hyperinsulinaemia persists
(and is said to be a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Insulin
is a growth factor for the cells in blood vessel plaque, and affects blood
cholesterol). Eventually, the body starts to lose the battle, and the blood
sugar levels are no longer well controlled. This is called impaired glucose
tolerance (pre-diabetes). This eventually progresses on to diabetes
mellitus. In early diabetes there are very high insulin levels and the
insulin resistance is the dominant pathology. Diet can help at first, but
then tablets are needed. Eventually the pancreas tires of being flogged and
gives up the ghost- insulin production falls and the person requires insulin
injections.

You can see that hyperinsulinaemia is an early stage in the diabetic
spectrum.

There is another explanation from the study of paleo diet and food-plant
toxins (which primarily exist in grains):
Protease inhibitors and lectins seem to have a specific adverse effect on
the pancreas and pancreatic enzymes (as well as some effects on other organs
and enzymes). The pancreas is the master controller of most of the endocrine
system, particularly that relating to food and metabolism. One could
hypothesise that the toxic proteins of the Neolithic diet are the main cause
of the above vicious circle, more so than the high levels of carbohydrate in
Neolithic food. One would also wonder if the Neolithic toxins actually kill
off the insulin producing cells in the pancreas.

If that were so, the  Paleolithic diet would be very effective for diabetics
(but dangerous if they're on medication as their blood sugars might crash).
In Neanderthin, Ray indicates that paleodiet has cured his diabetes and
listmembers have indicated that they have had good results, ie their
experience supports these ideas. Ray also believes that Neolithic toxins
cause obesity, and I completely agree.

Diabetics on medication need to be very careful about going on to a
paleodiet as it will make their sugars drop a lot. They really need expert
medical management during the first few weeks (if you can find someone
willing to listen).

Ben Balzer


----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 04, 1999 11:56 PM
Subject: Re: [P-F] Low carb vs High carb? and Insulin resistance


> On Fri, 3 Sep 1999, Ken Stuart wrote:
>
> > Insulin resistance is caused by elevated amounts of insulin, which is
itself
> > caused by elevated carb intake and/or decreased exercise.
>
> Isn't it the other way around? Persistent high levels of
> insulin are caused by IR, no?  The question is why
> these levels remain high.  Saturates appear to contribute to this
> by altering membrane characteristics, changing the rate at which
> insulin enters the cells.  This, at least, is what I have
> gathered from things I have read.  I doubt that this is the whole
> story about IR, but it seems to be part of it.
>
> Todd Moody
> [log in to unmask]