What Needs to Change?

janlindquist
Oct 1
5 min read

We are not suffering from a lack of information, nutritious foods, or access to exercise spaces.

In fact, I believe we are buried in information overload.

I have said many times before;

Just because I know what I should do - doesn't mean I always do it!

The Burden of Knowing.

We are able to find out just about anything with a click from our smartphone, tablet or computer. Unfortunately, everything we "learn" isn't necessarily helpful to our pursuit of finding a realistic path toward living a healthy lifestyle.

I have coined this: 'the burden of information' and it can keep us stuck in always searching for the best way with the least amount of effort to acheive radiant, vibrant health.

Is This a Healthy Choice?

A first step in finding your path toward life-long health just might be to stop thinking in terms of "healthy" or "not healthy" since healthy can mean different things to each of us.

What we really need in order to move forward, is to find clarity without confusion.

So, let's begin a conversation around Insulin Resistance ,because this is where so many metabolic disorders begin.

Alzheimer's disease - now called type 3 diabetes due to poor insulin use in certain regions of the brain causing a loss of energy from blood glucose.
Polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS]- the most common cause of female infertility, the ovary cells are over-burdened with excess insulin stimulating them with too much and disrupting sex hormone production.
Heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure - elevated insulin levels increase these risks due to high blood glucose.
Skin conditions - like Acanthosis Nigricans characterized by dark velvety patches on the neck, armpits, and groin, skin tags appearing in clusters on the neck, armpits, or groin, psoriasis, acne, increased sweating, delayed wound healing and brown oval-shaped patches on legs or feet.
Fatty liver disease - associated with insulin resistance.
Obesity - insulin resistance contributes to weight gain and the inability to loose weight especially around the belly.
Increased rate of infections - higher blood sugars can impair the body's healing and defense mechanisims.

What Could Change?

I'd like you to consider looking at your health through this lens of Insulin Resistance and where you fall on this spectrum.

One in three American adults have insulin resistance.
40% of young adults aged 18-30 have insulin resistance.
Obesity increases insulin resistance to over 70%.
Over 30% of children have insulin resistance.
During puberty, children experience an over 60% incidence of insulin resistance.

Here's the truth - No one is immune from this mounting problem, because our food system [Big Food], medical model [Big Pharma], and advertising [Big Ad] has another more compelling reason to keep us hooked and sick - Big Money!

Follow the Money.

There are billions of dollars to be made by keeping us tethered to this system. We search for fast and easy always. This mindset brings us to the drive-thru frequently, the doctor's office for a pill, proceedure, or surgery, or whatever new product is filling the shelves at our local drug store that will surely remove whatever pain we are experiencing.

The problem - we're not finding healing, just managing.

Food-like products are designed to hook us and they have done this well leaving us with gut issues, inflammation, immune responses, growing health issues, food sensitivities, autoimmune conditions, and metabolic problems.

In short, we now run to our doctor, who will address our symptoms with an array of pharmaceuticals designed to address our mounting issues.

Nearly 70% of adults use prescription drugs and 1 in 4 adults use at least five prescriptions.

This my friends is big business, and our current "sick care" model of medicine is not effective in creating a healthy lifestyle.

Becoming Informed.

Before change can occur, we must face the facts:

We are a sick and becoming sicker nation.
Alzheimer's disease doubles every five years.
Conventional approaches in treating type 2 diabetes is a symptom-management approach [excess glucose], instead of addressing the root cause [excessive insulin and cell membrane inflammation].

Although it's rare to die from diabetes, many die from these degenerative diseases connected to diabetes.

cancer
heart disease
infections
kidney failure, etc.

Processed foods from the supermarket, convenience stores, fast food, and restaurants are full of products loaded with ingredients that pose great risks to our metabolic health because they are;

Addictive
Create cellular inflammation
Damage our mitochondria
Signal fat storage
Disrupt our gut microbiome. Yikes!

Change is difficult - but in order to make the changes necessary for our long-term health, we must be willing to get uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable.

Change What You Measure.

Instead of considering the caloric value of foods, begin looking at the impact of insulin [i.e. carbohydrate load]. This long-term strategy removes the current flood of insulin delivery to combat the load of carbohydrate- heavy foods.

This is the main driver toward a cascade of metabolic dysfunctions that arise from the excess energy storage and inability of the cells to utilize all of this energy efficiently.

This leads to insulin resistance where our cells fail to respond properly to insulin, creating a vicious cycle that leads to numerous health problems:

Insulin Resistance
Hyperglycemia
Impaired Liver Function
Increased Fat Storage
Inhibited Fat Burning
Elevated Triglycerides & Low HDL
Cardiovascular Disease
Cancer
Accelerated Aging
Polycistic Ovary Syndrome {PCOS]

What Can I Do?

Begin by implementing an insulin-sensitizing way of building your plate.

This strategy is very effective in diminishing the serious metabolic dysfunctions that continue to arise as we age.

Control the carbohydrates - not the calories.

When we focus on eating lower carbohydrate foods [glycemic load], we avoid the massive insulin surges necessary to move that food energy [glucose] into our already stuffed cells. Over time, our cells cannot accept all of this available energy so we begin to experience these health assalts listed above. By lowering our glycemic-load through controlling incoming carbohydrates, we will actually begin to feel satisfied and energized instead of needing to re-fuel constantly.

Our body can begin to utilize all of the stored energy from our liver instead of needing to turn the excess energy from carbohydrates into fat as circulating triglycerides.
Begin by reducing carbohydrates from bags, boxes, and those with bar codes. Think of carbohydrates as having 'degrees of refinement', meaning how many times it's been altered:

Apple vs apple sauce vs apple juice vs apple pie. Choose the natural state or minimally processed carbohydrate foods.

Include fermented foods to blunt glucose spikes. Try 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. 2X a day - both morning and evening.
Eat These Foods.

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Spinach

Romaine Lettuce

Bell Pepper

Green Beans

Onion

Berries

Kiwi

Lemons/Lime

Eat carbohydrates at the end of the meal [whenever possible.]

Including carbohydrates at the end of the meal, after protein & fats will significantly reduce the impact of starches and sugars entering the bloodstream which will keep insulin delivery more stable. This will also target insulin resistance in the fat cells reducing the advent of chronic disease.

Hunger diminishes because insulin remains low therefore available energy in the blood is higher. Another benefit is that the body's metabolic rate increases by around 300 calories per day. Certain cells in our body will begin burning fat at a very high rate when we eat an insulin-sensitizing diet.

Hydrate like your life depends on it. Since a majority of people are on the spectrum of insulin resistance, our blood tends to become concentrated which in turn creates more metabolic issues. By drinking enough filtered, mineral-rich water to keep our urine a light straw color we are improving our health.
Begin small with improvements that can be practiced as a lifestyle.
Celebrate the small wins and try "stacking" changes as they become habits.
Change the narrative from "diet" to "lifestyle", because this is how we actually become a healthier version of ourselves.