This is because these people are able to maintain proper blood glucose regulation for a longer period of time. This is most common in the young and there are many complicated factors for why this is the case.
Some of it all has to do with insulin and its function over time. The older you become, you naturally become more resistant to insulin, affecting your ability to maintain proper blood glucose homeostasis.
Some of it has to do with the fat cells themselves and their response to blood glucose abnormalities. There are a myriad of lifestyle and genetic factors that contribute to who maintains their blood glucose regulation and who does not.
2. Is worrying about what you eat worse than eating badly?
Approach anyone trying to sell you a diet and you might hear this load of crock.
Worrying about what you eat is a great thing and doesn’t cause diabetes. Not worrying and eating whatever and whenever you want, is what causes diabetes. You're always better off worrying about what you eat than eating badly. Those that worry about what they eat have better health outcomes.
Approach anyone trying to sell you a diet and you might hear this load of crock.
Worrying about what you eat is a great thing and doesn’t cause diabetes. Not worrying and eating whatever and whenever you want, is what causes diabetes. You're always better off worrying about what you eat than eating badly. Those that worry about what they eat have better health outcomes.
Of course you don't want to worry in vain. When you worry about what you eat, you should be worried in the context of your blood glucose regulation. Which foods will affect it and which ones won't.
3. I’m an adult, so I can eat whatever I want.
Adults make decisions based on what they need. Children make decisions based on what they want. So, the adult decision is to not eat whatever you want, but to eat what you need. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
4. Do I need a "carb load" or refeed after or before working out?
This is completely dependent on your goals and reasons for carbohydrate restriction.
3. I’m an adult, so I can eat whatever I want.
Adults make decisions based on what they need. Children make decisions based on what they want. So, the adult decision is to not eat whatever you want, but to eat what you need. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
4. Do I need a "carb load" or refeed after or before working out?
This is completely dependent on your goals and reasons for carbohydrate restriction.
If you are playing a competitive sport and want to ensure that you do not crash out on the field, then carbohydrates might be the only way to go. An athlete that must compete and push their body to abnormal levels, either for payment or glory, must follow whatever athletic protocol is recommended for them.
If you are obese, have metabolic dysfunction or are diabetic, the benefits of working out are to be able to burn your own endogenous glucose and fat, turn over your own proteins and improve leptin/adiponectin ratios. You do not need any "carb loading" to accomplish this.
5. I have high ketones, does this means I have low insulin levels?
Low insulin levels are not a requirement for ketone production. Ketones are not indicative of low insulin levels at all, in the context of metabolic syndrome, as poor insulin function also creates ketones.
The most common cause of ketones in Type I diabetes is insulin deficiency. Without insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream, as insulin facilitates glucose entry into cells and halts glucose production through the suppression of catabolic hormones like glucagon. If you have no insulin, neither process is occurring. This unregulated catabolic state doesn't just break down proteins, it also breaks down fat. The break down of fatty acids results in the release of ketones, which enter the bloodstream and eventually spill into the urine. For Type I diabetics this can result in ketoacidosis, since there is no insulin to mitigate either glucose or ketones and they both reach very high levels, disrupting the bodies PH and resulting in death.
This extreme condition of having no insulin, gives us a glimpse as to what may be happening in Type II diabetes, as the end result of uncontrolled catabolism, in the body, is the SAME for both forms of diabetes.
The most common cause of ketone production in Type II diabetes is insulin inefficiency, which causes similar symptoms as deficiency. Inefficient insulin causes for the same two processes, of glucose clearance and catabolic suppression, to be impaired. This means an elevation of glucose production from hyperglucagonemia and unregulated fatty acid break down. Insulin inefficiency causes the liver to be primed for ketogenesis, as it activates the appropriate enzymes for this process. This accelerated fat breakdown results in the liver pouring out ketones in the same way it's pouring out glucose. So, insulin inefficiency causes glucose and ketone over-production.
For this reason, Type II diabetics can absolutely make ketones, and very easily in fact, no matter how high their insulin levels are, as their insulin cannot regulate their rate of catabolism. The only difference is that for Type II diabetics, this catabolic state rarely results in ketoacidosis, except in cases of severe infection or illness, as they still have some insulin mitigation left for both glucose and ketones.
This is why chasing ketones is a fool's errand. They are meaningless in the context of metabolic health. Ketones simply mean you are burning fatty acids. You can burn fatty acids in an advanced diseased state. Anyone can burn fatty acids. The body burns fatty acids daily, whether you are 100 lbs. or 1000 lbs. Ketones should never be your sole reference point for monitoring metabolic health. Lower fasting insulin levels and loss of body fat are the only markers that indicate you are headed in the right direction.
6. Is obesity a disease?
Though obesity has many pathologies and it absolutely is not normal weight gain, I am still on the fence about calling it a "disease". After all, metabolism is doing exactly what its supposed to do under the conditions it's been put in.
If you are obese, have metabolic dysfunction or are diabetic, the benefits of working out are to be able to burn your own endogenous glucose and fat, turn over your own proteins and improve leptin/adiponectin ratios. You do not need any "carb loading" to accomplish this.
5. I have high ketones, does this means I have low insulin levels?
Low insulin levels are not a requirement for ketone production. Ketones are not indicative of low insulin levels at all, in the context of metabolic syndrome, as poor insulin function also creates ketones.
The most common cause of ketones in Type I diabetes is insulin deficiency. Without insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream, as insulin facilitates glucose entry into cells and halts glucose production through the suppression of catabolic hormones like glucagon. If you have no insulin, neither process is occurring. This unregulated catabolic state doesn't just break down proteins, it also breaks down fat. The break down of fatty acids results in the release of ketones, which enter the bloodstream and eventually spill into the urine. For Type I diabetics this can result in ketoacidosis, since there is no insulin to mitigate either glucose or ketones and they both reach very high levels, disrupting the bodies PH and resulting in death.
This extreme condition of having no insulin, gives us a glimpse as to what may be happening in Type II diabetes, as the end result of uncontrolled catabolism, in the body, is the SAME for both forms of diabetes.
The most common cause of ketone production in Type II diabetes is insulin inefficiency, which causes similar symptoms as deficiency. Inefficient insulin causes for the same two processes, of glucose clearance and catabolic suppression, to be impaired. This means an elevation of glucose production from hyperglucagonemia and unregulated fatty acid break down. Insulin inefficiency causes the liver to be primed for ketogenesis, as it activates the appropriate enzymes for this process. This accelerated fat breakdown results in the liver pouring out ketones in the same way it's pouring out glucose. So, insulin inefficiency causes glucose and ketone over-production.
For this reason, Type II diabetics can absolutely make ketones, and very easily in fact, no matter how high their insulin levels are, as their insulin cannot regulate their rate of catabolism. The only difference is that for Type II diabetics, this catabolic state rarely results in ketoacidosis, except in cases of severe infection or illness, as they still have some insulin mitigation left for both glucose and ketones.
This is why chasing ketones is a fool's errand. They are meaningless in the context of metabolic health. Ketones simply mean you are burning fatty acids. You can burn fatty acids in an advanced diseased state. Anyone can burn fatty acids. The body burns fatty acids daily, whether you are 100 lbs. or 1000 lbs. Ketones should never be your sole reference point for monitoring metabolic health. Lower fasting insulin levels and loss of body fat are the only markers that indicate you are headed in the right direction.
6. Is obesity a disease?
Though obesity has many pathologies and it absolutely is not normal weight gain, I am still on the fence about calling it a "disease". After all, metabolism is doing exactly what its supposed to do under the conditions it's been put in.