1. There is no simple way to describe what metabolic syndrome/diabetes and its cause really is because people give it a different definition and cause daily.
I know that someone comes up with a new definition and cause for diabetes on the daily. Most are only half truths and the other are outright lies. A lot of these people do this out of sheer ignorance but others do it in order to convince you they have the cure. After all, if they can pinpoint a cause, that matches their supposed cure, you would be more apt to believe them. But biologically speaking there is only one cause and no known cure.
Metabolic syndrome is caused by large disparities between high (postprandial) and low (fasting) blood glucose. These disparities deteriorate insulin function over time, leading to diabetes. Diabetes is when the body can no longer regulate its blood glucose due to this poor insulin function. Poor insulin function affects multiple hormonal regulatory systems in the body related to metabolism, including the adrenal stress response and the hypothalamus (leptin). This is why people with metabolic syndrome create excess blood glucose and have excess body fat.
That’s it. That’s the nitty gritty. Anything else is just BS. Everything you need to know is written above. If you want to prevent metabolic syndrome, you have to prevent blood glucose disparities. If you want to reverse metabolic syndrome or put your diabetes into remission, you have to lessen blood glucose disparities and then wait and see if you can regain proper insulin function over time.
2. You minimize how positive the reduction or elimination of blood glucose lowering medications is.
I do not minimize it, I simply put it in the right perspective. People are confused as to what it really means to reduce or eliminate blood glucose lowering medications. They take this to mean that they have “cured” their diabetes. They haven't. High blood glucose is the end stage of diabetes. This means that there is much more to diabetes than just high blood glucose as this syndrome has been developing for years before it reaches high blood glucose.
Diabetes is not high blood glucose. It is the inability for the body to regulate its blood glucose. You can lower your blood glucose enough to no longer need medications, that lower it for you, but that doesn't mean your body is regulating its blood glucose correctly. As long as they are large disparities in blood glucose, between postprandial and fasting numbers, the person is basically diabetic because that is the abnormality that leads to the eventual inability to lower their blood glucose to normal.
The only achievement in the reduction or elimination of blood glucose lowering medications is that you no longer have to worry about dips in blood glucose that can send you into a hypoglycemic state. These dips in blood glucose drive the syndrome’s progression further so if you are able to eliminate a medication that directly causes this, you are on the right path. These medications can keep your postprandial blood glucose from going to 300 mg/dL but they can then dip it at night to 60 mg/dL. That is not good. That blood glucose is too high and then too low. That is worse than having a steady 200 mg/dL.
This is why diabetes progresses even with blood glucose lowering medications. This is also why insulin dependent Type I diabetics eventually develop Type II (double diabetes). Injectable insulin, just like blood glucose lowering medications, cause frequent lows and highs in blood glucose with large disparities between the two. This only causes for you to require higher amounts of blood glucose lowering medications or insulin or both because the disease is progressing. Insulin was not made to deal with those types of erratic blood glucose numbers. It will cause insulin resistance over time.
So this is why I give the reduction or elimination of blood glucose lowering medications importance but not too much as you would be surprised how easily lower blood glucose can be achieved but how difficult it is to gain normal blood glucose regulation.
3. Nothing will occur if I eat adequate, "very lean", protein and don't add any extra fat to it, while also not having much body fat.
It depends on what you mean by "very lean" protein. If you mean farmed animals that are marked "lean", you won't have much of a problem but if you are eating truly lean protein like wild game, then you might. Your body can go into "rabbit starvation" and start breaking itself down for energy. This is very rare as you would have to consume only very lean protein for an extended period of time, but it can happen. This is why there is no need for you to eat very lean protein, if you are already lean.
4. Gluconeogenesis is "healthy" and "normal" while on carnivore. It doesn't matter how high your blood glucose goes.
I know that low carb advocates are now saying that gluconeogenesis is "healthy" and "normal" because they are constantly getting complaints that their "keto" or carnivore diets are rising people's blood glucose. Now that their wallets are in jeopardy they are once again lying like they lied when they said that gluconeogenesis was "dangerous" and should be "avoided at all costs".
The reality is that:
- Gluconeogenesis is healthy and normal when it's well regulated. It supports a healthy metabolism by preserving the homeostasis between insulin and blood glucose.
- Gluconeogenesis is not well regulated in people with metabolic syndrome and/or diabetes. In fact, damage to gluconeogenesis function is the crux of metabolic syndrome and/or diabetes.
- Gluconeogenesis does not regain its proper function through the avoidance of protein or the avoidance of carbs.
Resolving the function of gluconeogenesis, which is basically the cause of Dawn Phenomenon (high morning blood glucose) and hyperglucagonemia (high postprandial blood glucose), is the great hurdle in diabetes treatment. This is precisely why the American Diabetes Association (ADA) does not make the claim that a diet can "cure" diabetes as no diet has ever been able to correct gluconeogenesis function.
You need proper insulin and leptin sensitivity in order to have proper gluconeogenesis function. This means that no one thing restores gluconeogenesis as no one thing can make you insulin and leptin sensitive. You have to address multiple issues in order to restore gluconeogenesis function, such as normalizing blood glucose regulation which is one way of improving insulin sensitivity and function. You must also normalize blood glucose regulation enough to lower body fat. You can only lower body fat through lifestyle changes that affect leptin expression. As you can see it's very complicated because it's a feed back loop as each function depends on the other and vice versa. A vicious circle.
People who have metabolic syndrome, particularly full blown diabetes, need to be cautious and control their gluconeogenesis because it can run their blood glucose levels too high and then too low. This will cause further insulin dysfunction. So, these people have to divide their daily protein intake into three meals a day, have a consistent meal and daily exercise regimen and continue taking their blood glucose lowering medication as prescribed by their doctor. The hope is that with time, these combined lifestyle changes will improve their gluconeogenesis function.
5. The current dietary advice is for people to eat mostly grains and potatoes.
Yes. That is the current dietary advice and it has been that way since the inception of the food pyramid back in 1974. There is just one caveat to this. The advice to eat mostly grains and potatoes did not include an entire tray of Stouffer's Lasagna or a box of cereal.
The dietary advice is based on caloric restriction so the premise was to eat these items while sustaining a caloric deficit (starvation). Carbs are only benign in the context of starvation. For some reason, people decided to conveniently forget this when they sat in front of their mountain of French fries and waffle burger, all which go way above the caloric recommendation of conventional dietary advice.
So since it is torture to live under caloric restriction while eating like a rodent (grains), I suggest you ignore the dietary advice all together and focus on an anti obesogenic lifestyle instead. After all, leptin will cave under a high carb diet and though caloric restriction appears to be a temporary antidote to this, leptin also caves under starvation.
6. Low carb is a "discipline".
The only discipline in low carb is sticking to it. It is not a discipline in of itself except as a means of income for most quacks.
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