Notes on the nature of insulin.
Contents
Source of Information
The following information comes from Chapter 2 of The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet. For more information, the authors can be reached at:
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Box 1194
New York, New York 10029
Insulin
pg. 38:
This may explain Johanna Budwig’s contention that the “insulin resistance” characteristic of diabetes is not a glucose metabolism problem at all, but a problem of fatty acid metabolism. Johanna Budwig is a 7-time Nobel prize nominee for her work on the quantum physics of fatty acids. She makes her statement in her book, Flax Oil as a True Aid against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer, and Other Diseases (Alive, Vancouver, 1992). Her work focuses on the manner in which fatty acids combine with sulfur-containing proteins.
(It is noteworthy how much of the body’s complex mechanisms still eludes our understanding!)
Biphasic Release
pg. 39-40:
“Conversely, the second phase of the insulin release, which takes place about seventy-five to ninety minutes after eating, is dependent on how much carbohydrate is actually consumed at that meal….This phase adjusts insulin production and release to the needs of that particular meal. If the amount of carbohydrates consumed requires more than the initial quantity of insulin released, then a second measure of insulin will be issued.
(It seems clear that switching suddenly from a high-carb diet with little fiber or fat to slow the glycemic response to one that dramatically reduces both the amount of carbohydrate and its rate of entry into the blood stream could create transition difficulties for a day or two.)
References
Unfortunately, the authors did not provide individual references for the quoted material. So I’ve collected the references below that are likely to contain supporting data. Even the titles make interesting reading!
From Appendix II of The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet:
Plasma glucose, insulin and lipid responses to high-carbohydrate low-fat diets in normal humans. Metabolism, 32(1):52-56.
Garvey, W.T. (1989) Cellular and Molecular Pathogenesis of Insulin Resistance. In B. Draznin, S. Melmed, and D. LeRoth, eds., Insulin Action, vol. II. New York: Liss.
Jeanrenaud, B. (1979). Insulin and obesity. Diabetologia, 17:133-138.
Kanarek, R., R, Marks-Kaufman, and B. Lipcles (1980). Increased carbohydrate intake as a function of insulin administration in rats. Physiol. Behav. 25:779-782.
Laube, H. and E. F. Pfeifer (1978). Insulin secretion and nutritional factors. In: H. M. Katzen and R. J. Mahler, eds., Advances in Modern Nutrition: Diabetes, Obesity, and Vascular Disease, vol 2. New York: Wiley.
Lovett, D. and D. Booth (1970). Four effects of exogenous insulin on food intake. Quart. J. Exper. Psych. 22:406-419.
McLean, Baird I. and A. Howard (1969). The role of insulin in obesity. Obesity: Medical and Scientific Aspects. Livingstone, Edinburgh.
Porte, D. and S. C. Woods (1981). Regulation of food-intake and body-weight by insulin. Diveatologia 20:274-280.
Raizada, M. K., M. I. Phillips, D. LeRoith (1987). Insulin, Insulin-like Growth Factors, and Their Receptors in the Central Nervous System. New York: Plenum Press.
Rezek M., V. Havilcek, and K. R. Hughes (1978). Paradoxical stimulation of food intake by larger loads of glucose, fructose, and mannose: evidence for a positive-feedback effect. Physiol. Behav. 21:243-249.
Richter, C.P. (1942). Increased dextrose appetite of normal rats treated with insulin. Am J. Physiol. 135:781-787.
Rodin, J., J. Wack, E. Ferrannini, and R. DeForonzo (1985). Effect of insulin and glucose on feeding behavior. Metabolism 34(9):826-831.
Silverstone, T. and M. Besser (1971). Insulin, blood sugar, and hunger. Postgrad Med. J. 47:427-429 (suppl.).
Wardle, J. and H. Beinart (1981). Binge eating: A theoretical review. Brit. J. Clin. Psych. 20:97-109.
Werner, P. L. and J. P. Palmer (1978). Immunoreactive glucagon responses to oral glucose, insulin infusion and deprivation, and somatostatin in pancreatomized man. Diabetes 27:1005-1012.