Insulin and obesity?

[coach hale]

Insulin and obesity?
Alan Aragon and I have had this conversation a couple of times over the last week and it’s funny that all the experts that blame obesity on elevated insulin levels alone have obviously not looked at the Primary Scientific data as it indicates different. Insulin plays numerous roles in metabolism. Popular diet gurus generally have no idea of the complexity and various effects insulin cause in the body.


From Popular diets: Scientific Review Freedman et al.

Energy restriction, independent of diet composition (e.g., 15% to 73% CHO) improves glycemic control. The ability to lose weight on a calorie restricted diet over a short term period does not vary in obese healthy women as a function of insulin resistance or hyperinsulinemia. Golay et al. reported subjects consuming isocaloric diets (1000 kcal) containing 15% CHO had significantly lower insulin levels as compared with those consuming 45% CHO, yet there was no difference in weight loss between the two groups.

Grey and Kipnis studied 10 obese patients who were fed hypocaloric (1500 kcal/d) liquid-formula diets containing either 72% or 0% CHO for 4 weeks before switching to the other diet. A significant reduction in basal plasma insulin levels was noted when subjects ingested the hypo caloric formula devoid of CHO. Refeeding the hypocaloric, high CHO formula resulted in a marked increase in the basal plasma insulin. However, patients lost 0.75 to 2.0 kg/wk irrespective of caloric distribution.

The role of insulin in the synthesis and storage of fat has obscured its important effects in the central nervous system, where it acts to prevent weight gain, and has led to the misconception that insulin causes obesity. It has recently been shown that selective genetic disruption of insulin signaling in the brain leads to increased food intake and obesity in animals demonstrating that intact insulin signaling in the central nervous system is required for normal body weight regulation.

In my new book I do an extensive key point review of this paper

It should also be noted that hyper insulin sensitivity has been identified as a powerful predictor of weight gain

Also as pointed out above effects on the CNS include reduced food intake as Leptin levels increase (energy expenditure increases, energy intake decreases)

Study be Schwartz Reduced Insulin Secretion: an independent predictor of bdwt gain Concluded IR and Hyerinsulinemia were not causal factors of obesity

Tons and tons of research the challenges the catch all-phrase “high insulin levels cause obesity”

As I have mentioned often what about ASP powerful stimulator triglyceride

Look at the Primary Research Data it is interesting and challenges much of the much perpetuated information concerning insulin
Thanks
Coach Hale
www.maxcondition.com

[SpacecityPaula]

So if I'm understanding this summary correctly (it's been a while since I've been immersed in journal articles) - The researchers are saying that caloric restriction plays a bigger role in actual weight loss than insulin levels. It didn't matter if the study participants were being fed a 0% of Carbs or a 72% solution of carbs - the overall restriction of 1500 Calories a day was the trigger for the weight loss.

If this is indeed what the study is saying then what I've seen in my own weight loss makes more sense to me now. There are no discernable patterns in my macros that I've put in fitday records yet I've still lost weight because overall, I'm eating fewer calories than I was before.

It also means that all the stuff I've seen about women with PCOS "needing" to eat a lower carb diet is a bunch o hooey.

[andrew_plamondon]

Many of the studies which track weight change according to diet usually just track the weight or the BMI. Results are much more interesting when taking into account body composition...
Then again, I would be curious to see a study which compares the effects on body composition of a high-carb vs low-carb hypocaloric diet when people do resistance exercise at the same time. I haven't run into that yet but maybe it was already done.

[andrew_plamondon]

Originally Posted by SpacecityPaula

So if I'm understanding this summary correctly (it's been a while since I've been immersed in journal articles) - The researchers are saying that caloric restriction plays a bigger role in actual weight loss than insulin levels. It didn't matter if the study participants were being fed a 0% of Carbs or a 72% solution of carbs - the overall restriction of 1500 Calories a day was the trigger for the weight loss.

If this is indeed what the study is saying then what I've seen in my own weight loss makes more sense to me now. There are no discernable patterns in my macros that I've put in fitday records yet I've still lost weight because overall, I'm eating fewer calories than I was before.

It also means that all the stuff I've seen about women with PCOS "needing" to eat a lower carb diet is a bunch o hooey.

When losing weight, fat or carbs are going to be used for energy anyway. As long as the level of carb doesn't interfere with the person having a good level of protein, it should be fine. But then again, weight is lost... but is it fat or fat free mass ?

[SpacecityPaula]

Based on what I'm seeing in my own body, I would say that I've lost fat and gained muscle. But since I don't know what my BF% was/is since I started this adventure, all I know is I'm leaning out.

[andrew_plamondon]

I thought about one study which showed that muscle mass can be gained on a 900 calories diet but I can't remember the name of the study so I can't get the abstract. What I said earlier was that I didn't see many studies which tracked muscle mass while on an hypocaloric diet and that it would be interesting to see these results especially if they compare a group that does resistance exercise vs one that doesn't.

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by andrew_plamondon

I thought about one study which showed that muscle mass can be gained on a 900 calories diet but I can't remember the name of the study so I can't get the abstract. What I said earlier was that I didn't see many studies which tracked muscle mass while on an hypocaloric diet and that it would be interesting to see these results especially if they compare a group that does resistance exercise vs one that doesn't.

Andrew, are you thinking of the study Alwyn quoted some time back about the 20 people (mostly women) who were on an 800 cal/day liquid diet? If so, it's this one: http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/18/2/115

And this was the thread: http://forums.jpfitness.com/showthre...158#post278158