Paleo Challenge

Lets picture our body as a waste field of interacting elements such as cells, fluids, blood, water and hormones. There are many external factors that influence these elements but there is one in particular that is easy to control and use effectively to our advantage. It’s food, without it we can not survive for long. We use it everyday, several times a day. The problem nowadays is that we’re not informed on what it does to us. In that perspective we have to envisage food as a drug that provokes a hormonal responses.

We will focus on what happens after macro-nutrients have been broken down in the digestive system and are differentiated into three categories: Protein-Carbohydrate-Fat.

When carbohydrates enter the digestive system a hormone called insulin is released, this is a storage hormone. The pancreas secretes insulin into the bloodstream. That insulin travels to the liver and the muscle cells, telling them to take excess glucose from carbohydrates and excess amino acids from protein and store them in the adipose tissues as fat. When insulin is low or absent, glucose is not taken up by body cells, and the body begins to use fat as an energy source.

When we consume a source of protein a hormone is released into the body.  It is called glucagon and is a mobilization hormone which means that it releases stored carbohydrates in the form of glucose from the liver that the cells are then free to use.

Consuming fat is hormonaly neutral in regards to storage and mobilization. It does provide energy and acts as a damper on the influence of carbs on insulin. Fat and protein help us to feel full through the secretion of a hormone called leptin that signals the brain that the body has had enough to eat.

A good hormonal balance will be determined by the quality, quantity and balance of the three macronutrients. For the quality we need paleo types of foods, for quantity we shouldn’t exceed 500kcal per meal (because excess calories stimulate secretion of insulin), and a good carb/protein balance to keep insulin/glucagon levels in balance.

When we consume a high carb/low protein meal like pasta we generate an overproduction of insulin. As insulin rises the blood glucose levels lower and this leads to hypoglycemia. High levels of insulin prevent the liver from replenishing blood glucose from storage depots, and despite having high amounts of energy trapped in the liver, these become inaccessible to the brain which requires more energy (the brain functions on glucose). Which means that that brain will make you chose a high glycemic carb like pasta or sugar for your next meal. This is how the vicious carbohydrate cycle begins. It leads to carb cravings like having a sweet tooth and recurring hunger. Excess carbs will then end up being converted into fat. In the longer term this could lead to insulin resistance or ‘hyperinsulinemia’. In this case insulin levels are constantly elevated but blood sugar levels remain high because the target cells no longer respond to insulin. This will result in the accumulation of excess body fat and later on health problems such as type II diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

We have to bear in mind that people’s response to carbohydrates is different. There is 25% of the population that has a blunt response to insulin, which means that they can consume large amount of carbs and not put on a lot of fat. But it doesn’t save them from inflammation caused by cereals and dairy. Another 25% are very sensitive and gain fat easily while consuming carbs, as for the rest of us we will respond to a high carb diet by putting on fat slowly but surely.