Posted on 02/27/2013 11:40:44 AM PST by neverdem
Like the sun, insulin levels rise and fall in a daily rhythm. Disrupting that cycle may contribute to obesity and diabetes, a new study suggests.
Many body systems follow a daily clock known as a circadian rhythm. Body temperature, blood pressure and the release of many hormones are on circadian timers. But until now, no one had shown that insulin — a hormone that helps control how the body uses sugars for energy — also has a daily cycle. Working with mice, researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville have found that rodents are more sensitive to insulin’s effects at certain times of day. Disrupting the animals’ circadian timers interferes with the hormone’s daily rise and fall and makes mice prone to obesity.
If the findings hold up in humans, they could help explain why people who work night shifts tend to be overweight and suffer health problems. The discovery may also tie the obesity epidemic in part to staying up late and eating at the wrong time.
Many people had thought that it was best for the body to maintain insulin at a relatively constant level, says Carl Johnson, a circadian biologist who led the new study. “But that’s not how organisms have adapted,” he says. Since the environment cycles through light and dark, body processes often coordinate with that rhythm. To uncover insulin’s natural rhythm, Johnson and his colleagues performed...
--snip--
Mice with a genetic flaw that breaks their circadian clock don’t follow the regular insulin cycle. Neither do mice whose circadian clocks have been disrupted by living in constant light. Both groups of animals are more resistant to insulin than normal mice are, the researchers discovered. Insulin resistance is one hallmark of diabetes.
Mice with broken clocks also became obese despite eating the same amount as other mice...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
Why bodies store fat when we eat at night
Specifically, insulin is required to move glucose into liver, muscle and fat cells. It also blocks the process of burning fat for energy.
/johnny
You took the words right out of Gary Taubes' mouth. I tend to agree with most of his hypothesis regarding insulin and stumbled onto my way of managing insulin by chance (and luck). Insulin at the lowest levels possible is best - for me anyway. I haven't eaten many carbs for years and have a perfect blood panel to show for it.
Treat obesity as physiology, not physics (Gary Taubes) my thread
Treat obesity as physiology, not physics the article
Among our first tasks was to comb the medical literature back to the 1930s, identifying all studies relevant to the question of whether carbohydrates or excess calories cause obesity.
Human experiments are going to be done settling that question, and whether high fructose corn syrup is worse than sucrose in soft drinks, IIRC.
FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.
FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.
Ping!
I don’t know. Not only is my internal clock broken, but my kids say my elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor either. ;-)
—— insulin ....also has a daily cycle.——
Does an insulin release at 3:00 am cause me to wake
Econtalk is a great site and here’s an interview with Taubes:
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/07/taubes_on_why_w.html
I download these to MP3 and listen on my computer as I work or drive. I’m putting together a ping list if you’re interested.
Nice bit of research into the condition, and potential user level treatment (work your rhythm to best advantage). Nice, potentially fewer drugs.
Where’s the cure?
How about what's the best defense? Diabetes knowledge is still a work in progress. Not all type II diabetics are the same, but with high blood pressure, abdominal obesity and an undesirable lipid profile, you have Syndrome X, also known as metabolic syndrome.
Diets restricted in carbohydrate intake have benefited many with metabolic syndrome. If you enter Volek JS, Feinman RD into PubMed's query box, then you'll do an authors' search on two writers who have written 11 articles showing the benefit of carbohydrate restriction. 7 articles are FReebies.
There are some who can be diagnosed with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, LADA. Think of them as late type I diabetics. They are somewhere on the road to becoming insulin dependent.
Regardless, unless you are an endurance athlete and train regularly, I fail to see the harm in carbohydrate restricted diets.
Do some regular exercise even if it's just walking. If you must snack, use nuts per the Mediterranean diet, i.e. 30 grams of mixed nuts per day (15 grams of walnuts, 7.5 grams of hazelnuts, and 7.5 grams of almonds. 30 grams is slightly more than an ounce.
How about what's the best defense? Diabetes knowledge is still a work in progress. Not all type II diabetics are the same, but with high blood pressure, abdominal obesity and an undesirable lipid profile, you have Syndrome X, also known as metabolic syndrome.
Diets restricted in carbohydrate intake have benefited many with metabolic syndrome. If you enter Volek JS, Feinman RD into PubMed's query box, then you'll do an authors' search on two writers who have written 11 articles showing the benefit of carbohydrate restriction. 7 articles are FReebies.
There are some who can be diagnosed with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, LADA. Think of them as late type I diabetics. They are somewhere on the road to becoming insulin dependent.
Regardless, unless you are an endurance athlete and train regularly, I fail to see the harm in carbohydrate restricted diets.
Do some regular exercise even if it's just walking. If you must snack, use nuts per the Mediterranean diet, i.e. 30 grams of mixed nuts per day (15 grams of walnuts, 7.5 grams of hazelnuts, and 7.5 grams of almonds. 30 grams is slightly more than an ounce.
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