Atkins Diabetes Revolution Read Online Free Page B

to excessive insulin production and hypoglycemia.
    THE PROGRESSION OF INSULIN RESISTANCE
    The first steps on the diabetes road usually begin with excessive consumption of carbohydrates (or a high-calorie diet) that leads to excess glucose being stored as fat. The result? Weight gain. As you put on the pounds, you gradually become insulin resistant—meaning your cells begin to be less responsive to the effects of insulin. Why? That’s a very good question,and despite its importance,it’s a question for which the medical profession still doesn’t have a good answer. (Today many researchers believe that one of the underlying causes is inflammation, but we’re just starting to understand what causes the inflammation.) 2 – 4
    As you gain fat, your insulin resistance increases. Though not everyone who is overweight is insulin resistant, the heavier you are, the more likely you are to become insulin resistant.On the other hand, in some people, insulin resistance begins at normal body weight and can worsen due to a high-carb diet even if their body weight stays normal. For these people, insulin resistance may be due to genetic factors or other factors not yet well understood. Fortunately, a controlled- carbohydrate lifestyle benefits just about everyone with insulin resistance, whether or not they are overweight. That’s because controlling carbs alone helps your cells regain their ability to respond properly to insulin, even if weight loss isn’t needed. 5 , 6
    To compensate for insulin resistance, your pancreas pours out extra insulin in an attempt to force your cells to take in glucose and to maintain your blood sugar within the normal range. You now have what doctors call hyperinsulinemia or hyperinsulinism —meaning excess insulin in the blood. What happens then is that the smooth rise and fall of glucose and insulin in your bloodstream becomes unbalanced after a meal. To clear away the glucose, your pancreas produces a big spike of extra insulin.
    As time goes on, your blood sugar and insulin production get increasingly out of sync. Your blood sugar rises, but now the insulin surge takes longer to occur, and when it does happen, you produce more insulin than is needed. When the insulin finally does kick in, your glucose then drops below its normal level, causing reactive hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.
    When hypoglycemia occurs,you may suffer from numerous symptoms, including ups and downs in energy level, shakiness, irritability, and even trouble thinking clearly.You’ll probably also feel cravings for your favorite carbs as your body instinctively tries to bring your blood sugar level back up—which puts you right back on the blood sugar roller coaster. A dramatic case of this among Dr. Atkins’ patients was Warren S.,a 35-year-old who came to him because blood sugar swings were causing panic attacks, dizziness, headaches, and an array of other unpleasant symptoms.Within two weeks of starting on the controlled- carb approach, he told Dr. Atkins, “I’m a different person.” And he was—his symptoms had improved almost immediately.
    ONWARD TO PREDIABETES
    The earliest three stages of the progression to diabetes can go on for months or even years before you move on to the next stage. After a while, however, even all that extra insulin can’t force enough glucose to enter your cells. The amount of sugar in your blood begins to peak at higher than the normal range. You now have reached the fourth stage: You have not only hyperinsulinemia but also hyperglycemia — elevated levels of blood sugar. What some people will then develop is what Dr.Atkins called a high-low curve.One to two hours after a high- carb meal, the blood sugar goes higher than it should, provoking symptoms such as sleepiness or a strong desire to nap. This is followed by the belated insulin spike, which causes hypoglycemia with the symptoms described above. This stage, in which the temporary elevation of blood sugar two hours after a glucose