5/06/07 - For Me, It Ain’t the Sweets

Well, the folks at Sciona may think my biggest concern ought to be my antioxidants (and I respect their expertise); however, I, personally, am making the executive decision to overrule that call as I focus on areas of concern.

When they review my overall chart – go to the first results blog – they’re looking from bottom to top for areas of concern, and it’s true my antioxidant marker is marginally below my heart health, but it’s really far to the left (which is the good side, since, fundamentally, one wants to be as close to the top righthand corner as possible).

However, my insulin sensitivity marker is hanging all the way out there over to the left, , and the distance they want me to cover is greater than I need to cover with the antioxidants. Since my antioxidant consumption already exceeds goals and all I need to do to remedy this area is keep up with the antioxidants and increase my broccoli and onions, I feel as though this is – more or less – already under control.

However, my recommendations to improve my insulin sensitivity are to exercise more, lose weight and consume more Omega-3’s. This will be much harder to do and will likely affect the other areas positively anyway. I mean, if I need to lose weight, odds are good I’ll be eating more broccoli and onions anyway, right?

So, moving forward, I’m focusing most on improving my insulin sensitivity despite Sciona’s recommendations. Insulin sensitivity has to do with the body’s ability to respond accurately to insulin. When sensitivity is reduced, the body produces more insulin, which stores glycogen for use as energy or fuel by the body’s cells. Which, if I’ve sussed this out correctly, could lead to overweight.

Now, according to my results, I consume somewhere in the right neighborhood of carbs and fats; however, I’m shy on the Omega-3’s. And it’s funny that this is true, because I feel like I eat a fair bit of fish, but clearly, just not enough or not enough of the right types of fish (those highest in Omega-3’s). Again, I beat the national standards, but none of us is consuming as much as we ought to. So, more fish.

The thing is that when I think of insulin, I think of sugar. And sugar is not my bugaboo. Salty/savory snacks are. I don’t drink soda or fruit juice, I don’t sugar my tea (hot or iced), I don’t care about chocolate and other sweets. Most Halloweens, I pull a bag of last year’s leftover candy out of the freezer (I know, you don’t want to trick or treat at my house now, do you? But I do buy the big bars and I always buy one new bag, which is how I end up with leftovers – if you trick or treat at my house, just ask me which are the new candy bars), but I won’t buy potato chips because they would be gone in a second.

So I am exploding another of my personal myths, that somehow insulin sensitivity would be linked to simple sugar consumption. I am a carb freak (a tendency I work to combat), and therein lies the problem. I don’t think of bread/cracker carbs as High Glycemic Load foods, but they are. And I do think of fruit as High Glycemic (because it seems sugary, whereas bread doesn’t), but it’s not. So I need to rethink my relationship to crackers, cereal, bread and fruit (which I need more of).

However, when I tried the no-carb diets, my body virtually shut down. I couldn’t think, move, talk, anything. I felt sicker than the worst flu or bronchitis I’ve ever had. I’m not willing to do that again. Historically, I’ve done well on low-fat diets, so will focus on that, but will keep a close eye on the carbs anyway.

They also suggest more exercise, which is fair enough. As I mentioned earlier, I have a very lively dog who has already increased my energy output some. We walk for at least 40 mins every day. And I live on the middle of a very steep hill, so there is no direction to walk without including a fairly steep incline either coming or going. But he will figure prominently in any more ambitious exercise endeavor. And boy will he be glad.

Questions:

I believe that people tend toward either sweets or salt, which are you? Does anyone crave both equally?

How’d you do on the no-carb diet? Did anyone’s body just shut down as mine did?

For those who have done this program, did you overrule any recommendations you received? Did you check with a health expert first?

One Response to “For Me, It Ain’t the Sweets”

1. J. Taylor Says:
   May 7th, 2007 at 5:38 am

   I’m just like that–I can pretty easily pass up the cookies and candy and cake, but my idea of heaven is salty crackers and cheese. So even without a sweet tooth it’s true that one can get way too many carbs. And I also have tried low-carb or no-carb options and felt terrible–that’s apparently not something my body or my brain wants to do. I’ll be following your resolve with compassionate, empathetic interest here!

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