 |
| The insulin response to protein foods is NOT what the low-carb elite say it is! |
The title of the thread was "Don't you Just Love Gary Taubes."
Since I got distracted while reading Taubes' book and forgot to go back and finish reading it, I thought it would be informative to see what he had to say -- so I watched the video.
He was putting forth the typical low-carb belief that "saturated fats are probably harmless."
If you look closely at those words that I put in quotes above, the word "PROBABLY" might jump out at you.
It did for me.
In fact, while listening to the video, Gary Taubes' emphasized that word not just once, but -- twice.
That opinion is in direct controversy with what Dr. Atkins has stated in his nutrition books about saturated fats, but no one wants to talk about that fact either. Low-carb enthusiasts just keep insisting that the Insulin Hypothesis is true.
What is the Insulin Hypothesis?
The person interviewing Gary Taubes was countering Taubes' stance with a statement the studio had personally received from the American Heart Association.
This statement said that saturated fats should be kept to a minimum and trans-fats should be eliminated all together.
Taubes tried to explain the Insulin Hypothesis, how in the presence of high insulin, carbohydrates are stored as fat, but the interviewer interrupted him and asked about all the foods that were laid out on the table.
 |
| Oatmeal with berries is recommended by the American Heart Association for a well-balanced breakfast but Gary Taubes disagrees |
According to Taubes, oatmeal is the type of meal that raises insulin levels. He went on to say that the presence of high insulin will cause the body to store those carbs as fat, rather than burn them for energy.
Taubes then pointed to the next breakfast.
It was a somewhat typical low-carb breakfast. I say -- somewhat -- because the media had placed a small glass of orange juice next to the salad-sized plate of bacon and eggs.
Gary Taubes picked up the glass of juice and placed it next to the oatmeal, saying it would be a better fit to put the juice with the oatmeal.
Perplexed, the interviewer looked at what appeared to be a lunch plate. The small plate held a bacon cheeseburger. He was extremely confused and said that Taubes couldn't be seriously recommending a bacon cheeseburger for lunch.
At this point in the video, Taubes appealed to the late Dr. Atkins, saying that Atkins recommended a bacon cheeseburger because Atkins said it doesn't raise insulin levels.
Science Doesn't Support the Insulin Hypothesis
The disturbing aspect of the video, for me, was that initial insulin-raising studies performed and published about 20 years ago by the same folks who initially did the glycemic index testing, doesn't back up any of these ideas.
NONE OF THEM!
A bacon cheeseburger DOES raise insulin levels, and not just slightly, as so many low-carb advocates proclaim. The study showed that a burger raises insulin levels higher than oatmeal does.
Higher than pasta.
In fact, beef's insulin demand is actually equal to brown rice. And fish wasn't any better. The insulin demand for fish was equal to whole-grain bread.
So what about cheese? Low carbers love cheese! Cheese is almost carb free, but gives you an insulin spike, as well!
Why would a researcher who claims to have looked at tons of research studies and data, choose to omit that important detail when discussing the Insulin Hypothesis?
Because it disproves his idea?
Or what?
This is exactly what some of those who oppose Gary Taubes' work are saying, that he selectively omitted studies that didn't fit with his personal convictions.
But keep in mind that this isn't peculiar to Taubes.
Many people read to prove what they want to believe, rather than to see something they didn't see before.
The truth about insulin is that carbohydrates are not the only macronutrient that results in insulin secretion after eating.
Protein foods do exactly the same thing!
If they didn't, those amino acids would have no way to get into your body's cells. Insulin is not something you need to be afraid of. Insulin has important functions in the body.
How Does Protein Really Affect Insulin Levels?
 |
| Protein foods result in an insulin response Insulin isn't just triggered by carbs |
The ideas about blood glucose levels affecting weight and even the validity of counting carbohydrates themselves are problematic.
For instance:
When you add protein to a carb-rich meal, insulin secretion rises moderately without further increasing blood glucose. When you add a large amount of fat to a carb-rich meal, insulin increases, so glucose level goes down.
A lower glucose level doesn't mean your insulin levels are also low, and a total-meal carb count doesn't necessarily predict what your insulin and blood glucose levels are going to do.
On the average, carb-laden foods do mimic glucose levels close enough, but the surprising aspect of the study was that protein-rich foods, such as:
- beef
- fish
- eggs
- cheese
So, while blood sugar doesn't rise very much after eating protein foods, the insulin level rose 3- to 6-fold! The insulin spike is what works to keep your blood glucose down.
This dramatic rise is the amount of insulin needed to metabolize those protein foods.
For a low-carber with insulin resistance trying to lower their insulin levels, this is NOT very good news because for those with insulin resistance, insulin can stay elevated for a long time after meals.
How Do Carbohydrates Affect Insulin?
 |
| Science has debunked the glycemic index Brown rice is not better than white |
The other interesting surprise in this study was that white and brown rice were essentially equal in insulin-raising capability.
It takes just as much insulin to process brown rice as it takes for white. You get no insulin benefit of whole grain over the processed stuff.
This debunks the glycemic index that Atkins uses to justify their modern-day Atkins 40 and Atkins 100 plans.
Health and nutrition experts are always telling us to eat whole grain over processed grains, due to the way the whole grain is processed more slowly by the body. Slow digestion gives a slower rise in blood sugar, but this doesn't hold true for insulin.
The same thing happened for semolina pasta versus whole wheat pasta, and even white versus whole wheat bread, as well.
Study Conclusion
The conclusion of the study was that the macronutrient composition of foods has relatively limited power for predicting the extent of postprandial insulinemia. And it seems to also indicate that blood glucose level is not a good predictor either.
Surprisingly, other studies done on milk and yogurt, or white bread with yogurt and pickled cucumbers, also point to the same thing.
Our biological reactions to protein foods are individual.
They are not what we have been told by the low-carb elite. The control of insulin, and ultimately fat loss, is much more complex than simply counting carbs.
Vickie, there has got to be more to it than that. If I eat, for example, 'whole grain' anything, versus say, meat, I do have an insulin rise with both of them, no doubt. But with the meat, 20-45 minutes later I am feeling fine and satiated. With the carb-based insulin rise, 20-45 minutes later I am lucky not to be unconscious -- it "puts me to sleep." Although my blood sugar may go up equally with the foods, it certainly does not come down equally. Whether this is because it takes longer to come down or more gradually, or is actually 'used up' more, I don't know. I only know that the initial spike of insulin is only one aspect of a larger equation.
ReplyDeleteBest,
PJ
When you say whole grain anything PJ do you mean breads and pasta or do you mean the grain with the shell still intact? If it is bread and pasta, for me, I might as well drink a can of Pepsi. The whole grains with the shell intact and not just the components thrown in together eventually do not raise my blood sugar very much at all.
DeletePJ,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. The biochemical aspects of what's happening is way more complex than I currently understand. Plus I'm beginning to think it's all very, very individual.
The large rise in insulin with beef does explain why I gained so much belly fat so quickly doing zero carb.
But it doesn't help me at all to figure out why eating carbs gives me good/normal blood glucose control, while zero carb and even low carb does not. It's almost like by body is working in reverse to the low-carb theory norm.
I'm totally confused by it all.
nice article about protein...very informative and beneficial for me...thanks
ReplyDeleteHey, it's an interesting post, but I'm afraid you're interpreting this data incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteThe data is in this context:
"Areas under the 120-mm plasma glucose and insulin response curves (AUCs), ratio of insulin AUC to glucose AUC, the insulin AUC per g
carbohydrate and per g serving weight, and mean glucose and insulin scores'"
Which basically means that they are only listing the presence of insulin COMPARED to the glucose load. Certain fatty acids and aminos do trigger insulin secretion, but it is very minimal, especially if you follow a low-carb diet (because you become more insulin sensitive, which means essentially your body needs to produce less insulin to produce a similar result.) Essentially, it's very skewed in it's presentation and it's conclusions. Because beef, eggs, and cheese have a low glycemic index, and thus, effect on blood glucose, their RATIO of insulin response to blood glucose is going to be enormous.
And even putting that aside, they mention several times in the study that the insulin secretion is effected by macronutrients consumed together. And because they weren't blocking the consumption of high carbohydrate foods on the subjects consuming protein, the numbers were of course skewed to favour higher carbohydrate foods, because while protein might have a negative effect on insulin when consumed with carbohydrate, on it's own the levels produced are VERY low.
now i can say that i have less information about this insulin, i have to read more because there were conflicting interpretation regarding this matter. but any how this information can help me with my insulin problem. thanks.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have to point out that what is discussed in this study as "insulin response" is actually the ratio of insulin response relative to glucose load. This makes the numbers for meats and fish look ridiculously high compared to rice and pasta if you don't understand that they are not displaying figures for insulin measured in absolute terms. Secondly, when Taubes talks about "insulin" the way he does, it is drastically simplified for the layman audience, and perhaps to the detriment of his credibility. But he is right when you get into the nitty-gritty.
ReplyDeleteInsulin can't be looked at just on its own. It's a master hormone that serves many roles in the body, mostly having to do with "herding" macronutrient molecules into cells, and must be produced by the body as a natural adaptive response to the consumption of any food, be it high in protein/fat or high in carbohydrate.
Insulin is not a bad thing in and of itself. It's the combination of glycemic load from high carbohydrate foods together with the insulin response that comes from those foods, that you have to worry about. What insulin is released in the body after a meal high in protein and fat will play its normal, adaptive role in metabolism, and will be balanced by another hormone called glucagon, which stimulates the release of stored glucose from the liver to raise low blood-sugar levels up into normal range. After a high carbohydrate meal, the body has to desperately lower blood sugar to avoid the glycation problems and other complications caused by prolonged hyperglycemia, and the only place for all the extra blood glucose to go is into the adipose tissue. This usually results in reactive-hypoglycemia once the insulin has done its job and then some. And without glucogon present to stimulate the release stored glucose from the liver, the body has low blood sugar with nothing to do about it except instigate cravings for more carbohydrate.
Sorry to rain on this parade but let me say that the notion of the protein in a cheeseburger raising blood sugars, thus raising insulin levels more than oatmeal is simply outrageous.
ReplyDeleteHow do I know? I'm a walking laboratory as I make no insulin of my own and thus know exactly how much insulin is required by the body for different types of foods. And no, just in case you were wondering, it's not likely that your body will produce insulin in excess for any given meal, otherwise you'd experience severe and deadly hypoglycemia. You make exactly what you need for each meal as a non diabetic.
If I have a bowl of oatmeal or a cup of pasta, my body will require the equivalent of 10 times the amount of insulin to keep blood sugar stable as a cheeseburger patty. Done this experiment for years - and not because I wanted to - and let me say it's very repeatable. Protein's effect on blood sugar and thus insulin creation, is but a fraction as much as for high carb meals like the ones you're describing.
Now, can a cheeseburger ever require as much insulin creation as a bowl of oatmeal? Sure! Just eat the bun!
Thanks for sharing your experience Kevin. Since I've had other Type 1 Diabetics tells me differently, I appreciate hearing how it is for you.
ReplyDelete