No Whey! Stay a-Whey! 

Isolated or concentrated protein raises your insulin more than processed sugar and bread!

How? Why?

The way I see it is the body interprets food as much as it senses it in our system. You have heard me say food is not fuel but rather information, and I think this is part of that model.

Before our food is even broken down and the nutrients in our bloodstream, 70% of our insulin response are stimulated by hormones in the gut.

It is called the incretin response, which determines our first insulin release phase. The second phase is from the pancreas, which interprets blood nutrient levels later.

GLP-1 and GIP are the 2 incretin hormones that have determined that processed foods made from a powder, be it bread, protein, BCAA’s, or otherwise, need to activate our fed system immediately and in a very disproportionate amount compared to any whole food equivalent.  

This process and idea of interpreting food and the environment are responsible for most of our metabolic responses to our diet.

The cast majority, around 67% of insulin’s response, is not from food, with much of the insulin response stimulating a hyper-response to non-food or non-whole food products we consume.

Hormone disruptors like food additives, coloring, preservatives, pesticides, plastics, and other common contaminants are in our foods, our bodies, and the air daily, all adding to the metabolic mix.

We must stop thinking of food as fuel and realize we are programming our bodies and hormonal reactions with the information we give them. 

Our metabolism is influenced and formed by the early instructions we teach through our diet. 

Some programs stay with us forever, while others can change. Some programs that helped us as a child now hurt us as adults.

I believe the number one metabolic problem in the world, insulin resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, weight gain and obesity, Alzheimer’s, and most cancers, starts very early in life. It starts as a self-defense mechanism as the body tries to deal with a very artificial environment it interprets through our diet.

And we had no real choice in the matter, nor do you, children. But you do now, for yourself and for them.

This is a challenging subject. I get it. I am a parent and have loving parents myself. But it is real. 

If we really want to change course and get healthy, we have to look at it from all angles for what it is.

This is part of a series I am slowly and reluctantly working on focusing on “How did we get here?” What really causes chronic health to decline, and why.

Look, it’s just something to think about. Just the idea of a nutball on Facebook. If it rings even a bit true, or you feel the same, let’s do what we can. 

When we know better, we can be better and…

We can do better my friends!

Dr. Don