Get Rid Of Joint Pain Once & For All

According to the Medibank Better Health Index, the rate of "wear and tear" arthritis, traditionally associated with older people, has doubled amongst 25 – 39 year olds since 2007 and is particularly prevalent amongst women.  In an article featured in The Age this week, Medibank's Chief Medical Officer attributed this increase to rises in both obesity and high impact exercise such as jogging.  That's not good news if you're exercising to lose weight.

What the article didn't mention is that there is a very effective way to simultaneously manage your weight and avoid osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.  The solution lies in reducing the inflammation caused by the chronically high blood insulin levels associated with insulin resistance. 

The more carbohydrates you eat, the more insulin your body has to produce to maintain a stable blood sugar and get glucose (energy) into your cells.  If you have high levels of insulin in your blood stream, you will store more fat, have difficulty burning fat and will feel more hungry.  It is this hormonal imbalance that explains why calorie counting and exercising to lose weight is often ineffective for people with high insulin levels and insulin resistance.  Since insulin is also highly inflammatory, it impairs recovery after exercise and can contribute to injuries and joint pain and is linked to arthritis and osteoporosis. 

When you eat a low carbohydrate high fat diet, your body adapts to burn fat rather than glucose for energy.  As your insulin levels fall, your body can use the energy stored in your fat cells and you start to lose weight and reduce inflammation.  It takes up to 6 weeks for your body to become fully 'fat-adapted', and during that time exercise may feel more draining.  However, once you are burning fat for fuel, you will recover more quickly after exercise and won’t need energy drinks to sustain you.

So make the switch; cut carbs and burn fat for fuel to lose weight and get rid of joint pain once and for all.

If you'd like to know more or access support to lose weight and reduce inflammation contact:

Helen Chauhan, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

Iris Family Medicine, 1486 High St, Glen Iris  

Tel 9509 2144

Email helen@helenchauhan.com

Your Essential Guide to Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is the term used to describe a cluster of disorders that are estimated to account for 75% of global health care costs.  If you are suffering from 3 or more of the following conditions, it is likely that you have metabolic syndrome:

• Abdominal obesity
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Heart disease
• Pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes
• High triglycerides
• Low HDL cholesterol
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Certain types of cancer
• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
• Dementia

It used to be thought that all of these problems began with weight-gain; if you eat too much and don't get enough exercise you'll get fat and develop health problems.  On the face of it, that would appear to be true, but when you take a closer look at exactly who has metabolic syndrome, the picture isn't so clear.  In fact, 40% of normal weight adults are suffering from metabolic syndrome and 20% of overweight adults are otherwise healthy.  So if being overweight is not the cause of metabolic syndrome, what is?

The answer is high blood insulin levels or hyperinsulinaemia.  Insulin is hormone created in the pancreas that acts as a nutrient sensor to allow the preservation of stored energy.  In other words, insulin promotes the storage of energy from food in the liver, muscles and fat cells.  It must be present for fat storage and it prevents the breakdown of stored fat in the body.  The foods that stimulate the body to produce the most insulin are those that contain sugars and refined carbohydrates.  Insulin is essential for life; we can't live without it.  In a healthy individual who has not eaten for several hours, blood insulin levels will be very low.   After a meal, blood insulin levels will increase naturally to ensure that the energy absorbed by the body can be stored for future use.  When this job is done, insulin levels will drop back down again and stay low until the next meal.   However, for a number of reasons, insulin levels can become chronically raised.  For some people, this is caused by a genetic tendency towards insulin resistance but for many, their insulin levels are high for extended periods of time simply because they consume lots sugar and processed carbohydrates and snack frequently.  Chronically high levels of insulin, or hyperinsulinaemia cause inflammation throughout the body, and if hyperinsulinaemia persists, it will eventually trigger metabolic syndrome.  

The good news is that metabolic syndrome can be managed and even reversed through simple dietary changes.  By cutting out sugar and the highly processed carbohydrates found in processed food, ditching the snacks and increasing the length of time between your meals you can reduce your insulin levels and reclaim your health.    

If you'd like support to lose weight and manage chronic health conditions contact:

Helen Chauhan, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

Iris Family Medicine, 1486 High St, Glen Iris  

Tel 9509 2144

Email helen@helenchauhan.com.au

Stop Counting Calories & Start Controlling Your Hunger Hormones

One of the reasons calorie-restricted diets tend to fail is because they make you really hungry and can increase food cravings.  This is because calorie-restricted diets change the hormones that control hunger and satiety so that when you lose weight, your body will fight to put the weight back on.  Your hormones drive you to eat more and you are caught in a trap of yo-yo dieting.

A low carbohydrate / ketogenic diet works very differently as it suppresses appetite in a number of different ways.  When you start eating more fat and cut out the precessed carbs and sugar you tend to stop experiencing the blood sugar swings that most people eating a standard western diet will suffer.   You experience less intense hunger and your cravings for carb-heavy meals disappear.   

Once your body starts to burn fat for fuel and your blood ketone levels rise , your appetite will be suppressed in more subtle and significant ways because ketones can control hunger and satiety hormones. Studies have shown that ketones impact cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone which makes you feel full, and ghrelin, the “hunger hormone.”

Your intestines release CCK after you eat.  It is a powerful regulator of food intake; if you inject people with CCK, they will cut their meals short.  When you lose weight, your body will secrete less CCK, so you will want to eat more than before you started dieting.  However, a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that being in nutritional ketosis (when you are burning fat for fuel) raised CCK to pre-weight loss levels thereby reducing the risk of over-eating and post-diet weight gain.

Ghrelin, the “hunger hormone” increases appetite. It’s released from your stomach and intestines, with blood levels reaching their highest point when you have not eaten for a long time. When you eat a meal, ghrelin levels drop.  If you inject a person with ghrelin, they eat much more.  Usually, when people lose weight, their ghrelin levels increase making them feel more hungry. However, several studies of dieters following a ketogenic diet have shown that ketosis completely suppresses the increase in ghrelin levels that usually occur with weight loss. In fact, one study showed that individuals with ketone levels higher than 0.3mmols had lower ghrelin levels after they lost weight compared with their baseline at the start of the trial.

Increased appetite following weight loss is one of the key factors in weight regain.  A low-carbohydrate, high fat (ketogenic) diet helps you to control your hunger hormones instead of fighting against them.

If you'd like to know more or access support to lose weight and control your appetite contact:

Helen Chauhan, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

Iris Family Medicine, 1486 High St, Glen Iris  

Tel 9509 2144

Email helen@helenchauhan.com