Facts & Myths about diabetes and insulin resistance

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
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Since I have a free moment…

Here's something else I should have mentioned earlier, but forgot: This is for those people who are concerned about the function of their insulin system, but don't want to deal with the hassle and expense of having blood work done. You can go to most any drug store and buy a glucometer and glucose beverage for around $20 US. This will allow you to test your fasted glucose (for what it's worth) on your own, and will also allow you to to test your glucose tolerance by giving yourself an OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test). For those who don't know, to do an OGTT, get in a fasted state, then ingest a 75gm glucose beverage. I recommend taking a baseline blood glucose reading, and then taking additional blood glucose readings every 30 mins for the first 3 hours after ingestion of the glucose - or until you blood glucose returns to baseline. The faster your blood glucose returns to baseline, the better your insulin system is functioning overall. Without concurrent testing of insulin & C-peptide (which you can't currently do yourself - unfortunately), this test doesn't let you know how hard your pancreas has to work to acheive that. So this test doesn't really differentiate your insulin sensitivity per say, or how well your pancreas is functioning per say, but at least it can give you some idea of how well your insulin system is functioning as a whole.

42

FE,
You stated “Now for me, the combination of things I’ve found most useful, both in terms of achieving the results I want, with no side effects, and with minimal cost, include (in no particular order): ALA, chromium, biotin, CLA, EPA/DHA/GLA, fiber, metformin, magnesium, ginkgo, and glucosol”

Could you go into more detail about how you incorporate the above supplements (Dosages, timing, brand names, etc) I would greatley appreciate it if you have the time. After reading some of Duchaine’s stuff in the early 90’s, I used metformin and did notice a difference in the way my body responed to glucose - I was living overseas then and didn’t need a perscription. Thanks

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I’m with you Free Extropian time is an important commodity! I read this forum in between classes, ever-other day. Now that I have been promoted to asst. Strength and Conditioning coach I have even less time to enjoy extra activities.

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Below is how I use those supplements. This is
what works for me; it may not be appropriate
for everyone. I usually eat 7 meals per day,
(3 P+F, 4 P+C) and with each meal I take the
following:

100mg ALA

1mg biotin

200mcg chromium

1gm CLA

300-500mg each of EPA, DHA, & GLA

I don't think it's essential to take the ALA or the EFAs with every meal. But I do think it is important to take the biotin, the chromium and the CLA with every meal.

In addition, I take 1000mg of magnesium per day, usually in 3 divided dosages. I use 60mg of gingko first thing in the morning and another 60mg about an hour before I train. I take 25mg of glucosol with each of the 2 high carb/protein meals that I eat after my workout. I eat high fiber cereals with the 2 P+C meals that aren't right after my wkot.

Finally, when I was using metformin, the dosages I used varied from 750mg per day in three divided dosages (1/2 tab about every 8 hours) up to 1500mg per day in three divided dosages (1 tab about every 8 hours). I think people who have a problem with insulin resistance, but who aren't technically "diabetic," can benefit from taking low dose metformin to improve body comp and to prevent them from getting diabetes. An actual "diabetic" might need 1500mg per day. But I found great benefit from taking only 750mg per day in 3 divided dosages. Unfortunately, most doctors won't prescribe metformin unless you have "actual diabetes".

As an additional side note, Doug Kalman has taken to saying that metformin will lower T levels, but I did not see this in myself (from T blood tests). And the only study (1) I've found so far on this topic was done using obese males on a hypo-caloric diet. Well, most males have a drop in T levels when on a hypo-caloric diet, so I really don't see what that has to do with metformin. In other words, I disagree with Doug's concern over metformin lowering T levels.

I don't have any specific brand recommendations. Except that the chromium I've found to work best for me is called "GTF (glucose tolerance factor) Chromium" from Solaray. It contains brewers yeast, which is more bioavailable in some people.

1. Ozata M, Oktenli C, Bingol N, Ozdemir IC. The effects of metformin and diet on plasma testosterone and leptin levels in obese men. Obes Res 2001 Nov;9(11):662-7.

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24% of americans may have diabetes. That is not suprising, considering that 60% of americans are obese. I’m surprised its not higher. The 15% that are “thin”, what was their BF%, if you take that into consideration, there are a lot more fat people out there. As for the minorities who have a higher chance of developing diabetes, is that in this country or in their country of origin? I assume that it is in this country, a result of the American lifestye. The decline of insulin sensitivity with age, what is the activity level of these older people? It would make sense that if your activity level declines with age, your insulin sensitivity would decline also. I have a feeling that insulin sensitivity, is more dependent on activity level than diet. Diet is also factor, but by increasing activiy level it can be less of one. Just out of curiousity, do you what, if any, the incidence of of Type2 diabetes is in athletes, people with lower levels of BF, or highly active people? I am also thinkng that your past history of activity, has a strong impact on your insulin sensitivity. If you were active as a child, and stay active into adulthood, you will not have problems with insulin sensitivity. However if you let yourslf go, your sensitivity goes to pot, and it is very hard to get it back to where it was. Using myself as an example, I was active as a child, stayed active into highschool, and for the last 20 years, have worked jobs that required physical labor. To this day, I have no trouble with eating High GI carbs, as long as I stay active, but the minute I slow down, the fat will come. Now take someone else, active as a child, but as they hit the teenage year, they start to slow down, hang out with friends, learn how to drive (no more bike riding/walking), get a job with little physical labor, spend more time studying for exams. They then go to college, more time spent on studying, even less playtime, and start to get out of shape. Then they graduate, and get a desk job, put on a few more pounds over the next few years. Then they decide its time to get back into shape for whatever reason, and low and behold, poor insulin sensitivity. Even if they get back in the gym, my guess is that it still not enough, and they may need to really pick up their activity level outside of the the gym ( currently, I am on my feet 40+ hrs a week, so my level of activity is way above most peoples) to reset their body, so to speak. Just my opinion, what do you guys think?

46

ko, I’d have to agree that your observations are dead on for the majority of us. I was active up to ~age 30 with good insulin sensitivity and could eat all the carbs I wanted and stay relatively lean due to activity levels. During my 30’s, i got that desk job you refered to, quit working out, and let my diet go in the shitter. At age 40, I found myself 50+ lbs fat and in horrible shape. Have spent the last 5 yrs (45 now) getting back into the BB lifestyle, losing the fat and getting back in shape. After losing 55lbs of fat 5 yrs ago and getting back into the best shape of my life, and keeping my BF% under 10% most of the time, I find that although my insulin sensitivity has drastically improved, it will never be like it was 20-30yrs ago and I have to eat a constantly clean diet and watch carbs really close or I regain fat quickly…a problem I never had until I had “let myself go”.

47

Ko, you are correct: activity level is very
important for treating insulin resistance
and type 2 diabetes. I have no idea what the
incidence rate of type 2 diabetes is in
athletes. However, for people who have a
genetic predisposition to the disorder (like
me), activity alone is not enough. I’ve been
physically active my whole life, yet I suspect
I’ve had a problem with insulin resistance
since I was about 10. I have had a “desk job”
for the past several years, but I have always
been involved in weight training and cardio.
I’m sure the exercise has helped, but it isn’t
a cure all by itself. Also, bodyfat is not
the sole determinant of type 2 diabetes. For
example I maintain a year round bf % of
between 6% and 10%, yet I still have a problem
with insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes may
be primarily a problem of the obese, but part
of my reason for writing all this is to raise
awareness that it is not solely a problem
of the obese and that it can occur even in
lean individuals. Just writing off insulin
resistance as something that only happens
to obese people is a dangerous and careless
attitude. BTW, the loss of insulin sensitivity
seen in people as they age occurred even in
active older individuals. A physically active
60 year old will have better IS than a
sedentary 60 year old, but both will have
worse IS than a 25 year old. This has been
demonstrated in research.

48

BTW, a good article written by an MD for
learning more about insulins effects and its
importance is here:

Dr. Mercola's Censored Library (Private Membership) | Dr. Joseph Mercola | Substack

49

What I am trying to figure out is this, is the glucose/insulin mechanism damaged, and then never recovers completely, or is it simply out of sync and just needs a jumpstart, maybe some serious cardio (almost to the point of overtraining). If this would work, then maybe the inclusion of a high cardio workout pre/post bulking would help IS and keep the fat off. But if the system is damaged it would be pointless, and diet would be the answer.

Heb, I posted a question a while back, but it fell off or I hit the wrong button. What effects, good or bad, would making a syrup of dextrose, and maltodextrin would have.I am playing around with surge recipes, and want to make a syrup (for ease of mixing, and introduction of flavoring agents),but would need to heat it so that I could get a high concentration. Appreciate your input.

50

So, what exactly is glucosol?