Insulin Causes the Body to Store Fat

Studies Suggest Not All Calories are Created Equal

Aug 24, 2009

It is common health advice: avoid fat, eat carbohydrates, eat less, exercise more. Yet, diabetes and obesity epidemics coincide with Americans following this advice.

Americans have been taught since the 1970s that fat is bad for the health and carbohydrates are good. The USDA food pyramid diagrams a diet composed predominantly of grains and other carbohydrates. It has been assumed that there is a simple arithmetic relationship between calories consumed and calories burned that determines weight. The adoption of this dietary information has coincided with unprecedented levels of obesity and diabetes in the United States.

The type of calories eaten may be more important than the number. While it seems logical that fat would cause fat, the problem may be from overeating refined starches. A review of medical studies by Gary Taubes, Good Calories, Bad Calories ( New York, NY: Anchor Books. 2007.), finds that quite a number of scientific studies show refined carbohydrates cause weight gain. Refined carbohydrates, like refined flour and other easily digested starches and sugars are also implicated in chronic health problems.

The Role of Insulin in Storing Fat

Obesity is the accumulation of excess fat. Fat accumulation, or obesity, is caused by an imbalance in hormones that regulate adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Insulin is the primary hormonal regulator of the storage of fat. If insulin is elevated, the body accumulates fat in the adipose tissues. When insulin levels drop, fat is released from the adipose tissues and used for fuel.

Increases in insulin are most highly stimulated by the consumption of starches and sugars, especially the consumption of refined starches and sugars. Eating carbohydrates increases insulin which in turn encourages storage of energy as fat rather than making the food energy available to the body to burn. The more highly refined the carbohydrate, the more its consumption stimulates insulin levels. By causing fat storage instead of making energy available for immediate use of the body, refined carbohydrates result in hunger.

According to Dr. Al Sears author of High Speed Fat Loss in Seven Easy Steps (Wellington Fl: Al Sears, M.D. 2008.), the consumption of fat does not affect insulin production at all. There are other issues with fats as hydrogenated fats pose a health risk, but fats do not cause the body to store fat.

This relationship between carbohydrates, insulin and fat suggest that obesity is not the result of overeating or sedentary behavior. It may be that obesity, in fact causes overeating and sedentary behavior, by storing too much energy in the adipose tissue and leaving the body hungry and tired.

Refined Carbohydrates Indicated in Chronic Health Problems

Type II diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome are the diseases that result from high blood sugar and high insulin levels. The likelihood of developing coronary heart disease, Alzheimers disease and cancer all increase significantly with the incidence of Type II diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome. (Taubes p 204.) It could be more than coincidence that these problems, along with obesity, became common when dietary recommendations changed to favor carbohydrates in the diet and avoid fat.

References:

Sears, Al, M.D. High Speed Fat Loss in Seven Easy Steps. Wellington Fl: Al Sears, M.D. 2008.

The copyright of the article Insulin Causes the Body to Store Fat in Proteins/Carb/Fats is owned by Ruth Wilson Zamierowski. Permission to republish Insulin Causes the Body to Store Fat in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.