{"id":141,"date":"2011-06-01T11:36:36","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T15:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondgorgeous\/?p=141"},"modified":"2011-06-01T13:12:13","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T17:12:13","slug":"a-tale-of-evil-twins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2011\/06\/a-tale-of-evil-twins.html","title":{"rendered":"A Tale of Evil Twins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They are almost like evil twins.<\/p>\n

Insulin is \u201cblack hat\u201d twin for those who want to lose weight. It\u2019s the hormone that tells our body, \u201cStore up the fat.\u00a0 Winter is coming.\u00a0 Slow down and fatten up.\u201d\u00a0 Too much insulin can do lots of other harmful things to our bodies, too. More about that in a later post.<\/p>\n

So is there a \u201cwhite hat\u201d hormone?\u00a0 One which tells our body to spend fat instead of save it up?\u00a0 Good news!\u00a0 There is.\u00a0 It is called glucagon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go back to our airplane analogy.\u00a0 You just ate a meal that is high in carbs, which the stomach digests and turns into sugar in a flash. The autopilot sends the message to the pancreas that a heavy load of sugar has just been dumped into the bloodstream.\u00a0 The pancreas buckles down and pumps out a big load of insulin.\u00a0 Insulin travels through the bloodstream, screaming at the cells to open up and pack in the extra energy and save it as fat.\u00a0 The body remembers that message and keeps on stuffing it away and slowing down to conserve it.\u00a0 Glucagon production is squashed because the pancreas is otherwise engaged and the evil twin triumphs.<\/p>\n

But suppose the stomach doesn\u2019t receive the heavy load of easy-to-digest food.\u00a0 Instead it receives a load containing mostly protein, fiber and some fat.\u00a0 It has to buckle down and work at getting it digested, turned into sugar and released into the bloodstream.\u00a0 The sugar is released slowly instead of in a major dump.<\/p>\n

The autopilot signals the pancreas with a different message this time.\u00a0 \u201cEasy load today,\u201d it says.\u00a0 \u201cJust send out a little insulin to handle it.\u201d\u00a0 The pancreas happily complies and produces a moderate amount of insulin which goes out and gives a gentle reminder to the cells that we might need some of this some day.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the pancreas is not overwhelmed and overworked, so it can continue doing its other jobs — like producing glucagon, the hormone that gives the cells the message, \u201dHey we need some of that stored energy.\u00a0 Empty out those fat cells.\u201d\u00a0 Instead of stuffing themselves and hanging on to fat, the cells start turning it loose.\u00a0 Exactly what you want them to do!<\/p>\n

So eating a low glycemic diet can be a huge help in stimulating glucagon. There\u2019s something else you can do, too. \u00a0 When you exercise, you use up the available energy (calories) that are stored in your liver for immediate use.\u00a0 The autopilot sends the message to the pancreas, \u201cRunning low on fuel.\u00a0 Tap into the reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pancreas pumps out more glucagon which runs through your body telling the cells, \u201cWe need those extra energy stores.\u00a0 Give.\u201d\u00a0 The cells comply and you start burning up your stored fat.\u00a0 They remember that message long after the exercise is over and your walking shoes are put away, and you continue burning more fat for hours. The good twin wins the day!<\/p>\n

Let me hasten to say that calling them good guy\/bad guy is not strictly accurate.\u00a0 We need both and in the right set-up they are made to work together. \u00a0 But it just makes sense to do the things that slow down the hormone that tells our body to save the fat and stimulate the one that says to get rid of it — instead of the other way around.<\/p>\n

We do that by using the very tools we\u2019ve already talked about.\u00a0 We eat mostly from the green\/low glycemic list with some from the yellow\/moderate list. \u00a0Click here to learn about the Green Light\/Red Light eating plan<\/a> You can see those lists in previous posts. \u00a0 \u00a0That doesn\u2019t mean some foods are forbidden forever. We just need to focus on eating the things that won\u2019t cause a constant insulin spike, and limiting the others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about balance.<\/p>\n

We also will incorporate an easy, doable exercise into our lives and gradually increase it as our body gets stronger and leaner.\u00a0 Click here to learn about an exercise plan you can actually do from now on.<\/a> There is a balance in that, too.<\/p>\n

Our bodies \u201cwant\u201d to be well and strong and are always trying to get there.\u00a0 Let\u2019s do what we can to give them what they need to be successful.\u00a0 And remember, we aren\u2019t doing this to be gorgeous. We want something better and are going for \u201cbeyond gorgeous!\u201d<\/p>\n

Eating to live and living for Christ,<\/em>
\nSusan Jordan Brown<\/p>\n

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They are almost like evil twins. Insulin is \u201cblack hat\u201d twin for those who want to lose weight. It\u2019s the hormone that tells our body, \u201cStore up the fat.\u00a0 Winter is coming.\u00a0 Slow down and fatten up.\u201d\u00a0 Too much insulin can do lots of other harmful things to our bodies, too. More about that in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Tale of Evil Twins - Beyond Gorgeous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2011\/06\/a-tale-of-evil-twins.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Tale of Evil Twins - Beyond Gorgeous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"They are almost like evil twins. Insulin is \u201cblack hat\u201d twin for those who want to lose weight. It\u2019s the hormone that tells our body, \u201cStore up the fat.\u00a0 Winter is coming.\u00a0 Slow down and fatten up.\u201d\u00a0 Too much insulin can do lots of other harmful things to our bodies, too. 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