The Dangers of
High Blood Sugar Levels!

It seems that few people are aware of the dangers high blood sugar levels can have on their long-term health and most people consider sugar and other concentrated carbohydrate sources (bread, pasta, rice, cereals, etc.) to be fairly benign substances that are okay to include in their diet in substantial amounts.

Unfortunately, the truth is that sugar and concentrated carbohydrate sources can do far more harm to our bodies than we first thought! Furthermore, society's beliefs about the safety of sugar and other concentrated carbohydrate sources have been created by clever marketers within the food industry, particularly from the companies who sell these products!

To make matters worse, these large food manufacturers also influence government recommendations, provide funding to universities (so academics spout the same incorrect nutritional recommendations) and pour millions into marketing their products under the loosely veiled guise of 'education'!

In this article our goal is to expose the truth about high carbohydrate diets, why you must carefully control your carbohydrate intake (without having to follow a low-carbohydrate diet), what happens in your body when you eat too much carbohydrate and the long-term impact a high-carbohydrate diet has on your overall health and body functioning.

What the research says...

Over the last 60 years thousands of research studies have been conducted on laboratory animals of virtually all species with reference to calorie restriction in combination with adequate nutrition, i.e. the animals had low food intakes but high nutrient intakes.

The researchers found that, without exception, the animals were able to live far longer by following this nutritional approach. Furthermore, studies on centenarians (people who live to be over 100 years old) support these findings. In fact, the only things the centenarians have in common are: relatively low blood sugar, low triglycerides and low insulin levels.

What happens when you eat carbohydrates

Whenever you consume foods containing carbohydrates your blood sugar level increases. This increase in blood sugar stimulates the pancreas to release insulin into the blood stream. Insulin is a storage hormone and is designed to take nutrients, including glucose, from the blood stream and store them in body cells.

Unfortunately though, every time a body cell is exposed to insulin the cell becomes a little more insulin resistant. This means that it becomes harder for glucose in the blood stream to be transported into cells (which can then damage blood vessels and nerves) and the level of insulin in the blood stream also remains high.

This is a classic symptom of type 2 diabetes!

Of course, sugar and other concentrated forms of carbohydrate result in the largest increase in blood sugar and therefore, insulin response as well. As we will cover in a moment, it is so important from a health perspective that you focus on keeping your blood sugar level stable and insulin low.

However, if you consider the nutritional recommendations that have been promoted by many nutritionists, dieticians, doctors and even governments over the years, you'll see that concentrated carbohydrate sources like, bread, pasta, rice and cereals have formed the foundation of their recommendations! The Food Pyramid is a good example of this.

Furthermore, these recommendations have contributed to the exponential growth in the number of health-related diseases we see in today's society.

High blood sugar levels
and high insulin lead to obesity!

High blood sugar levels stimulate insulin release and since insulin is a storage hormone, if its level in the blood stream is high, the body cannot access and use fat as a fat source, fat burning stops!

Plus, the body has a limited capacity for storing carbohydrates. It can store some in the liver and muscles (as glycogen) but once these storage sites are full the rest of the carbohydrate gets stored as body fat!

Of course, if this is combined with some degree of insulin resistance these effects are magnified even further.

High blood sugar levels
may slow down your metabolism

Furthermore, the thyroid gland mainly produces T4 and only a very small amount of T3. Most of the T4 goes to the liver where it is converted into T3. However, the liver cells are the first cells in the body to become resistant to the action of insulin. As a result, the conversion of T4 into T3 becomes impaired and the body's metabolism slows down.

High blood sugar levels
depress the immune system

Vitamin C is required by white blood cells in order to destroy bacteria and viruses in the body. However, since vitamin C requires insulin in order to be taken up into the white blood cells, it competes with glucose (which has a similar structure to vitamin C), in order to be delivered into the cells.

As a result, high blood sugar levels severely lower the 'phagocytic index' of white blood cells, which means their ability to destroy a virus or bacteria is compromised.

High blood sugar levels
increase heart disease risk

High blood sugar levels may increase heart disease risk through several mechanisms.

Firstly, high blood sugar induces insulin secretion and insulin reduces the production of nitric oxide in the endothelium (the inner lining of blood vessels). Since nitric oxide is responsible for dilating blood vessels, less of it means that the blood vessels are more likely to be restricted.

This problem is made worse if the body has some degree of insulin resistance. Magnesium is responsible for relaxing muscles and requires insulin in order to be delivered into the cells. If insulin resistance is present magnesium can't be delivered into the cells and is therefore lost in the urine. This results in further blood vessel constriction, which increases heart disease risk.

Insulin also causes endothelial proliferation (growth), which further restricts the passage of blood through the blood vessels.

High blood sugar
levels may increase cancer risk

Since insulin promotes cell proliferation and division, there is an increased risk of developing cancer, which is, in essence, uncontrolled cell proliferation and division.

There is research showing a strong correlation between insulin and the incidence of breast and colon cancer.

High blood sugar levels
may damage body cells

Excess sugar in the blood stream has a greater likelihood of reacting with body proteins, which results in glycated proteins (oxidised or damaged body proteins). These glycated proteins ('sticky' body proteins) become extremely difficult to turn over, as normal body proteins should, and they accumulate in the body and may even transform into harmful free radicals.

Furthermore, white blood cells may 'mop up' these glycated proteins and when they do, an inflammatory reaction is set up, which may lead to arthritis, headaches, etc.

Low blood sugar levels
and low insulin is the 'secret' to a long, healthy life!

If you are interested in living a long, healthy life then the first thing you must do is find ways to keep your blood sugar level stable and insulin low. By doing so, you can avoid the various health problems that result from high blood sugar levels and high insulin levels and therefore have a much better chance of living a long, healthy, disease-free life!

It has been shown that chronically elevated insulin suppresses growth hormone release and growth hormone is one of the body's most powerful anti-ageing hormones!

Strategies for achieving stable blood glucose levels and low insulin levels

Nutritional strategies
In order to keep your blood sugar levels stable you must follow these nutritional strategies:

Eat 5 or 6 small meals a day.

Have a low intake (1-2 serves a day) of high-density (concentrated) carbohydrates. These include: bread, pasta, rice and cereals.

Have a moderate intake (2-3 serves a day) of medium-density carbohydrates. These include: most fruits, starchy vegetables and most dairy products.

Have a high intake (4-6 serves a day) of low-density carbohydrates. These include: fibrous vegetables like, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, etc.

Have a small portion of protein with every meals.

Ensure you have an adequate intake of fat in your diet, particularly the 'good fats' (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like fish oils).

Exercise strategies
Exercise is an important part of keeping your blood sugar level stable and insulin low because it makes the body cells more receptive to the action of insulin.

Furthermore, resistance training has been proven to be the most effective form of exercise for increasing insulin sensitivity.

As a result, a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise is the best for promoting good health via stable blood sugar and low insulin levels in addition to the countless other health benefits it offers.

It is best to perform some form of exercise at least 4 days a week.

Supplementation strategies
There are various supplements that are beneficial in helping to keep your blood sugar stable and insulin low.

Firstly, fish oil supplements are great to use simply because most people simply don't consume enough omega-3's in their diet. Since all of our cells membranes are made from fats, the higher the quality of fats we eat, the higher our quality of cell membranes. Omega-3's make our cell membranes more 'fluid', which means it is easier to transport nutrients into and wastes out of the cells (insulin sensitivity improves).

Also, there are a group of compounds called, glucose disposal agents (GDAs) and these are designed to shuttle nutrients in to cells (insulin mimickers) as well as assist insulin in its function (insulin co-factors).

BCN's GI Factor is one of the most powerful supplements on the market because it contains a range of glucose disposal agents including, chromium, alpha lipoic acid, gymnema and fenugreek seed extract.

So there you have it! I hope now you have a better understanding as to why you must keep your blood sugar stable if you want to live a long, healthy life. Also, you now know exactly what you need to do in order to achieve this goal.

If you suffer from type 2 diabetes and would like to discover how to natural reverse this condition quickly and easily, then read How To Reverse Diabetes Now!

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