Eating below the insulin line: Strategies for a safer diet

by Dr. John Whitcomb, Medical Director, Aurora Sinai Medical Center Wellness Institute

Post-prandial dysmetabolism is the term. That's basically the post Thanksgiving Dinner football coma we all subject ourselves to once a year. Well, once a day? Three times a day? Yes, three times a day if you don't choose your foods well.

Finally, the official house of medicine is beginning to swing to a new way to defining what is state of the art. The house is being turned upside down. No longer is the official literature stating that we must eat low fat as our organizing principle. Instead, this article refers to the rush of calories that floods our bodies after meals high in processed foods. White bread, white rice, white potatoes, white sugar and high energy density foods are the core enemy.

"The hypothesis of this review is that specific dietary strategies can dramatically and immediately improve post-prandial glucose and lipid levels, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction, and if used in the longterm will also improve cardiovascular health."

In order words, we can fix the dangerous chemical state you are in after meals, if we pick our food well.

"Resorting to drug therapy for an epidemic caused by a maladaptive diet is less rational than simply realigning our eating habits with our physiological needs."

In other words, eat differently. It works better than drugs.

Here's my proposal. What's the insulin line? It's the level of "glycemic index" above which you secret insulin. When you eat low glycemic foods, you have less of a post-meal burst in glucose. For example: white bread and jelly is pretty quickly digested into pure glucose in your blood. It's glycemic index is about 80, which means it's 80 percent as fast as eating pure glucose. Take that same slice of bread, turn it into whole grain, whole wheat, and put peanut butter on it (oil slows digestion) and the glycemix drops to 50. Something magical happens in your body below a glycemic index of about 55. You don't secrete insulin.

When you don't secrete insulin, you don't force your fat cells into storage mode. You don't force your liver cells to make triglycerides. You inflammatory markers go down. What foods are below the line? Whole foods. Whole fruits, whole vegetables, whole grains, whole nuts, whole olives. Not processed. Not artificial. No flour. Lots of protein.

What will work for me?

I'm thrilled. This is a breakthrough. I believe the science will get on with details and more and more will come out about insulin. I'm adding more vinegar to my diet. Vinegrette! Lowers the glycemic index below the insulin line. Almonds do it, too! Whey protein. This is a tipping point. The road ahead is much more fun, with delicious food to enjoy.

Reference: Dietary Strategies – A state of the Art Paper, American Journal of Cardiology, Jan 2008, pp 249-55, O'Keefe et al