It's the insulin, stupid

Can we stop blaming the insulin! The insulin is just doing it's job. The problem here is the quantity of sugar and refined carbs that people eat in a sitting. Our bodies were never designed to eat 1. processed sugar and 2. processed refined carbs, especially in the quantities most Americans do. So there is a tendency for the body's insulin response to overreact. This does have some impact on weight gain, but really, once again it comes down to calories. It's easy to be triggered to overeat on a tasty cake. This can result in 1,000's of extra calories in one sitting. Keep in mind everyone,the average non-active women requires about 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day to maintain a healthy weight, and the average man requires 1,500 to 2,000.

I guess I just don't agree with the assertion that the research supports that high levels of sugar and chronic high levels of insulin leads to insulin resistance. The American Diabetic Association seems to disagree as well saying that the belief that sugar in our diets causes diabetes is a common myth.
What I have read is that being overweight seems to trigger something in someone who is already genetically predisposed, so weight is the real problem not sugar, fat or protein in the diet. Of course...I would agree that processed foods are contributing to our weight problem (and not just processed carbs), and I think that is your take home point. Point well taken.
My general impression is that we don't completely understand why the cell no longer recognizes insulin, although, intuitively the idea of resistance developing because of overexposure does sound logical. Just not sure there is any real scientific evidence to support it (at least not yet). I kind of always imagined that as people get fat, the cell just shuts down and says enough is enough.
There is definitely evidence that losing weight regardless of the method or type of diet (hi protein or hi carb or hi fat) improves insulin sensitivity and thus the rationale for lifestyle changes.
I personally have no problem with low grain diets as long as the diet as a whole is "healthy" and meets that individual's nutrient needs. I think you are just stepping on someone's toes :-). The doctor should be working with you!

Okay, it is probably uncool to disagree with you since you are such a cool guy...and since I seem to agree with you on most points...but I'm going to indulge my ego.
As part of the mainstream medical community, I think it is only fair to acknowledge that most clinicans have been recommending lifestyle changes for years. The general public has a lot of responsibility here. They are the ones who would sometimes rather take a pill than to make the changes the mainstream health community has been advocating forever. Blame it on the advertising and big pharma, but give the clinicans a break...or at least some of them...the ones like me :-) I am not saying health clinicians always get it right, but most of us are very focused on the need for lifestyle changes, unfortunatly I think private insurance companies have done their part (at least in the US) to squash a medical community that embraces lifestyle changes, and exactly why trainers are often in a better position to help people.
I am also hesitant to point the finger at insulin. Insulin is a good thing. It is why people who can't produce insulin like type 1 diabetics have to inject themselves with it. In my opinion, the real problem is that we as a society are becoming insulin resistant.
I think the big challenge facing researchers is exactly what is behind this decreased sensitivity. Is it too many carbs in the diet?...Is it the type of carbs in the diet?...Is it processed foods?...Is it poor nutrition because of a lack of fruits and veggies?...is it obesity?...Is it our eating habits as a whole?...Is there a genetic disposition?...Is it a lack of exercise and physical fitness?...or even a better, is it some combination of the above?
I worry that this fixation on insulin will eventually prove to be as counterproductive as our labeling all fat as bad.
I also think we as health/fitness professionals need to differentiate between people who already have insulin resistance and the rest of us...although that is not always clear since often people with metabolic syndrome aren't aware of it. But still, in a normal person eating a healthy and balanced diet, an increase in insulin levels is not necessarily a bad thing as our body has a normal response to insulin. I have yet to see any studies that suggest conclusively that high insulin levels over prolonged periods "cause" diabetes, although that does not mean that they don't contribute and they probably do. But even then is it necessarily the types of foods or the quantity of foods consumed during a meal?
All that said, I strongly agree with the primary message of this blog post which is lifestyle is really the key.
Anway, just my 50 cents. Sorry for the long response...obviously I am not part of the texting generation :-)

Please can a full text on this be forwarded to my mail, recently in Nigeria, there has been a significant increase in diabetic cases and it woulb help to know as much as possible all new research work, funny thing is many patients don't appear obese as mostly expected.

Hi,
Our address is galengal.wordpress.com
We made our first post yeaterday so we are very new. We are authors of several successful books
on this subject and are hoping to change the way
diabetes is managed in the uk. Our latest book
is 'The Diabetes Revolution' published by Random House

Send me the address. I would love to take a look.

We have just written our first blog on how insulin is the key to health and sucessful weight loss. Hope more people can think this way.

thanks for the info. May I add, control your insulin by maintaining a healthy weight.