to lose too much potassium, because that can cause muscle cramps, fatigue, and breathlessness. This is why I always recommend potassium supplements, especially during the first week of a low-carb diet, and particularly when you are on one of the very restricted carbohydrate plans such as the induction phase of Atkins or the first two weeks of Protein Power. Potassium supplements come in 99-milligram tablets, and you can get them at any drugstore or healthfood store. Take one or two at each meal. Foods rich in potassium, such as liver, broccoli, and avocados, are also a good idea, as is using over-thecounter salt substitutes like Morton’s Lite Salt or NoSalt, which are both potassium salts.
Insulin and Obesity
The connection between a high-sugar diet, high levels of insulin, and becoming overweight or obese should be painfully obvious by now. The more sugar—i.e., carbohydrates—you take in, the more sugar you need to store and the more your insulin levels rise. The more your insulin levels rise, the less fat you burn and the more sugar you store in fat cells, along with those extra triglycerides that the liver made from excess sugar. The more you store, the fatter you get. The fatter you get, the more insulinresistant you become.
When there are consistently high levels of insulin floating around, the body will put out more cortisol and adrenaline (the “breakdown” hormones) to counteract the “building-up” effects of insulin and to attempt to bring the body back into balance. Cortisol in part breaks down muscle, further reducing your metabolic rate. Too much adrenaline can eventually lead to even more insulin, as insulin will eventually be secreted to combat the effects of too much adrenaline! The interaction of insulin and cortisol/adrenaline is the particular aspect of low-carbohydrate dieting central to the metabolic healing work of Diana Schwarzbein, who feels that this kind of constant imbalance—often brought on by yo-yo dieting, high levels of stress, and a diet high in sugar—ultimately damages the metabolism. If getting off this particular seesaw sounds interesting to you, be sure to read about the Schwarzbein Principle in chapter 7 .
Even if you don’t remember the basic biochemistry discussed here, tattoo the following on the inside of your eyelids: insulin is the fat-storage hormone. It is also the hunger hormone. When it finally does its job of lowering blood sugar, it causes blood sugar to go really low, setting you up for a cycle of craving (and eating) more high-carb foods. Result: higher blood sugar, more insulin, and more fat storage as the cycle continues.
How Does a Low-Carb Diet Help You Lose Weight?
When you eat a lower-carb diet, you stimulate less insulin but you also stimulate more glucagon, its sister hormone, which responds more to protein (remember that neither hormone is stimulated by fat). Glucagon liberates the fat from storage sites and gets it ready to burn for energy. Meanwhile, since you no longer have elevated levels of insulin, you are not suppressing carnitine, which, you may remember, is the compound in the body responsible for escorting fat into the central furnaces of the cells, where it can be burned for fuel.
Along with insulin and glucagon, a pair of enzymes plays a major role in the whole fat-storage/fat-release equation: lipoprotein lipase and hormone-sensitive lipase. Lipoprotein lipase is responsible for storing fats: it breaks down triglycerides in the bloodstream and shoves the fatty-acid parts into fat cells. People who are trying to lose weight are not fond of this enzyme. It’s very persistent; in fact, when people lose weight, the activity of lipoprotein lipase is ramped up, almost as if the body is fighting to hold on to fat. This is one of the reasons it’s so difficult to keep weight off. (Lipoprotein lipase is also suppressed when you smoke and increases when you stop smoking, one of the reasons people usually put on a few pounds when they first
Insulin and Obesity
The connection between a high-sugar diet, high levels of insulin, and becoming overweight or obese should be painfully obvious by now. The more sugar—i.e., carbohydrates—you take in, the more sugar you need to store and the more your insulin levels rise. The more your insulin levels rise, the less fat you burn and the more sugar you store in fat cells, along with those extra triglycerides that the liver made from excess sugar. The more you store, the fatter you get. The fatter you get, the more insulinresistant you become.
When there are consistently high levels of insulin floating around, the body will put out more cortisol and adrenaline (the “breakdown” hormones) to counteract the “building-up” effects of insulin and to attempt to bring the body back into balance. Cortisol in part breaks down muscle, further reducing your metabolic rate. Too much adrenaline can eventually lead to even more insulin, as insulin will eventually be secreted to combat the effects of too much adrenaline! The interaction of insulin and cortisol/adrenaline is the particular aspect of low-carbohydrate dieting central to the metabolic healing work of Diana Schwarzbein, who feels that this kind of constant imbalance—often brought on by yo-yo dieting, high levels of stress, and a diet high in sugar—ultimately damages the metabolism. If getting off this particular seesaw sounds interesting to you, be sure to read about the Schwarzbein Principle in chapter 7 .
Even if you don’t remember the basic biochemistry discussed here, tattoo the following on the inside of your eyelids: insulin is the fat-storage hormone. It is also the hunger hormone. When it finally does its job of lowering blood sugar, it causes blood sugar to go really low, setting you up for a cycle of craving (and eating) more high-carb foods. Result: higher blood sugar, more insulin, and more fat storage as the cycle continues.
How Does a Low-Carb Diet Help You Lose Weight?
When you eat a lower-carb diet, you stimulate less insulin but you also stimulate more glucagon, its sister hormone, which responds more to protein (remember that neither hormone is stimulated by fat). Glucagon liberates the fat from storage sites and gets it ready to burn for energy. Meanwhile, since you no longer have elevated levels of insulin, you are not suppressing carnitine, which, you may remember, is the compound in the body responsible for escorting fat into the central furnaces of the cells, where it can be burned for fuel.
Along with insulin and glucagon, a pair of enzymes plays a major role in the whole fat-storage/fat-release equation: lipoprotein lipase and hormone-sensitive lipase. Lipoprotein lipase is responsible for storing fats: it breaks down triglycerides in the bloodstream and shoves the fatty-acid parts into fat cells. People who are trying to lose weight are not fond of this enzyme. It’s very persistent; in fact, when people lose weight, the activity of lipoprotein lipase is ramped up, almost as if the body is fighting to hold on to fat. This is one of the reasons it’s so difficult to keep weight off. (Lipoprotein lipase is also suppressed when you smoke and increases when you stop smoking, one of the reasons people usually put on a few pounds when they first
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