How Insulin Works

Insulin (keeping wayward sugars off the streets)

How insulin works in the body can provide great insight as to why refined carbohydrates are not the way to go.

Insulin is a hormone which is secreted by the pancreas into the blood stream when our blood sugar increases and one of it's jobs is to push the glucose into our cells so that it can be used for energy.

If we eat too many refined carbohydrate foods ie bread, cakes, sweets etc then the body produces too much natural insulin and can cause insulin resistence. This means the body can not process the glucose therefore it cannot get into to the cells to produce the energy needed.

Insulin's production, storage and release is absolutley dependant on an adequate supply of zinc, however it's action is dependant upon a trace mineral called Chromium.

Chromium is the centre atom of a molecule which we call Glucose Tolerance Factor or GTF for short.GTF works together with insulin at the cells membranes surface to enable glucose to pass from the blood stream into the cell.

When insulin production is insufficient or absent a person becomes a diabetic

In some people the slow decline in dietry chromium leads to an insufficient production of "Glucose Tolerance Factor" or GTF and both of these factors may be involved in mature onset diabetes other wise know as diabetes type 2.

If these diabetics are not insulin dependant insulin requirements may be reduced by dietry manipulation, by only eating those carbohydrate foods with a slow release of sugar (low glycaemic response).

Therefore GTF supplements may be useful.

If glucose tolerance factor is in short supply, blood glucose levels actually rise and the body starts to use ketones which are the result of burning stored fat deposits..

This is instead of using Glucose for fuel, the cell is forced to use aceto-acetate and other fatty acid ketone bodies because glucose cannot get into the cells.

This is why some diabetics have smelly urine and breath because it has arisen from ketosis.

Let's really look at the role of chromium a little more closely

Chromium is the trace element that forms part of glucose tolerance factor as discussed previously.

GTF is an essential co-ordination compound that binds natural insulin to the outer cell membrances to facilitate the entry of glucose into cells.

Without this factor how insulin works is innefective.

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Chromium Deficiency Can Affect How Insulin Works.

• Decreased growth and weight gain
• Protein calorie malnutrition and disturbed lipid metabolism
• Arterosclerosis, increased incidence of aortic plaques
• Corneal lesions
• Increased Cholesterol
• Insufficient Insulin
• Impaired glucose tolerance
• Juvenille diabetes mellitus

Man's modern, highly processed and refined diet certainly is starting to look like it has a lot to answer for!It certainly does not help towards the function of insulin in the body!

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