"RESULTS:
Forty-six percent of participants reported undertaking moderate to vigorous physical activity for >15 minutes at least once in the previous week. During a median of 5 years of follow up, 1,031 patients died, 1,147 experienced a major cardiovascular event and 1,136 a microvascular event. Compared to patients who undertook no or mild physical activity, those reporting moderate to vigorous activity had a decreased risk of cardiovascular events (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.69-0.88, p < 0.0001), microvascular events (HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.76-0.96, p0.010) and all-cause mortality (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.73-0.94, p0.0044)."
A HR of 0.83 is a reduction of 17%. That's quite impressive, for at least 15 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity at least once a week. Must. Get. Off. This. Sofa. More. Often.
Firstly, here's "On the rebound" by Floyd Cramer. This was a hit in 1961 and it was recently used in a Sainsbury's "Taste the Difference" advert on TV.
Move More: Problems and their solutions:
1) Exercise makes me eat too much afterwards. Wrap up warm before you go outdoors, as feeling cold stimulates appetite.
2) Exercise is boring. Take a camera with you when you go for a walk. Look around. There's lots of interesting stuff out there that you don't normally notice*. Vary your route so that you see new things each time. Zumba is fun!
3) It's too cold/wet/windy etc. Dress appropriately. Have a small treat when you get back, so that you have something to look forward to.
4) I hate doing "x". Don't do "x", then. Things that I will not do are swimming & team sports (really bad memories from school-days). I also won't do anything faster than a power walk (being 72" tall with 31" legs makes any exercise involving my feet hitting the ground uncomfortable and hard on my joints).
5) I don't have the time. Neither do I. I'm now on-line less than I used to be. I'm sure I'll survive!
*I spotted a large photovoltaic solar panel on the roof of a house the other day. I knocked on the door and asked the occupants about it. Apparently, you get about 1kW from 10 square metres of panel and the Electricity supplier pays you about 43p for every kWh you generate. A 35 square metre system costs about £20,000.
When I realised that I had to get some exercise, it was a blow. Any news that is bad & inevitable takes some getting used to. See Kübler-Ross model. I have now accepted it.
Here's a school photo from when I was about 10.
Can you guess which one's me?
Any more problems & solutions that I haven't thought of?
Before I start on what may be the most important thing that I've ever written, here's Don't Stop Movin' by S Club 7. It's a clue to what's coming.
The problem:
Insulin Resistance (IR) is a major problem for a significant percentage of the population in the developed world. If left untreated, it can deteriorate into Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). See Type 2 diabetes in the UK.
IR & T2D can cause:-
High fasting & postprandial serum glucose, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease, Retinopathy, Neuropathy& Nephropathy (Kidney failure), amongst other things. High fasting & postprandial serum triglycerides, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease. See Lifestyle Intervention Leading to Moderate Weight Loss Normalizes Postprandial Triacylglycerolemia Despite Persisting Obesity. High serum cholesterol, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease. High serum Free Fatty Acids (a.k.a. FFAs a.k.a. NEFAs) from IR fat cells, which increases the risk factor for Sudden cardiac death and also worsens IR in liver & muscle cells. High serum uric acid, which increases the risk factor for Gout & Uric acid Kidney stones. Hypertension, which raises the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease, Strokes & Kidney failure. Excessive appetite after eating high-GL carbohydrates, leading to overeating & obesity. Lethargy/sleepiness after eating almost anything, but especially after eating high-GL carbohydrates, due to postprandial hyperinsulinaemia.
Possible causes (IR is multi-factorial) and solutions:
1."Bad" genes. My genes aren't particularly good, but it is possible to change the expression of genes. See below.
2.Full cells. A full cell is an IR cell. Consider Liver, Muscle and Fat cells:-
a) Liver cells: Liver cells are a 2-way street. "Stuff" (e.g. FFAs, Glucose & Fructose) goes in and "stuff" (e.g. Ketones & Glucose) comes out. Glucose normally comes out of the liver at a rate of ~5g/hour to fuel the brain, but this can increase a lot under the control of Insulin, Glucagon & Cortisol. If more stuff goes in than comes out, liver glycogen stores fill up and vice-versa. When liver glycogen stores become full, liver cells down-regulate processes that produce liver glycogen e.g. hexokinase & Glu-T2 transporters. Liver cells effectively become IR, to stop more stuff from going in.
However, fructose is transported by Glu-T5 transporters which are insulin-independent & taken up by fructokinase which has a high affinity for fructose, so fructose effectively "barges its way in" to the liver. This is why fructose is a problem for people who have permanently full liver glycogen stores.
b) Muscle cells: Muscle cells are a 1-way street as far as Glucose is concerned, though Amino Acids can go in & come out. Muscle glycogen cannot be used to produce blood glucose - it can only be used by muscles. When muscle glycogen stores become full, muscle cells down-regulate processes that produce muscle glycogen e.g. hexokinase & Glu-T4 transporters. Muscle cells effectively become IR to stop more stuff from going in.
As per It's all in a day's work (as measured in Joules), muscle cells use mostly fat at rest & lowish-intensity exercise. Glycogen usage increases rapidly as exercise intensity increases. Now do you see the significance of the music video above? Intense exercise (e.g. Running, Sprinting, Resistance training with weights, parts of High-Intensity Interval Training a.k.a. HIIT, parts of Tabata & parts of Zumba) depletes your muscle cells and makes them Insulin Sensitive.
c) Fat cells: Fat cells are a 2-way street. Fat cells are a bit like balloons that are full of holes. As stuff (e.g. FFAs & glucose) goes in, the balloon expands to accommodate it. As more stuff goes in and the balloon gets bigger, the internal pressure increases and the holes get bigger, so stuff (e.g. FFAs & glycerol) comes out at a faster rate. At some level of fullness, stuff comes out as fast as it goes in. At that point, fat cells are effectively IR. So, don't overstuff your fat cells by getting too fat. If you are already too fat, medium intensity exercise (e.g. Walking, Power Walking, Jogging, "Aerobics", parts of High-Intensity Interval Training a.k.a. HIIT, parts of Tabata & parts of Zumba) depletes your fat cells and makes them Insulin Sensitive.
3. Empty (of glycogen) cells.
If carbohydrate intake is too low (say, less than 50g/day), physiological Insulin Resistance develops in order to spare glucose for the brain (as parts of the brain run on glucose only) and red blood cells. This is reversible on increasing carbohydrate intake. People who are on ketogenic diets are advised to increase their carbohydrate intake for a few days prior to taking an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. See HIGH CARBOHYDRATE DIETS AND INSULIN EFFICIENCY.
In January 2003, I had Impaired Glucose Tolerance/Metabolic Syndrome/Prediabetes (fasting serum glucose = 5.8mmol/L & 2 hours post-75g glucose load serum glucose = 8.7mmol/L). A sandwich used to send me to sleep.
By September 2008, I had Normal Glucose Tolerance (fasting serum glucose
= 5.0mmol/L & 2 hours post-75g glucose load serum glucose =
3.7mmol/L). I also no longer suffered from carbohydrate-induced comas. I was also about the same weight that I was in 2003, so the improvement wasn't due to weight loss. Hypovitaminosis D was the primary contributor to my IR.
So, either use a UVB sun-lamp as per instructions to receive a sub-erythemal dose (not quite going pink) or get tested by your GP and supplement with Vitamin D3 accordingly. I take 5,000iu of Vitamin D3/day.
5.Deficiency in Magnesium.
See Magnesium and type 2 diabetes. For the top 999 foods highest in Magnesium per 200kcal serving, see HERE. I've been taking ~4g of Epsom Salts/day (~400mg Mg/day, dissolved in 2 litres of fluids that I drink each day, to avoid laxative effects) since 2003 as it reversed osteoporosis in my lumbar spine.
10.Excessive intake of man-made trans-fats.
Base your diet on minimally refined produce rather than over-refined &/or moreish food products.
11.Excessive intake of chemicals.
Don't swallow toothpaste (fluoride) or disclosing tablets (as they may contain iodine). Don't hold till receipts between your lips (may be coated in BPA).
Finally, the obligatory picture. Hannah Spearritt is rather nice. :-p
I nearly forgot! Today, when I arrived at mum's nursing home, I found her reading a book. She hasn't done that for over a year. She even knew that it was Wednesday. Ketogenic diet for the win. Mum now has a dual-fuel brain. EDIT: Mum passed away in April 2013, so although it's possible to slow the progression of Lewy Body Dementia and reduce the symptoms of it, it wasn't possible to cure it.
At 7:30pm tonight, I walked to the place below. It's in the same building as the Co-op.
I did a 45 minute Zumba session. I was the only man in the room! My pulse rate went over 100% MHR but I seem to have survived.
Before 11th December 2010 and Uh-oh! There may be trouble ahead..., if someone had suggested to me that I try Zumba, I would have told them to not be so daft. During the walk home, I phoned my ex-G/F to tell her what I'd just done, as she's very into keep-fit. My, how she laughed!
