A very common question that is often asked of me is "Why at the age of 40 am I suddenly unable to maintain my optimal weight? I have not changed my eating habits." We adopt habits because we think they are working for us. At the age of 20 we find a diet that seems to work for us, but in fact is slowly undermining our ability to handle sugars. This process takes twenty years and by the time we are 40 we start to see the effects in the form of small changes in weight. Five pounds per year slowly adds up.

June, 43-year-old Caucasian woman, came to me because she wanted to optimize her health and try and lose ten pounds. She had been gaining since the age of 35. She is a type A blood and found that a vegetarian diet worked for her. Her main source of protein was soy, nuts and seeds and grains. In fact she loved grains, and ate a lot of bread, brown rice and carbohydrates including potatoes and crackers. She avoided fats as much as possible. She had found this diet to suit her all the way through her 20’s and 30’s.

There are other causes of weight gain but I am going to explain the sugar connection here. We have been raised to understand that we gain weight from fats more that we do from sugars. So over the last 25 years we have all been avoiding fatty foods in the form of meats and concentrating more on grains. Unfortunately we have seen an increase in diabetes and obesity rate and heart disease is still the number one killer on the planet. Why is this? Well all carbohydrates convert into sugar in the body and this triggers insulin production. Normal pathways of insulin gradually breakdown in the face of a high carbohydrate diet and this increases weight gain, elevation of blood fats and increase risk of heart disease. When we avoid fats and eat sugars instead (remember ALL carbohydrates convert into sugars in the body) we are making our weight problem worse! The diabetic diet is 60% sugar and one of the reasons it doesn’t work for many. Foods that are labeled low in fat should say "but high in sugar!"

Dr. Schwarzbein MD, an endocrinologist in California, found that those patients, who ate more protein, controlled their blood sugars and their weight much better than those who followed the diabetic diet. Here is how the pathway works.

Insulin mains job is to keep blood sugar levels normal as sugar in the blood is very oxidizing. Oxidation causes extreme damage to cells in the body and speeds up the aging process dramatically. This is what causes all the complications of diabetes like vision loss, heart disease and poor peripheral circulation. Sugars in the blood stream are much more toxic than fats in the blood stream. We have been taught over the last 25 years that fat is more toxic than sugar!

When insulin works properly it metabolizes sugars properly, making them available for immediate energy if required or storing them for later use in the form of glycogen or triglycerides (TG).

When are young we tend to use all the sugars and TG released for energy and stay thin. As we age however, we don’t need all that energy and those fats begin to store as fat in our muscles and we lose lean body mass. We don’t change our eating habits because we don’t see the weight gain yet. Then in our thirties we start to see weight gain, so we go on diets low in fat and calories. This triggers the production of adrenaline, glucagon and cortisol. These are anti- insulin hormones making insulin less sensitive or resistant. This makes the TG, and VLDL increase and you see more weight gain. The final thing you will see is an elevation of blood sugars and type II diabetes, but that is after eating wrong for 20 years or more!

The five-step program for June was:

1. Eat 40 grams of good quality protein, add essential fats and avoid wheat and potatoes
2. Optimize liver function and eliminate toxins i.e. oral contraceptives increase insulin levels
3. Exercise
4. Manage stress as this increases insulin resistance
5. Support pancreatic function

Within three months June felt better, her cravings were under control and she was seeing loss of weight and inches.