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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sparks, Nevada, United States
Age: 49
Stats: 6'2", 212 lbs
Posts: 2
BodyBlog Entries: 0
BodyPoints: 500
Rep Power: 0 
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The other side of the story
I am a 48 year old man who has been involved with bodybuilding off and on throughout my entire adult life. I have always been in at least better than average shape, and at times in exelent athletic condition. I have never been more than slightly overweight, and have certainly never been obese. Yet... in 2003, I was diagnosed with type-II diebetes.
I was very suprised to hear this. I did have some fat around my abdomen at this time, and also had high cholesterol. These three factors - as my doctor informed me - constituted a condition known as metabolic syndrome. (For those of you who are unaware of this, "syndrome" is a word used when doctors have no idea what causes a condition.)
I faithfully followed my doctor's instructions and took the medications he gave me. It didn't take long to get my blood glucose down from 315 into the 240 range. But at that point, improvement became hit and miss. (A normal person's blood glucose should never be above 120.) While continuing to follow my doctor's advice, I also began researching the condition on my own using medical and non medical sources (holistic healing sites, and research that has been conducted outside of the medical industry.) What I found out was eye opening to say the least. The first of which was the fact that what the medical industry says should not be accepted as the final word on anything. Not to say that medical information is not vital to making an informed decision. And I would certainly not advise going against your doctor's instructions without discussing your intents with him/her beforehand, but there is more knowledge available than what your doctor is willing to share with you.
The American Medical association, the pharmasutical companies and the health insurance providers, unfortunately do not make our wellbeing their top priority. For these massive mega-industries, money is always the bottom line. Type-II diabetes is ine goose that lays golden eggs for these industries. because a person can live a full and happy life with the condition as lond as he/she takes pills every day for the rest of his/her life. These giant corporations do not want the disease to be cured, and their pills will never do so. They only treat symptoms. I could write a great deal more about this, but I will refrain, and go on to my next point...
Type-II diabetes is not only completely preventable, it is completely curable without the aid of medications!
My research pointed me in one significant direction... Trans-fats (Partially Hydrogenated oils). It is important to understand the difference between different types of fats and oils. To keep this as simple as possible, I will describe two different types of fat molecule. Unbalanced and balanced. Unbalalanced molecules do not adhere to each other, and remain fluid such as vegetable oils. Balanced molecules do adhere to each other and become a solid such as animal fats. The way trans-fats are created, they take normal vegetable oil, superheat it and add hydrogen. This artificially changes the unbalanced molecules into balanced ones, and enables them to make a solid fat-like substance out of what would otherwise be a comparatively healthier vegetable oil. Such products as shortning, margarine and cool-whip were developed through this process. In fact, it can be found in thousands of products on grocery store shelves. It was marketed on the mid 20th century as a healthier alternative to natural products such as butter and lard. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Trans-fats are a slow but dangerous poison.
The AMA has recently gone as far as to say than Trans-fats are as bad as saturated fats. This is a step in the right direction, but it is not the whole truth... trans-fats are far worse. So what do trans-fats do in the body? All natural fats and oils are recognised as such by the body, and the body deals with them accordingly. Some are unhealthy (saturated fats) and some are nescessary (essential fatty acids). In any case, the body will know what to do with them. This is not the case with trans-fats. The body does not recognise what it is. Now, the cells of the body need EFAs to enable proper function. Trans-fats mimic EFAs in the body, but they don't work the same. healthy muscle cells will be accesible to insulin, and therefore blood glucose for energy. The best analogy I have read about the effects of trans-fat on the cells is that it is like coating the cells with a sheet of plastic. Insulin cannot pass into a cell that has been effected by trans-fat, and thus, the blood glucose will not be used. This will cause blood gluose levels to rise... and also importantly, your pancreras is still trying to counter the glucose by producing more and more insulin... both of which can be dangerous at high levels.
So what to do about it? STOP EATING TRANS-FAT! If your blood glucose is high, you must get it down. Even if you must take medication to do it. But concentrate of changing your diet. The dietary guidelines suggested by the AMA and most dieticians is pretty much the way to go. But also read the ingerdients on everything you buy, and if you see "partially hydrogenated", don't buy it. Don't be fooled by the "zero percent trans-fat" lable either. The product can still contain trans-fat, and the nature of this beast is that it accumulates slowly over time. Even very small amounts add to the problem.
And here is my own personal theory, being a bodybuilder:
Bodybuilding exercises are designed to promote the developement of new muscle cells. I would assume that the new muscle cells would start out as healthy ones, eh? As long you never eat trans-fat again, the more new muscle you develop, the greater your progress in curing yourself. It's been three years since I felt ready to get off the medications... which I did after discussing it with my doctor. After a spike in blood glucose levels for just a couple of days, my glucose levels settled into a normal range, and I have never had an above normal blood test since. My doctor actually told me after one test result that it looked like me at 18 years old.
This is what the AMA, the pharmasuticals, the insurance companies, and the food processing industry don't want you to know about.
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