jurplesman
Member
There is now considerable evidence in scientific literature that there is a significant association between depression and insulin resistance. When people think of insulin resistance they immediately think of diabetes, because diabetes type II is is caused by receptors for insulin failing to push glucose across cell membranes. This may result in higher than normal blood sugar levels, called hyperglycemia, which may be responsible to various tissue damage in the body associated with diabetes.
We do not become diabetic overnight and there is usually a long period of insulin resistance that does not result in a high blood sugar levels but rather results in unstable blood sugar levels - going up and down - and which affects our behaviour. This is called prediabetic or non-diabetic insulin resistance, also popularly called ‘hypoglycemia’ by people suffering from various symptoms associated with insulin resistance. The condition is familiar among doctors who use terms such as Syndrome X, glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinism and so on.
Dr George Samra of Kogarah (Australia) has designed a medical test that can diagnose non-diabetic hypoglycemia. This test should be very useful when we want to assess the risk of a person developing diabetes. More importantly the test can also point to some of the causes of mental illness, such as depression. It is described at our web site at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/testing_hypoglycemia.html
Another paper-and-pencil test is available known as the NBI (Search web site)
It is not yet well-known among most doctors, but it should be emphasized that it is not a test for Diabetes. It consists of a Glucose Tolerance Test taken over four hours, blood sample taken every half an hour after a glucose load. It is interested in finding the degree of variations in blood sugar levels. Sometimes blood sugar levels are within normal range, yet the patient may complain of hypoglycemic symptoms. The reason is that the test really tests the conversion of sugars in our food into biological energy (ATP) along the biochemical pathway called glycolysis. For instance, if there is an imbalance between zinc and copper levels, this will affect glycolysis and hence can cause an obstruction in energy production despite normal blood sugar levels. The end-product of glucose metabolism is biological energy (ATP)!
The question is: why is it that insulin resistance (hypoglycemia) may cause mental illness such as depression, as studies seem to suggest? It is true that not all people with insulin resistance will experience depression, but those who do are usually found to be hypoglycemic.
For the body to convert one molecule into an other, such as in the conversion of tryptophan (found in food) into serotonin, it requires an inordinate amount of biological energy to complete that conversion. It is known that the brain, although 2% of the body requires about 80% of all available energy in the form of glucose to carry out its chemical reactions in the brain. This is regardless whether we are asleep or awake. An active cell requires more than two million molecules of ATP per second to drive its biochemical machinery.
Thus without adequate amounts of biological energy the brain cannot produce serotonin. With inadequate amounts of serotonin the patient cannot experience happiness, relaxation and contentment, when they normally should. Serotonin is also involved with the appetite mechanism and hence a serotonin imbalance is often associated with problems of obesity. Besides excess unused blood glucose is eventually stored as fat cells.
Because melatonin, the sleeping hormone that makes us sleep in conditions of darkness, is derived from serotonin, depression is usually associated with insomnia.
Brain cells deprived of energy, like that of oxygen, would soon die. When brain cells sense energy starvation, threatening the life of cells, it triggers the release of adrenaline and other stress hormones to raise blood sugar levels in a hurry. Adrenaline functions to convert sugar stores in the body (glycogen) back into glucose so as to feed the brain again. But adrenaline is also responsible for the unexplainable anxiety attacks, phobias, depression, mood swings, alcoholism and drug addiction, anger outbursts and the myriad of ‘psychological’ symptoms that go under the various diagnostic labels in psychopathology.
The non-drug treatment for hypoglycemia (partial insulin resistance) is going on a hypoglycemic diet, which like the diabetic diet is a high protein, low refined carbohydrate diet accompanied with various nutritional supplements involved with sugar metabolism.
Thus Depression turns out to be a NUTRITIONAL DISORDER!
We do not become diabetic overnight and there is usually a long period of insulin resistance that does not result in a high blood sugar levels but rather results in unstable blood sugar levels - going up and down - and which affects our behaviour. This is called prediabetic or non-diabetic insulin resistance, also popularly called ‘hypoglycemia’ by people suffering from various symptoms associated with insulin resistance. The condition is familiar among doctors who use terms such as Syndrome X, glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinism and so on.
Dr George Samra of Kogarah (Australia) has designed a medical test that can diagnose non-diabetic hypoglycemia. This test should be very useful when we want to assess the risk of a person developing diabetes. More importantly the test can also point to some of the causes of mental illness, such as depression. It is described at our web site at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/testing_hypoglycemia.html
Another paper-and-pencil test is available known as the NBI (Search web site)
It is not yet well-known among most doctors, but it should be emphasized that it is not a test for Diabetes. It consists of a Glucose Tolerance Test taken over four hours, blood sample taken every half an hour after a glucose load. It is interested in finding the degree of variations in blood sugar levels. Sometimes blood sugar levels are within normal range, yet the patient may complain of hypoglycemic symptoms. The reason is that the test really tests the conversion of sugars in our food into biological energy (ATP) along the biochemical pathway called glycolysis. For instance, if there is an imbalance between zinc and copper levels, this will affect glycolysis and hence can cause an obstruction in energy production despite normal blood sugar levels. The end-product of glucose metabolism is biological energy (ATP)!
The question is: why is it that insulin resistance (hypoglycemia) may cause mental illness such as depression, as studies seem to suggest? It is true that not all people with insulin resistance will experience depression, but those who do are usually found to be hypoglycemic.
For the body to convert one molecule into an other, such as in the conversion of tryptophan (found in food) into serotonin, it requires an inordinate amount of biological energy to complete that conversion. It is known that the brain, although 2% of the body requires about 80% of all available energy in the form of glucose to carry out its chemical reactions in the brain. This is regardless whether we are asleep or awake. An active cell requires more than two million molecules of ATP per second to drive its biochemical machinery.
Thus without adequate amounts of biological energy the brain cannot produce serotonin. With inadequate amounts of serotonin the patient cannot experience happiness, relaxation and contentment, when they normally should. Serotonin is also involved with the appetite mechanism and hence a serotonin imbalance is often associated with problems of obesity. Besides excess unused blood glucose is eventually stored as fat cells.
Because melatonin, the sleeping hormone that makes us sleep in conditions of darkness, is derived from serotonin, depression is usually associated with insomnia.
Brain cells deprived of energy, like that of oxygen, would soon die. When brain cells sense energy starvation, threatening the life of cells, it triggers the release of adrenaline and other stress hormones to raise blood sugar levels in a hurry. Adrenaline functions to convert sugar stores in the body (glycogen) back into glucose so as to feed the brain again. But adrenaline is also responsible for the unexplainable anxiety attacks, phobias, depression, mood swings, alcoholism and drug addiction, anger outbursts and the myriad of ‘psychological’ symptoms that go under the various diagnostic labels in psychopathology.
The non-drug treatment for hypoglycemia (partial insulin resistance) is going on a hypoglycemic diet, which like the diabetic diet is a high protein, low refined carbohydrate diet accompanied with various nutritional supplements involved with sugar metabolism.
Thus Depression turns out to be a NUTRITIONAL DISORDER!
