Eliminating grains is THE most essential element of the Primal diet. It is also the most controversial, challenging and misunderstood aspect. So, I'm going to break this down into a series of posts. The first one being Insulin.........
Insulin is a hormone. Hormones tell our body how to react to our environment and can fluctuate with exercise, sunshine, sex, sleep, pregnancy and food. Insulin levels are determined by the amount of glucose (sugar) in our diet. Now, the sneaky thing about grains is that they eventually end up as glucose in the bloodstream, identical to how pure sugar would look. This means the body doesn't know if you have eaten a handful of lollies or a slice of bread, it's the same thing!
Now, that glucose (sugar) is also toxic when it enters the bloodstream. This isn't a bad thing it just means that it needs to get out of there ASAP. Firstly, it will see if the muscles need it, if not (because the muscle cells haven't been depleted of glucose via exercising) it gets stored as fat. Therefore, the more glucose in the bloodstream (from grains or just pure sugar) the more insulin rises, and the higher the level of insulin the louder and more urgent his message of "Store Fat!" gets.
Insulin levels can be kept low by eating vegetables and a little fruit for carbohydrate. This allows the body to maintain enough glucose in the muscles yet keeps Insulin's message of "Store Fat!" to a whisper.
From an evolutionary perspective, a big insulin rush had it's purpose. Imagine a Apple tree full of ripe fruit, a scarce and valuable find for the primal people. They would most likely devour as much as possible, embrace the insulin rush, store a little fat and then use it during a tough day of hunting and gathering.
Things are drastically different these days. A day without food is unheard of unless your doing the '40 hr famine' or are unwell. We eat vast amounts of sugar, including cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and pasta for dinner...... and our body drowns in insulin screaming "Store Fat!, Store Fat!, Store Fat!"
Now, that glucose (sugar) is also toxic when it enters the bloodstream. This isn't a bad thing it just means that it needs to get out of there ASAP. Firstly, it will see if the muscles need it, if not (because the muscle cells haven't been depleted of glucose via exercising) it gets stored as fat. Therefore, the more glucose in the bloodstream (from grains or just pure sugar) the more insulin rises, and the higher the level of insulin the louder and more urgent his message of "Store Fat!" gets.
Insulin levels can be kept low by eating vegetables and a little fruit for carbohydrate. This allows the body to maintain enough glucose in the muscles yet keeps Insulin's message of "Store Fat!" to a whisper.
From an evolutionary perspective, a big insulin rush had it's purpose. Imagine a Apple tree full of ripe fruit, a scarce and valuable find for the primal people. They would most likely devour as much as possible, embrace the insulin rush, store a little fat and then use it during a tough day of hunting and gathering.
Things are drastically different these days. A day without food is unheard of unless your doing the '40 hr famine' or are unwell. We eat vast amounts of sugar, including cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and pasta for dinner...... and our body drowns in insulin screaming "Store Fat!, Store Fat!, Store Fat!"
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