Recently reruns were being played of The Price is Right. When I saw Drew Carey I gasped, I couldn’t believe how much weight he had gained. All I could think was, “He’s a walking heart attack!”. Then I saw a post on Facebook that said he had cured his own diabetes and lost 80 pounds – the new skinny Drew was almost unrecognizable. Drew’s drastic weight loss made the news on television, the web, and heath magazines.
Over the years I witnessed Drew gaining weight and was concerned he might be another cardiovascular casualty like John Ritter, John Candy, or Dom DeLuise. But insulin resistance and it’s companion heart disease aren’t exclusive to famous people. Almost 8% of Americans have been officially diagnosed with diabetes and the #1 cause of death is heart disease.
Insulin resistance is when the cell becomes resistant to the hormone insulin. This happens from repeated spikes and drops in blood sugar levels from eating refined carbohydrates, aka: junk food. The body gets adapts to elevated insulin levels by increasing insulin receptors on the cells. Craving for sugar, diabetes, inability to loose weight, fat around the abdomen can be signs of insulin resistance. Severe insulin resistance leads to type II diabetes and hypoglycemia.
Back to Drew Carey, I didn’t know he had diabetes. It is exciting and refreshing he figured out what to do by get rid of high glycemic fat causing carbs. The terms low and no carb diet are actually deceiving. Carbohydrates are in just about every food at some level; some are higher than others. More appropriate terms would be “no grain” or “no starch” diet. Even if Drew was eating vegetables he was still getting carbs. But if he cut out all the corn, pasta, sugar, bread, and potatoes, he would be eliminating the empty diabetes / fat causing trouble makers.
Drew also did something else right because he exercised. Exercise is a proven way to increase insulin resistance. This helps repair blood sugar problems over time. For example, in 2007 I was borderline diabetic. My insulin resistance problem was so severe that my blood sugar levels would swing into the 200′s and drop under 50 – all in the same day. Sometimes within the same hour! Not good. The result: severe panic / anxiety attacks and 55 pounds overweight. Not only that, but I had candida overgrowth, hormone imbalance, and bad attitude! I’m sure Drew had none of those issues either, right? Unfortunately, all of these issues are all inter-related and millions of people experience one or all of them.
Diabetes poses greater risk of depression and other mental disorders. It makes sense because blood sugar levels are directly impacted by neurotransmitters (the brain chemical adrenalin) and hormones (HGH and cortisol). Let’s say Drew did experience “the blues”, he may now have a much more uplifted outlook on life now he’s got his blood sugar levels under control.