Why?

So we have reached day 2. I hope that you all survived your first day without grains and dairy? The world did not end. The sky did not fall down. Let's keep it up for the second day.

I have been trying to write a post regarding what I think are the main reasons to follow a diet such as the Paleo diet. As far as I am concerned there are 2 main reasons to cut grains from your diet. The first is the role that they play in Insulin resistance and Inflammation and the second is their role in Gut Irritation (GI) and auto-immune issues. However, as I started writing I realised that these are very major issues that I am going to have to attack a little bit at a time.

I want to start looking at Insulin Resistance first.

There are some key players in this process and I'll need to do some defining before we actually begin. When you eat a meal, no matter what that meal is, your food is broken down into 3 (and only 3) macronutrients. These Macronutrients are:

Protein Proteins are what makes up our skin, muscle, hair, and nails. Proteins are made of molecules called Amino Acids. Physiologically we make use of 21 Amino Acids but 8 of these are essential and we can only get them from food. The best sources of protein come from animals. Namely fish (including shellfish), fowl, meat and eggs.

Carbohydrates Carbs are a large group of foods that include fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, rice and all other grain type foods. Basically carbs are sugars. They come in the form of monosaccharides like glucose and fructose, disaccharides like sucrose (simple table sugar that is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose), and polysaccharides such as fiber and starch. The famously healthy 'complex carbs' is just a fancy way of saying lots of sugars.

Fat Yes there it is. That nasty word. I'm sure that some people think that by just saying the word I am going to fall down dead from a heart attack! I will eventually do a whole post on fats alone but for now lets just look at the basics. Fat is a triglyceride of glycerol and 3 fatty acid molecules.We commonly refer to fats as either Saturated or Unsaturated.
Saturated fat  can be divided up into 3 groups. Lauric Acid, Palmitic acid and stearic acid. Between them they have been shown to have antiviral properties that can help with HIV, chickenpox and healing properties that can assist with Gut Irritation. They play an essential role in the working of the brain and memory, particularly in relation to forming new memories and accessing long term memories. Saturated fats have also been shown to play a role in decreasing inflammation. Palmitic acid has been shown to increase LDL cholesterol (interestingly excess carbohydrate intake leads to the production of palmitic acid!) while stearic acid has been shown to increase HDL cholesterol.
Unsaturated fat can be divided into monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and trans fats.Some of the benefits that can be derived from monounstaured fats are; Improved Insulin sensitivity, improved glucagon response, decreased cholesterol levels, prevention of oxidative damage and therefore ageing. (That's a pretty impressive list!!) Polyunsaturated fats include the fats that make up your omega 3 and omega 6 esential fatty acids. It is absolutely essential that we get the right ration of omega 3:omega 6 fatty acids as they play a huge role in inflammation. Trans fats are just shit. They should be avoided at all costs.

Now lets look at some of the hormones that are released when we consume these macronutrients.

Insulin Insulin is a storage hormone that is released primarly after consuming carbohydrates (although some is also released after eating protein and even after consuming coffee!) It tells your body where to store the glucose it has consumed (muscles or liver) and sends the fructose straight to the liver.

Glucagon Glucagon is the opposite of Insulin in that it releases glucose from the liver. It is also responsible for freeing up fatty acids from fat cells. Insulin and Glucagon work like a team to ensure that we have steady energy levels through storing and releasing nutrients when we need them. However, too much Insulin can inhibit the way that Glucagon works.

Leptin Leptin is a satiety hormone. It tells us when we are full so we can stop eating. Leptin's satiety signal can become disrupted by Palmitic Acid.

Ghrelin lets us know when we are hungry or running low on energy. It prompt us to consume food. Your body can overproduce Ghrelin if you do not get adequate sleep.

Peptide YY (PYY) is another satiety hormone. Eating Protein and Fat releases a large ammount of PYY. Carbohydrates do not. PYY improves your bodies ability to sense Leptin.

Cortisol is a stress hormone. It is released in response to stress . It increases blood pressure, lowers the immune system, decreases the body's ability to sense Insulin, decreases bone formation and can cause a loss of collagen in the skin (hello wrinkles!). I know it all sounds bad but things are not as they seem. Cortisol is essential and acts as a potent anti-inflammatory. However, like all good things, we just need to make sure we get the right ammount. Lack of sleep, excess coffee consumption and over exercising can all play a role in excess cortisol production.

Ok. So that is probably enough for today. My head hurts just writing it down. You will need a good strong Black coffee to help you get through it. The next few posts will be quite simple to allow you time to get a good handle on these main players in Insulin resitance. Don't forget to click on the links if you want to research deeper into each, and don't forget to post your days eating.