Strength training also improves insulin response & levels ….
Today's post: Tuesday, 7-24-2007
Last Thursday, this was in the online news:
“Key to a long life -- less insulin in the brain
Reuters 19 Jul 2007 18:00:33 GMT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - Good, old-fashioned diet and exercise might keep you young by reducing the action of insulin in the brain, researchers reported on Thursday.
They created mutant mice that over-ate, got fat and even had symptoms of diabetes, and yet lived 18 percent longer than normal lab mice. The secret: they lacked a certain key gene that affects insulin, the hormone that regulates glucose.
The genetic engineering mimicked the effects of eating less and exercising, the researchers report in the journal Science.
"This study provides a new explanation of why it's good to exercise and not eat too much," said Dr. Morris White, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Children's Hospital in Boston who led the study.
The findings also raise questions about how desirable it is to use insulin to treat type 2 diabetes, said the researchers.
Doctors know that people who exercise regularly live longer on average. Researchers have also learned that putting animals on a strict diet makes them live longer, although this has not yet been shown to work in people.
So White's team sought to see if the two effects were linked. They looked at insulin, because both fasting and exercise make cells more insulin-sensitive, meaning they respond more efficiently to the effects of insulin.
They looked at the entire insulin pathway -- a series of actions in the cell that control the body's use of insulin.
White's team engineered mice that had no working copies of one of the genes involved in this pathway, called insulin receptor substrate 2, or Irs2.
BEST USE OF INSULIN
Mice with no copies of Irs2 had defective brains and diabetes. But mice with one working copy lived 18 percent longer than normal mice.
"What's more, the animals lived longer even though they had characteristics that should shorten their lives such as being overweight….," White said in a statement.
They were also more active than normal mice, and after eating, their brains had higher levels of a compound called superoxide dismutase, an antioxidant that protects cells from damage.
"Diet, exercise and lower weight keep your peripheral tissues sensitive to insulin," White said. That means the body needs to make less insulin.
"Since insulin turns on Irs2 in the brain, that means lower Irs2 activity, which we've linked to longer life span in the mouse," he said.
One obvious question is whether drugs can mimic the effects of having less Irs2, perhaps by interfering with its action.
The researchers note that people who live to be 100 or more often have reduced insulin levels and their cells show better insulin sensitivity.’”
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My comment:
In the same way that strength training works best to increase growth hormone release, it seems to also boost your body’s ability to respond to insulin so your body makes less & your blood sugars stay in the normal range better.
(See yesterday’s post about strength training & its other effects in slowing or reversing aging.)
Also, eliminating junk food, soft drinks, & most sugar & almost all refined grains from your diet & adding plenty of vegetables & some whole fruit & eating good amounts of health OK protein foods & fats seems to have this effect.
Eating right sharply lowers the glycemic index & load of the food you eat & makes the blood sugar uptake from your food slow & gradual enough that your body needs to use less insulin.
This seems as effective for insulin control & preventing insulin resistance as eating less food overall. And, the really great news is that it’s doable without making you feel hungry all the time or slowing your metabolism. That makes it doable & sustainable.
It may not be easy at first to switch to eating better if you are mostly eating bad foods now. But eating right will get the job done without making you feel hungry all the time.
And, to get started, even eliminating a few of the worst foods & adding some of the good foods you actually like will help.
If you do both these two steps—strength training & eating right, you will be less fat. You’ll have much better health. And this research suggests you’ll live a LOT longer.
Today's post: Tuesday, 7-24-2007
Last Thursday, this was in the online news:
“Key to a long life -- less insulin in the brain
Reuters 19 Jul 2007 18:00:33 GMT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - Good, old-fashioned diet and exercise might keep you young by reducing the action of insulin in the brain, researchers reported on Thursday.
They created mutant mice that over-ate, got fat and even had symptoms of diabetes, and yet lived 18 percent longer than normal lab mice. The secret: they lacked a certain key gene that affects insulin, the hormone that regulates glucose.
The genetic engineering mimicked the effects of eating less and exercising, the researchers report in the journal Science.
"This study provides a new explanation of why it's good to exercise and not eat too much," said Dr. Morris White, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Children's Hospital in Boston who led the study.
The findings also raise questions about how desirable it is to use insulin to treat type 2 diabetes, said the researchers.
Doctors know that people who exercise regularly live longer on average. Researchers have also learned that putting animals on a strict diet makes them live longer, although this has not yet been shown to work in people.
So White's team sought to see if the two effects were linked. They looked at insulin, because both fasting and exercise make cells more insulin-sensitive, meaning they respond more efficiently to the effects of insulin.
They looked at the entire insulin pathway -- a series of actions in the cell that control the body's use of insulin.
White's team engineered mice that had no working copies of one of the genes involved in this pathway, called insulin receptor substrate 2, or Irs2.
BEST USE OF INSULIN
Mice with no copies of Irs2 had defective brains and diabetes. But mice with one working copy lived 18 percent longer than normal mice.
"What's more, the animals lived longer even though they had characteristics that should shorten their lives such as being overweight….," White said in a statement.
They were also more active than normal mice, and after eating, their brains had higher levels of a compound called superoxide dismutase, an antioxidant that protects cells from damage.
"Diet, exercise and lower weight keep your peripheral tissues sensitive to insulin," White said. That means the body needs to make less insulin.
"Since insulin turns on Irs2 in the brain, that means lower Irs2 activity, which we've linked to longer life span in the mouse," he said.
One obvious question is whether drugs can mimic the effects of having less Irs2, perhaps by interfering with its action.
The researchers note that people who live to be 100 or more often have reduced insulin levels and their cells show better insulin sensitivity.’”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
My comment:
In the same way that strength training works best to increase growth hormone release, it seems to also boost your body’s ability to respond to insulin so your body makes less & your blood sugars stay in the normal range better.
(See yesterday’s post about strength training & its other effects in slowing or reversing aging.)
Also, eliminating junk food, soft drinks, & most sugar & almost all refined grains from your diet & adding plenty of vegetables & some whole fruit & eating good amounts of health OK protein foods & fats seems to have this effect.
Eating right sharply lowers the glycemic index & load of the food you eat & makes the blood sugar uptake from your food slow & gradual enough that your body needs to use less insulin.
This seems as effective for insulin control & preventing insulin resistance as eating less food overall. And, the really great news is that it’s doable without making you feel hungry all the time or slowing your metabolism. That makes it doable & sustainable.
It may not be easy at first to switch to eating better if you are mostly eating bad foods now. But eating right will get the job done without making you feel hungry all the time.
And, to get started, even eliminating a few of the worst foods & adding some of the good foods you actually like will help.
If you do both these two steps—strength training & eating right, you will be less fat. You’ll have much better health. And this research suggests you’ll live a LOT longer.
Labels: brain protection, insulin resistance, longevity, strength training, type II diabetes
posted by David at 1:54 PM
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