Atkins Diabetes Revolution by Robert C. Atkins Read Free Book Online

your risk of diabetes. 13 – 15
    Also, when researchers compare people with the same BMI—in other words,those who are roughly the same weight and height—they invariably find that the ones who have the most abdominal fat have the worst lipid profiles.
    STRESS-RELATED OVERINDULGING
    Everyone knows stress is bad, but the myriad ways it sabotages your health might surprise you.Many people overeat when they’re stressed, so high stress levels can lead to obesity, which in turn can lead to dia betes. But there is another, insidious factor at work when you’re under a lot of stress: Your body produces large amounts of stress hormones, such as cortisol. Among other things, stress hormones increase your appetite and raise your insulin levels. High insulin levels often lead to cravings for carbohydrates and sweets. And the cycle goes on. What’s worse, the weight you put on as a result tends to accumulate in your abdominal area—which, as we’ve said, further increases your risk of moving on to diabetes. 16 Some people eat when they get stressed. Some people drink more alcohol. Some do both. Alcohol abuse is yet another risk factor that can nudge you toward diabetes. 17
    One reason is that heavy alcohol consumption increases your cortisol levels. Another is that long-term alcohol abuse can damage your pancreas and disrupt the normal production of insulin.Alcohol abuse also damages your liver—and because your liver plays an important role in controlling your blood sugar, this can contribute to developing diabetes.Adding to the unhealthy cycle is that abusing alcohol can also pile on the excess pounds.
    Being overweight may be the biggest risk factor pushing you toward Type 2 diabetes, but it’s not the only one. Having any one risk factor is a warning sign that you’re probably already on the diabetes path. However, the more risk factors you combine, and the longer you have them, the greater the likelihood that you will eventually develop diabetes.In the next chapter,we’ll look at a cluster of other disease risk factors that are likely to accompany you as you continue down the path to diabetes.
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    DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE BMI?
    1. You’re in the normal weight range when your BMI is: ___
    2. You’re in the overweight range when your BMI is: ___
    3. You’re in the obese range when your BMI is: ___
    4. You’re in the morbidly obese range when your BMI is: ___
     
    Answers
    1.20–24.9.2.25–29.9.3.30–39.9.4.40 or more.
     
    Where do you stand on the BMI chart?
    My weight: _______
    My height: _______
    My BMI is:
    Normal _______
    Overweight _______
    Obese _______
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Chapter 4
    A DEADLY QUINTET: MEET THE METABOLIC SYNDROME
    The metabolic syndrome is a group of five garden-variety risk factors that, when combined, indicate you are likely to develop diabetes, hypertension, and coronary artery (heart) disease. 1 If you have this syndrome and do nothing about it, you are almost guaranteed to end up with a life-threatening illness. Because current medical practice does not recommend, as Dr. Atkins believed it should, the earliest possible comprehensive testing for insulin/blood sugar imbalances, each of you needs to take action now and be vigilant on your own behalf. We all must be active partners in our health care if we are to effectively confront the epidemic of what Dr.Atkins called “diabesity.”The symptoms of the metabolic syndrome must be identified early and taken seriously. If we can teach you to recognize the warning signs of this perilous syndrome, you can take action to stop it in its tracks. After you finish reading this book we’re confident that you will understand why controlling carbohydrates with the Atkins Blood Sugar Control Program (ABSCP) is really the best—and only—solution.
    HOW IT ALL BEGINS
    Like diabetes, weight gain is a gradual process. The pounds of fat can creep up over the years, virtually unnoticed. Even before you’ve let your belt out a couple of notches, however, those extra