Syndrome X: Obese, Bad Acne, Sick and/or Infertile? Part One
Can’t lose weight no matter what you try? Do you seem to just gain fat around your midsection? Are your hormone fluctuations driving you crazy? Acne? You might have a metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X, that is the catalyst for all other problems surrounding your physical and mental health. What is behind this mysterious epidemic that is affecting 25% of America’s society, and why is this not being addressed like erectile dysfunction or depression? Well, first let’s get some info on what metabolic syndrome is.
Metabolic Syndrome is rarely diagnosed since it covers a vast range of symptoms and health issues. These symptoms include the following (provided by Wikipedia.com):
- Impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, or insulin resistance;
- High blood pressure;
- Central obesity (visceral, male-pattern adiposity), fat collecting mainly around the waist;
- Decreased HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol);
- Elevated triglycerides (bad blood fats);
- Elevated uric acid levels (cause of arthritis, kidney stones, cardiovascular disease)
So how does someone end up with all these symptoms? Although the cause can be extremely complex, it always seems to fall on the one thing. This one thing has been tagged directly and/or indirectly responsible for premature aging, acne, hormone instability, depression, Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), Cushing’s disease, and plain old being fat. What?! What one thing could cause all of this?! Well, this may be your lucky day, because you are about to read the secret to life — well, maybe. Insulin — yes, the secret to life is controlling your insulin.
Here is where I tell you what you need to hear; not what you want to hear [Sorry]. On the bright side, you may be able to control your hormones, acne, depression, body fat, hunger pangs, blood pressure, insomnia and your cholesterol with just the mastering of this one hormone. Sound easy? Well, it actually is! We will just have to get over the mental road blocks.
Here is the bad news — the only way to control this hormone is through diet. Now before you get all upset, I have some tricks up my sleeve for making this easier on you. First, let us go over what insulin does and why diet is so important:
Insulin which is a hormone associated with regulating glucose metabolism, are the two major substances our bodies use that control anything associated with carbohydrates and its effects on the body.
Glucose is the only source of energy for our body. Everything, no matter what, is converted to glucose if it is to be used as energy. In order that our body’s cells readily absorb glucose, it will need help from insulin. So, there is a direct relationship between glucose levels and insulin levels. The higher your blood sugar goes, the higher the levels of insulin to regulate it.
So what does this mean for me? Good question, here is the highs and lows of what insulin also does: In its many duties, one of the most important, is how it serves as a communication device for your body’s functions. These functions include fat storage/metabolism, fat synthesis, storage of glucose as glycogen in the liver and muscles, and many more that I do not want to get into.
The way insulin communicates to the body is by its blood saturation. High levels force fat cells to take in blood lipids which are converted to triglycerides, and low levels force the fat cells to release the triglycerides. In simple terms, the higher your insulin levels, the more your body will store fat! The inverse of this is if you can keep the level low and stable, you will stimulate the body to naturally release your stored body fat. [taken from an earlier article of mine called The Secret Behind Carbohydrates — Part Two from January 01st, 2007 | Blog4Brains.com]
Now, when your body is not working properly, insulin can go awry and cause many issues. The main issue I am going to discuss in this article is insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a “condition in which normal amounts of insulin are inadequate to produce a normal insulin response from fat, muscle and liver cells.* ” What this means is the body starts to become greedy and begins demanding more and more insulin to complete the normal metabolic tasks of the body. The consequence of this is an elevated level of insulin even while fasting (lengthened time in which one does not eat), which happens to be a way of diagnosing this very condition.
Once the insulin level becomes abnormally high a whole slew of symptoms will start to surface. The first will be the body’s consistent inability to metabolize stored fats even while exercising and on calorie restriction. The second will be higher levels of cortisol which is a hormone that causes, indirectly and directly, sleeplessness, acne, physical and mental stress and can/may exacerbate any present ailment. The reason for the elevated cortisol is that it acts as an antagonist to insulin, and when insulin is raised, your body will release cortisol to manage the insulin levels.
The downside to this action is when your body becomes insulin resistant, and insulin becomes chronically high, your cortisol will be chronically high as well. This is simulating, within the body, an identical environment of chemical bombardment as chronic daily high stress. The same stress that doctors and psychologists say can kill you — yeah, that one.
If you are interested in the actual flow chart of the cascading affects of insulin resistance, I created a mapping of all the bodies hormones during this chemical thunderstorm of consequences in the after math of this syndrome. Please click on the image to enlarge it.
Besides what is on the flow chart above, there are some other health issues that I should go over as well. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome mentioned above “is an endocrine disorder that affects 5–10% of women. It occurs amongst all races and nationalities, is the most common hormonal disorder among women of reproductive age, and is a leading cause of infertility.* ” This disorder is from unnatural androgen levels from a malfunctioning pituitary gland or chronically high levels of insulin. Multiple cysts will appear in the ovaries due to this abnormal level of androgens — a male hormone, namely testosterone — causing egg follicles to mature without being released. Symptoms are many — below are some of the more obvious:
- Irregular, few, or absent menstrual periods
- Infertility, generally resulting from chronic anovulation (lack of ovulation)
- Central obesity - “apple-shaped” obesity centered around the lower half of the torso
- Androgenic alopecia (male-pattern baldness)
- Acne, oily skin, seborrhea
- Prolonged periods of PMS-like symptoms (bloating, mood swings, pelvic pain, backaches)
- Sleep apnea
Sounds very similar to insulin resistance doesn’t it. Well, thats because the cascading affect of PCOS is nearly identical to that of insulin resistance. Another similar affect is that “PCOS may be associated with chronic inflammation, with several investigators correlating inflammatory mediators with anovulation and other PCOS symptoms.* ” Here we come full circle with the chronic inflammation from chemical stresses on the body. Whether it is dietary stress (high insulin) or mental stress (high cortisol), inflammation is always going to be a result. And, it all boils down to insulin and cortisol. Does diet seem more important to you now? I hope so because in Part Two of this article we will go over what can be done about this mystery condition. See you then!
*Resources for article gathered from Wikipedia.org and Dr. Pericone:
Insulin
Insulin Resistance
Cortisol
CRH
ACHT
Corticosteroid
Androgens
Circadian Rhythm
PCOS
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OK, you’re getting me hooked on this carbs/insulin article. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were following me around, because more and more your articles seem to be describing me. I have much inflamation in my body. I thought it was just arthritis and I was just getting old (HA! can’t be that one!). Your article gives me hope that maybe I can actually lose weight AND live without this painful inflamation AND, it seems, without tons of drugs. Changing how I eat does sound hard though. I can’t wait to see those tricks up your sleeve you promised!
I am glad that this information is of real help to you. Since most authorities do not have this information readily available to the public, I feel that it is my duty to pick up the slack.
Hopefully, if we catch this early enough for you and others, drugs will not be needed at all. I have actually dealt with someone that is real close to me with this exact condition. She tried the drugs that are supposedly insulin sensitizers, and they did not produce the results that was worth the $100 a month for the prescription.
What she did find was the most successful was exactly what we be explained in Part Two of the above article. The trick is all in the mind; people that are insulin resistant are psychologically addicted to carbs and the chemical cascading effect that follows. Your brain will lie to you, and the trick is not believing the lie.
Well, thanks for reading and commenting, and we will see you at Part Two. Take care for now!
[…] Hopefully you have read Part One to this series, as the beginning to this article will only be a summarization of the former. Now that we are back after a nice Syndrome X vacation, it is time to get back into gear. In Part One we learned about the correlation between insulin and cortisol, and cortisol to well… basically everything else. We now know that insulin could be the most important compound that is making you ill. […]
Carnival of Diet Tips…
Welcome to the March 30, 2007 edition of a very public diet!. We love getting tips so keep sending them in! Guardian presents TOP TIPS AND PICKS FOR ORGANIC PRODUCE posted at healthsundae.com - your daily scoop of nutrition, health…
Carnival of Natural Health - April 1, 2007…
Welcome to the April 1, 2007 edition of the Carnival of Natural Health. I hope you’ll visit all of the participants and see what great things we can learn from all of them. Hal Sommerschield, Ph.D. presents North Star Mental…
[…] Justin Lowery presents Syndrome X: Obese, Bad Acne, Sick and/or Infertile? Part One posted at blog4brains.com, saying, “A series of articles pertaining to Insulin Resistance, including what it is, how it happens and how to help subside the condition.” […]
hi every one good stuff given above Dr. Nancy Dunne has developed pcos Over the past few years, PCOS and ovarian cysts have become especially relevant to me. My 22-year-old daughter’s menstrual difficulties and persistent acne have been diagnosed as aspects of polycystic ovary syndrome.Take a look at her book here:
Dr. Dunne’s all about pcos .
All Things Medical April Edition…
All Things Medical April Edition Carnival is up.
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I am living proof of this. I have been doing Desmaisons’ Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Plan, and I am becoming less insulin resistant and am feeling great and dropping weight. I really, really recommend this to everyone.
Interesting, but sugar is not the only problem. Does she address insulin, starches, sugars processed and natural? The article above was addressing something very specific and just ridding your diet of certain sugars, while potatoes, grains and other starches are still being consumed, you will not see much, if any at all, results. If it works for you, that is great, I just am not sold on most of these plans, especially when addressing insulin resistance. I do thank you for your comment though.
Yes, the plan is done in steps, and it addresses getting rid of whites and sugars and caffeine and other sweet or addictive substances based on one’s own body’s reactions (as seen by detailed journaling of foods/feelings/physical reactions). To look at it as just a sugar free thing is only a very small part of it. It is 7 steps with many many small steps embedded. Meals consist of therapeutic protein dosage and complex carbs as a base.
That’s interesting, does he/she address any of the psychological aspects of the addiction? From all that I have studied, the addiction to food is more psychological than it is physical. If you are addicted to say sugar, but you don’t address why you are addicted to it, your addiction will just take another from with some other food, or action. I hope that is addressed because that is a large rationale behind nearly all addictions, especially food.
Thanks for the run-down on what the program is, I will take a deeper look at it in the near future. Take care Lisa, hope we hear from you again.
I used to think my addiction was a psychological issue, too.
I tried all the therapy, diets, nondiets, cognitive behavioral therapy. None of it helped my obesity, bingeing, sugar fixation, insanity, or depression. Now, I have read a lot more, and the thing is that addicts to alcohol, sugar, and other stuff have lower levels of serotonin at birth. They also have unbalanced beta endorphin levels. They use drugs to bring up serotonin levels and BE levels. So, actually addiction is very much physiological. I can honestly say that’s the truth for me. Just changing my food has changed EVERYTHING. No psychological help needed. Often, in recovery, the feelings that addicts have are sugar feelings, ie, they are brought on BY the use of the addictive substance.
Sorry!! I’d love to erase all but the last post. The message was that the comment was not received due to the server being down. Didn’t know it posted three times. hehe.
Hey Lisa, don’t worry about the multiple posts. Let me ask you a question though. What browser and operating system are you using, because it seems it happens frequently with you? Not that it is your fault or anything, it is probably your browser that is not communicating correctly with my web server.
As far as your addiction, there is definitely a portion of people that have addiction in their genes. It is interesting that you mention beta endorphins. I have not heard anything about that as it normally deals with pain or fear, and I will do some research on the subject. I would also like to ask if you went through withdrawals of any kind. If you did not, I have a hard time understanding how it was a physical addiction.
The reason I say this is because there has been no recorded physical withdraws that happen when sugar is removed from the diet of an addict, at least from what I have read.
With that being said and from what I know, your body does not build up a physical need for the sugar. So, when the sugar is removed their is not a massive deficit that in turns creates withdrawals. When people eat what they are psychologically addicted to it may raise certain neurotransmitters that elevate mood or pleasure, but it [sugar] does not take over or replace those neurotransmitters.
In contrast, when drugs or addictive chemicals replace what is “domestically” created by your body, and then it is removed causing a deficit of neurotransmitters in your brain, that is when withdrawals takes place because now the sufferer is imbalanced.
Again, I am not a neuroscientist by any means, but this is what I have read about in all the journals of medicine and science.
In addition, what the discovery is, is that there are about 3 to 4 very important psychological components that are responsible for addictions. One is leptin, and it has been know to be a biochemical responsible for satiety, kind of like a feedback mechanism for how much to eat. The second is dopamine and its receptors, usually the higher the persons body fat, the less dopamine receptors are present. What this means is it takes more dopamine (consumption of object of addiction) for the same feeling of “pleasure”. Serotonin plays a big part for many things, yet I have not read much on its connection with food addiction. The last is the orbitofrontal cortex, it has been linked to addiction and controlling impulse behavior. When damaged or under-active it negates a persons ability to control the impulse behavior.
Either way, I am just glad that you are doing better. Addiction in any form is a really tough thing to deal with. I would also like to thank you for your contribution to this thread. I would love to continue this discussion. Has all your knowledge come from that one book? Or have you been doing so serious studying of this subject? Take care Lisa and hope to hear from you soon.
I use firefox and windows 2000.
The book that I read that explained my story to me was DesMaisons’ first book, ‘Potatoes Not Prozac.’ She explains beta endorphins and how they are upregulated and downregulated with sugar usage, caffeine usage, etc. Chocolate and other things that have sugar can be used to get a BE hit or to take away pain or whatever. Once a person starts this (especially if the person is sugar sensitive), then the person becomes dependent on substances for the BE hit and for serotonin production. DesMaisons looks at it as a 3 legged stool: blood sugar, serotonin, BE. Most addicts have one or all of those things out of whack. For me, it was all three!
I would say that sugar withdrawal as well as caffeine withdrawal is very real. If one goes off of sugar cold turkey, it can be quite awful– headaches, sweats, shakes, irritability, incapacitation. It is said to be as bad as heroine withdrawal for some folks. I can say taht I’ve tapered off of caffeine already, and it was a very real addiction for me. When I tried to go cold turkey in the past, it was painful! Sugar is the same; I think most folks in OA would tell anyone that.
I am still working through the steps of the program. I’m on step 4. So, I still have sugar in my diet in small, regular dosages. Doing this slowly makes withdrawals very mild. I plan to detox fully after we move house in the fall.
here are the steps:
1. breakfast with enough protein (1/6 of total body weight not to exceed 42 g. at each meal), within an hour of waking, and with a complex carb
2. journaling food, feelings, and physical reactions
3. three meals a day, 5-6 hours apart, with enough protein and complex carb
4. eat a potato before bed or some other brown carb to help the body produce serotonin; take vitamins
5. switch from white carbs to brown ones
6. detox from sugar
7. get a life
These are the steps I’m following, and I’m 8 months into it.
Oh, I wanted to say, too, that dopamine is a part of it for many folks. It is that sparkly feeling. For me, coffee does that. It affects BE and dopamine in my system.
I am also struggling.. how do I start? when I took carbs of diet then had more energy. Where do I find this diet as I came accross this side by accident…
Thanks
Joanna
Hey Joanna, I am sorry to hear of your struggle. I cover the diet in some detail in part two of this series. Here is the link: Part Two of Syndrome X
If you would like more information on the diet please just comment with some specific questions. I am always willing to help people out as much as I can. Take care.
d
great discussion… i enjoyed this post
Thank you. I always love feedback. Hope to see you again.