Category Archives: Insulin

Vitamin D Improves Insulin Function

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Robert Barrington

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone, and not a true vitamin, as it is synthesised in the skin by the action of ultraviolet light on cholesterol. The traditional view is that vitamin D is required to prevent the development of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D / Calcitriol, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Vitamin D | Comments Off on Vitamin D Improves Insulin Function

High Carbohydrate Diets That Are Healthy

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Low carbohydrate diets are beneficial to the health. In this regard they have been shown to cause weight loss, improve insulin sensitivity, reduce fasting blood glucose levels, reduce fasting triglyceride levels and have beneficial effects on blood lipoprotein cholesterol. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Atkins Diet, Carbohydrate, Cardiovascular Disease, Fibre, Glycaemia, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Ketogenic Diets, Zone Diet | Comments Off on High Carbohydrate Diets That Are Healthy

Fructose and Leptin

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Evidence suggests that animals fed high fructose diet have increases in adiposity, body weight and energy intake. There are now many such studies in the nutritional literature involving a wide range of animals, but centred mainly on rodents, particularly rats. … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain, Fructose, Glucose, Insulin, Leptin, Satiety | Comments Off on Fructose and Leptin

Postprandial Effects: Glucose Versus Fructose

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Robert Barrington
Posted in Fructose, Ghrelin, Glucose, Insulin, Leptin, Satiety | Comments Off on Postprandial Effects: Glucose Versus Fructose

The Minor Fat Constituents In The Typical Western Diet

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Robert Barrington

There are a number of minor lipid or fat constituents of the normal human diet that are worthy of any discussion involving fat loss. In particular conjugated linoleic acid and lecithin are minor dietary components that have useful fat loss … Continue reading →

Posted in Choline, Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), Insulin, Lecithin, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease | Comments Off on The Minor Fat Constituents In The Typical Western Diet

Carbohydrates Foods Are Not All Equal

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Carbohydrate foods describe those with digestible starch. Bread, pasta, potato and rice are all carbohydrate foods and all contain high amounts of starch. Carbohydrates also include simple sugars such as lactose, glucose and fructose. Carbohydrate foods are interesting nutritionally because … Continue reading →

Posted in Amylopectin, Amylose, Bread, Corn, Glucose, Glycaemic Index, Glycaemic load, Insulin, Potato, Rice, Starch, Sugar | Comments Off on Carbohydrates Foods Are Not All Equal

More Thoughts on Sucrose as a Metabolic Poison

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Sucrose is a disaccharide composed of a fructose and glucose moiety linked through a glucosidic bond. When ingested sucrose is hydrolysed by the sucrase enzyme to form fructose and glucose within the small intestine. The glucose and fructose are then … Continue reading →

Posted in Fructose, Gastric Inhibitory Peptide (GIP), Glucagon-like Peptide 1, Glucose, Incretins, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Sucrose, Sugar | Comments Off on More Thoughts on Sucrose as a Metabolic Poison

Protein And Glucagon

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Robert Barrington

The changes in the circulating insulin levels to various combinations of macronutrients is well studied and extensively reported in the literature. However, less attention has been paid to the effects of dietary components on circulating glucagon levels. As plasma glucose … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbohydrate, Fat, Glucagon, Insulin, Protein | Comments Off on Protein And Glucagon

Insulin Resistance in Rats: Effects of Exercise and Diet

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Insulin resistance may the the primary driver of the metabolic changes that cause obesity. Increasingly insulin resistance is thought to develop through adherence to the typical Western diet, a diet that is characterised by high amounts of refined starch and … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Expenditure, Exercise, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Weight Loss | Comments Off on Insulin Resistance in Rats: Effects of Exercise and Diet

How Do Trans Fats Contribute to Insulin Resistance?

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Oxidised fats can interfere with insulin resistance because they initiate free radical chain reactions that can lead to oxidative stress. This oxidative stress then interferes with the insulin signal cascade decreasing the strength of the insulin signal reaching the interior … Continue reading →

Posted in Alpha Linolenic Acid, Essential Fatty Acids, Inflammation, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Linoleic Acid, Omega 3, Omega 6, Oxidative Stress, Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Trans Fatty Acids | Comments Off on How Do Trans Fats Contribute to Insulin Resistance?