If you read my past article about why corn is making us fat, you won't be surprised that neither fat consumption nor protein seem to be the root cause of the problem. Instead, the diabetes rise best matches dropping fiber consumption and increasing consumption of corn syrup.

Never before have people eaten so many refined carbohydrates.

The finding supports the idea that corn syrup and other highly refined carbohydrates such as white flour, white rice and sugar put people at risk of obesity and diabetes.

Statistics show that 65 percent of Americans are overweight and 27 percent are considered clinically obese. One of the reasons behind this growing epidemic is our addiction to starches and sugars.

It's not the fat in the food that's making people obese; it's the excess carbohydrates from grains and sugars.

If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, chances are very good that the excess carbohydrates in your body are, in part or whole, to blame:

• Excess weight
• Fatigue and frequent sleepiness
• Depression
• Brain fogginess
• Bloating
• Low blood sugar
• High blood pressure
• High triglycerides

We all need a certain amount of carbohydrates, however through our addiction to grains, potatoes and sweets we are just consuming far too many and this leads to serious chronic health problems like diabetes.

The link between obesity and diabetes is apparent and the most harmful consequences happen during the breakdown process of carbohydrates.

The body's storage capacity for carbohydrates is quite limited, so here's what happens to all the excess: they are converted, via insulin, into fat and stored in the adipose, or fatty, tissue.

Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates generates a rapid rise in blood glucose. To adjust for this rise, the pancreas secretes the hormone insulin into the bloodstream, which lowers the glucose. Insulin is essentially a storage hormone that stores the excess calories from carbohydrates in the form of fat in case of famine.

Even worse, high insulin levels suppress two other important hormones--glucagons and growth hormones--that are responsible for burning fat and sugar and promoting muscle development, respectively. So insulin from excess carbohydrates promotes fat and then wards off the body's ability to lose that fat.

One way you can protect your body from storing fat and rising insulin levels is through eliminating grains and sugars from your diet. I detail the importance of restricting grains and sugars from your diet in my Total Health Program. Aside from providing you with a healthy way to lose weight, this book will also act as a tool that will provide you with nutritious and great-tasting-recipes that will lower your risks of developing obesity, diabetes and other health problems.

If you have not read Dr. Rosedale's insulin article, I would strongly recommend doing so. Dr. Rosedale is the physician who helped me appreciate the importance of insulin in 1996. I have had many patients share with me how helpful his article was in understanding insulin.

Related Articles:

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