We are all facing an energy crisis – a metabolic energy crisis inside our bodies. But the paleo diet offers a quick route to securing more personal energy and reducing the risk of energy-sapping diabetes.
Inside each of your cells are tiny structures called mitochondria which produce energy for the body. When they were originally discovered, back in the 1890s, they were called “bioblasts,” an apt name given that they are responsible for powering so many bodily functions.
Unfortunately, it turns out that the typical diet that most of us eat today doesn’t do much good for our mitochondria. Matter of fact, as research shows, our endless penchant for processed food disrupts how mitochondria go about their invaluable tasks.
The problem starts when our refined and grain-based foods start playing havoc with blood sugar. Along with making you more prone to diabetes, higher blood sugar levels depress the energy activity of mitochondria.
A study at Johns Hopkins sheds new light on how sugar makes mitochondria misbehave.
“Sugar itself isn’t toxic, so it’s been a mystery why high blood sugar can have such a profound effect on the body,” says researcher Gerald Hart, who directs the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Biological Chemistry. “The answer seems to be that high blood sugar disrupts the activity of a molecule that is involved in numerous processes within the cell.”
In lab tests, the Hopkins researchers found that an enzyme that helps move proteins around was higher in heart muscle mitochondria when diabetes caused blood sugar to be higher.
“We expected the enzyme levels to be different in diabetes, but we didn’t expect the large difference we saw,” says researcher Partha Banerjee.
They also found that the enzyme had been relocated to a different area of the mitochondria.
These changes are harmful: The processes used by mitochondria to make energy are complex and require precise placement of enzyme complexes within the mitochondrial membranes. The enzyme examined in this study is supposed to stay in the membrane within an enzyme complex.
Instead, it had escaped into a different part of the mitochondria.
The end result of these changes are like a car engine that is overheating and starting to smoke. The mitochondria begin to throw off excess heat and start producing free radicals that cause oxidative damage to the cells.
Pretty soon, in an effort to deal with these destructive free radicals, the liver goes into action to produce more antioxidants. But in so doing, the liver releases extra glucose – and, you guessed it, that increases blood sugar which in a vicious cycle, causes even more problems for the mitochondria.
Paleo benefits
Eating a paleo diet can go a long way in eliminating these mitochondrial complications. When the paleo diet eliminates foods made from grains, it improves your chances of keeping your blood sugar under control and damps down your chances of developing diabetes.
I know that in my life, until I started to eat paleo, my waistline was slowly but surely expanding in middle age, my personal energy was flagging and my exercise sessions felt like difficult, uphill slogs.
I thought I was eating healthy foods when I snacked on whole grains. But when I gave up grains altogether, I realized that my snacks that had included whole wheat bread hadn’t been doing me much good. When these snacks were banished, much of my daily fatigue vanished.
Controlling blood sugar
According to Chris Kresser, who has intensively studied the effects of the paleo diet, the paleo diet effectively addresses blood sugar issues when it “…emphasizes the real, nutrient-dense foods our ancestors ate. It features meat and fish, vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds, and some starchy plants like sweet potatoes.”
Research shows that eating paleo can reduce your diabetes and heart disease risk by helping you lose weight, control your blood sugar, reduce your triglycerides (blood fats), shrink your waist, reduce your body mass index (BMI) and bring down your blood pressure.
Along with eating paleo, you can keep your blood sugar under control by getting plenty of exercise, taking breaks from sitting during the day, getting eight hours of sleep a night and keeping your stress under control.
You should quickly find that changing your lifestyle to a more paleo-friendly routine, pays big benefits. Remember: Every minute of every day, another three Americans are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Don’t be part of that statistic. Instead, be among those who have switched to the paleo diet.
