Raena Morgan: Hello. I'm visiting with Sherry Torkos, who is a pharmacist and the author of The GI Made Simple. Sherry, a basic question, what is insulin? And, furthermore, why is it called the fat storing hormone?
Dr. Sherry Torkos: Insulin is a hormone that is secreted from the pancreas and its job is to help regulate blood sugar. When we eat a food, it's broken down to sugar in our system. And then, in response to rising blood sugar, the pancreas will secrete insulin and the insulin's job is to take sugar, bring it into the cell to be used for energy. Now, the reason that we call insulin the fat storage hormone is that when your insulin levels are elevated, the body can store more fat. And that's why, if you are eating a high glycemic diet and chronically eating foods that break down really quickly into sugar, your body can overproduce insulin in response to high blood sugar, and when insulin levels are chronically elevated, you body will start to store more fat. That's why it's really important to have good management of your blood sugar and insulin levels. And we can achieve that by eating a healthy, low glycemic diet that will help to control blood sugar and also help to control insulin. Now, the other concern with high, uncontrolled insulin levels is that today, a number of people are developing a condition called insulin resistance.
Raena Morgan: That's right.
Dr. Sherry Torkos: And insulin resistance occurs when you have high insulin levels chronically. What happens is, you body stops responding to insulin as it should. In other words, insulin is not able to do its job effectively to bring sugar into your cells to be used for energy. So, as a result, you have high insulin, high blood sugar levels, what we call insulin resistance and this is really the precipitating factors that lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes. So, as part of a strategy to improve insulin sensitivity and insulin levels, I recommend low glycemic diet, regular exercise -- in fact, exercise is one of the best ways to control blood sugar and insulin levels and also supplements. And in my book, I do go through some of the supplements that can be helpful.
Raena Morgan: You say in your book that cinnamon lowers blood sugar.
Dr. Sherry Torkos: That's right. Researchers at the USDA found that by adding a half of teaspoon of cinnamon to your diet daily, it can actually work synergistically -- or in partner -- with insulin to help control blood sugar levels. So, cinnamon is something that you can take in supplement form or you can actually add it to your breakfast cereal, your oatmeal, stir it in with your yogurt or put it into your protein shakes in the morning.
Raena Morgan: So, not only does it taste good, but it has a very positive effect on your blood sugar.
Dr. Sherry Torkos: That's right. You know, it's fascinating -- we're leaning a lot about the different healing powers of different foods and food-based supplements. Cinnamon is very beneficial. Also, in my book, I talk about Phase 2, which comes from a white kidney bean extract and it can also help improve blood sugar control and play a role in weight management.
Raena Morgan: Well, thank you, Sherry.
Dr. Sherry Torkos: Thank you.
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