Insulin and Aging

Hello all,

If I had to pick one thing that is THE most important factor in human aging that is under our control I would say without hesitation it would be sugar consumption. This is because when you overconsume sugar in the form of carbohydrates, your body releases insulin.




Research on laboratory animals has confirmed that the more insulin you produce in response to carbohydrates in the diet, the faster you will age, and the more health problems you will have.

The famous Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging which is an ongoing study of human aging begun in 1958 has tracked 1,400 men and women from age 20-90 to determine the effects of aging over time. This study hasconsistantly found that three things characterize healthy aging and longevity. Those three things are:

higher than average DHEA levels
lower than average insulin levels
lower than average body temperature

These three factors go hand in hand! The analysis of these results seem to mimic the results of calorie restriction experiments on laboratory animals. However the people in the research study were not on special diets and did not necessarily restrict their calorie intake.

Some researchers have theorized that insulin raises body temperature, and again this seems to correlate with experimental data from the animal studies. If all this science is getting you confused, then take heart, because there is a simple and inescapable conclusion to all this, and that is that reducing theglycemic index of your meals, will help you to live much healthier and longer.

I have written a web page on this topic that you may find interesting.

Normal Blood Sugar Levels and Healthy Aging

Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think!

Healthy Chocolate

I know this sounds like an oxymoron, but there IS such a thing. Just keep in mind that what I am about to say should not be construed to mean that you can feast on M&Ms and not gain weight. Rather it means that pure organic chocolate has natural chemical compounds called "polyphenols" that are healthy for the body when consumed in moderation. To get these benefits you have to get the right form of chocolate, and to that end, I have written a new page all about the benefits of healthy chocolate.

The Benefits of Healthy Chocolate

I learned alot about chocolate while writing this page, and also about the dark side (no pun intended) of chocolate in terms of its mildly addictive qualities and the fact that slave labor was once used in the harvesting and processing of Cacao beans used to make chocolate.

I have found a company that makes mixtures of pure organic chocolate and herbs, and that certifies that it's products are organic, and that they are made on cooperatives which help support local farmers and communities. I plan on featuring their products on my page once I get a sample to try for myself.

So here's to healthy chocolate!