Does Fast Food Consumption Cause Diabetes? by Michael McEvoy CNC, CMTA

Does Fast Food Consumption Cause Diabetes?By Michael McEvoy CNC, CMTA  For many years now, people have known that Trans Fatty Acids are a hazard to one’s health. For decades, the fast food industry has used oils that contain significant amounts of trans fats to cook with. These oils are partially or fully hydrogenated and have a devastating effect upon your cells and your body.  What are “Trans Fatty Acids”? Trans fatty acids, also called trans fats, are artificially manufactured using a hydrogen tank, a vacuum-sealed cauldron and very high heat. They are appealing to the fast food and junk food industries because they are inexpensive to produce, tolerable to high heat and have a long shelf life. The problem? These artificial foods have a toxic effect upon your cells and tissues.  Trans fats and the Link to Diabetes Type-two, insulin resistant diabetes is a condition that arises due to a person’s poor dietary habits. It is not caused by genetic factors. It is a condition that people have eaten themselves into.  All carbohydrates are broken down into sugar, but complex carbohydrates from grain sources are broken down into sugar very rapidly in the body. Glucose (blood sugar) causes the pancreas to release insulin, which in turn moves the glucose into the cells, which is either to be burned for immediate energy or to be stored as fat and glycogen. Each cell of the body has a certain degree of sensitivity to insulin, which it needs in order for insulin to do its job. If the insulin level becomes too high, the cells will reject it.  If the insulin receptors on the cells are damaged, they will not work properly. In this case the cells will also reject insulin. As a result of the rejection of insulin, there will be a very high amount of glucose and insulin in the blood but not in the cells. These imbalances result in what is called type-two, insulin resistant diabetes.  It has been consistently demonstrated in several studies that the consumption of trans fatty acids has a damaging effect upon the insulin receptors on cells. The man-made trans fatty acids interfere with the receptors, contributing to, and in many cases, CAUSING insulin resistance. *  It is possible that type-two diabetes can be caused entirely by trans fat consumption, even if a person’s sugar and carbohydrate consumption is low. Even worse is that many high carbohydrate, high sugar pastries also contain trans fats. This is a double blow. Not only does the high sugar substance cause the high secretion of insulin, the trans fats damage the insulin receptors of the cells, disrupting insulin’s signals.  I once worked with a client who was a borderline diabetic. Her fasting glucose level was 124, her Hemoglobin A1C level was 6.1. Her food diary revealed that she was not incredibly over-consuming sugar as much as she was eating fast food on a daily basis. This to me was a strong indication that her borderline diabetes was caused primarily by trans fat consumption in fast foods.  This is catastrophic because this kind of thing is TOTALLY AVOIDABLE. She clearly demonstrated how artificial foods have a devastating effect upon health.  In addition to avoiding trans fats, your insulin levels should be AS LOW TO ZERO AS POSSIBLE. Anyone I have ever seen who has had an insulin level in double digits has had multiple health problems, diabetes being only one example of what can go wrong.  It has been said that type-two diabetes is not a disease of blood sugar, but an insulin disorder. This is absolutely correct. Insulin is one of the most important hormones in the body that, along with leptin, have regulatory effects upon metabolism and other bodily functions. However, too much insulin can be devastating. As can the consumption of trans fatty acids.  How to Avoid Trans Fats  

•  Avoid ALL fast food
• Avoid ALL foods that have been hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated
• Avoid Crisco products
• Avoid margarine, and other artificial foods
• Even if a food has “0 grams of trans fats per serving”, the substance will still contain trans fats if “partially hydrogenated” oils are used. This is because the FDA only chooses to use grams as a measurement of trans fats, not milligrams.

            Resources, credit: Tom Cowan, MD Mary Enig, ph.D. Ron Rosedale, MD Mastering Leptin, Byron Richards, CCN *Research by Barnard, Dennis, University of Maryland and USDA