So Here For It Episode 3
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Amy Mingin: [00:00:00] Welcome to episode three of the So Here For It podcast. I am so excited to be here. My name is Amy Mingin. I am your host. I am your person to listen to for the next around half an hour. Today, we are going to talk all things blood glucose and insulin. Like, it's not that sexy. But once you hear the science I have to share with you, you're going to be so fired up and ready to go about this stuff.
This is something that you can apply to yourself for the rest of your life. Like for real. You can apply it to every meal that you eat. You can apply it to every form of exercise that you do. And I'm going to give you so many valuable pieces of advice and tips so that you can get it right. Cause here's the thing with the women who I see as clients [00:01:00] and have done for the last 20 years. One of the big things that happens for them is, well, a common thing is chocolate cravings. And I'm not saying that chocolate is a bad thing. I eat chocolate too. But what I am saying is when someone is addicted to chocolate, when someone is addicted to sweet, when they're like can't get their coffee without having sugar in it, or they can't eat their meal without putting honey in it.
You know, there's lots of really classic signs I'm gonna show you guys today that are really specific to blood glucose regulation That once you get this it will rock your world. And it's gonna rock your world in the way of you helping to fix your metabolism, of you being able to have longer lasting energy in between meals And also it's going to help your body to utilize what it already [00:02:00] has for energy.
Like this is super incredible stuff. So first and foremost, what is our blood glucose? All right, let's go at the most simplistic level. All right. Now, if we consider one of our human cells . So just imagine like a ball, a sphere as the cell for simplicity sake. And then I want you to imagine like an aerial coming out of it. You know like there's old school aerials that we used to have. I don't think they use them anymore, but it's what we used to use for the TV. Like there's an aerial. And if you consider that there's like a little open bowl at the top of the aerial, and there's just really specific things that go and fit inside that little bowl.. That's what happens with our blood glucose. So the glucose is the little ball that goes into the bowl, and then it goes via that receptor into the cell. Where does the glucose come from? The glucose comes from the [00:03:00] breakdown of the food that we eat. Now, eventually, every single piece of food ends up getting broken down, right?
That's a very efficient way of saying that our bodies utilize whatever it can to create glucose so that we have energy, so that our cellular processes can continue. Now, the body's always going to prioritize our brain first and then our other major organs. So you've probably noticed sometimes when you get really hungry or if you've like not eaten correctly, or you haven't quite had enough or anything like that, you probably noticed that lightness.
You might notice that you feel cold, you might be shivery, you might be clammy, there's a whole lot of different physiological processes that occur when your blood glucose goes out. And I'm going to give you some of the tell tale signs in a little bit, but let's get back to what is glucose, what is regulating glucose, and why is it actually [00:04:00] happening?
Like, we need the glucose in the blood in order for energy. In order for our cellular processes to occur, in order for our brain to work effectively, our brain prefers glucose as its main fuel source. So what happens if somebody's on a low carb diet? Initially, they actually feel pretty crappy. Now there's something that they call the keto flu, for example. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. But you can look it up, people feel horrendous when they first go on keto, most of them for the first like, three to five days, because the energy systems have to change up. They were so used to using glucose for fuel, and then all of a sudden they start using fats for fuel.
So the body has to reshift into a different energy pathway in order to supply the brain, especially, and also the muscles, with efficient energy sources. Now we never run out of fat. Like our body never runs out of fat. Even really skinny people have plenty of body fat in order for us [00:05:00] to survive a really long time without food.
So we don't ever go into starvation, it's pretty much in our normal Western everyday, uh, occurrences that happen in our life. So long as you are eating something, it's very rare that you would go into starvation. So I want to just like say that first and foremost. We have far more issues in our population where people overeat, where people eat the things that make their blood glucose too high in relation to their insulin.
Now here's where insulin comes in. Let's say you eat a meal, I'm going to say eggs on toast. That's a pretty easy breakfast. A lot of people eat that for breakfast, right? You have your eggs on toast. So you've got a little bit of fats in the yolk. You've got protein in the whites. You might have some butter on your toast and then you've got your toast, which is a complex carb.
Now the body's going to break down the carbs first because it's the [00:06:00] quickest and easiest source of fuel. The fats will take a little longer. The protein goes second. And it gets absorbed. Super simple. In response to the glucose going into the blood, the blood glucose goes up, right? So let's say it goes up to a count of 8.
Normal is around 4, 4. 5 at rest, maybe 5 at the most. But that's at rest, that's fasting, in between meals. When you first wake up in the morning, you want it to be fairly low, like around 4. Now, after eating, if your blood glucose goes even higher than that, which some people's do, particularly if you're having a lot of sugar, your pancreas secretes insulin.
Now, insulin acts like a hormone. Insulin goes out and it helps to lower blood glucose by taking up receptor sites at the cells. It helps the blood glucose to come down. So in [00:07:00] the last episode, I talked about adrenaline getting high and cortisol helping it come down. Well, guess what? Insulin does that for blood glucose.
So our bodies are very, very clever in response to high blood glucose, insulin gets secreted. Here's the problem. People become what we call insulin resistant. Now here is a big, big problem with people who are stressed, with people who are putting on weight and not realising why, with people who are eating and feeling tired all the time, and with people who have lots and lots of sweet cravings but they actually don't feel like the food does anything for them.
And it's usually because they've become insulin resistant. Now insulin resistance happens because it's usually in response to high blood glucose. You end up with high blood insulin. Those receptors on the outside of those cells actually become lazy. They become saturated. It's almost like where the antenna used to sit up nice and tall, it's now a bit floppy.
It's not allowing those receptor sites to be [00:08:00] sensitized enough to uptake your glucose into the cell, number one, so your blood glucose stays higher. And then number two, it doesn't allow for the insulin to go into the cell because it's, desensitized as well. So you're not, so you've got lots of insulin going around in the body, but it's not as effective if it's not going into the cell to bring that blood glucose down.
So people have a lot of fluid in this case. They have a lot of fluid sitting outside of the cells. They have a lot of mineral issues. They get really thirsty. They pee a lot. It goes hand in hand with cortisol as well. So there's a lot of stress on the body and this also makes inflammation go through the roof.
So yes, the brain loves. the blood glucose going to it. However, if there's a really large amount over a large amount of time, there's something that happens. And yes, you might be thinking type two diabetes, but there's actually a third form, or they might call it a 2. 5 [00:09:00] actually. And it's a form of Alzheimer's, but it's inflammatory and it's because of blood glucose.
And it doesn't happen for decades. Like it takes years and years and years for this to develop. But the problem is when you get to that end point, it's really hard to reverse it. Whereas you can change your lifestyle now, get your cells and receptor sites far more sensitized to your blood glucose and to your insulin, which I'll give you some tips in a minute, and then you can prevent, you can actually prevent and reverse type two diabetes.
You can prevent and reverse insulin resistance, which therefore you're reversing and completely obliterating that diabetes 2. 5 or three, which is related to Alzheimer's. So you're decreasing the amount of inflammation in the body. You're actually helping the metabolism work better, which is less stress on the system, which is going to help your longterm health and prevent chronic disease.
It's a lot, [00:10:00] right? So I get excited about this stuff because we can start now. And if there's always something that we can do to help our body function better, and it's always about the function of the body. So if you've been eating cakes and chocolates and lollies, and you know, if, if you're a nurse and you're listening, I hear you, there's always something out in your back room that someone's celebrating or a patient's given you, or, I get it.
Teachers get given a million chocolates at their birthday and Easter and Christmas. Like I always give teachers a non treat form of present because they get enough, right? They get enough. So think about it this way. If it's always around you, you need to have some things in place that's going to help you get through without feeling like you're deprived.
So what if we did some easy swaps? So I have the switch guide, which I'll put into the description at the bottom. Make sure you [00:11:00] download it. That's going to help you first and foremost switch out of choosing all the packaged and processed things, which tend to have hidden sugars, which tend to have less nutrients.
And here's a really big problem with those packaged foods is if there is devoid nutrients inside of it, your body actually steals the nutrients from your bones, from your hair, from your nails, from your nervous system, from your immune system. Literally steals it. So if there's no zinc in the refined something or other that you're eating, your body's going to use the zinc as part of the processes in order to process the processed food, but it's going to leave you deficient because you haven't been putting it back in the zinc bank because you haven't been eating the zinc. Just giving you an example there. So, so important to be eating the wholesome food to put the right things into your body so you're actually adding to your nutrient bank as opposed to taking away from it. This is how you correct deficiencies by the way. This is how you [00:12:00] use food as medicine. So, so important.
So, making those healthy switches. That's going to be number one. Switch over to whole foods. Stop eating the packaged stuff. And you might go, oh my gosh, I'm so busy though. How do I fit this in? There's actually some places that do these pre packaged meals that are all whole foods. Maybe start there. If you've got the cash to be able to spend, I don't know, I think there's something like seven to ten dollars a meal, which you know, it's not that much.
It's cheaper than eating out. If you've got that sort of money and you get that ordered in and you make sure you eat that for your lunch and your dinner each week, that's going to be so much better than going to one of the takeaway stores. It's going to be so much better than eating the packaged food out of the vending machine. It's going to be so much better than sneaking the lollies and chocolate out of the back room at work.
So it's these healthy swaps that you need to start doing because all of these things to do with your blood glucose regulation are due [00:13:00] to the decisions that you make at every single snack or meal. So in order for you to change, your habits need to change.
And this is the big thing that I talk to women about inside Catalyst. This is not a diet. This is a lifestyle shift. This is you changing your behaviors. This is you changing the way that you view your health. And the reason why it works is because these women realize how much they love themselves when they're actually doing the thing that they said they're gonna do.
They eat the breakfast that they're supposed to eat. They eat the lunch that is full of the whole foods. They eat the dinner and they prepare the meal and they eat it and they feel satisfied and they're so, so in integrity with themselves. That there's no looking sideways to see what they're missing out on anymore.
And of course there's going to be times once you're complete with the program, once you're complete with that plan that you might go to a party and you might [00:14:00] have some form of party food. It doesn't mean that you never eat this stuff. What it means is you break the habit, you create the change for yourself so that you have these positive benefits applying to your blood glucose, to your insulin levels on a daily basis.
So if you think about it, you do the healing work, that is when you get strict with yourself. And you're not getting strict to punish yourself, you're getting strict with yourself so that you can heal and you're choosing to heal because you love yourself. You're not choosing to heal because I told you to.
You're not choosing to heal because you're living in fear of something else. You're choosing to heal because you're ready for behavior change and you love yourself. And that might be hard for some of you to say. So I challenge you. Like maybe this is the time where you do some mirror work. Maybe this is the time where you start looking at yourself in the mirror and you stand there naked and you say I'm gonna do this for me.
I'm ready to do this I don't know if you've ever [00:15:00] done that sort of work, but it can be really really confronting. It can be so confronting that I've had some clients go and do it and they have messaged me later and they're like that was the hardest thing I ever did ever and I'm so glad I did it because it is such a truth telling experience You're completely vulnerable and it's just you. And it's just you with you.
No one needs to see you. No one needs to hear you. It is you with you. Like, when did you put yourself so far down your own priority ladder? Like, what if you put yourself further up your priority ladder and you actually decided that you were so worth it, that you're so worth having the wholesome foods, doing the exercise? Treating yourself with calm and respect rather than rushing yourself and stressing yourself out and listening to the inner critic. Because that's a big thing that plays out here. I spoke in the [00:16:00] last episode about self sabotage. But this is often where it comes from. It's this rebellious teen inside of us. Like, uh, I don't want to do that. Oh, I did this other thing the other day. And it's like, yeah, you did. And you're doing it because you matter. You're not doing it because somebody told you to and you're being punished. It's such a huge, huge mindset shift for you to get on track and stay on track. Now that's the food bit.
The other thing that I really want to say here is if you haven't already listened to the cortisol episode, go and listen to it because that has so many tips and tricks and so much value around cortisol so that you can work hand in hand with this because often when cortisol is out, your insulin is out. And when insulin is out your cortisol is out. So they work hand in hand But I also want to say this if you walk after a meal just for [00:17:00] 5-10 minutes, it decreases your blood glucose by 35% 35%!
So if you want to bring in something right away, even if you did no dietary changes and you just went for a walk, if that's more your style, get started there. That does far more for your health than going and taking a supplement to do it. I am so all for getting you to change lifestyle habits, behaviors, the way that you think of yourself, the way you speak to yourself. It all matters. And it matters far more than you realize. The more you can change that inner voice, that's going to be more positive for what you want. That's more in alignment with who you're becoming, the goals that you're going for. Oh my goodness. What's available to you on the other side is everything of who you already are.
But it's the real you. It's not the you that's being conditioned by all the things that [00:18:00] society said you have to be or have. You know, there's this like, there's a really big movement happening. It's encouraging people to be more natural, be themselves, not follow the Kim Kardashian's of the world, and not follow these unrealistic beauty standards or diet culture standards.
I want you to actually consider what is it that you've been following? What have you been subscribing to? And I'm not just talking about Netflix or Spotify, I'm talking to like, what are the programs that you've allowed to infiltrate into your brain that causes unnecessary stress or it captures your focus each day?
Like I remember, I grew up in the 90s, right? I remember in the 90s there was this magazine called Dolly. And I guess magazines back then used to be like what we use social media for now. And you know, you'd get your Dolly subscription and you'd read through it. But it starts really young, right? It's Dolly and then it's [00:19:00] Cleo and then it's Vogue and you look at these really skinny girls who turn into really skinny women and you can see where some of these patterns have come from. And I don't know if you've watched any old school movies, like I watched Pretty Woman like a number of months ago, but it was so eye opening because inside Pretty Woman, I'm like, oh my gosh, here's where all of my expectations around love and romance came from.
I got so much of a wake up call of like, Oh, wow. I can see where I used to believe that. And I don't believe it anymore. I can see where that pattern came from. Like it was all really, really helpful. So I don't know if you've done this sort of self reflective work yet. But maybe it's time to. Maybe it's time to actually question some of your own beliefs to be able to go, Hmm, what is the thing that's keeping me in the place where I actually don't believe I need to be, but I'm choosing to be?
Because there's a big difference there. [00:20:00] There is a really big difference between choosing to stay stuck or choosing to stay in the current belief pattern and actually doing something about it. It takes bravery to change. It feels vulnerable to change. And 100 percent of the time, it is worth the risk.
Your health is worth the risk. And the only risk to you not changing is to continue being exactly how you are right now. So I guess that's the question, isn't it? If you're happy being exactly how you are right now, then there's no need to change. But also, I think that if you're here and you're listening to me, you probably want to know more about your health.
You probably want to know more about why you think the way that you do. And you're probably in the era of self improvement. So here's what i've got for you right now. Number one, download the switch guide [00:21:00] if you haven't already. Number two, switch away from those packaged foods and more into your whole foods, which the switch guide gives you some really easy examples.
And then number three, start walking, start standing more, start doing more for you in a behavior change way. Start questioning those beliefs and figure out who your authentic self is. Start that journey today. Who would have thought that blood glucose would lead to your authentic self. But the thing is it's the patterns that hold the blood glucose patterns in place that always lead to the behavior. So we've got to question where the beliefs come from because otherwise we keep the beliefs.
So it's been amazing having you here today. Absolutely amazing. [00:22:00] Definitely here for this conversation. Definitely here to talk about it even more and leave a comment. Share, subscribe, like it. I would love for you to let at least one person know about this podcast today.
I know that this is meant to land in the ears of the exact right people who are supposed to hear it. So if you know someone who needs to hear this today, please share it with them and thank you. And I will see you on the next episode.
