For those diabetics injecting insulin and getting frustrating results - this blog's you. I include in this group of frustrating results: hypo unawareness, diabulemia, lethargy, weight gain, erratic blood sugars, and missed periods (for the ladies) - these are all side effects people have experienced once beginning genetically modified human insulin. It so happens it is the only kind available in the United States.

Bev did a terrific blog on the Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust and the difference a choice has offered me: more controlled blood sugars, lower blood pressure, less hunger and even a little weight loss - high five! But herein lies the problem - the choice is not easy to come by. Most doctors believe Big Pharma pushed genetically modified human synthetic insulins because it was better. However this, like the insulin analogues - was nothing but stellar marketing with lackluster scientific proof.

If any of those symptoms listed in my first paragraph kept you reading to this point - please ask your doctor to give natural animal insulins a second chance. Do yourself and other diabetics a favor and request information to bring to your doctor by emailing enquiries@iddtinternational.org. The IDDT will send information on natural animal insulins. You may not be interested, but another diabetic may love the fact it will soon be a choice for them. Freedom of choice - isn't the Liberty Bell appropriate here?

Looks like a patriotic liver, doesn't it? Well that picture is an enzyme responsible for the breakdown of fat in our bodies. We'll get to it later. What I'd like to do now is dispel a rumor about insulin. Contrary to popular belief, insulin acts as an appetite suppressant when it reaches the brain. A study identifies that diabetics have a lack of insulin receptors, which result in a failure to adequately suppress the appetite. In addition, diabetics have a lack of lipase (patriotic liver picture), affecting their ability to metabolize fat for energy. Good grief, Charlie Brown.

The endocrine system and the nervous system work together in regulating our appetite. Insulin notifies the brain when the body needs the liver to release glucose for energy. The efficiency of this hormonal pathway is impaired in diabetics, go figure. Leptin is the way that your fat stores speak to your brain to let your brain know how much energy is available and, very importantly, what to do with it. There is a defining correlation between leptin and insulin levels when it comes to diabetes and obesity. Hunger leads to higher sugars ultimately leading to weight gain. Obviously this resulting weight gain is based on how you react to the leading indicator of hunger. Sounds like a vicious cycle because it is!

Although I have not found an acceptable answer to this atrocious hormonal imbalance, I gained an inkling of appreciation for learning a little about the problem. I would like to thank my dad, CJ Bizzle, MD for the translation of the cryptic medical lingo in the study. Anybody else reading with questions or objections to the above content - send them on. I've been wrong before. I would really like to be wrong about this.

A new study provides scientific proof that if you eat slowly, you will eat less -- and you will enjoy the meal more.

Dr. Melanson decided to conduct the study when she learned that no research existed to support the claim that eating slower reduces appetite. The study included 30 young women who would eat a meal of pasta with tomato sauce, topped with Parmesan cheese, under two different scenarios. In the first scenario, study participants were given a large spoon and told to eat as quickly as possible. In the other scenario, participants ate with a small spoon, which they put down after each bite, and were told to take small bites and chew each bite 15 to 20 times. When eating quickly, the women took in an average of 646 calories in 9 minutes. But when they slowed down, they consumed 579 calories in 29 minutes. The women rated eating slowly as more pleasant.

Dr. Melanson surmised that someone who ate 3 leisurely meals might consume 210 fewer calories a day than someone who wolfed those meals down. At that rate, you could conceivably lose 1 pound every 16 days for doing nothing more than slowing down. Sounds like my kind of weight loss routine.