Why did I write the Schwarzbein Principle II (SPII)?

In my first book, The Schwarzbein Principle, I wanted to get the message out that eating real food including healthy fats was essential for health. I did this mostly by describing what happens to a hormone called insulin. I explained that insulin levels would go too high if you ate too many carbohydrates at a given moment. And that chronic high levels of insulin could lead to insulin resistance, a syndrome associated with increased heart attacks, strokes, type II diabetes and cancer etc. Many people who read the book came off feeling that insulin was something to get rid of or that they already were insulin resistant when they were not and therefore went too low on their carbohydrate intake.

I wrote The SP II in part to explain how damaging it is to eat too few carbohydrates as well as too many! I wanted to introduce the other side to the insulin story, the adrenal glands and to emphasize that balance is key. I further wanted to expand on my 5-step program of healthy nutrition, stress management, tapering off toxic chemicals, cross-training exercises and hormone replacement therapy if needed.

I included my own story because I wanted to let people know that I have had to go through a lengthy transition process of my own. A lot of my patients when they see me and how thin and healthy and fit I am do not believe me when I tell them that I was once where they are now. I thought if I wrote it out and described what happened to me in detail, I could help them go through their own transition. And for those reading the book who would never be my patients I felt they needed to understand why this area of medicine is something that I focused on because I wanted to make every one else’s transition easier than mine.

This is easier to read in chart-form on page 112 of SPII. It should give a general idea of your own Insulin Sensitivity vs. Insulin Resistance, although fasting insulin levels should ideally be done.

Insulin Sensitive to Full-Blown Insulin-Resistant: A Metabolic Continuum

Insulin Sensitive
Insulin Levels: Fluctuate appropriately. Are low after a 12-hour fast and in between meals.

Symptoms of Hypoglycemia: Can occur especially after eating a meal high in refined carbohydrates.

Weight Gain: You can gain weight if you eat poorly but not usually a rapid fat weight gain.

Triglyceride Levels:Triglyceride levels are normal after a 12-hour fast.

Partial Insulin Resistance
Insulin Levels: Fluctuate, but not as high or as low. However are still low after a 12-hour fast and in between meals.

Symptoms of Hypoglycemia: Does not usually occur. You get symptoms of hypoglycemia when you are insulin sensitive.

Weight Gain: It is easier to gain fat weight now.

Triglyceride Levels: Triglyceride levels are normal after a 12-hour fast.

Full-Blown Insulin Resistance
Insulin Levels: Do not fluctuate normally. Insulin levels remain inappropriately high after a 12-hour fast and in between meals.

Symptoms of Hypoglycemia: Does not occur b/c of insulin resistance.

Weight Gain: You already have fat weight around your midsection and are less likely to put on weight very quickly now.

Triglyceride Levels: Triglyceride levels are high after a 12-hour fast. Do not diagnose yourself as insulin-resistant from your triglyceride blood test alone.

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