Glucose and Insulin Resistance
Human energy is primarily derived from a simple sugar molecule called glucose. After a meal the body rapidly converts sugars and carbohydrates into glucose. As glucose levels rise in the blood stream the pancreas responds by secreting insulin, a specialized hormone that allows cells to absorb glucose and metabolize (burn) it to produce cellular energy.

When intake of food exceeds the body’s immediate need for energy the excess glucose can be converted into glycogen, a type of sugar that can easily be stored in the liver and muscles to serve as a convenient short-term energy reserve. As energy demands rise and fall throughout the day the body can draw upon these glycogen reserves, quickly converting glycogen back into glucose to stabilize blood sugar levels and maintain energy production. When the intake of food overwhelms the body’s capacity to store glycogen, the excess is shunted into long-term energy reserves in the form of fat.

Insulin resistance occurs when cells begin to lose their sensitivity to the effects of insulin, resulting in elevated blood sugar levels and a drop in energy production. To compensate for insulin resistance — and to keep blood glucose levels from spiraling out of control — the pancreas tries to restore balance by producing more insulin. Left unchecked, cells tend to become even more resistant as the pancreas releases ever-greater amounts of insulin in a desperate bid to bring the system back under control. This results in dangerously high blood levels of glucose and insulin between meals. If not corrected the pancreas eventually becomes exhausted, resulting in diabetes and requiring daily blood monitoring and injections of insulin to manage blood sugar levels.

Causes of Insulin Resistance
Metabolic syndrome doesn’t just occur suddenly, but develops over an extended period of time – upwards of 30 years in many cases. Insulin resistance is a recognized biomarker of human aging — as cells age they become sluggish and gradually develop some resistance to insulin. Additionally, a small subset of the population is genetically predisposed to developing insulin resistance. Yet taken together these examples fail to account for the epidemic of insulin resistance and Type II diabetes currently afflicting developed nations. The situation has reached the point where, in addition to contributing to the increase in cases of childhood obesity, insulin resistance is now responsible for 20 percent of all new cases of childhood Type II diabetes.

Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome are closely linked to obesity, and both conditions are aggravated by a lack of exercise and a diet high in refined carbohydrates. Not surprisingly, many health experts believe that eating fewer carbs and increasing physical exercise will reverse metabolic syndrome and restore healthy glucose metabolism. This assumption is based on a simple equation: calories equal energy, and any energy not burned as fuel will be saved as fat. And therein lies a problem.

When applied to the unaltered chemistry of an otherwise healthy body, improved diet and exercise can often restore healthy metabolic balance. But when a body has already reached a state of chronic metabolic imbalance from long-term insulin resistance, such simple fixes often generate surprisingly different results. How many times has someone said, “It’s my metabolism” when commenting on their weight, or complained about “starving” themselves while still putting on pounds? With insulin resistance, even a small amount of calories can still result in obesity, due to the impaired ability to burn fuel and an enhanced tendency to create and store new fat deposits.

Increasing Fat Storage
Insulin resistance often triggers a sharp craving for carbohydrates, especially late in the evening. As cellular metabolism drops, fatigue sets in as energy levels plummet. This has a particularly profound effect on the brain, which normally demands up to 25 percent of the body’s glucose reserves for supporting mental functions. As cognitive functions become impaired, headaches and depression occur more frequently. To improve mood and generate a quick lift many people reach for a bagel, a doughnut or some other refined carbohydrate to quickly elevate blood sugar levels. And while this time-proven approach delivers relief, the fix is only temporary. As insulin clears sugar from the blood stream (by converting it into fat) energy levels plummet, leading to another round of intense carb cravings that are almost impossible to resist.

As the condition worsens, metabolic syndrome adds another perverse twist by producing additional metabolic abnormalities that can actually speed up fat creation and increase weight. As blood chemistry is altered, triglycerides begin to affect muscle cells, increasing their resistance to insulin while reducing their ability to burn calories. Triglycerides also alter adipose (fat) cells, making them increasingly resistant to the effects of insulin. In time the process becomes a one-way valve, with elevated insulin levels blocking the processes that normally release fat for energy production. The net effect is that as insulin levels rise, fat is created at an accelerated rate.

Loss of Growth Hormone, Lean Muscle Mass
Another effect of elevated glucose and insulin levels is the suppression of growth hormone. Normally released by the pineal gland at night, growth hormone aids in burning fat and maintaining lean body tissues (muscle) during the sleep cycle. This explains why it is so important for anyone trying to lose body fat to avoid late dinners and bedtime snacks — by disrupting the nightly regenerative actions of human growth hormone (hGH), elevated insulin accelerates premature aging and reduces cellular metabolism, leading to further increases in body fat and loss of lean body mass. Because eating to avoid nighttime carb cravings is beyond most people's will power, suppression of the benefits of growth hormone because of insulin resistance is a sure thing.

Riding High on the Carb Cycle - The Trouble with Diets
Americans are obsessed with dieting, and traditional diets have focused on restricting caloric intake by restricting fats and increasing intake of carbohydrates. In the early ‘90s nutritional researchers noted that diets high in carbohydrates—particularly those recommended by the 1992 food pyramid — actually increased the numbers of people diagnosed with obesity and diabetes. At the same time researchers developed the glycemic index to show how different foods raise insulin levels at different rates. Diets high in sugars, refined starches and carbohydrates were shown to have a high glycemic index, causing a rapid increase in high blood sugar levels and insulin production.

As the public became more aware of the link between carbohydrates and obesity, a number of new diets began to reshape the weight loss industry. Diets promoted by Dr. Atkins, Barry Sears and others, promoted a sharp reduction in carbohydrate intake to 1) reduce insulin production and 2) increase the body’s ability to burn fat. Initially many people found that they could forgo carbs for short periods of time and enjoy rapid reductions in body fat while improving the profile of their blood lipids (fats). Unfortunately, because low-carb diets fail to address all of the long-term metabolic disturbances caused by insulin resistance, many people find such diets are extremely difficult to maintain over the long-term.

As a result interest in low-carb diets is on the decline and low-carb products are disappearing from store shelves. And while a low-carb diet can improve blood chemistry and lead to a rapid loss of body fat, this short-term fix may not be enough to quickly overcome long-term alterations in the body’s master gland – the hypothalamus — triggered after years of trying to reduce elevated insulin levels.

Unlocking the Hypothalamus-Insulin Link
It is an integral component of the limbic system that maintains homeostatic balance by regulating hunger, thirst, body temperature and circadian cycles. Just as the pancreas monitors glucose and increases insulin production to bring blood sugar levels down, the hypothalamus monitors insulin and attempts to restore balance when levels become dangerously high. Since the best way to bring insulin down is to increase glucose, the hypothalamus responds to chronically elevated insulin levels by sending out signals — hunger pangs —to force the body to eat and thereby increase glucose levels. Given the number of abnormal signals coursing through the body, most people eventually surrender to the inexorable weight of the hypothalamus demanding food to offset the elevated insulin levels— and the quickest way to accomplish this is to ingest more carbohydrates.

The Failure of Weight Loss Supplements
Just as metabolic syndrome works against many caloric- and carb-restricting diets, the presence of deeply entrenched metabolic abnormalities also undermines the expected benefits of many over the counter weight-loss supplements. While it is easy to demonstrate that certain substances have been shown to enhance metabolism and fat-burning in animal and laboratory settings, when unleashed upon a metabolic system already out of balance and on the verge of collapse, many products fail to deliver significant results. If the tank in your car is empty and the engine barely running, pouring fuel additives into the gas tank will not increase performance. The underlying problem has to be corrected first.

Long Term Health Threat from Metabolic Syndrome
In addition to promoting obesity and diabetes, metabolic syndrome also causes numerous metabolic changes that are associated with a number of chronic degenerative diseases. When insulin levels are depleted, cellular energy levels plummet and biological functions are severely impaired. Additionally, excess glucose binds to proteins and cell structures, causing damage to blood vessels, eyes, and other organs. For example, diabetics are five times more likely to develop cerebrovascular, peripheral vascular and coronary artery diseases than are non-diabetics. Glucose has also been shown to promote inflammation, a recognized risk factor for immune-related diseases and cancer. Additionally, by elevating blood levels of fatty acids, especially triglycerides, metabolic syndrome contributes to atherosclerosis and related vascular diseases.

The Pharmacology (and Pharmacopia) of Metabolic Syndrome
Because insulin resistance often develops over long periods of time, a number of secondary conditions — all related to metabolic syndrome — can occur at different times. As a result, many symptoms end up being diagnosed and treated as though they were separate and unrelated conditions. Without identifying and correctly addressing the underlying condition, many patients endure a wide range of treatments that can include:

• Statin drugs to lower cholesterol and triglycerides
• Meds to increase HDL (good cholesterol) levels
• Antidepressants for depression and mood swings
• ACE-inhibiters and beta-blockers for hypertension
• Anti-thrombolytic drugs to reduce blood clots and thin blood
• Growth Hormone replacement therapy
• Meds to block excess cortisol and restore androgen levels
• Appetite-suppressing drugs, stimulants and starch blockers to lose weight
• Drugs and/or laser surgery for eyes damaged by destruction of microcapillaries in the retina
• Diuretics to reduce fluid retention
• Cataract surgery to repair lenses damaged by AGEs produced by elevated glucose
• Stomach reduction surgery for morbid obesity
• Meds to fight insomnia and restore sleep patterns

The Herbal Solution for Obesity and Insulin Resistance
In the 1980s Chinese doctors became alarmed by reports of sharp increases in the incidence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer. Noting that the conditions were linked with the relatively recent increase in Chinese citizens adopting Western eating habits, leading Chinese doctors began to prescribe a number of modern Western drugs to treat the disorders. Soon, though, a number of medical experts expressed concern that, in addition to presenting serious side effects, the drugs were failing to address the root of the problem, namely the underlying disruption of normal metabolic processing and energy production.

The most important therapeutic principle in Chinese medicine is to treat both acute symptoms and the cause of a problem at the same time. Based on this principle, Chinese researchers turned to traditional herbs that were well studied and widely used for diabetes. After almost ten years of clinical evaluation a team of doctors at Shanghai People’s Hospital introduced MetaPhase, a unique herbal blend that effectively countered insulin resistance, lowered blood sugar levels and restored healthy pancreatic function.

In clinical tests the herbal ingredients were also shown to restore health by countering the wide range of disorders that accompany diabetes, such as cardiovascular disease, degenerative eye conditions, skin ulcerations, limb numbness and pain, and kidney dysfunction.

Dr. Chuang is a researcher who specialized in treating diabetes with both Western drugs and Chinese medicinal therapies. He is also a Type 2 diabetic who has successfully brought his own blood sugar levels into normal range using MetaPhase. The following clinic reports are representative of the results achieved by Dr. Chuang using the MetaPhase formulas for his Type II diabetics, including those who were using insulin to control blood sugar levels.

Type II Diabetics using MetaPhase formulas to control blood sugar levels may also experience improvement in related morbidity factors, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, nephropathy and neuropathy. Patients with these conditions should continue to be monitored by their physician for changes in their condition and modify medications as necessary.

Summary
MetaPhase is a unique herbal supplement that aids in restoring normal blood sugar regulation and healthy insulin production to support recovery from insulin resistance, a primary cause of obesity and obesity-related disorders. In addition to reversing metabolic and chemical disturbances generated from long-term exposure to elevated insulin and blood glucose levels, MetaPhase can also aid in controlling food craving to assist in safe and natural weight loss.