You need oxygen to start a fire. More oxygen = more burn = more fuel is used and less left overs i.e. better glycaemic control : insulin resistance “sorted”
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A miracle “cure” for insulin resistance EXPLAINED
You need oxygen to start a fire. More oxygen = more burn = more fuel is used and less left overs i.e. better glycaemic control : insulin resistance “sorted”
When you’re insulin resistant your muscles can’t start a fire. Not the kind of fire Bruce Springsteen sung about – a REAL FIRE. And it matters.
Fire making 101
Not sure if you’ve ever had to make a fire. It’s not something we’re all super familiar with in the modern era.
Back in the day, I was a girl guide and a BIG PART of the curriculum was fire making.
Multiple BADGES depended on you being able to get a fire going and keep it going, with no more than 2 matches.
No lighter. No special bricks.
Now the key to successful fire making is all in the technique……..
Gathering sticks fuel
Step one is to have fuel to burn – you need easy stuff and BIG stuff, in that order. If you want my opinion, the fuel collecting step is by far the most challenging step. As a girl guide, I can remember scurrying around desperately looking for something “dry” in midsummer.
But this is not the reason muscles are having difficulties.
They enjoy ROOM SERVICE, the fuel is thoughtfully delivered by insulin.
Muscle problems come in a step two fail….
The little tepee
You can’t just throw the dry twigs on the ground, strike a match and WAHLLA. To get your fire going, you’ve got to construct a little tepee, to allow the air to flow.
And once you strike the match….
You might also need to blow a little to stoke the flame.
Because fires NEED oxygen.
This requirement holds for REAL WORLD fires as well as the biochemical fires.
The oxygen factor
For mitochondria to be firing on ALL FOUR cylinders, oxygen is a requirement.
It allows OXPHOS (oxidative phosphorylation) to happen.
And this burn creates LOTS of energy.
And LOTS OF BURN.
The benefit of this, more fuel is used. Sugar is greedily taken on board by cells, leaving less sugar circulating i.e. better glycemic control. And this translates to a whole lot less trouble.
But isn’t burning BAD ?
When you’re insulin resistant fuel excess is typically seen as the problem, which is why you’re advised to…..
Just eat less and move more.
The concern about the presence of lots of fuel is oxidative stress.
Crazy electrons come with THE BURN
The belief is that when you’re burning more fuel, you generate more energy crazed electrons. And you do……….
But this isn’t a problem.
It’s a thought error, because when mitochondria are firing well, they signal to all and sundry that the furnaces have been stoked and this triggers all the anti-oxidant defenders to mobilize.
So all but a few free radicals are neutralized.
And inflammation is nipped in the bud.
So despite rumors to the contrary, more fuel BURNING is a good thing – more fuel NOT BURNING, is the health risk.
Unburned fuel creates chaos
If it’s unburnt fats – you get fat and unburnt sugar shreds blood vessels. In the case of the high levels of circulating sugars, fingers are pointed at beta cells……
They aren’t producing enough insulin to signal to get the cells to take up the sugar.
Because the cells are RESISTING insulin.
Bullying the beta cells into producing MORE insulin is the next SOLUTION.
Lack of FIRE the root cause
Both “Eating less & Moving more” and “Prodding beta cells to produce more insulin” can and does help, in the short term.
But neither approaches address the compromised burn.
Reasoning that this should be high on the agenda, a team of German researchers set out to LIGHT some muscle FIRES.
Working with muscle flops
The muscles they were working with were like many metabolically challenged muscles, not in a position to help, they belonged to morbidly obese, card carrying type 2 diabetics.
Since there is NO BURN without oxygen, the team blew LOTS of oxygen into the muscles by subjecting them to a single 2 hour session in a bariatric chamber, followed by a hyperinsulineamic-euglycaemic clamp.
And then they explored what happened. …
Muscles loved it
When the oxygen dial in the chamber was set to 100 % and the pressure was ramped up….. the muscles sucked up the sugar AND BURNED IT. The blue line shows how quickly the sugar was cleared.
Time course of plasma glucose levels in humans with type 2 diabetes before and after a two 2 h session in a hyperbaric chamber with either 100% O2 (HBO) or 21% O2 ambient air (CON) or CON. © 2022, Theresia Sarabhai et al.
The BURN was significantly higher.
Skeletal muscle maximum mitochondrial respiration with electron input through CI + CII combined after HBO or CON treatment in humans with type 2 diabetes. © 2022, Theresia Sarabhai et al
And as expected, oxidative stress went up, but no worries……………. so did the anti-oxidant defenses.
Skeletal muscle maximum mitochondrial production of H2O2 (a measure of oxidative stress) alongside the ratio of reduced/oxidised glutathione (GSH/GSSG) levels (a measure of anti-oxidant capacity) © 2022, Theresia Sarabhai et al
And finally insulin sensitivity improved. This was measured by looking at the molecular response to insulin – Akt is the enzyme that insulin triggers.
Levels of insulin signaling after HBO or CON in humans with type 2 diabetes. © 2022, Theresia Sarabhai et al.
Muscles cells were not the only ones to benefit – the same result was seen in liver and fat cells.
It’s a MIRACLE !
So what just happened ?
The high oxygen concentration combined with the pressure pushed oxygen deep into the tissues.
And that oxygen stoked the mitochondrial furnaces.
It momentary “fixed” the problem………
The delivery of oxygen was able to facilitate the deliveries OF EVERYTHING else !
Burn baby, burn
If you’re metabolically challenged…………
Facilitating deliveries of oxygen should be on your agenda.
Hanging out in a bariatric chamber will do it.
A single session will move the needle, multiple sessions will do more.
Unfortunately, this is not terribly practical for the average diabetic. Chambers like these are high ticket items, found in select locations – they’re difficult and expensive to access.
NOTE : Don’t make the mistake of thinking those cute little fabric chambers you can buy online DO THE SAME THING – they don’t. You need both high oxygen concentrations and PRESSURE to drive the oxygen deep into the tissues. This can’t be done safely in a home environment.
But there are OTHER options….
To improve deliveries of oxygen and EVERYTHING ELSE.
Visit this library page to explore more options. If you haven’t got the time or inclination to STUDY UP and/or you are looking for more personalized help, sign up for day of Voxer.
Further reading
PGC1 alpha in insulin resistance
When you’re insulin resistant, fuels are accumulating both inside the cell, as well as, in your circulation – part of the problem, is your cellular furnaces, are on the fritz.
Improving sugar control requires better pipes NOT MORE INSULIN
In people with poorer glycemic control the blood is not flowing as well – contributing to this problem is a collapse in the blood network infrastructure.
The origin of that low grade inflammation
The ratio of insulin to c-peptide, impacts how well blood vesseld dilate. Too much insulin is devastating – it causes low grade inflammation. F