The Morality of Hunger

I've recently learned, not to my surprise, that I am insulin resistant, a.k.a. pre-diabetes. I have a family history of diabetes but have pretty much ignored it until now because my fasting glucose tests generally have been within normal ranges. However, more recent and thorough testing has revealed insulin resistance as well a fasting glucose level that has increased toward the high end of so-called "normal" according to even ADA diagnostic criteria.

When reviewing these test results with a new doctor, I was told that raging hunger can be a symptom of insulin resistance, with the strange effect that one can eat and remain hungry or become more hungry after awhile. When I got home, I started doing some online research and found an amazing website called Blood Sugar 101 and its companion, What They Don't Tell You About Low-Carb Diets.

While it is not true that all diabetics are overweight or that all overweight people are diabetic or pre-diabetic, for those of us who are both or suspect that there is something strange about our hunger patterns, the information all over these websites is invaluable. Of particular interest to me were the following pages:

Misdiagnosis by Design: The Story Behind the ADA Diagnostic Criteria

You Did Not Eat Your Way to Diabetes

A Diabetes Diet is Different from a Weight Loss Diet

Another good article is the following from the Blood Sugar 101 update blog:

Hunger is a Symptom

Our fat-hating society has transferred all the loathing we used to feel for blatant displays of greed, lust, and pride to a single sin, gluttony. The rest of those erstwhile sins now have transformed into the characteristics of the celebrities we admire.

This has had the unfortunate side effect of making people who find themselves feeling extremely hungry believe that they are suffering a moral lapse--gluttony--rather than recognizing that they are experiencing a medical symptom.

But the raging muchies--the kind of hunger that leaves you at the open fridge shoveling in everything in sight--is a symptom. You can induce it in an otherwise normal person with a couple of tokes of pot. You also see it in millions of otherwise normal women a few days before they get their period.

And sadly, it is a symptom that often emerges along with insulin resistance in people who have the genetic make up that leads to Type 2 diabetes because insulin resistance is a prime factor that leads to raging hunger.

Read the rest here.

There are also links to other helpful webpages and sites, including this:

The Truth About Bariatic Surgery

and... I love this one,

Low Carb Friends Forum - "Food Porn"