Transcript Of Today's Episode
Dr.Martin Jr: You're listening to the Doctor's In podcast for martinclinic.com. Although we share a lot of practical, and in our opinion awesome information, what you hear on this podcast is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes, so enjoy.
Dr. Martin Sr.: Well hello. I'm Dr. Martin Sr., flying solo to do [00:00:30] our podcast number 190. Doing this all alone again, Tony Jr.'s busy. Keeping quite busy. Which is good, he does all the research. I see patients, okay. So I'm the clinic guy and anyway, things are very busy at the clinic. I'm very much appreciated of the staff [00:01:00] and everybody at the Martin Clinic. They make my job so much easier. But today what we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about insulin, insulin, insulin, insulin. Okay? Now you guys hear us talking about insulin every day and keeping your insulin down, okay, I'm writing a new book right now. We're going to have a couple of books probably coming out in the fall but one of them is... And I don't even know what we're going to call it because I write the book and then we just play with titles.
Dr. Martin Sr.: [00:01:30] I came up with that title Serial Killers, two hormones that want you dead. I don't know if you knew that story or not but I was sitting one night watching a show. You know that show that used to follow those serial killers all the time. It just even escapes me. But one of the episodes, they actually had two serial killers and they were mimicking each other, [00:02:00] okay. The FBI was... About three quarters of the way through the episode they figured out there wasn't just one serial killer, there was two. I mean it literally that jumped at me and I said, "That's the name of my new book. Serial Killers. Two serial killers. Two hormones that want you dead." Guess what they were. Insulin and cortisol. Insulin is a food hormone. [00:02:30] Every time you eat you need insulin. It's just as simple as that.
Dr. Martin Sr.: I mean insulin does other things. I call insulin the traffic cop. Okay. The more carbs you eat, the more sugary foods you eat, the more grains you eat. The more the traffic cop, it's like I don't know about your hometown but about a week before Christmas in Sudbury, we [00:03:00] live in northern Ontario here. A week before Christmas it's always... You want to see the craziest place, is either at one of our local mall here or at Costco. I tell this to my patients. My patients from out of town, when they come from northern Ontario, I said when I see them once I say, "Okay. I'm going to see you again. When do you want to come to Costco again?" Then I say, "Well then [00:03:30] I'll rebook you so I can do a follow up." But the week before Christmas Costco and the mall, they have to get cops to direct traffic because there's so much traffic.
Dr. Martin Sr.: When you think of insulin, think of a traffic cop. Because your sugar in your bloodstream... So when you eat a carb and you eat grains, you know, bread, pasta, rice, cereal, sugar, sweets, pastries, juice, milk, alcohol. [00:04:00] When you have carbohydrates you're creating a traffic jam in your blood of sugar. And your body tightly regulates sugar. It cannot allow sugar to stay. It's like Costco. It's got to get off the road and into the parking lot which is usually your liver. So it's very tightly regulated and the insulin guys is the devil. Because it converts all your calories to fat. [00:04:30] It stores fat on your hips, your belly and your back and especially in your liver, which is very, very dangerous. Insulin prevents your body from using fat as a fuel. Even if you exercise like crazy.
Dr. Martin Sr.: You can never out exercise a bad diet. Insulin keeps you hungry. Because insulin takes your blood glucose, okay. [00:05:00] It's high. Let's follow a donut for a second, okay. You have a donut. A lot of people start their day with a... Like Tony Jr. says, like a muffin, "That's a piece of cake." It's just fooling yourself. You're eating a piece of cake. You know that Tim Horton's muffins have eight teaspoons of sugar in them. Minimum. Some of them have 12 teaspoons of sugar. Oh but doc, it's a carrot muffin. It [00:05:30] must be good for me. No it's not. The carrots in there don't help you one iota. They're negated by all the sugar that's in there. But what happens is that when you have something like that, your insulin is secreted to take that sugar that's there out of the bloodstream and it has to store it.
Dr. Martin Sr.: So what it does is it takes blood sugar out and it takes the sugar, the glucose out of your bloodstream, [00:06:00] and so it sinks your blood sugars down after that. Its job is to... You can't have sugar stay in your bloodstream. Your body knows how to get sugar out of your bloodstream because you can't leave sugar in your bloodstream even for an hour two. It starts creating damage to your blood vessels. Folks, that's how you get atherosclerosis. You don't get it from cholesterol. You get it from sugars. [00:06:30] Sugars destroy your blood vessels. People that are diabetic or whatever, should know this. Think about it for a minute. Okay. Because why are diabetics always in trouble with their eyes and their kidneys and their circulation in the legs and they're much more prone to heart disease than the average population. That's because sugar destroy, they can't get rid of their sugars.
Dr. Martin Sr.: So when they have high blood sugar, they're insulin's not working [00:07:00] properly. The problem with insulin is what drives insulin up is carbohydrates. And a lot of times a lot of people mistake the idea of what they call good carbs. Okay. That freshly squeezed orange juice. The banana that you eat. Even the apple that you eat. Guys, look. I don't want to be extreme but I have to be [00:07:30] because we live in a different world today. We were never meant to consume the 200 lbs of sugar a year that the average North... Listen, even in the United States it's worse than Canada. They consume more sugar than we do. It adds up. So all I'm saying is that even, look, insulin keeps you hungry. Insulin prevents you from using fat as fuel. [00:08:00] Insulin stores fat in your hips, and your belly, in your back, in your liver. It converts your calories to fat. To fat.
Dr. Martin Sr.: This is why I'm always telling people I know, I'm tough on you in a way but I'm trying to get your insulin down. I'm trying to save your life, okay. So don't pretend that if you are eating carbs, [00:08:30] that you're going to get away with it forever, okay. If you're a carboholic, don't pretend, don't fool yourself. Just remember that. So go a few day guys. What I'm trying to do here is get you to reset the body in a way. If you want you can literally reset your pancreas and reset your insulin by changing your diet and it doesn't take long to have major [00:09:00] benefits. It really doesn't. It is incredible how fast. So eat fat for a few days. Lots, of lots of lots of fat. Like eggs and bacon and cheese. Even a little bit of whip cream if you want. Fat does not raise your blood sugar. Fat doesn't. Protein does. Not like carbs do but protein will elevate your blood sugar.
Dr. Martin Sr.: Now it's much better... [00:09:30] I always say protein is fantastic, we don't get enough protein in our diets. But the only way to lose fat is to eat fat. Fat doesn't raise your blood sugar. It doesn't raise insulin. When you don't raise insulin you're not storing fat. That's why I always say, "Eskimos don't get heart disease." When you look at a Sumo wrestler, [00:10:00] okay, how does a Sumo wrestler get to be that size? I mean they live in Japan just like all those tiny Japanese but what they do is they become carboholics. They eat nothing but noodles. They eat a North American version of the Japanese diet. Because they live just on noodles and rice. That's what they do to fatten up. If you want to fatten [00:10:30] up and you want to be in trouble, I'm just going to go through a typical diet that will put you in trouble, give you lots of insulin.
Dr. Martin Sr.: You have cereal in the morning. You have muffin in the morning. You have a bagel in the morning. Or you go even to your McDonald's and have a breakfast sandwich. Guys, it's not the sausage, it's not the bacon. It's not the eggs. It's the bread. "Well Dr. Martin, I'm having [00:11:00] an English muffin." I don't care. It's still bread. "Oh doc, I'm having a pita." Like a pita. A wrap. It's still bread. And when you're trying to lose weight, if you cannot lose weight without getting your insulin down. Remember what insulin does. It stores fat. Insulin does not allow [00:11:30] you to... It prevents you from using a fat as fuel and it stores fat. Everywhere especially on your hips, belly and your back. And in your liver. It's converting all your calories to fat so what happens when you're eating cereals or muffins or a bagel. Or you're having orange juice and at lunch you might have a sandwich.
Dr. Martin Sr.: I know, you're going to work. I mean you know, what do I make doc. Like it's hard. You got to understand doc. [00:12:00] I'm so used... Sandwiches are easy. I understand that but listen, if you're trying to keep your insulin down. You want to get your insulin resistance down. You're having a banana or a apple juice. Or a soda even. And at night you're having spaghetti or french bread and you're having a beer. You're having wine. These are problems because of the world we live in. [00:12:30] And in my opinion, what you got to do okay, look, I'm going to be much more specific in this. You need to cut out... If you do nothing else, here's what you do. Just make it a point, no more soda. You're drinking Pepsi, or you're having a Coke. No more of that. So stop doing it. Now it's not easy. No big change you make in your life is easy. I know that. And I know one thing, I know enough about human psychology [00:13:00] to be dangerous, okay.
Dr. Martin Sr.: But I remember taking Psychology 101 in university and this is what I remember. It takes three weeks to form a habit. Yes. That's why the gyms are full in January and empty in February. It takes three weeks. "Oh doc, I thought you were going to give me a pill. And that was going to do everything for me." Nah. That ain't going to happen. Any change you have in your life... I told a lady in my office today. I said, "Look at me. Look [00:13:30] me right in the eyeballs." Because this person was very unwell. Had a very severe autoimmune disease. And I said, "Look. The biggest change you're going to make in your life is the change that you make in your diet. The change you make in your diet. Your new medicine is food. And I am going to be a dog on a bone with you because if [00:14:00] you have to trust me that I know what I'm talking about, after 45 years of experience in the nutritional field. I tell you, you have to lower your carbs and your crappy grains. I don't care if it's... "Oh doc, it's whole wheat." So what! It's still going to take an enormous amount of insulin to break that down and insulin is the devil."
Dr. Martin Sr.: [00:14:30] Insulin is the devil and you need to get it down. So if you can cut out your fruit juices. Never drink another ounce. And for you folks that have smoothies. Even giving your kids smoothies. Now smoothies made with a few berries, I got no problem with that. You make protein. I actually got Dr. Martin's perfect smoothie, where I use 35% whip cream. Like I mean it tastes like Mc Donald's. [00:15:00] A milkshake with no sugar. With no sugar. You can give kids a smoothie with protein powder and 35% whip cream. I mean there's absolutely no sugar. Put a few berries. I got no problem with having a little bit of fruit in there. I wouldn't even put a banana in there, it's too sweet. Okay. If you can get away without putting a banana in there, don't put a banana in there. Like I see it in the malls. "Oh come in for our healthy [00:15:30] smoothies."
Dr. Martin Sr.: And they got about like about 40, 50 grams of sugar in there. I know it's fruit and this and that and doc, it's mangoes and this and that. Yeah, but at the end of the day now you're still going to need a fair amount of insulin. It's going to elevate your blood glucose. And you're going to store fat. In the presence of fat you're storing fat. You got an insulin... Is the devil. [00:16:00] Okay. Try a burger at lunch without the bun. Have some cheese on it. You won't be hungry after that. I even know that some of the restaurants now are wrapping it with lettuce or whatever. That's your bun, right? But yeah. There's some good things you can have. Good fats are found in fish and grass fed beef and... Even try macadamia nuts. Macadamia nuts [00:16:30] are a tremendous, tremendous... It's got a better ratio of Omega 6 to 3. Olives.
Dr. Martin Sr.: You can try MCT oil. MCT oil is a derivative, it is an extract of coconut oil. And coconut oil is good by the way. And MCT oil, is a medium chain fatty acid. It burns differently. It actually helps you to burn ketones in your liver so it's actually good. But some people [00:17:00] have trouble with that. It's a very heavy oil and sometimes they can get some digestive issues. Olive oil. Very, very healthy fat. Bad fats, bad fats, bad fats are extra crispy chicken, french fries, croissants, margarine, most salad dressings unless you're using olive oil. I love making my salad dressing. I love balsamic vinegar. [00:17:30] Very, very alkaline. Very good for you. Balsamic. Excellent. I love olive oil. Be careful with any seed oil. Stay away from corn oil. Even flaxseed. Somebody asked me about flaxseed the other day and I was saying, "Look. I liked the seeds." Flaxseeds are very, very good for you but not the flaxseed oil.
Dr. Martin Sr.: Be careful. It doesn't have the benefits [00:18:00] of the lignans which is... Flaxseeds are tremendous for men and women because they block extra estrogen. So flaxseeds because of lignans, but eat the seeds. And by the way, you do not have to crush... You know this ground, you got to have ground flaxseed. Well no you don't have to have ground flaxseed because you've got... Your stomach grinds up the seeds. You don't need ground flaxseed as if your stomach isn't ready [00:18:30] to grind up your seeds. Your stomach can do it, you don't have to do it. I always tell people, "who told you that?" Well the internet told me that. Well so what. And stay away from soybean and corn oil and peanut oil. Even almond oil. Don't consume that. Eat the almonds. And have peanut butter like me. Yeah, and you know fiber's often over-rated. The whole grain, you know useless [00:19:00] fiber.
Dr. Martin Sr.: It just makes... Oh I get bigger bowel movements. Well whoopee doopie for you. Right? Who cares if you have big bowel movements. What's that got to do with anything. Usually if you have a big bowel movement it's because you're consuming too many carbohydrates. They're like sponges in your gut. So eat eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Eat the yolk. 50% of your protein is in there. 100% of your B vitamins [00:19:30] are in there. And 100% of the fat is found in the yolk. So people that tell me they only eat egg whites, I say, "Well okay. Now you're not getting any vitamins. You're getting some protein, 50% of it. The other 50 is in the yolk. But why are you not eating egg yolks?" "Well Dr. Martin, it makes cholesterol." Oh, I go crazy when I hear it. I'm tell you folks, you want to elevate my [00:20:00] cortisol. My stress hormone. Is start talking to me about cholesterol.
Dr. Martin Sr.: It does not elevate your serum cholesterol. You could have 100 eggs a week and it won't elevate your serum cholesterol. As a matter of fact it'll only elevate your good cholesterol which is your HDL so eat more eggs, meat and cheese. Okay. So anyway. It's very important to keep your insulin down. Insulin is a [00:20:30] death hormone. You don't want to have elevated levels of insulin and it's very, very important to keep insulin down. Insulin is your enemy. It is your enemy. And you only want to secrete a little wee bit of it. So really, really be careful with the carbohydrates and especially sugar. If you do nothing else for yourself. If you do nothing else for yourself. If you will get [00:21:00] the sugar out of your diet, you are making an enormous change for your diet, your body, your body will be very thankful. Your pancreas will give you a high five. It will love you dearly if you cut out sugar.
Dr. Martin Sr.: If you can do more than that and cut out the carbohydrates, you do... Listen, if your body needs glucose you know what, it'll take a piece of steak and turn it into sugar. So to say that your body needs [00:21:30] carbohydrates, well it don't need many. I can tell you that. And we are carboholics today in this day and age. Okay, thanks for listening to another rant. We've gone on again today and you guys have been great. We really appreciate it. Tony Jr. and I want to just tell you how much we appreciate our audience and if you have any topics that you would like for me or Tony Jr. to cover in future podcasts, you [00:22:00] send us off an email. We have a tremendous group. The Martin Clinic group on Facebook and you know what? Boy we get a lot of questions. A lot of feedback. I love watching people give each other the answers. It's really good.
Dr. Martin Sr.: I love patient education by the way. I told a patient in my office today. I said, "You're pumping up my tires." And what I mean by that, I had this [00:22:30] lady come in and she had really made changes in her diet. I was just so proud of her. It wasn't easy but she really did it and thousands of patients every year do it. They actually makes these changes. But I said but that's what pumps my tires up. Because I get so excited when I see people making changes in their life. It's never easy but boy are they worthwhile. You know what. You can make an investment, and you can put your money away for retirement. I'm not telling you not do that. It's [00:23:00] always a good idea to plan and plan for your future and that's fine. Those things are wonderful. But I'm going to tell you something. A lot of people put money away and they plan but they'll never get to spend it and the reason is their family will spend it and the reason is because they're not healthy.
Dr. Martin Sr.: And guys, you can't buy health when you lose it. You can't buy it. Not all the tea in China. Made Steve Jobs got rid of his cancer once he got pancreatic cancer. [00:23:30] All the tea in China. If anybody could've had a cure for pancreatic cancer, if you had to pay for it, would've been him. But not all the tea in China, folks. When you get certain diseases and modern medicine, it's good. Where modern medicine is good is when you hit by a truck and they can keep you alive and it's amazing what they can do or you have a heart attack. But you know what. How about not getting any of those things if you can... You [00:24:00] can't control the bus. You get hit by a truck or whatever. But you can control what you eat. And this is why we're always constantly preaching the importance of prevention. Just make changes. Like I said, I took enough psychology in university. Human psychology to be dangerous but one thing I learned, three weeks to form a habit.
Dr. Martin Sr.: You got to trust and you can trust. You can do this. And lower that insulin because it's one of the death [00:24:30] hormones. Okay, thanks again for listening until the next time.
Dr. Martin Sr.: Thanks for listening to the Doctor's In podcast from martinclinic.com. If you have any questions, you can reach us at info@martinclinic.com. If you're not a newsletter subscriber you can head to our website and sign up for free. We also have a private Facebook group that you can join. It's a community of awesome people. [00:25:00] Finally, I do a Facebook live every Thursday morning at 8:30. Join us again next week for a new episode.