Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Schwarzbein Principle

I've heard wonderful things about this book, so I went ahead and ordered it. The premise is that out of control insulin levels are responsible for everything from belly fat to PMS. The "Schwarzbein Principle" is a controlled carb diet (15 at meals, 7.5 g at snacks) for a month of detox, or however long it takes to bring insulin and hormone levels back into balance.

I am in the very early stages and feel a bit off -- I gave up coffee and am now on day 4 without it. That is the hardest part. I actually don't crave carbs. I crave coffee! But I now understand that caffeine can stimulate insulin production -- leading to hunger -- and so I'm off the stuff. Day 2 was the worst with nausea and headaches. Who knew I was so addicted?

One image I am carrying around with me. Schwarzbein describes insulin resistance as cells having so much sugar (energy) stored up in them that they close their doors to insulin bringing in any more sugar. Controlling insulin through lower carbs will force these cells to dump out their sugar. I like the idea of having all this untapped energy just stored up inside me. Instead of feeling worn out and fatigued, it makes me feel like I am about to have a gigantic burst of energy start flowing through my veins!

12 comments:

Diane O'Connor said...

Great blog, Jacqueline! I will add you to my blogroll. I totally agree with you on the vaccine issue. Love the recipe for greens and Eckart Tolle is one of my favorite authors. So nice to have another women's wellness blog on blogger.

Dr. Mike Okouchi said...

Diana Schwarzbein writes a great book. I use a lot of her principles in my practice with great success. I'll ad you to my blog roll and thank you for your comment! Please feel free to join my Google connect on my blog Dr. Mike's health blog

Andrew Cowan said...

Thanks for your comment on my acid diet blog.

I actually gave up coffee at the start of May but don't notice much of a difference yet.

Nice blog. Even though I'm not a woman I'll be stopping by!

Viveca said...

I am interested to hear how you are feeling now?!

My husband and I gave up caffeine because it is one of the major triggers for migraines. We slipped up a couple weeks ago by drinking green tea thinking it was caffeine free. Oops. Days of migraines followed.

I hope you got off of it - not easy and the diet you are on makes sense ...

Do share!

Viveca

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Lisa Sargese said...

Thanks for leading me to that free adrenal profile! I'm cutting way way way back on caffeine and stimulants. The headaches are killer and I'm draggy all the time. I've radically changed my diet too. I wish you the best in your healing! We can restore ourselves to health, I have faith.

Mach Momma said...

Thanks for visiting my blog. The link to the article on Cushings/Addisons was so helpful. You have a great blog, please start up again!

Karlene said...

Thanks for the link on adrenals. Yes, it was a saliva and a urine test. Day two on the supplements and I'm feeling even better. Good luck.

Rochelle said...

Hi Jacqueline! Thanks for visiting my blog. Yours looks great too! I've added you to my google reader.

I recently gave up caffeine {soda}. Soooo hard!!! But just keep pushing through... you'll get there. It's so worth it in the end! But what I've found is the occasional one is still needed so I don't feel totally deprived. Best wishes!

Womb With A Story said...

Thank you for those sites. I have already been to those tho, lol, but thank you. :)

Holly said...

Do you have more energy without caffeine? I'd love to find a solution for feeling tired all the time.

Lynette Jacobs said...

Hi Jacqueline...thank you for the links to the woman-to-woman articles on adrenal fatigue and fibromyalgia...very informative.