Here’s the bottom line.  The Incretin hormones Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) and Gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) are secreted by cells in the intestinal tract in response to what we eat.  Fat stimulates them much more strongly than protein or carbohydrate and they do all kinds of good things like:

 

 

Also a new receptor in the gut called the G Protein-coupled Bile Acid Receptor (GPBAR-1)  has been recently discovered.  This receptor senses the release of bile acids from the gall bladder.  When it is stimulated more of the thyroid hormone T4 is converted to the active form T3 which increases the body’s metabolic rate aiding weight loss.

“The pharmaceutical industry has certainly figured out how beneficial medicines that stimulate the Incretins (GLP-1 and GIP) and how lucrative medicine that stimulate GPBAR-1 receptors could be and they have been quick to flood the market with Incretin based medications and are feverishly working on medicines that stimulate GPBAR-1 receptors.  This is big business, Americans spend seven and a half BILLION dollars on the top 10 diabetes medicines per year.  3 of them work by increasing incretins (Januvia, Victoza and Janumet) the other 7 are all various forms of insulin.  And of course insulin in the long run just makes diabetes get worse as Dr. Fung explains in this short video. 

 

Here’s a slide from a presentation to doctors about the new Incretin drugs encouraging them to use them more and earlier which isn’t a bad idea but wouldn’t it be better to do it naturally by simply upping the fat in the diet and lowering the carbs.

 

Eating fat increases the Incretins GLP-1 and GIP in 2 different ways.   We have Free Fatty Acid Receptors (FFARs) which detect the fat we eat throughout our gut.  GLP-1 is secreted from L-Cells.  When Free Fatty Acid Receptor cells detect fat they stimulate the release of GLP-1 as this article shows.  The more fat you eat the more bile is secreted from your gall bladder to help digest the fat.  It turns out that bile also stimulates the release of GLP-1 from L-cells.  Here’s a quote from this article:  “Bile acids are well-recognized stimuli of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion.”

 

So if you have the Metabolic Syndrome with obesity, high blood pressure and high blood triglycerides you are definitely on the way to diabetes.  Time to get off that train and one of the best ways to do that is to eat a lot more fat.  Here’s why I think animal fats are superior to plant fats in that regard.   And if you think that a high fat diet is going to give you a heart attack, that discredited theory has been shown to have no basis in science in books like Nina Teicholz tour de force “The Big Fat Surprise”.  Heart attacks are caused by sugar and/or tobacco use.  I reviewed the evidence for that in this post.  So stop fearing fat, it’s one of the best things you can put in your mouth.

 

If you would like to discuss this further or have other data, please join my Facebook Group “Zero Carb Doc”, email me at ZeroCarbDoc@gmail.com or comment on this post.  

If you missed my last post called “New Study! – The Metabolic Syndrome can be reversed by a Low Carb, High Fat diet” you can view it by CLICKING HERE.  

 

 

 

 

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