Michael Phelps at work

It should be pretty clear from the last two posts that sugar in the blood stream leads to the dangerous complications of diabetes.  Just as important as what is delivered to the blood vessels is how it leaves. The greatest source of energy demand is from the muscles.  If we don't use our muscles, they won't use up the sugar.  It is that plain and simple.  Conversely, when we actively use our muscles we turn into a blood sugar burning machine.  Well conditioned athletes use up a huge amount of sugar.  In the last Olympics, it was well documented that Michael Phelps, our gold medal, world record breaking swimmer, consumed around 9000 calories a day.  Most of those were in the form of carbohydrates.  That would put many of my diabetic patients in the hospital in a diabetic coma.  He had to consume that much to keep up with the amount of calories that his muscles were consuming due to his intense training.  However, I have witnessed many swim coaches who are over weight and at risk for diabetes.  The reason?  While they were actively training they developed a habit of heavy caloric intake which was not adequately scaled back when their training decreased.  The point is that exercise allows us to be able to eat more food.

One need not be an olympic swimmer to increase his ability to burn sugar.  Intensity matters but consistency is the key.  In the days when most of our population worked on farms, type II diabetes was not very common.  Today, where many of us work at computer screens or sitting down, the incidence is sky rocketing.  That is not a coincidence.  If you are not a construction worker or a farmer, you likely need more exercise.  I've discussed this in previous posts, but it does not matter what sort of activity you engage in as long as you are moving your muscles and getting your heart rate up.  The heart rate is an indicator that the muscles have used up their store of fuel and are calling out for a new delivery.  Whatever you choose to participate in, do it regularly.  It would be nice to be able to exercise just once a week for three hours and call it quits.  If we just ate once a week, I suppose that would work, but as long as we are putting fuel in the body, we need to keep the engine running.  I recently saw a patient in the office and I told him, "I'll make you a deal...you only have to exercise on the days that you eat."  The glimmer of hope that shone in his eyes as I started my sentence quickly turned to despair as he realized the point I was making.


I enjoy eating as much as anyone else.  I love ice cream.  I have been known to have a certain fondness for M&M's.  I realize that eating such items on a regular basis is a recipe for disaster.  Some years back to curb a nearly nightly habit of having ice cream, I put together my rules for eating.  I have followed these rules now for 15 years and I'll have to say that it has worked well for me.  During the week, I make sure and eat my five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  I avoid all sweets, junk food, and yes, even ice cream.  On the weekends, I can eat anything I want, if and only if, I have exercised at least four days during the week.  I'll admit that in the beginning, I over did it on the weekends.  By Sunday, I would often feel bloated, lethargic and I often battled headaches.  Monday would be a relief.  I now no longer go crazy and feel much better for it.  It is nice to be able to sit down and have a milkshake without guilt.  I view it as a reward rather than a transgression.  Since I have burned it, I earned it!

READ MORE - Diabetes Prevention-Earning Your Calories

I think this is now the fourth adventure of Acquisitions Incorporated as Mike Krahulik, Jerry Holkins, Scott Kurtz, and Wil Wheaton play Dungeons and Dragons. Above is part one of their adventure from PAX.

READ MORE - The Return of Acquisitions Incorporated

Trailer for Crysis mod The Worry of Newport. RPS says:

The Worry of Newport is as authentic a Lovecraft experience as I’ve ever played. Which is to say, it’s slow, wordy and takes itself very seriously indeed. However, it’s also atmospheric, creepy and mysterious.

You can watch a playthrough at Youtube.

READ MORE - The Worry of Newport

1. Collection of easter eggs from Deus Ex Human Revolution.



2. "The bizarre saga involving a lost prototype of the iPhone 5 has taken another interesting turn. Contradicting past statements that no records exist of police involvement in the search for the lost prototype, San Francisco Police Department spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield now tells SF Weekly that 'three or four' SFPD officers accompanied two Apple security officials in an unusual search of a Bernal Heights man's home."



3. The Grant Morrison interview got all the link love, but the truly interesting article in Rolling Stone is this one: How a high school jock from Texas rose to the top of one of Mexico's most powerful and ruthless cartels.

READ MORE - Link roundup

Trailer for Aliens Infestation shows off lots of gameplay. Via.



*Buy Alien toys by Neca at eBay.

READ MORE - Trailer for the DS game aliens Infestation

Spectacular stop-motion recreation of the Johnny Quest opening by Roger Evans and Brandi McAlister. It looks gorgeous in fullscreen. Lots and lots of making of pics here. Via.



*Buy Jonny Quest toys at eBay.

READ MORE - Stop-motion recreation of the Johnny Quest opening

JH Williams III posted a new page from Batwoman, which I cropped into this widescreen wallpaper.



*Previously: Variant Batwoman covers by Amy Reeder.



*Buy Batwoman toys at eBay.

READ MORE - Batwoman wallpaper

A few paintings from Joey Remmers's upcoming show at Corey Helford.

READ MORE - Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

1. Cool and creepy scene in Deus Ex Human Revolution.



2. Gallery 1988 posted the originals and prints from its Garbage Pail Kid-themed show.



3. Detailed description of Amazon's $250 tablet. Although, you have to take with a grain of salt a description that includes this line: "I’m not sure what the battery life is like (I only played with it for about an hour), but I imagine it is very good and in line with other tablets — 10 hours or so." Gizmodo created a mockup based on the description.



4. That totally wild One Piece figure I posted a few days ago is now available for preorder at the BBTS.



*Buy Garbage Pail Kids cards at eBay.

READ MORE - Link roundup

My favorites from Scott C's Zombie in Love show opening tomorrow at Gallery Nucleus:

READ MORE - Zombie in Love by Scott C.

Though there is not yet a cure for diabetes, type II diabetes is certainly preventable in most people.  Yes, some inherit a genetic tendency towards diabetes but that is not a guarantee of getting the disease.  As discussed in last week's post, the key to keeping diabetes at bay is to keep down the abdominal fat stores so that the pancreas does not become overworked.  Quite simply, if you are overweight you must burn more than you take in.  I realize that this is easier said than done.  I've discussed diet and exercise before but will readdress these topics with a specific emphasis on how diabetes is impacted.  I'll start with food intake and will discuss exercise next week.

First, let's talk about what is coming in.  If the goal is to minimize the amount of glucose (sugar) that reaches the blood vessels, sweets must be avoided. Table sugar is sucrose which chemically is composed of two glucose molecules stuck to each other.  It takes nearly no effort to split them in two.  Compare that to fructose, the molecule that fruit contains.  It is composed of one glucose molecule and another called galactose.  For the same amount of food ingested, there will be half as much sugar in whole fruit than in sweets.  In addition, fruit contains fiber, vitamins and other nutrients all of which are healthy.  The fiber makes the body work harder to digest the food and thus delays how quickly the nutrients reach the blood stream.  In addition to sweets, some foods have a much higher glycemic index than others.  Think of the glycemic index as how much sugar a given food delivers to the blood vessels.  Cereals are notoriously high, though the higher fiber cereals are much better than the others.  Bread, pasta and potatoes are also high glycemic foods.  Whole grains are always better than processed ones.  The bran and fiber in whole grains makes it harder to digest and will therefore deliver less sugar to the blood stream.  For more details about the glycemic index of specific foods, click here.

In addition to the types of food we eat, the amount eaten is just as important.  Our body uses sugar to meet its metabolic demands.  If too much glucose is delivered, it will get stored either in the liver as long chains called glycogen or be processed into fat stores.  If small amounts of food are eaten frequently, total calorie consumption will not need to be decreased in order to keep the weight stable.  In fact one of the worst things someone can do when trying to lose weight is to skip meals.  When going too long between meals, the body does not receive the nutrients that it needs so it enters starvation mode.  Signals are then sent throughout the body to turn down metabolism, lessening energy demand.  In addition, cortisol is released from the adrenal gland.  One of its effects is to decrease the sensitivity to insulin, thus raising blood sugar. It is best to have healthy food nearby during the day.  Just a few grapes or a bite or two of carrots will keep down hunger and maintain the metabolism.  Keep it small and keep it healthy.  

Lastly, eating a large meal late in the evening prior to going to bed is a recipe for disaster.  Very few of those calories will be metabolized.  The exception is if you chose to exercise in the evening before eating.  Exercise turns on a muscle enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase.  It is quite good at burning up glucose.  It stays active in the muscles for 2-3 hours after exercising.  If you are going to have foods with a higher glycemic index, the time to eat them is during this window of opportunity after exercise.

READ MORE - Diabetes Prevention-The Right Fuel

1. A detailed look at how The Asylum makes movies. Sample:

Oh, and one more tip -- pick something that you're pretty sure is going to be an actual hit. "People ask why we didn't do Cowboys and Aliens," The Asylum's Paul Bales says, "And we considered it for a while, but in the markets we have, genre-mixing doesn't work." In fact, The Asylum takes international genre tastes really seriously. "Disaster films work pretty much anywhere," Bales says, "But creature films only work in a few territories. In most of Europe, a big giant fish means nothing to them."

Via.



2. A look at the character designs from the Iron Man: Armored Adventures cartoon (my boys love this show, and since they often watch it in the car, I regularly have the theme in my head).



3. "It began as a classic Hialeah politics whodunit: Little mirrors were glued on some of Acting Mayor Carlos Hernandez’s campaign yard signs. The mirrors prompted a rumor in the no-love-lost mayor’s race that Hernandez was trying to appeal to voters who practice Santería." Via.



4. The Kidrobot plastic breakdancers I posted a few days ago will also be sold by the bag. Now all we need is for them to start selling MUSCLE knockoffs by the bucket.



*Buy MUSCLE Men at eBay.

READ MORE - Link roundup

1. Ann Patchett, one of my favorite writers, has a new 50-page digital guide and memoir called The Getaway Car.: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life. It's a mix of practical tips about becoming an author (applying to schools, motivating yourself to write) and anecdotes. Here's a bit about one of her favorite teachers (Grace Paley):

Oh, Grace, with her raveling sweaters and thick socks, her gray hair flying in every direction, the dulcet tones of Brooklyn in her voice: She was a masterpiece of human life. There was the time she came to class and said she couldn’t return stories because she had been robbed the night before. A burglar had broken into her apartment and tied her to the kitchen chair. She’d then proceeded to talk to him about his hard life for more than an hour. In the end, he took her camera and her bag full of our homework. I’m sure I was not alone in thinking how lucky that guy was to have gotten so much of Grace’s undivided attention. Another time, she came to class and herded us all into a school van, then she drove us to Times Square. We were to march with the assembling throngs to the Marine recruitment offices chanting USA, CIA, out of Grenada! It was crowded and cold, and after we were sent off down Forty-second Street with our signs, we never did find Grace or the van again.

You can read an excerpt here and buy the Kindle single at Amazon. (Some of the most useful information I've seen yet about having a career as a writer.)



2. Kraken by China Mieville: Easily my least favorite of his books, possibly because it's too similar to his other books. It seems slow despite near constant action, the characters are largely forgettable, and I just couldn't find myself caring about what was going to happen (I finished three or four other books during the time I was reading it). This isn't to say it's without merit - - he makes very clever use of extreme origami, iPod playlists, and trap streets, and after 460 pages, the squid cult at the center of the book finally becomes very interesting. Also, my copy had a fabulous cover by David Stevenson. Available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.



3. The Cosummata by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins: It's one double cross after another as Mickey Spillane's Morgan navigates a world of high class prostitution, Cuban exiles, and nuclear scientists. The book features a beautifully-painted (and probably NSFW) cover by Robert McGinnis, and was a nice, manly palate cleanser after The Forgotten Garden. You can download a wallpaper-sized version of the cover here, read an excerpt here, and preorder the book at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

READ MORE - Book review roundup

The Star Wars x Adidas shoes are in stock at the Adidas store. Would you all be kind enough to buy them out so I'll stop being tempted?

READ MORE - The Star Wars x Adidas shoes are in stock

The last trailer for Rock of Ages. Alas, it looks like it's getting mostly lackluster reviews.

READ MORE - Final Rock of Ages trailer

Vicious rabbits by Anna-Maria Jung up for vote at Threadless.







Batwoman by Steve Lieber - - one of several illustrations on sale at eBay to benefit Dylan Williams.











I might have posted these before, but Sean Dove added some $8 prints to his Etsy shop.







The First Grade by Don Clark on sale as a $12 print.









Cover for Ilsa Bick's Ashes. io9 posted a 100-page excerpt from the book.

READ MORE - Illustration roundup

Thor loves Hello Kitty by Davide De Rose Veltri, who is looking for commissions.



*Buy sketch cards at eBay.

READ MORE - Thor loves kittens

Page from James Kochalka's Hulk vs. the Rain from Hulk 2001 Annual. Via.



*Buy Marvel Legends action figures at eBay.

READ MORE - Hulk vs. the Rain

1. "Tuesday’s discovery marks the eighth foot to be found on the B.C. coast since August 2007. Three more have washed up in nearby Washington." Via.



2. "Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators are refusing to return a purported Rembrandt drawing that was stolen from an auction at an upscale hotel and then recovered last month, citing questions about the authenticity and ownership of the piece."



3. New Marvel Universe sets/singles have been added as preorders to the BBTS.

READ MORE - Link roundup

1. I can't believe so many longtime bloggers still don't know that infographics are created as linkspam to improve Google search results. (As I've mentioned before, I've been offered money to post them.)



2. BoingBoing interviewed William Gibson to celebrate the release of the Zero History paperback. Sample:

Do you have a "daily carry?" If so, what are the things in it?

A very thin, almost weightless wallet, made of a material called Kuben (which is sort of like Dyneema but less fancy-looking) deployed in front pocket. (I had a walletectomy for a back issue; back-pocket carry is murder on the back, plus much less secure.) A steel-cable Muji keyring with keys and a SwissTech Utili-Key 6-in-1 tool (which looks like a key). A Montblanc roller-pen from before they become a luxury brand (I found one on eBay after reading Hiroshi Fujiwara's fascinating book Personal Effects).


3. My understanding is that Mattel didn't sell remotely close to the minimum number of subscriptions that they supposedly needed to support a DC Universe club, but have nevertheless announced that they "found a way to make the program work."



4. Apparently the Deus Ex Human Revolution viral game is ongoing, but the moderators have had trouble finding an audience able/motivated enough to solve the puzzles.

READ MORE - Link roundup

Download the Sentinel paper toy here.



*Buy Marvel Universe figures at eBay.

READ MORE - Papercraft Sentinel (Marvel Comics)

The Man Ray is for an upcoming show at Copro. The giant robot is the cover of Cinelli's cycling catalog. There are various Ryan Heshka prints on sale here.

READ MORE - Sea monster and giant robot by Ryan Heshka

"It is a neutrophil chasing Staphylococcus aureus." Via.

READ MORE - Video of a white blood cell chasing bacteria