Does diabetes deteriorate your muscles?
“BACKGROUND. Skeletal muscle, a key insulin target organ, has been reported to be associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). Compared to non-diabetic patients, diabetic patients have decreased muscle mass and a higher prevalence of sarcopenia, and patients with sarcopenia may be at increased risk of developing diabetes.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8696641/#:~:text=BACKGROUND,increased%20risk%20of%20developing%20diabetes.
Dec 15, 2021
To me, and anyone thinking about how diabetes develops- this statement in BOLD in the above quote- is elementary. But my reader here may not know this- or know what they mean by the misuse of the word sarcopenia here. Sarcopenia is the muscle wasting that purportedly happens with age.
Sarcopenia simply means “impoverishment of the flesh”.
As explained in previous posts- the diabetic body- devours muscle mass to create glucose when the cells are deprived by what they call insulin resistance. As usual, the answer is a bit more complex than what our doctors are taught, and if they don’t know- how the hell can a patient?
In prediabetes- the fatty-fat condition is happening- advancing daily, actually.
The pre-adipocytes cannot mature, purportedly due to hypoxia and the extreme presence of inflammatory agents that are there to help break down the oversized, overstuffed, damaged and dead hypertrophied fat cells.
With fat cells dying at an unprecedented rate- the energy they used to absorb from the diet that has not changed- meaning if we keep consuming mass quantities of high energy foods- the fat (stored energy- called triglycerides) is shipped around the body looking for a place to go. And the Liver and the muscles become overstuffed with this “ectopic” fat.
This was from NEJM- and it is “good enough” to be used here- because I will update and explain the missing pieces- the defects in Fatty acid (tg’s “triglycerides aka FA or fatty Acids”) have a cause. Here they are referred to as “defects” By not defining the process as to how these “defects” happen- namely the fact that perpetual influx of FA’s cause hypertrophy and mitochondrial defects in the fat cells, themselves, FIRST- resulting in hypoxia and then the inability to replace dead or damaged fat cells by normal means- this also prevents “hyperplasia” or the addition of MORE new small fat cells.
The old school- believe in educated guesses- and they take a wild-assed guess- blame genetics and say that some people can get fatter than others. And go on to say that once a person runs through puberty- they have that number of fats cells- and that is it. Easy enough for them to ignore the truth- and ignore the reality that hundreds of millions of people are now diabetic because they passed the buck on looking at the truth.
Before I get started on the truth about Insulin resistance- and decreased insulin sensitivity- it is imperative that we look at the state of muscle mass obesity.
The other day I was at a local Tractor Supply getting a 50lb bag of feed for one of my wife’s animals. I usually use a cart. I carried the bag, waited on line- and made a joke to an older guy ahead of me.
A joke many of you will understand.
These bags get heavier every year!
We laughed and he agreed, and there is significant meaning here- for the party trying to understand what the hell happened. In my body- I used to be much stronger than I am now. At one time I could carry (4) of those 50 pound bags- (2) on each shoulder- and physically walk them down to the barn- with effort. Far easier to carry one on each shoulder.
I struggled, hugging this 50 pound bag tight to my chest- to dance with it down the same slope to my barn.
During prediabetes- my body- my upper body- got swole. Which means I was larger and less defined-“bigger” but not stronger. I went from XL to XXL tops. I was 80 pounds heavier than I am today. I had no idea my body was stashing fat in my muscles- because, in the beginning- i was still strong. As the muscle was destroyed, the fat remained- the prediabetic state is one of high insulin levels- and this is called hyperinsulinemia. In this state- the presence of lots of insulin- all of the time- prevents the release of fat. The dead and dying overstuffed fat cells cannot receive the fat- and it must go somewhere. So I, like millions of others- silently grew fatter- and my “fatty-fat” and NAFLD were hidden as my muscles started to go away.
When I first went to the gym 5 or so years ago- I took off my clothes in front of the full length mirror in the private shower dressing area- and I quietly sobbed when I saw the decrepit form in front of me.
I am no longer anywhere near the strong person I used to be.
Not only does diabetes devour muscle mass- but the loss of electrolytes via the constant urination makes it very difficult to put the time in at the gym.
You absolutely MUST do as much strength training and other movement as you can.
The doctors are wrong about the diet, but correct about the exercise- except they are wrong when it comes to what constitutes exercise. 20 minutes per day- or 150 minutes per week of walking is simply not enough.
We need to sweat- and it is very hard to do so when one is suffering the 3 P’s of hyperglycemia.
When you blood sugar levels are high, you urinate excess glucose as often as possible. When you do this- you need more liquid to replace what you expelled- the increased hunger is due to lack of energy getting into cells- and the more you eat, the more sugar you create and the more you have to get rid of.
In wildly out of control diabetes- it is difficult to do very much exercise without problms.
https://www.fittr.com/article/why-does-severe-dehydration-lead-to-fatigue-250/
The 3 P’s, Type 2 and Fatigue.
The person with high blood sugar is going to pee a lot more than a normal person- out with the extra glucose goes the electrolytes. Then there is the constant fatigue brought about by the constant nagging to eat, drink or urinate- disrupting sleep all night- every night.
lack of hydration, lack of sleep- sleep deprivation and high blood sugar combined with loss of electrolytes and inability to sweat (dehydration- the cause of polydipsia) is a vicious cycle that will promote muscle breakdown- increase high blood sugar levels- and prevent a person from doing very much exercise.
So, for those of you with diabetes and unexplained weight loss- and the 3 P’s- while you can get used to them- the price you are paying is paid in muscle mass loss- and that means even higher blood sugar levels- more ectopic fat deposits- and worse cellular health.
SLEEP AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
EXERCISE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
it is common knowledge that muscles burn lots of glucose without the need for insulin to be present.
And having more muscle mass causes the body to burn more fuel- just in maintaining the muscle status quo-
when we lose the ability to store fat in the fat cells- and lose the ability to store any more energy in muscles- and then lose muscle mass- we see blood sugar rise- more insulin resistance and much more cellular damage.
Those who fail to plan- are planning to fail.
Nowhere have I stated that you need to eat less. So far the goal should be to exercise as much as possible- without excuses. And the more you move- the easier it will become for you to fall asleep.
those 2 things sleep and exercise are the best things you can do to regain muscle mass- allow your fat to recycle itself- because exercise promotes oxygenation of the blood- improved circulation and more oxygen will help with the hypoxia.
Eat to live- is next-
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