Hello, all! Welcome to my blog, where I will be
posting my research in the field of human metabolism and how it can be
manipulated to treat chronic disease.
I will be working with Dr. John Walker, the founder of the
Walker Clinic of Health and Wellness, who will teach me the ins and outs of a
healthy metabolism, along with the treatment of chronic diseases such as
diabetes involving diet.
From what I’ve learned in my AP Biology course, metabolism
is simply the body’s method of breaking down the sugars we eat into usable
energy. A lot of this energy comes from
eating carbohydrates—the sugars present in breads, grains, and a lot of sweet
fruit and vegetables. As I learned from
Dr. Walker, there are good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates; when a person
eats too many bad carbohydrates they can develop something called “ectopic fat,”
which is stored in muscles. People with
Type II Diabetes have too much of this fat and, due to an insulin resistance,
can’t pass sugars out through their kidneys.
I chose this project because I am very interested to learn
about the interactions between diet and biochemistry. Through my research, I will be able to see
firsthand the actual and applicable results of a low-sugar diet on the
management and treatment of Type II Diabetes, as well as the effects of this on
a healthy guinea pig—myself. Along with
medical students, I’m going to be able to learn more about the specific body
chemistry responsible for metabolism, as well as the effects on the body from
cell communication and epigenetics.
