Posted by APF on February 06, 1997 at 17:03:39:
This is a repost of a message sent in response to a question by 'Wrestler' regarding the use of insulin in carbohydrate-restricted (ie: Bodyopus) diets. As well, this post has general information on insulin preparations that will be of utmost value to anyone who for whatever reason decides that taking 'supplemental' insulin would be a good idea. If you read this message and use it as an excuse to abuse medicinal insulin, please don't kill yourself, or else I won't have a good time trying to sleep at night.
1) The easiest/safest insulin preparation to use (in the case of a non-diabetic) would be the fast-acting insulins. However, I have included a long-acting insulin preparation below for comparison. Please forgive any formatting mistakes that become apparent when this message is posted.
Insulin Preparations Available In The United States:
.........................Rapid Action..........Long-Acting
.........................Insulin Injection.....Extended Insulin Zinc Suspension
.........................Humulin R (Lilly).....Ultralente Humulin U (Lilly)
source...................Human.................Human
concentration............100...................100
onset of action..........1/2-1.................4-6
maximum effect...........2-4...................8-20
duration of action.......6-8...................24-28
[note: Concentration = units/ml, in 10ml containers]
[note: Onset, etc. times are in Hours after subcutaneous injection, the duration being for a single injection]
[note: The onset and duration of action vary amongst patients, and are influenced by such factors as concentration and volume, site and depth of injection]
[note: These human insulin preparations are Biosynthetic, of recombinant DNA origin]
[All information gathered from "DE: Drug Evaluations, Annual 1991" compiled by the American Medical Association]
2. The best source of information on using insulin preparations in conjunction with Bodyopus would be via Dan Duchaine. The first issue of "Dirty Dieting," his newsletter, is supposed to have some information with this regard (if I interpret the advertisements correctly). Issues of Muscle Media 2000 also have information. Here are some 'teasers' (so you can get the "whole story" directly from the source and I won't have a moral problem giving the info =):
o "Ask the Guru", mm2k 54/October 96: Tells of using small amounts of rapid-acting insulin to get into ketosis faster, as well as how to use a glucometer in conjunction with insulin injections. Also, information on using Metformin/Glucophage and Phenformin for carb-ups.
o "Ask the Guru", mm2k 56/January 97: Specifically deals with the 'exact' amounts needed by non-diabetic insulin users on a) a non-calorie-restricted diet and b) on a calorie restricted diet, as well as information on how to time injections and preventative measures to avoid low blood-sugar crashes (read: have a supply of mixed-GI carbs around)
I believe Bill Phillips also has an 'article' (or, like most things in mm2k, a Q&A response) regarding insulin use, but I see enough of him in the magazine to be throughly disgusted by the idea of his existence (hi Bill! Can we say, "overexposure"?), not to mention actually hunt-down something written by him. I'm sure you could find all of this on the MM2k website, though (or buy a back-issue, but the web is free). I'll add the URL below.
Again, insulin injections are nothing to fool around with, so be safe. Heh. I guess that's the best I can say it. Carry a lot of some sort of carbohydrate source around, and a lot of change for the vending machines (it's frustrating enough having to force machines to take dollars when you're _stable_, not to mention when you're passing-out due to low blood-sugar!).
-APF