"Before entering the body proper, our food is broken down into various constituent parts in the intestine. One of these is the carbohydrate glucose. Upon entering our cells, some of the glucose is put right to work providing the energy that cells need to perform their various tasks. The rest is stored in certain cells for later use. But the glucose doesn't simply flow into the storage cells. Instead, it must be guided in by insulin, a protein secreted by the pancreas. "Insulin acts like a shepherd, herding its precious flock into the cellular "corrals". Unfortunately, in many of us, glucose stubbornly refuses to go where the shepherd directs. When that happens, the pancreas pumps out more and more insulin. That's the biochemical equivalent of sending out more and more "shepherds" to get the "sheep" into the "corrals". Imagine hundreds of shepherds chasing thousands of sheep across a pristine field covered with thick, beautiful green grass. Those hundreds of feet and thousands of hoofs will quickly tear up the field, ripping out or flattening down clumps of grass. Soon, the field that once looked so green and lush will be trampled and scarred, brown and dirty. "Something similar happens inside your body when glucose refuses to move into the storage cells at the insulin's command. The interior linings of your arteries, like the grassy field, are "ripped" and "trampled" as the body attempts to overcome this problem. "Eventually, the insulin "shepherds" corral the glucose, and order is restored in the body. But all is not well, for the "field" (the lining of your coronary arteries) has been damaged, and there's other damage, as well. This damage sets the stage for heart disease."

We now thank Dr Reaven for his interpretation.