Insulin Resistance

Insulin is a hormone produced by your pancreas that tells various tissues what to do with the glucose you absorb in your intestines when you eat food. The primary source of glucose in your meals is carbohydrates, although a small amount of protein when consumed in excess can be converted into glucose as well. Insulin directs your brain and muscles to use glucose for fuel, it tells your liver to store it for short-term use and your fat cells to store it for long-term use, among other roles. 

So, what is insulin resistance and why should you care?

Insulin resistance is the state in which your body has seen persistent, high levels of insulin and eventually stops responding partially or completely to it. When the body becomes insulin resistant in this way, various systems break down. 

Since it becomes harder for your tissues to transport glucose into your cells, you start to get higher and higher blood glucose levels. High blood glucose is very inflammatory, especially to the blood vessels, which results in dysfunction in a multitude of organs. 

Excess insulin also causes your body to stop responding to another hormone called leptin. Leptin is your “fullness” hormone and signals to your brain that you are full and it’s time to stop eating. This leads to overeating at meals and feeling hungry all of the time. 

Additionally, insulin resistance prevents your body from accessing the storage fuel on your body, leading to fatigue and extreme difficulty losing weight. This compounds the insatiable hunger that you are experiencing because your body is literally unable to access its own fuel for energy.

Insulin resistance is the primary driver behind type 2 diabetes, obesity, menopausal weight gain and fatty liver disease, and it also plays a role in dementia and cognitive decline, kidney disease, eye disease, nerve disease, cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and polycystic ovarian syndrome.

There are several stages of insulin resistance, from Stage 1 (mild, initial resistance) to Stage 5 (uncontrolled diabetes). The specifics of the different stages are beyond the scope of this talk. However, I do want to point out that in Stage 1, your body is usually able to compensate for the mild insulin resistance, and therefore your blood glucose levels (and hemoglobin A1c, which is another marker for diabetes) may be in the normal range. 

So if you have known insulin resistance, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, difficulty losing weight or fatigue, read on for my top tips to start reversing the insulin resistance process. 

#1: Reduce Sugar

My top recommendation for reversing insulin resistance is to stop consuming processed carbohydrates, especially in the form of sugar. Foods that contain sugar, especially if they are devoid of protein and fat, will cause such a dramatic increase in your blood glucose levels and subsequently your insulin levels. 

Some of the worst culprits are soda, energy drinks, mixed alcoholic beverages, candy, baked goods, breakfast cereals, sweetened yogurts and granola bars just to name a few.  To make things even more confusing, the food companies have a lot of tricky names for sugar to hide it in foods, so make sure to read the labels. Alternate names for sugar include sucrose, fructose, glucose, dextrose,  maltose, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, beet sugar, coconut sugar, evaporated juices, among others. Additionally,  “healthy foods” that have been processed down into very easily digestible substances will have similar effects on your blood sugar and insulin levels. Fruit juices, smoothies, and even dried fruits are an example of this. 

My recommendation is to cut out high sugar containing substances on a regular basis and instead opt for whole fruit. If you really need a sweetener beyond whole fruit, opt for small amounts of honey, pure maple syrup, Stevia or Monk Fruit. If you are going to indulge in some of the other foods occasionally, make sure to watch your proportions and consume them with a meal that contains fat and protein and avoid eating them in isolation. Your insulin levels will thank you!

#2: Stop Snacking

My second top recommendation is to stop snacking. Snacking is an entertainment event for your mouth that was designed by the food companies. These food companies realized that they had maximized the amount of food they could get people to eat in one sitting, and thus invented more sittings for us to eat at. 

This thinking may seem very counterintuitive, especially if you’ve been told and believe the “eat every 2-3 hours to keep your blood sugar levels stable” philosophy. But where has eating every 2-3 hours gotten us? Higher levels of obesity and heart disease. 

Our ancestors did not evolve eating that frequently. And, if you have excess weight on your body and you are hungry every 2-3 hours, it means that your body is not efficiently accessing its own fat for fuel. By reducing the amount of time your body is absorbing glucose, so too will your insulin levels drop. So drop the snacks and focus on eating three solid meals per day. This includes liquid snacks and calories as well! With time and as your body becomes more insulin sensitive, you will be less hungry and those snacks won’t even cross your mind. 

#3: Fat is Your Friend

Finally, embrace fat as your friend! Out of the three macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat), fat will have the lowest impact on your body’s insulin levels. Additionally, fat also helps you feel satiated and turns off your hunger signals (in the form of the hormone ghrelin). 

Eating fat does not make you fat. 

Eating sugar does. 

Additionally, eating healthy fats will not cause heart disease or high cholesterol. Again, insulin resistance (among other factors such as genetics, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, and lack of physical activity) does. 

Make sure to include plenty of healthy fats with each meal. Great options are olive oil, avocados, avocado  oil, coconut oil, full fat dairy (if you tolerate dairy), full fat cuts of meat, fish, nuts and nut butters (read the label to make sure they are sugarless). 

So, if you’re worried you may have insulin resistance and want to make a plan to address it, schedule an integrative medicine consultation with me or check out my new online course - The Weight Loss Series.