Symptoms Of Insulin Resistance
You can’t tell that you have insulin resistance by how you feel. You’ll need to get a blood test that checks your blood sugar levels.
Likewise, you wonât know if you have most of the other conditions that are part of insulin resistance syndrome without seeing your doctor.
Some signs of insulin resistance include:
- A waistline over 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women
How Can I Prevent Or Reverse Insulin Resistance And Prediabetes
Physical activity and losing weight if you need to may help your body respond better to insulin. Taking small steps, such as eating healthier foods and moving more to lose weight, can help reverse insulin resistance and prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes.
The National Institutes of Health-funded research study, the Diabetes Prevention Program , showed that for people at high risk of developing diabetes, losing 5 to 7 percent of their starting weight helped reduce their chance of developing the disease.3 Thats 10 to 14 pounds for someone who weighs 200 pounds. People in the study lost weight by changing their diet and being more physically active.
The DPP also showed that taking metformin, a medicine used to treat diabetes, could delay diabetes. Metformin worked best for women with a history of gestational diabetes, younger adults, and people with obesity. Ask your doctor if metformin might be right for you.
Making a plan, tracking your progress, and getting support from your health care professional, family, and friends can help you make lifestyle changes that may prevent or reverse insulin resistance and prediabetes. You may be able to take part in a lifestyle change program as part of the National Diabetes Prevention Program.
Can Insulin Resistance Be Prevented Or Avoided
You cannot prevent or avoid risk factors such as race, age, and a family medical history. You can take steps to reduce your insulin resistance by losing weight , exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet. Choose healthy carbohydrates. For example, eat whole grain bread instead of white bread, drink water instead of soda, and reduce your intake of sugary foods.
If you have or have had gestational diabetes, insulin resistance typically goes away after you give birth. However, you are at greater risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when you are older. That should be a warning to change your diet and lifestyle early so that you can delay it for as long as possible.
Also Check: Metformin Cause Hypoglycemia
What Recent Studies Suggest About Diabetes And Diet:
There is evidence that eating high loads of animal products can lead to higher disease risk or poorer diabetes management. Population groups that modify their traditional dietary habits, increasing the amount of animal products while reducing plant-based foods, experience a remarkable rise in the frequency of type 2 diabetes, says Mendez del Rio.
In fact, the study found, diets that push high protein intake and low carb eating can further intensify insulin resistance. On the other hand, plant-based foods enhance insulin sensitivity, which means you should be reaching for more greens to fill your plate.
Prevention Of Insulin Resistance
Making lifestyle changes can help reverse insulin resistance so that your body can respond properly to insulin.
Lose weight.Eat a .
Read Also: What Is A Normal A1c For A Non Diabetic
How Does Exercise And Weight Affect Insulin Resistance
The good news is that even when diagnosed with insulin resistance, you can take steps to prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes. Research from the Diabetes Prevention Program showed that intensive lifestyle intervention that led to weight loss reduced the incidence of type 2 diabetes for overweight and obese adults with impaired glucose tolerance by 58% over three years.
Many other studies found that people who continued with the lifestyle changes were able to delay a type 2 diabetes diagnosis even longer if they continued following their new lifestyle.
How To Reverse Insulin Resistance And Prediabetes
by EHE Health | Dec-Tue-2020 | Prevent
You may think that receiving a diagnosis of insulin resistance or prediabetes is a guarantee you will develop Type 2 diabetes, but thats not the case. Insulin resistance and prediabetes are very responsive to lifestyle and dietary adjustments. Things like weight loss, improved nutrition, and regular exercise can help your blood glucose levels considerably.
Don’t Miss: How Many Points Does Metformin Lower Blood Sugar
Insulin Resistance Increases Your Risk For Developing Chronic Disease
On top of contributing directly to obesity, diabetes and PCOS, insulin resistance is closely linked to many other serious health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, breast cancer and endometrial cancer, and has been implicated in Alzheimers disease.
Insulin resistance also lurks beneath two of the most common symptoms women experience during menopause: fatigue and weight gain. Women notice these symptoms as they approach menopause mostly because their bodies can no longer deal with high amounts of carbohydrates.
Eating too many simple carbs that your body cant manage leads to weight gain, especially around the middle. Other symptoms include afternoon blahs, difficulty concentrating, sugar crashes and carbohydrate cravings. All of these are early symptoms of insulin resistance but we often dont make the connection.
Improve Your Sleeping Patterns
Insulin is a hormone that works best during the day. Your body cells also respond better to insulin at this time than at night. If you do not get adequate or uninterrupted sleep, you disrupt your circadian clock.
The result is ineffective insulin functioning and hence insulin resistance. Reverse insulin resistance by getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep.
You May Like: What Happens If A Diabetic Doesn T Eat
What Foods Help Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
Foods that are particularly helpful for people trying to prevent type 2 diabetes and maintain a healthy weight are similar to the low glycemic index foods described above:
- Vegetables and fruits provide fiber and vitamins.
- Fat-free or low-fat dairy products provide calcium and strengthen bones. Avoid full-fat dairy products, as high-fat foods can worsen insulin resistance.
- Whole-grain products have a lower glycemic index than refined grains and are rich in fiber.
- Nuts contain fiber, protein, and healthy fats.
- Some fish can be a source of “good” fats, such as salmon, herring, mackerel, or sardines.
- Lean meats or beans are an excellent source of protein.
Several studies have confirmed that weight loss — and even aerobic exercise without weight loss — increases the rate at which muscle cells take glucose from the blood as a result of improved sensitivity to insulin.
Treating Insulin Resistance Beyond Diet
As I mentioned previously dietary intervention is certainly important in the treatment of insulin resistance but you can take it several steps further by adding in other therapies.
Specifically, the use of medications, supplements, exercise and lifestyle interventions can add a multiplicative effect to treating your insulin resistance.
This means that weight loss will be more profound and the lowering of your insulin levels will occur much more quickly when all of these therapies are added together.
The best part about the interventions I’m going to mention below is that they all have literary sources backing them up.
That means they have been shown in studies to help lower insulin levels, augment weight loss or balance hormones.
I will provide relevant links when appropriate below.
Insulin Resistance Medications:
This is where things can get tricky.
Most diabetic medications are targeted at reducing blood sugar levels instead of focusing on reducing insulin levels themselves.
In fact, many diabetic medications cause an INCREASE in insulin in an effort to reduce blood sugar.
Does it make sense to increase insulin levels further if high insulin levels lead to insulin resistance in the first place?
Not really – but this is how many medications work.
If you remember what we discussed above you will recall that reducing blood sugar levels makes us feel good, but it doesn’t always reduce adverse events or help patients live longer.
1. GLP-1 Agonists
Gluca-what?
3. Metformin
You May Like: Which Pancreatic Cells Release Insulin And Glucagon
Want To Manage Your Pcos And Insulin Resistance
Get the PCOS Patient Advocacy Guide! This guide will teach you how to be an educated advocate for yourself and health. This valuable information will alleviate your stress and anxiety around doctors visits and help you get the right treatment based on your specific symptoms and values.
The items listed above are accompanied by affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission if a purchase is made through my links. This has no impact on the cost to the consumer. I link to products this way whenever possible, and it has no bearing on the products I choose to review or recommend.
Pin it for Later> > >
Insulin Resistance In The Bipoc Community
according to a March 2019 study in Diabetes and Vascular Disease Research.according to a systematic review and meta-analysis in Diabetes Care.
- 5 percent of non-Hispanic whites
- 2 percent of Asian Americans
- 7 percent of non-Hispanic blacks
- 5 percent of Hispanics
- 7 percent of American Indians/Alaskan Natives
More on Health Disparities Affecting BIPOC Individuals
Recommended Reading: Diabetic Medicine Side Effects
Fill Your Kitchen With The Following Foods:
- Veggies
- Omega-3 fatty fish
- Sweet potatoes
- Water, tea, and other unsweetened beverages
When you eat matters as much as what you eat, Levi adds. Especially avoid any carbohydrates in the morning and early afternoon as these are the times of day when your cortisol is highest and can cause insulin to spike.
What Is Insulin And How Does It Work
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas. Its main job is to manage how your body uses glucose for energy. When blood sugar levels rise after a meal, your pancreas releases insulin to help your bodys cells especially cells in the liver and muscles absorb glucose. Your liver converts stored glucose to glycogen for future use.
When blood sugar levels are too low, your pancreas releases a hormone called glucagon. Glucagon forces the liver to convert glycogen back to glucose, which causes your blood sugar to rise.
You always have low levels of insulin circulating in your body. When insulin is out of balance, the result is abnormal blood sugar levels. High insulin levels can make you feel tired, bloated and cause sugar cravings. And, the more insulin you have circulating in your body, the harder it becomes to lose weight and burn fat.
Don’t Miss: Diabetes Type 2 Dizziness
How To Deal With Insulin Resistance
What is Insulin?
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to control the sugar levels in our body. It helps the cells in our bloodstream to absorb sugar from the carbohydrate intake and convert it into energy and store it for future use. Insulin also converts the excess sugar, which is present after a meal, into glucose. This glucose is stored in the liver and released when our sugar level is low, like in between meals or during exercise.
What is Insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance takes place when the cells in our body cannot easily absorb the sugar in the blood. This means that the cells do not respond to the insulin as they should.
Because of this, the pancreas keeps making excess insulin to help the cells absorb the glucose from the blood. As long as the pancreas keep making excess insulin and the sugar keeps on getting absorbed by the cells, the bodys sugar level stay in control.
However, due to certain reasons such as old age, unhealthy diet habits, genetics, obesity, or other factors, our body might develop resistance to insulin. Here are some precautionary ways to deal with this problem and improve our insulin sensitivity.
How to prevent insulin resistance in your body
What Is The Deal With Insulin Resistance
- ,12:16 pm
Insulin resistance is a condition that affects how your body uses insulin. Under the best circumstances, blood sugar easily moves into cells with the help of insulin. When you eat, glucose rises quickly. This will signal insulin to be released by the pancreas. Insulin acts like the key that will open the door to cells and allow glucose to enter so it can be utilized to make energy. When someone is insulin resistant, cells do not open the door freely when insulin is knocking. In turn, your pancreas will send out extra insulin to normalize blood sugar. This works for a short time until your body can no longer keep up. At some point, no matter how much extra insulin the pancreas sends out, your blood sugar is still too high. Elevated blood sugar will eventually lead to prediabetes, type II diabetes and heart disease.
You are at increased risk for insulin resistance if you are overweight or physically inactive. Some health conditions put you at greater risk. Having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, or if youve had gestational diabetes all increase your risk of developing insulin resistance. Some risk factors are uncontrollable, like family history of diabetes, age and ethnicity.
There are some things you can do to prevent or even reverse insulin resistance.
Follow a healthy diet by trying the Plate Method recommended by the American Diabetes Association:
Exercise more:
Recommended Reading: Can You Be Born With Type 2 Diabetes
What Medications Treat Insulin Resistance
Metformin is a medication used for treating type 2 diabetes. It exerts two actions to help control blood glucose levels. Metformin prevents the liver from releasing glucose into the blood, and it also increases the sensitivity of muscle and fat cells to insulin, allowing them to remove more glucose from the blood. By these actions, metformin lowers blood insulin levels because lower blood sugar levels tell the pancreas to put out less insulin.
Metformin is a reasonably safe medication when used in the proper population. Though occasionally associated with gastrointestinal side effects, metformin is usually well tolerated. While no FDA-approved drugsexist to prevent type 2 diabetes or to treat pre-type 2 diabetes , the American Diabetes Association has recommended that metformin be the only drug considered for the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Use Natural Methods To Treat Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance is known as the source for numerous health problems such as Alzheimers, diabetes, heart diseases or high blood pressure. Insulin resistance appears because of a hormone secreted by the cells in the pancreas. Basically, they tell the pancreas to take in more glucose and/or sugar. There are currently more than 30 million people suffering from this illness in the US only, with the number growing rapidly.
Read Also: What Is Believed To Be The Primary Cause Of Type 1 Diabetes
How To Reverse Insulin Resistance And Improve Your Hormonal Health
An imbalance in insulin and glucose levels can be easily managed with diet and lifestyle changes. If you are diagnosed with insulin resistance, heres what you can do to reverse its course, reduce the symptoms of estrogen dominance, and stave off the hormonal cascade that causes inflammation and disease:
What Is Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, fat, and liver donât respond well to insulin and canât use glucose from your blood for energy. To make up for it, your pancreas makes more insulin. Over time, your blood sugar levels go up.
Insulin resistance syndrome includes a group of problems like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. It could affect as many as 1 in 3 Americans. You might also hear it called metabolic syndrome.
Recommended Reading: How Long Does It Take To Lower Blood Sugar
Living With Insulin Resistance
Living with insulin resistance requires lifestyle changes as well as regular use of prescription medicine. You will have to be more careful in making meal and snack choices, reading labels, and maintaining a lower weight. You also will have to commit to regular exercise and take your medicines as prescribed.
How Do You Avoid Insulin Resistance
Combine eating less frequently and then eating a low carb, no sugar, and high-fat diet. This is known as intermittent fasting combined with a ketogenic diet. This will mean you enjoy the health benefits of the ketogenic diet. Combined with the effects of intermittent fasting. It is a full package of life-saving benefits.
You May Like: Metformin 500 Side Effects
Signs That Your Blood Sugar Is Imbalanced
So, you understand all of that, and now youre freaking out a little because you have a loved one whos stuck in this cycle. There are a few things you can do:
Lets start with the signs before we go on to the preventative strategies. You likely have imbalanced blood sugar and potentially insulin resistance if you have:
- Sugar cravings
Natural Ways To Improve Your Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin is an essential hormone that controls your blood sugar levels.
Its made in your pancreas and helps move sugar from your blood into your cells for storage. When cells are insulin resistant, they cannot use insulin effectively, leaving your blood sugar high.
When your pancreas senses high blood sugar, it makes more insulin to overcome the resistance and reduce your blood sugar.
Over time, this can deplete the pancreas of insulin-producing cells, which is common in type 2 diabetes. Also, prolonged high blood sugar can damage nerves and organs.
Youre most at risk of insulin resistance if you have prediabetes or a family history of type 2 diabetes, as well as if you are overweight or or have obesity.
Insulin sensitivity refers to how responsive your cells are to insulin. Improving it can help you reduce insulin resistance and the risk of many diseases, including diabetes.
Here are 14 natural, science-backed ways to boost your insulin sensitivity.
Read Also: How Many Carbs Should A Diabetic Have In One Day