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Why Does Insulin Cause Weight Gain


Cant I Control Blood Sugar With Medications

Why Does Insulin Resistance Cause Weight Gain? Dr.Berg

Yes, you will be able to control blood sugar with medications. However, you should be supporting it with the food that you consume as well. Otherwise, the medications you take would be in vain because you are pumping up your body with more sugar. Hence, you will not be able to take control of the sugar levels in the blood.

Insulin Resistance Increases Hunger Fight Weight Gain By Eating Smarter

Too much circulating insulin in the body can cause swings in blood sugar levels and moods. This can lead to an increase in hunger and cravings for carbohydrates and fatty foods. This creates a vicious cycle a craving for the wrong types of food that when eaten, make you feel even hungrier, and gain more weight.

Making positive changes in your lifestyle now and following any medical treatment your doctor prescribes can often reverse pre-diabetes!

To lose weight faster, eliminate all sugar and processed foods from your diet. Eating carbohydrates triggers the body to produce insulin.


People who have metabolic disorders like PCOS, insulin resistance, and pre-diabetes may produce too much or too little insulin to metabolize carbohydrates properly.

How Do Our Bodies Create Insulin

If we dont immediately use the glucose, then the body must store it. In order for the body to store glucose and remove it from the bloodstream, it must rely on a hormone secreted from the pancreas called insulin. When your body senses higher levels of glucose, it normally releases enough insulin into the bloodstream to convert the glucose into energy.

Depending on what you eat, your body has rising and falling levels of glucose and insulin throughout the day. If the body is operating as intended, it should keep the blood sugar balanced. The pancreas produces just enough insulin to keep glucose balanced in the body, so theres not too much or too little. Unfortunately, those at risk of diabetes or who already suffer from diabetes will see an imbalance of insulin.

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The Importance Of A Healthy Weight

When kids with diabetes reach and maintain a healthy weight, they feel better and have more energy. Their diabetes symptoms decrease and their blood sugar levels are better controlled. They also may be less likely to develop complications from diabetes, like heart disease.


Doctors use body mass index to determine if a person’s weight is healthy. If your doctor recommends that your child lose weight to control diabetes, a weight management plan can hel. Even if your child’s BMI is in the healthy range, the doctor can help you come up with a healthy meal and exercise plan.

Is Insulin Good Or Bad For Weight Loss

Insulin resistance as a cause of weight gain and how to ...

If you are working toward a weight loss goal, it is not ideal to focus on whether insulin is good or bad. Insulin therapy is designed to address hormonal imbalances in your body, and should not be considered a weight management tool. Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight should be done through lifestyle changes such as exercise, stress management, changes in diet, and sleep hygiene.

One of the reasons it is important to maintain your insulin dosage regardless of your overall body weight is variations in insulin levels can have unintended consequences for your body weight. If you skip insulin doses and begin losing weight, you have not changed the underlying problem that required insulin therapy in the first place. This means you will likely need to go back on insulin again soon, which will only cause you to gain weight back. Doing this repeatedly puts enormous strain on your liver and cardiovascular system, and could put you at increased risk of heart disease.

If you are concerned about weight gain when you start taking insulin, it is best to take a long-term view of managing your weight. Though it is possible you will gain a few pounds at the beginning, proper diet and physical activity can help you stay at a healthy weight over the long haul while addressing insulin sensitivity or deficiency issues.

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Ways To Manage Your Weight While Taking Insulin

Its not only possible to control your weight when taking insulin for type 2 diabetes its important. Heres how to do it.

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Gaining weight when youre on insulin therapy for type 2 diabetes can be frustrating and discouraging. It may be tempting to blame the insulin and even think about stopping it.

Using insulin can lead to extra pounds for several reasons, explains Don McClain, MD, PhD, a professor of internal medicine, endocrinology, and metabolism and director of the Center on Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

At first, the insulin may reverse your bodys inability to use glucose from food for energy. As you become rehydrated and regain the ability to build muscle and start to store calories that used to spill out in the urine, you may bounce back to the weight you were before the illness or even more, Dr. McClain says. Changing long-held eating habits can be hard, he adds. You may gain weight if you eat more calories than you burn.


Resist the temptation to stop taking the insulin in order to lose weight, McClain says. The cost to your health can be very high uncontrolled diabetes can increase your risk of serious health problems like heart disease and stroke. And youll likely gain the weight back once you start taking insulin again.

Does Insulin Resistance Cause Weight Gain

This question is the basis of an ongoing, intense debate between researchers trying to determine which of the following is more likely:

Insulin resistance causes weight gain.

Weight gain causes insulin resistance.

Since insulin is one of the main hormones responsible for lowering your blood sugar levels, being insulin resistant typically means that your blood sugar levels are higher than they should be. In addition, it also means that you store fat a lot more easily because insulin promotes fat storage.


When blood sugar levels are higher than they should be, but below the diabetic range, its known as non-diabetic hyperglycaemia or, more commonly, prediabetes. If left untreated, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which can have serious complications, is very high.

Answering whether or is more likely helps us understand the development of type 2 diabetes. If we learn how something develops, then we can find out the most effective target for treatment and, more importantly, prevention.

This in-depth guide will cover 4 potential answers to our question:

  • Professor Roy Taylors work at Newcastle University
  • Dr Peter Attias talk on insulin resistance
  • Professor Roger Ungers prize-winning lecture
  • Dr Malcolm Kendrick and the extreme exceptions
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    Insulin & Weight Gain: Does Tighter Control Make You Loosen Your Belt

    Insulin is the most potent and effective treatment for elevated blood glucose levels.


    Everyone with Type-1 diabetes needs insulin to stay alive, and millions of people diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes in the United States require insulin to control their blood glucose levels .

    However, even insulin is not without its side effects. One of the most common concerns expressed by people who use insulin is that it tends to cause weight gain. In fact, research from the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study showed that the average person with Type-2 diabetes gained about nine pounds in their first three years of insulin use .

    Since achieving and maintaining a healthy weight are important for everyone with diabetes, lets discuss why this happens and what can be done about it.

    What Is Insulin Resistance

    Diabetes Education – Does Your Insulin Cause Weight Gain?

    The role of insulin is to allow cells of the body to take in glucose to be used as fuel or stored as body fat.

    It also means that glucose is more likely to build up in the blood and this can lead to too high blood sugar levels


    When the body becomes resistant to insulin, it tries to cope by producing more insulin. People with insulin resistance are often producing too more insulin than healthy people.

    Producing too much insulin is known as hyperinsulinemia

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    What Happens In The Case Of Insulin Resistance:

    – A large amount of sugar enters the blood stream

    – Our body responds by signaling our pancreas to release a larger amount of insulin.


    – Insulin travels to our cells to tell them to open and take in sugar.

    – Instead of opening and taking in the sugar, our cells ignore or resist the insulin.

    – Our pancreas reacts by producing more insulin to attempt to get our cells to respond.

    – If our cells are not taking in the sugar, then it remains in our blood stream leading to higher blood sugars.

    – Eventually our pancreas cannot keep up and blood sugar levels continue to rise putting us at risk for prediabetes and eventually diabetes.


    Tap Into Your Healthcare Team

    Your healthcare team has a wealth of information, experience, and practical tips for navigating these waters. They can help you make a plan for weight loss and for maintaining a healthy weight. This important team may include one or more of the following healthcare professionals:

    • primary care doctor
    • exercise physiologist
    • therapist, social worker, or psychologist

    Your healthcare team will help formulate your plan by assessing your current status. Theyll start looking at your body mass index , overall health status, and obstacles you may face when it comes to diet and physical activity.

    They can also provide guidance for setting realistic goals based on their assessment. Numeric goals can help with your weight loss journey. Your goals may be:

    • reaching your ideal BMI
    • maintaining your ideal weight or losing a set amount of weight
    • reaching daily and weekly physical activity goals
    • changing lifestyle habits to help improve your health
    • accomplishing your goals by a certain date

    You can also ask your doctors about other diabetes medications so you can reduce your insulin dosage. Some medications such as glyburide-metformin , exenatide , and pramlintide can help regulate your sugar levels and some weight loss. Your doctor will let you know if these medications are appropriate for your condition.

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    Tips To Avoid Obesity

    If who have insulin resistance, you may have difficulty maintaining a healthy body weight. Many individuals with insulin resistance concentrate on reducing their carbohydrate consumption. Although this may seem like the logical thing to do, you also need to watch how many calories you consume. Eating too many calories can increase your glucose levels and lead to increased fat storage. Keeping a food log and pre-measuring your portions can help, especially in the beginning. Over time, you will learn portion sizes and no longer need to measure your food and keep a food journal.

    Regular exercise is key to managing insulin resistance and weight. Exercise helps regulate glucose levels, burn calories, and promote fat loss. Studies have shown that following a structured exercise program offers several benefits to those suffering from type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.

    Sleep is essential for those who are suffering from insulin dependence. If you are not getting at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night, you can experience a reduction in insulin sensitivity. If you are not currently getting the recommended amount of sleep, begin practicing good sleep hygiene which includes:

    • A strict bedtime
    • Turning off electronics two hours before bedtime
    • Room darkening blinds or curtains
    • White noise machine to help mask outside noise
    • Avoiding daytime naps

    What Does Insulin Do

    Insulin Causes Fat Storage, Sure, But It Doesnt Make You ...

    After its release, insulin assists the entry of glucose from your food into your body cells. Think of insulin as a key that unlocks the door for glucose to enter into your body cells.

    When your system gets loaded with glucose, it causes a shift in your metabolism. It slows down the breakdown of fat. More importantly, it starts the synthesis of new fat.


    Insulin redirects excess glucose into fat cells and triggers adipogenesis- synthesis of fat . No wonder sugary stuff is so fattening!

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    Will Exercising Heavily Cause Hypoglycemia

    The possibility of getting hypoglycemia can be minimized with ease when you are engaging with workouts. However, you need to make sure that you are picking the appropriate workouts to engage with. Then you can reduce the chances of facing hypoglycemia. It can ensure that you are living a healthy life at all times as well.

    Why Does Insulin Cause Weight Gain

    Insulin is the primary storage hormone. Hence, any food consumption leads to insulin release.

    It then acts as a messenger for sugar and fat storage. Contrarily, in the absence of food, the high levels of insulin drop to enable the burning of sugar and later fat for energy.


    Asexplained above, the average person is seldom tapping into body fat for energy.But that only explains why insulin isnt good for weight loss.

    In the case of glycogen stores in the liver are full, it generates new fat.

    Therefore your excess carbohydrates will be stored as newly synthesized fat around organs , below your skin , or directly in the liver .

    Nature built us for periods of feeding and fasting. The human body is meant to switch between the use of readily available and long-term stored energy.

    Likewise, you might have heard that we are only losing weight during a nights sleep.

    But over the last decades, we have completely repressed that we can go more than eight hours without eating persistently. Ad campaigns educated us with garbage, like having six meals a day to lose weight.

    The results are excessively high levels of insulin, induced by the imbalance between feeding and fasting. As a crucial regulator of body weight, insulin causes weight gain.

    In essence, we have a perfect recipe for an obesity epidemic .

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    Insulin And Weight Gain

    If you eat too many carbs, your pancreas releases loads of insulin that tell your cells lots of sugar is on the way. Sugars that arent immediately used are stored for later use. Simply put, eating too many carbs causes the production of fat in fat cells.

    Over time, with repeated overeating of carbohydrates, your cells start to ignore the insulin. And so your body will have to release even more to have the same effect. Known as insulin resistance , this persistent blood sugar elevation can cause blood vessels to clog, leading to strokes, heart attacks, blindness, and kidney failure.

    Does Insulin Cause Weight Gain Not Exactly

    Does INSULIN cause WEIGHT gain? Doctor makes it easy to understand.
    • Reactions 0 reactions

    One reason people with type 2 diabetes avoid insulin treatment is because they have heard that insulin causes weight gain. In a quick internet search, Im seeing phrases like insulin and weight gain go hand-in-hand or weight gain is a side effect of insulin. In one place this description was provided Insulin causes weight gain when the cells absorb too much glucose and the body converts this into fat.1 All of these statements are wrong!! Its like saying hammers cause smashed thumbs. Heres the real story.

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    Compare Humalog Vs Novolog

    Humalog is the most effective medication for lowering your blood sugar. Works quickly to control your sugar levels after meals. Dose can be easily adjusted to create a regimen that’s tailored to your body’s needs. Humalog can be used even if you have liver or kidney problems, unlike other anti-diabetic medications. When used correctly, this medication will l lower blood sugar every time you use it and prevent the harmful, long-term effects of high sugar levels on your organs and blood vessels. You can easily change the dose of Novolog to fit your individual needs. Starting insulin early in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes can maintain your body’s insulin-producing cells and slow down disease progression. Can use Novolog even if you have liver or kidney problems, unlike many other blood sugar-lowering medicines. 280 reviews so far Have you used Humalog ? Leave a review 177 reviews so far Have you used Novolog ? Leave a reviewContinue reading > >

    How And Why Insulin Resistance Causes Weight Gain

    When you think of insulin, you think of diabetes. However, in order to understand insulin and its effects on weight gain, you must understand what insulin is and how it affects your body. Insulin, created from your bodys pancreas, helps with the conversion of glucose into energy. We convert everything we eat into glucose, but only one food type is completely converted into glucose: carbohydrates.

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    Foods To Avoid Completely

    Now that we know what the problem is and what’s causing weight on your body, we can begin eliminating foods from our diet that cause insulin spikes. These are going to be your “bad” or simple and complex carbs such as any candy, cereals, bread , pastas, potatoes , corn, dried fruit, alcohol, juices , and milk.â

    Why Do Some Diabetics Gain Weight

    Why Does Insulin Make You Gain Weight?

    Recent research in the U.K, a study by Prospective Diabetes , discovered that the average person with type 2 diabetes gained, on average, around nine pounds during their first three years using insulin.

    You see, the link between insulin and weight gain isnt necessarily directly correlated with the insulin. It is more so correlated with the types of foods you are eating and the amount of calories you are burning daily.

    When you consume more glucose than you burn in a day, it gets stored in the liver as glycogen. It is then converted into fatty acids and circulated throughout the body and stored as fat.

    This process also explains why many patients that have diabetes and chronic hyperglycemia begin to experience weight loss.

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