Did you know that insulin resistance has become a very hot topic that we all need to be concerned about? Insulin resistance contributes to so many chronic diseases in our modern culture and the truth about how to remedy this growing epidemic actually is dependent on you!
What Is Insulin?
Simply put, insulin is an essential hormone the pancreas makes that helps your body turn food into energy and manages your blood sugar levels. If your pancreas doesn't make enough insulin or your body doesn't use insulin properly, it leads to high blood sugar levels that overtime results in type 2 diabetes.
Insulin moves glucose [sugar] from your blood into cells all over your body. Glucose comes from the food and drinks you consume along with your body's natural release of stored glucose called glycogen.
Insulin is the key that opens the doors of the cells in your body so that the glucose can leave the bloodstream and move into the cells where it's used for energy.
Insulin is the bridge between obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Both of these conditions; obesity and type 2 diabetes are the result of a broken metabolism around weight gain and longevity and health. Unfortunately, today we don't follow the rise in insulin levels during regular blood panels. There are debates about the why, but we are suffering from this lack of tracking.
Until blood sugar levels climb into the diabetic range, many practitioners fail to alert their patients that a storm is brewing and serious adjustments in diet and lifestyle are desperately needed.
It can take over a decade of high insulin levels for the body to begin to have elevated blood sugar.
And even then, our blood glucose reaches 126 mg/dL, modern medicine chooses a "watch & wait" approach. Which really means; we will be able to medicate you soon.
This is NOT a helpful approach and looking at the rising rate of pre diabetes, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, hyper-tension, heart disease, alzheimers and infertility, it's time to change the narrative. All of these diseases have as their root - insulin resistance which can be reversed through how we eat.
Insulin Resistance.
When our glucose levels begin to climb, we know that insulin has been elevated.Our magnificient body is always working toward balance and when elevated glucose is detected on a blood panel we can know that insulin is working overtime trying to keep glucose [blood sugar] in the normal range. Our body is becoming resistant to the delivery of insulin, so more and more is needed to move the glucose into the already stuffed cells. Eventually, we have both high glucose and elevated insulin - type 2 diabetes.
The Standard American Diet [SAD] that's predominantly made up of starches and sugars contributes to the growing number of individuals who suffer from these "plagues of prosperity".
Over decades the need for more and more insulin causes our cells become insensitive - resistant to that insulin. We experience weight gain, higher cholesterol and triglyceride levels, higher blood pressure, an increase in heart disease, fertility and errectile problems.
Insulin is the glucose-disposal system that keeps our body in regulated. But, our lifestyle and eating habits have contributed to this broken metabolic syndrome leading us into a life of poor health and expensive medications that only treat the symptoms.
All Cells Are Not Equal.
Fat cells. muscle cells, and liver cells don't become resistant to insulin at the same time, or in the same way. This means that the same amount of insulin will have a greater or lesser effect on our different tissues.
The more sensitive particular tissue is to insulin, the more glucose it will take up when insulin is delivered.
We want our muscle cells to be sensitive, so that they will be able to take up more glucose and burn it as energy. This will use the available glucose instead of it moving into storage as fat. When this happens, we become fatter and more sedentary and these now resistant cells generate less energy and this causes our metabolism to slow down.
When the body is burning glucose, it cannot burn fat and then saves the stored fat for later.
This is a problem because that stored fat in our muscles and liver leads to rising insulin resistance, provoking a greater insulin resistance, fatty liver, pre diabetes, and eventually type 2 diabetes - a disease entirely caused by too much sugar.
What Can I Do?
Stop putting sugar in. This is accomplished by eating a diet that is low in carbohydrates, has moderate protein and adequate quality fats.
Burn off the remaining sugar by eating less often, stop snacking and close the kitchen earlier at night. This allows our body the chance to clean up the cells, along with reducing the influx of insulin every time we eat.
This 2-part solution short-circuits the cycle of too much available glucose which leads to insulin resistance, insulin toxicity and metabolic disease.
Different Macros Require Different Amounts of Insulin.
Fats break down into fatty acids, which do ot need insulin to metabolize.
Protein breaks down into amino acids, which need a small amount of insulin to metabolize.
Carbohydrates break down into glucose, which requires more insulin to get into the cells.
Carbohydrates are the big insulin hogs!
Try This.
Eliminate all added sugars from your diet.
Reduce refined carbohydrates and add more natural fats to your plate.
Eat real food and eliminate packaged pseudo-foods.
Stop snacking and eat dinner early then close the kitchen.
Explore intermittent fasting.
If you'd like to learn more about how to live a low insulin lifestyle, I'd love to help.
You can find me here: https://www.janlindquistntp.com
Thanks for reading,
Jan
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