Insulin is a hormone created in your pancreas which is a gland located behind your stomach. Insulin is what ALLOWS your body to use glucose (such as sugar) for energy.
This is one of the largest topics in regards to weight loss, weight gain and some more serious health issues such a diabetes and PCOS.
Insulin Resistance
Genetic and lifestyle factors contribute to insulin resistance. Also known as impaired insulin sensitivity, this can be temporary or chronic and treatable in some cases. For multiple reasons, fat and liver cells may respond incorrectly to insulin meaning they cant effectively take up glucose from your blood or store it. This is what insulin resistance is. As a result, your pancreas makes more insulin to try & overcome your increasing blood glucose levels which is called hyperinsulinemia.
If your cells become too resistant to insulin, it leads to elevated blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia), & over time, leads to prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes.
In addition to Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance is associated with several other conditions, including:
Obesity.
Cardiovascular disease.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Metabolic syndrome.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
How Does Insulin Resistance Affect The Body?
The development of insulin resistance typically increases insulin production (hyperinsulinemia) so your body can maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Elevated levels of insulin can result in weight gain, which, in turn, makes insulin resistance worse.
Hyperinsulinemia is also associated with the following conditions:
Higher triglyceride levels.
Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis).
High blood pressure (hypertension).
Insulin resistance is also the main feature of metabolic syndrome, which is a set of features that link excess fat around the waist. Insulin resistance is also related to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.
Features of metabolic syndrome include:
Elevated blood glucose levels.
An elevated triglyceride level.
Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
High blood pressure.
You don’t have to have all four of these features to have metabolic syndrome.
Symptoms of high blood sugar include:
Increased thirst.
Frequent urination (peeing).
Increased hunger.
Blurred vision.
Headaches.
Skin infections.
Slow-healing cuts and sores.
Possible Causes Of Insulin Resistance
Acquired causes, meaning you’re not born with the cause, of insulin resistance include:
Excess body fat: Scientists believe obesity, especially excess fat in your belly and around your organs (visceral fat), is a primary cause of insulin resistance. A waist measurement of 101 cm or more for men and people assigned male at birth and 85 cm or more for women and people assigned female at birth is linked to insulin resistance. Studies have shown that belly fat makes hormones and other substances that can contribute to long-term inflammation in your body. This inflammation may play a role in insulin resistance
Physical inactivity: Physical activity makes your body more sensitive to insulin and builds muscle that can absorb blood glucose. A lack of physical activity can have opposite effects and cause insulin resistance. In addition, a lack of physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle are associated with weight gain, which can also contribute to insulin resistance.
Diet: A diet of highly processed, high-carbohydrate foods and saturated fats has been linked to insulin resistance. Your body digests highly processed, high-carbohydrate foods very quickly, which causes your blood sugar to spike. This puts extra stress on your pancreas to produce a lot of insulin, which, over time, can lead to insulin resistance.
Medications: Certain medications can cause insulin resistance, including steroids, some blood pressure medications, certain HIV treatments and some psychiatric medications.
Genetic conditions that cause insulin resistance
Certain inherited genetic conditions (conditions you’re born with) can cause insulin resistance for various reasons.
Type A insulin resistance syndrome: In people with Type A insulin resistance syndrome, insulin resistance impairs blood sugar regulation and ultimately leads to diabetes. The insulin resistance and other symptoms often don’t become apparent until puberty or later. It’s generally not life-threatening.
Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome: People who have Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome are unusually small starting before birth, and affected infants experience failure to thrive, which means they don’t grow and gain weight at the expected rate. People with Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome develop signs and symptoms early in life and live into their teens or 20s. Death usually results from complications related to diabetes.
Donohue syndrome: People with Donohue syndrome are unusually small starting before birth, and affected infants experience failure to thrive. Additional symptoms that become apparent soon after birth include a lack of fatty tissue under the skin, wasting (atrophy) of muscles and excessive body hair growth (hirsutism). Most children with this condition don’t survive beyond age 2.
Other inherited conditions that cause insulin resistance include Myotonic dystrophy, Alström syndrome, Werner syndrome & Inherited lipodystrophy.
Becoming Insulin Sensitive
There are three main types of insulin sensitivity; peripheral insulin sensitivity, hepatic insulin sensitivity, and pancreatic insulin sensitivity.
Peripheral insulin sensitivity is how readily body cells in your periphery tissue, such as muscle and fat, can absorb glucose; either on their own (muscle can absorb glucose when contracted) or when insulin stimulates them. It is the most well-known form of insulin resistance.
Hepatic insulin sensitivity is related to the process of gluconeogenesis (GNG), the production of new blood sugar. Usually inflammatory factors prevent insulin from acting in the liver via inducing insulin resistance, and insulin's actions are unable to tell the liver to 'stop' producing glucose.[1][2]
Pancreatic insulin sensitivity is the functioning of the cells that secrete insulin, the beta-cells. If these are damaged or cannot function, insulin resistance can develop. This is more of a concern in disease states like Type I diabetes (insulin insufficiency) or Cystic Fibrosis (where the function in physically hindered).
Lifestyle
Non-modifiable factors
Research suggests that insulin sensitivity is negatively associated with age & although these may be related more to lifestyle than to age. The ability to reverse insulin resistance with exercise does not appear to be different between young and old. Exercise tends to be recommended to older individuals to improve glucose metabolism.[8]
Modifiable factors
There is an association with obesity and insulin resistance, with insulin resistant individuals usually having more body fat. However, this also appears to be lifestyle related as increases in insulin sensitivity can occur without weight loss. Some studies do note more drastic benefits in insulin sensitisation in obese individuals, which is probably due to worse baseline statistics.
Exercise
Aerobic Exercise (Ex. Jogging)
Aerobic exercise, or exercise that you can maintain for a prolonged period of time, seems to be able to acutely improve insulin resistance by increasing uptake of glucose into cells. It can increase insulin sensitivity immediately, as a session of 25-60 minutes (at 60-95% VO2 max) for 3-5 days. Improvements can also be seen after a week of aerobic training, when doing mostly 2 short sessions of 25 minutes of walking at 70% VO2 max. Interestingly, the opposite is also true. Voluntary restriction of activity or a drastic increase in sedentary activity can reduce insulin sensitivity in as little as 2 weeks.
Over the long term, aerobic exercise done routinely can preserve beneficial changes in insulin sensitivity.
Insulin sensitivity as a result of exercise can occur independent of weight loss. This is not to say that aerobic exercise will not lead to weight loss, as it may.The function of weight loss seems to be a blend of activity and diet, whereas insulin sensitivity increases could occur without changes in the diet. In regards to hepatic insulin resistance, it has been seen over time periods of 12 weeks light aerobic activity but studies lasting 1 week have sometimes noted no difference.
Anaerobic Exercise (Ex. Weightlifting)
Strength exercises (lifting weights usually) is also associated with increasing insulin sensitivity as well as increased muscle mass. In persons with impaired glucose tolerance, more sets of an exercise tend to be more effective than single sets and higher intensities better than moderate.
The general idea of exercise is that you want to have lean (muscle) mass, and you want it to contract somewhat regularly so it can take up glucose. The more properly functioning muscle mass one has, the better peripheral insulin sensitivity is.
Supplementation
These supplements may be either supplements that directly act upon cells to induce insulin sensitising effects (like resveratrol or carnitine) or may inhibit or otherwise delay carbohydrate uptake (such as green tea and perhaps chlorogenic acid)
Using some of these compounds in conjunction with diet/exercise techniques conducive to regaining insulin sensitivity would be advisable. Other herbal avenues of supplementation include cinnamon tea which may reduce your blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, thereby increasing insulin's effectiveness.
Yours In Health,
Coach Kimmi
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