What Is Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance. Do you know what it is? Did you know that 1 in 3 Americans is insulin resistant without knowing it? I estimate that the figures are not much happier. Being insulin resistant means being on the road to type 2 diabetes, stubborn obesity, and all sorts of other diseases without knowing it.
You have to be in observation to find if you have insulin-resistant symptoms.
It is impossible as a woman to feel vital and healthy with hormonal chaos in the body
read The role of insulin in diabetes
I'd rather talk about glucose than sugar
Insulin is the hormone that ensures that energy is brought to all your body cells. Even when you are sleeping because even then you want your heart to keep beating. However? This also requires energy. We get most of that energy from food.
Carbohydrates and fats are important energy suppliers. Proteins play a less important role; they are especially important as a building material for new cells.
When you eat carbohydrates in your diet intestines absorb them into your blood which raises your blood glucose or blood sugar. I like to use the word glucose because with blood sugar we tend to think that it is only sweets that cause our blood glucose to rise.
But it is also all forms of carbohydrates that take care of this. Think of dairy, grains, starch, and tubers. So think of milk, bread products, rice, pasta, legumes, and pumpkin. Even stress makes your blood glucose rise.
The effect of stress and sugar in the body is somewhat similar.
What is insulin and therefore insulin resistance?
When glucose is circulating in your blood, the hormone insulin is produced. Glucose is taken to your cells through insulin where it is turned into energy.
Insulin can be seen as a key that fits on the door of the cell to open it and let glucose in.
If insulin very often uses that key to open doors, those keyholes wear out, as it were. The doors then no longer open and glucose continues to circulate in the blood instead of being absorbed into the cell.
This is what we call insulin resistance: the doors of the body's cells no longer open to let in energy.
Think about what happens if you need to refuel with your car but you can't get the fuel cap off. I bet you don't leave the gas station until someone has helped you get your gas cap off. You know your car is going to let you down quickly when it runs out of gas.
If your body cells no longer receive energy (glucose) and the energy remains in your blood (the gas station), you can predict what will happen in the short term: you get tired.
General fatigue without an immediate cause can be the first sign of insulin resistance.
A second signal is that you start to binge and need sweets because your body cells are begging for energy, as it were. Your blood glucose is raised instantly when you take food and sweets and therefore energy.
Mood swings are also an indication of insulin resistance: there are moments when you feel fine (you have the energy) but these are alternated with moments when you have a short fuse and don't like it all for a while (no energy).
As a fourth symptom, you can even get depressed feelings; Depression is also a form of lack of energy.
Finally, being overweight and having difficulty with losing weight is also a signal of insulin resistance. Eat less, exercise more, and still not lose weight? This could be a signal of insulin resistance.
Your body cannot burn its own fats as long as there is insulin circulating in your blood
Read what blood sugar level is dangerous
How do identify that you are insulin resistant?
In the longer term, other symptoms may become visible, including increased blood pressure, chronic inflammation, eye complaints, arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular problems, PCOS, and in general accelerated aging.
Most people with these kinds of complaints have already visited their GP for a long time, who can test whether you are insulin resistant or maybe even already have type 2 diabetes. Don't panic: the good news is that this is reversible in most people.
Type 2 diabetes is reversible: most people can be cured of it.
If you know the cause, you can remove it
If you know how you became insulin resistant or got type 2 diabetes, you also know what you can do to reverse this. It is necessary to eliminate the causes. Do you recognize the following points from your life? Be honest?
- Consumption of a lot of processed meals (which have a lot of hidden sugars and wheat added to them)
- Eating and drinking a lot of sweets, sweets, desserts, sweet dairy, sweet drinks, energy drinks, coffee, alcohol, and certain light products.
- Eating a lot of carbohydrates such as all bread products, dairy, pasta, rice, tubers, carrots, legumes, grains, and pseudocereals.
- A chronically high level of stress
- Hidden, low-grade inflammation in the gut due to food sensitivities
- An unhealthy intestinal flora (you notice this in digestive problems)
- 'leaky gut syndrome'
- Not enough sleep
- Too little exercise (including often sitting for more than an hour at a time)
- Certain medications including corticosteroids
Replace sweets and lots of carbohydrates with healthy fats! (Yes!)
You can achieve a lot with food. When it comes to insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes, your first line of defense is food. What is important is that you maintain a steady blood glucose level. This means greatly reducing sweets (especially drinks), fast carbohydrates, and processed products. You can eat plenty of fresh products and healthy fats! How delicious is that?
You getting fat is not from eating good fats but from eating sweets and carbohydrates. I'm not the only one who has been saying this for years. Prof. dr. Dr. Hanno Pijl, a specialist in the field of diabetes, says the same. “If you greatly reduce carbohydrates, saturated fats have no harmful effect and your cholesterol level can actually drop.”
“Forget all light and semi-skimmed products and enjoy butter, full-fat cheese, mayonnaise, and a tasty dressing.” According to Prof. Dr. Hanno Pijl.
Lots of fiber and vegetables, moderate with proteins, and listen to your body
In addition to fats, fiber and sufficient fluid (read water) are very important to get a healthy intestinal flora. Also, add some resistant starch and prebiotics like flaxseed. Aim for about 500 grams of vegetables per day in all colors of the rainbow: so eat a wide variety.
Very few people are aware that protein is also a reason for raising insulin. That's why I'm not a fan of protein shakes unless you really exercise a lot and fanatically. But actually, I'm not a big proponent of the latter either: too much exercise can mean a significant dose of stress for your body.
Finally, try to avoid foods that the intestines cannot tolerate. Avoiding gluten, grains (including soy), and dairy is a good start. If this does not provide enough, then also delete eggs, nuts, and/or nightshade vegetables for a week or two. If this has a positive effect, add them back one by one and notice how you feel about this.
Your gut may also be intolerant of healthy products. Be aware of this if you eat healthily but don't feel optimal.
Read How to cure diabetes in 8 weeks
Insulin resistant? Less stress, more exercise (before breakfast)…
If you have chronic stress, this is really a point of attention. No matter how healthy you eat; Chronic stress destroys your body. No healthy diet can compete with that. Seek help from a coach or stress counselor if you're having a hard time letting go of stress. A few talks can make all the difference in the world.
… and get enough sleep
Perhaps the easiest advice is to get enough sleep. Sleep is the ultimate relaxation and growth hormone that only does its job in your sleep; the hormone that kicks into action at night to renew all your cells and get rid of old cells. You definitely want to keep this hormone as a friend if you want to grow old healthy and vital! Keep a regular wake and sleep pattern and go to bed on time.
Healthy sleep may be the best medicine you can think of.
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