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| Insulin Resistance - 10 Tips to Improve Your Metabolism Infographic from Diagnosis: Diet |
Are you one of the millions of Americans who has tried just about every diet - Atkins, Best Type, Blood Type, Cabbage Soup, Fat Flush, Glycemic Index, Grapefruit, Hormone, Jenny Graig, Macrobiotic, Master Cleanse, Nutrisystem, Paleo, South Beach, Volumetrics, Weight Watchers, Zone and on and on - and yet can't lose weight?
Or maybe you initially lose weight but can't keep it off.
Or maybe you are relatively slim yet struggle with central abdominal fat aka belly fat.
It Could Be Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance (IR) is a condition in which certain cells of the body become resistant to insulin, a hormone that is released by the pancreas in response to elevated blood glucose (sugar) levels. For example, after you eat, your blood sugar levels go up, and the insulin helps to shuttle the sugar into cells where it is used for energy.
When the insulin receptors on the cells become resistant to the effects of insulin, glucose can't get into the cells. So, the excess glucose is instead shuttled into fat cells, especially the abdominal fat cells, because fat cells don't generally become insulin resistant. This is how IR promotes fat storage.
It is currently thought that IR is caused by diet, stress, lack of exercise, inadequate sleep and genetics in a certain percent of the population.
Symptoms of IR
IR can be diagnosed with a combination of lab tests which include testing fasting glucose, insulin, HDL, triglycerides, Hemoglobin A1C and others.
Common symptoms of IR include:
🔹 Inability to lose weight
🔹 Belly fat
🔹 Fatigue, especially after meals
🔹 Constant hunger, even after a full meal
🔹 Sugar and starch cravings
🔹 Brain fog, difficulty focusing
Preventing and Treating IR
Preventing and treating IR usually involves addressing those lifestyle factors that are thought to cause it -i.e., diet, exercise, stress, and sleep.
Diet and nutrition play a particularly key role in the development, prevention and treatment of IR. The general recommendation is to eat whole foods while avoiding added sugar, simple carbohydrates, processed and packaged foods, and common food allergens such as dairy and gluten.
Infographic
This infographic from Diagnosis: Diet contains 10 tips to improve metabolism. Please go to How to Diagnose, Prevent and Treat Insulin Resistance - Diagnosis: Diet to read the in-depth article on what you need to know about insulin sensitivity and resistance, added sugar, naturally-occurring sugars and starches, refined carbohydrates, IR symptoms, medical tests, and what to do if you have IR. The article also includes a link to a downloadable PDF of IR tests and target ranges.
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