What is Insulin Resistance?
Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body produces insulin, but does not use it properly. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps the body use glucose (natural sugar) for energy. When people are insulin resistant, their muscle, fat, and liver cells do not respond properly to insulin. As a result, their bodies need more insulin to help glucose enter cells.
The overuse atrophy of pancreas
The pancreas tries to keep up with this increased demand for insulin by producing more. Eventually, it becomes overworked and may no longer be able to meet that demand. Excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream, setting the stage for diabetes.
Many people with insulin resistance have high levels of both glucose and insulin circulating in their blood at the same time. Learning about insulin resistance is the first step toward making lifestyle changes that can help prevent diabetes and other health problems.
Lipstick on a pig – article
Read this related and well written article on why the new MyPlate from the USDA is a ‘”Lipstick On A Pig“
By advocating a grain based, low fatty diet, over a protein based hunter gatherer diet that we evolved on, the USDA’s food pyramid contributed to insulin resistance. Unfortunately, up to 71 percent of the population has insulin resistance that leads to compensatory increase in the production of this hormone in order to keep the blood sugars under control.
Most anabolic hormone
This compensation is what makes you gain weight especially in the belly and upper part of the body as insulin is an “anabolic” or body building hormone. It also leads to a new problem called metabolic syndrome that one in three adults have. Thanks to USDA, all our understanding about healthy foods was skewed as we look at fat as unhealthy although there are many people groups such as those in the polar regions that eat up to 80 percent of their diet as fat and they do not get the cardiovascular diseases we do. This is because, although fat can make you gain weight, it would not lead to insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome.
Why I think the food pyramid contributed to your increased weight gain?
By advocating foods high in carbohydrates in the name of “low fat” foods, it directly contributed to our misguided views about fat which does not cause the problems they accuse it does. For example, our views about cholesterol and fat were heavily influenced by this food pyramid but the truth is that up to 70 percent of the body’s cholesterol is made in the liver and only 30 percent comes from the diet. By going “low fat”, low cholesterol in the diet, we were steered to a more grain based diets that cause insulin resistance over time. Since insulin resistance means we compensate by increasing the production of this hormone called insulin, we not only gain weight due to the anabolic effects of insulin, but it can also make our cholesterol profiles worse.
Why high insulin levels leads to cholesterol problems?
Insulin is an inducer of the enzyme in the liver called HMG coA reductase, which is a key enzyme in the production of cholesterol in the liver. Since up to 70 percent of the body’s cholesterol is manufactured in the liver while only about 30 percent comes from the diet, high levels of insulin induce this key enzyme called HMG CoA reductase leading to worsening of the cholesterols – this happens despite the patient eating a low fat, low cholesterol, so called “healthy diet”. (The popular cholesterol medications such as Lipitor inhibit this enzyme HMG C0A Reductase.)
How we evolved as Hunters and Gatherers
We were hunter and gatherers used to a diet rich in lean meats, eggs, vegetables, nuts, fruits, roots, and other naturally grown foods without the grain based agriculture products. Agriculture is only about 5,000-10,000 years old it is a relatively short period for us to adapt to this type of diet that is poor in nutritional quality and has many deficiencies.
Read this excellent paper titled “Cereal Grains: Humanity’s Double-Edged Sword” by Loren Cordain, PhD
In this paper, the author points out that cereal grains lack a number of nutrients which are essential for human health and well-being; additionally they contain numerous vitamins and minerals with low biological availability.
Furthermore, the inability of humans to physiologically overcome cereal grain antinutrients (phytates, alkylresorcinols, protease inhibitors, lectins, etc.) is indicative of the evolutionary novelty of this food for our species. This genetic maladaptation between human nutrient quirements and those nutrients found in cereal grains manifests itself as vitamin and mineral deficiencies and other nutritionally related disorders, particularly when cereal grains are consumed in excessive quantity. Learn more on insulin resistance.
- What is the main cause of insulin resistance?
- What are the symptoms of being insulin resistant?
- What is normal insulin resistance test range?
- Can you reverse insulin resistance?
- What should you eat if you are insulin resistant?
- What does it mean when your body is insulin resistant?
- Is there a blood test for insulin resistance?
- What is high insulin level?
- What is the best medication for insulin resistance?
- What are the warning signs of prediabetes?
- Does insulin resistance make it hard to lose weight?
- Does insulin resistance cause weight gain?
- Is keto diet good for insulin resistance?
- Does fasting help insulin resistance?
- Does green tea trigger insulin?
- Are bananas good for insulin resistance?
- What is the best supplement for insulin resistance?
- Is oatmeal good for insulin resistance?