ARE YOU INSULIN RESISTANT?

It was originally call “Syndrome X”. More recently, this syndrome has been renamed as “Metabolic Disease”, and yes, is indeed a disease of insulin resistance. Some characteristics of this disease are:


• High blood sugar (glucose) levels; a signal that the body may be having trouble processing carbs.
• High insulin levels; usually go hand in hand with high fasting blood sugar.
• You’re eating too many carbs, particularly high-glycemic carbs; stimulates the secretion of insulin.


You can HELP YOURSELF…The best way to control both blood sugar and insulin levels is to control carb intake.


Could it really be that simple? Yes, it is. The insulin resistance of metabolic syndrome is characterized by intolerance to carbohydrate. If you have lactose intolerance, you avoid lactose. If you have gluten intolerance, you avoid gluten. You get the idea.


Not surprising, many studies of low-carb diets have shown that glucose levels improve significantly in subjects who follow them. Insulin levels also decrease, regardless of whether or not a person has a glucose metabolism disorder and even whether he has lost any weight. Reducing insulin levels throughout the day, even after meals, is crucial to enable fat burning.


In this way, controlling carbs has an important effect on the way the body handles fat, and in turn positively affects cholesterol and triglyceride levels.


Insulin


It’s a hormone made and released by the pancreas, an organ or gland that is part of your endocrine system.


Your blood sugar (glucose) level needs to remain within a relatively narrow range to avoid an overload. When it rises as a result of consuming foods full of sugar, white flour and other quickly metabolized carbohydrates, the pancreas receives a signal to produce insulin to carry glucose to the cells. There glucose is at the ready to provide energy as needed.


Too much Glucose means more body fat


When you consume more carbs than necessary to meet energy requirements, the excess glucose has to be transported and stored somewhere. Insulin helps convert the excess carbohydrate foods you eat into either glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrate in the muscles) or into fat stored in fat cells.


Insulin promotes the storage of nutrients and simultaneously blocks the breakdown (metabolism) of protein, fat and carbohydrate in the body. When the insulin level rises, it puts the brakes on burning fat for fuel and simultaneously encourages fat storage.


How can you avoid storing fat?


When you limit your carb consumption, you stimulate increased fat burning and decreased fat storage. In fact, fat breakdown and fat burning are exquisitely sensitive to changes in the amount of insulin released in response to dietary carbohydrate. Small decreases in insulin can almost immediately significantly increase fat burning. Insulin also increases glucose uptake and activates key enzymes that transform glucose into fat.


How does that reduce your risk for metabolic syndrome?


Following a lower carb diet, (which means remove processed flours and high glycemic foods) blunts insulin levels throughout the day so you burn significantly more—and store less—body fat. This metabolic change contributes to improvement in all markers of the metabolic syndrome and also reduces the risk for heart disease and diabetes.