What is it?
Insulin resistance or what some call,”pre-diabetes,” is when your cells become resistant to Insulin. This is what happens commonly to women during and after the transition to menopause, but also happens to anyone before they are diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic.
This is what happened to me!
Let me explain in simpler terms.
Insulin is a hormone. All hormones are made in one part of our body then travel through our system and have their effect on a different part of our body Insulin is made in the pancreas and travels all over to bind to our cells. When it binds to the cells it helps the cell uptake sugar. When you eat anything with sugar your insulin level rises and the sugar is pushed into cells for use as fuel and any extra ( which is usually a lot) is stored as fat. In a perfect world, i.e. before there was so much processed and “diet” food, some fat storage was good. You need to have fuel when you’re not eating but as a society we have gone overboard.
Let’s get back to insulin and insulin resistance. As you eat more and more your sugar levels climb in your blood and your Insulin levels get higher to compensate.
That is ok for a while but eventually your cells become resistant to the insulin. When this happens the pancreas makes more and more Insulin because it thinks there isn’t enough. As I said previously, insulin’s job is to keep the blood sugar within normal levels. As your insulin levels are rising your sugar is normal but what is happening at the cellular level is devastating. Your pancreas is working overtime to keep the insulin level high and keep your blood sugar normal. Eventually the pancreas crashes and your sugar rises leading to a diagnosis of type 2 Diabetes.
When you choose a lifestyle free of processed, chemical, sugary foods your body will naturally lose the fat and your insulin levels will go down.
HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?
When your body runs out of sugar to use as energy, it will start breaking down the fat (free fatty acids) and converting back to energy. The entire biochemical process is beyond this discussion but basically if you deprive your body of sugar and carbs, your body will “eat it’s own fat” to provide you with energy.
I don’t want anyone to become diabetic and unfortunately the medical community has lagged behind in this area. As medical professionals we have been taught to treat disease, not prevent it. Times are changing but we still have a long way to go.
So, how can you prevent diabetes and lose body fat? Invest in yourself and change your LIFESTYLE! There are many diets out there but most fail. I say this every day to my patients, you can’t maintain any diet that is “ all or none.” We all have difficult days with food, life etc so you need to be able to adjust and accept your imperfections.
- Ask your doctor to measure your fasting insulin level and fasting sugar and a HgbA1c. Fasting glucose should be less than 100.
- Increase or start exercising. Even walking from the farthest parking spot and taking stairs not the elevator, can help
- CUT OUT THE PROCESSED FOODS!
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