Going from insulin resistant to insulin sensitive

Many of us adults have a health potential that is far greater than we think. So we can often both feel better and have more energy than we imagine. This is because the phenomenon of insulin resistance is not yet something we talk so much about and that the link between fatigue and food is often misunderstood.

We need to change that now!

And I dare promise that you will have an easier and better life when you understand insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is the unique thing that correlates most strongly with our health, longevity and disease-free longevity. And at the same time, it is one of the most important explanations why some do not lose weight, even if they cut down on calories, while others who consume far more calories daily than they need, keep the weight off throughout life.

It is also the explanation why some people get energy after the meal while others feel tired and unwell.

The wild thing is that insulin resistance is at the same time one of the conditions that is easiest to affect when you know about its existence and understand the phenomenon! Yes, you read that right. We know of lots of small and large measures that can reduce insulin resistance. And the less insulin resistance the longer, healthier and better life! All the more energy and well-being. I am just saying!

So, what is insulin resistance?

Insulin resistance is the same as low insulin sensitivity, which is the opposite of high insulin sensitivity. We know that high insulin sensitivity is one of the most important single phenomena when we want to predict the long, healthy and good life.

Insulin resistance means that the body responds slowly to one of the most important signals in insulin: the signal that the time has come to remove excess sugar from the blood. When insulin asks the body to remove excess sugar from the blood (and only excess), insulin is actually just asking muscle cells and liver cells to open the lock that puts excess sugar into storage.

When we are insulin sensitive, we quickly remove excess sugar from the blood again after a meal. Then the blood sugar quickly becomes normal and all the body’s cells get the amount of energy they need again. In this situation we can tolerate a lot of carbohydrate in the diet – we are carbohydrate tolerant.

Conversely, when we are insulin resistant, sugar and insulin float around in the blood for longer periods of time. This means that we get tired at the same time as the body is tuned in for us to grow – or actually take on… Because we adults are actually done growing. In this situation, we cannot tolerate so much carbohydrate in the diet – we are carbohydrate intolerant.

When we are insulin resistant and have varying amounts of sugar in the blood, the body’s cells receive a varying amount of energy from the blood. If the blood sugar is high during many hours of the day, the body’s cells also have less time to form an antidote to sugar and less time to ‘rest their ears’, so that the body can better listen to insulin the next time the insulin hormone is at play.

And as if that’s not enough: Insulin-resistant people – or people with varying amounts of sugar in their blood – often have difficulty regulating their appetite. At the same time, general fatigue and malaise can also be confused with hunger.

Who has insulin resistance?

Everyone with diabetes 2 has insulin resistance and has most often had it for a long period before the diagnosis. This applies to both normal, underweight and obese people with diabetes 2.

The prevalence of insulin resistance also follows the prevalence of obesity. In short, there is a direct correlation between the amount of belly fat (ie the circumference at navel height) and the degree of insulin resistance. And when more than 50% of us Danes are overweight, it shows the magnitude of the prevalence of insulin resistance. To varying degrees of course.

For it should not be too easy, I would mention that many underweight people also have a low insulin sensitivity. Too low muscle mass and / or high fat mass pulls insulin sensitivity in the wrong direction.

In addition, insulin resistance is pronounced in many of the inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis because inflammatory processes reduce insulin sensitivity. After a few days in bed with an infection, both your inactivity, loss of muscle mass and the work of the immune system itself will create insulin resistance quite naturally.

Our insulin sensitivity also changes with age. All things being equal, the older we get, the less sensitive we become to insulin, and this is probably why many people find it harder to maintain weight after the age of 35, 45 or 55.

That said, know that your genes also mean a lot. If you are really lucky, as an 80-year-old you have an insulin sensitivity as a 25-year-old athlete, but if you are less lucky, the opposite can also be the case.

Frequent meals, inactivity (voluntary and involuntary), stress and difficulty sleeping also have a big impact on your insulin sensitivity.

Now you may be completely out of breath thinking about everything that lowers your insulin sensitivity. Maybe you also think that with weight gain, inflammatory diseases, pain – and consequent inactivity – a negative spiral is created which is hard to break?

How to counteract insulin resistance

Being insulin resistant is not the same as being ‘game over’. Not at all!

Insulin resistance is a condition that you have a lot of opportunities to affect. One can easily be insulin resistant for a period of time and then resume a higher insulin sensitivity. Below, I have compiled six ways to combat insulin resistance.

1. Muscle mass and muscle use. High muscle mass and muscle activity are among the most important assets when it comes to good insulin sensitivity. Strength training is good but rather a little exercise than a bad conscience that much is unmanageable. One can compensate for the effect of age on insulin sensitivity by exercising.
2. Avoid inactivity. If you are forced to sit still most of the day, take the opportunity to pick up coffee or go to the toilet with some more activity than you need. If you already know me, you know that heart rate snacks are my answer to the rapid heart rate rise with the many options. The pulse high up in quite a short time means far more than you imagine.
3. Pamper your body with breaks between meals. Short periods of fasting (ie just ‘fasting’ between main meals) mean that muscles and liver become better at responding to insulin the next time the insulin hormone appears together with excess sugar in the blood after a meal.
4. Eat blood sugar stable. Avoid refined carbohydrates (added sugar and flour) and foods high in carbohydrates (grains and fruits). If this principle is the basic diet of everyday life, then you avoid large and long-lasting blood sugar and insulin increases, even though you may be insulin resistant. This way, your body will not be harmed even if you are insulin resistant. The body does not actually detect it. And meanwhile, your insulin sensitivity is getting better and better.
5. Feed your gut flora. Yes, I mean it! You need to ensure good gut flora well-being because a gut flora in well-being has a sea of ​​positive effects on your insulin sensitivity, your immune system, your appetite regulation and your ability to get the nutrients you need. Now it’s said. But what does an intestinal flora actually eat? The best thing you can do for your gut flora is to eat lots of vegetables. All vegetables are amazing – but cabbage in all its guises is something very special. And guess what happens when you feed the gut flora? In addition to starting an avalanche of positive health effects, it snatches some of the calories in your food.
6. Get your good night’s sleep in 7-9 hours. This is where the body needs to recover. So go to bed without high blood sugar and get a good night’s sleep, which automatically cleans up the tracks your diet has left during the day.

The other two important parameters when we talk insulin resistance are age and genes that you read about earlier. Both are something we have no influence on, so here we do not have to spend our energy. But looking at us as an average, insulin sensitivity decreases as age increases. At the same time, your genes may mean that you have an insulin sensitivity throughout your life as a young elite athlete. Congratulations. Or they may mean you start at the other end of the scale. Cheating.

How do I find out if I am insulin resistant?

Since insulin resistance is a completely natural thing, I also think it should be completely natural to restore insulin sensitivity. Although one may well get a clinical measure of one’s insulin sensitivity, I think you better just see if you get better when you live as someone who wants to improve insulin sensitivity.

The worst thing that can happen with that attempt is that you take a period where you may live a little healthier than you need….

In short, at the same time, do everything you read in points 1-6 above, and then keep an eye on how you feel.

Because when insulin resistance means weight gain, poor appetite regulation, energy fluctuations (especially after meals), risk of maintaining inflammatory processes in the body, more belly fat, etc., what do you think a focused effort for better insulin sensitivity means?

Precise.

That means weight loss, more energy, less belly fat, less inflammation! And that means you have cracked an essential health code that few people know about.

Curious to understand the interplay between sugar and your body better?

Then read my book, The truth about sugar.

‘The truth about sugar’ is the first educational book about sugars biology in the human body. It is written for all adults with a genuine interest in health and in sugars fascinating journey in the human body.