Overlooked Cause : Insulin Resistance

Let’s understand in its meaning the topic of contention : INSULIN RESISTANCE

This phenomenon describes the action in a person’s body wherein the cells in your muscles, fat and liver fail to respond properly to insulin and aren’t able to absorb glucose from your blood.

To elaborate, when you overload your body with high sugar/carb/processed foods and not enough protein and fat, your cells gradually stop responding to insulin and are unable to absorb the glucose from your blood after each meal. Your body’s resistance to insulin will, over time, result in an increase in blood sugar. 

Many people happen to be suffering from many diseases and health problems and they just keep trying to treat these diseases without going to the bottom or actually finding the root cause of the persistence in the disease. Insulin resistance is one such root cause that could be triggering these health problems and diseases in you. A deeper dive into the bodily conditions a person might be experiencing needs to be evaluated to ascertain INSULIN RESISTANCE.

SIGNS / SYMPTOMS to analyze if you might be suffering from insulin resistance:

If you feel hungry even after a hearty meal, tend to urinate frequently, feel or get tingling sensations in your hands and feet, are prone to chronic infections and feel extremely thirsty off late, you could be having a severe case of INSULIN RESISTANCE.

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Highlighted SYMPTOMS of INSULIN RESISTANCE typically are:

1. Acute ACNE / Hair loss.
2. Chronic Fatigue.
3. High Blood Pressure.
4. Inflammation.
5. Difficulty in losing weight.
6. Craving Carbs / Sugary foods / Salty foods.
7. Abdominal Fat.
8. High levels of cholesterol.
9. Obesity.
10. Pre-diabetes / Diabetes.
    

Insulin Resistance doesn’t typically have any specific symptoms, but if you’re experiencing conditions such as the absence of menstruation or lipodystrophy (a condition wherein a person’s body has a problem with storing and using fat), they could indicate that you are suffering from INSULIN RESISTANCE.

Diagnostic Tests for Insulin Resistance :

1. Fasting Blood Glucose Test: Getting a blood test after fasting overnight or at least 8 hours before the test.
   

2. Post-Prandial Blood Glucose Test: Post-Prandial is basically after consuming a meal. So, in conclusion, getting a blood test done after a meal will help find how your body responds to sugar and starch consumed. 
   

3. C-Peptide Test: C-Peptide, along with insulin, is produced in the pancreas. Therefore, a C-Peptide test would tell you the measure of disparity of the insulin produced by your body and actual injection of insulin in your body. This test also helps understand if a person suffers from TYPE-1 or TYPE-2 Diabetes.
   

4. Fasting Serum Insulin: In brief, a test conducted to find out the levels of insulin present in a person’s body. The typical fast period is 8 hours or a test conducted in the morning, when the person hasn’t eaten.
   

5. Post-Prandial Serum Insulin: Test conducted after the consumption of a meal. Usually, this test is done for ascertaining diabetes in a person.
   

6. HbA1C: Stands for Hemoglobin A1C test; As this suggests, this diagnostic test will show you the blood sugar or glucose linked to your haemoglobin. This test shows you your average blood sugar levels over the last few months.
   

Treatments for Insulin Resistance : 

The same principle can treat not everyone as everyone has their own bio-individuality, i.e. each person is a unique individual with highly individualized nutritional requirements. But a few general treatments you can start with in order to lower them are : 

Adopt a Healthy Diet:

Consider a diet that is less in refined carbohydrates and more in healthy fats. Include more fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, foods high in protein and fat etc. Cut down on sugars, refined carbohydrates and fructose since high sugar can increase blood sugar which makes insulin resistance worse. Following a meal plan recommended by us can help improve insulin resistance. 

Get More Sleep:

Getting a good amount of sleep is very essential. Fewer hours of sleep is known to lead to sickness and diseases, which can cause harm to your body. 

Minimise Stress Levels:

Stress stimulates your stress hormones which break down glycogen into glucose used by our body as a quick source of energy. This keeps your stress levels high, which causes an increase in blood sugar levels. Meditation, exercise and sleep can help reduce stress.

Exercise: 

Exercising helps in reducing body fat hence increasing insulin sensitivity. Exercising at least 20 minutes for five days a week will improve cardiovascular health, which in turn helps in reducing the risk of obesity.

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Learn more about Insulin resistance, how you can diagnose them and the treatment required based on an individual’s unique genetic and physiological makeup from iThrive academy: https://www.ithrivein.com/academy