Are-You-Insulin-Resistant
2021-4-21_ Chances are if you are overweight you are already suffering from some degree of insulin resistance whether you know it or not. And, to make matters worse...it's likely your physician isn't catching it either. The majority of adult Americans are contending with insulin resistance problems and sadly too many children are too. Poor food quality consumption is the culprit but despite weight gain and the long list of various health problems that go along with the excess pounds, people still consume bad food. day in and day out. Bad food is addictive and crowds most shelves in every grocery store, including Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Bad food is just bad, but food marketed (packaged, boxed or bagged) up as healthy or good food for us is still very very bad.
It is my strong feeling that there is a HUGE DISCONNECT between the cause and effect of food. In other words, people aren't thinking that calorie quality is directly impacting gene expression. Quite simply, consumption of nutrient dense food that has been in our diets since the beginning of time expresses good genes. Manufactured, processed and fake food consumption loaded with vegetable oils, refined flours and sugar that has been on the rise since the 1970's expresses bad genes. With increased consumption of vegetable oils, refined carbohydrates and sugar, we also see the rise of obesity, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimers etc. Are you making the connection yet? Bad food consumption drives excess insulin production which over time leads to poor health and disease.
Insulin is the hormone you should be paying attention to in regard to weight control and health(and disease control quite frankly!). And as I stated earlier, insulin runs high in most people that are overweight or diabetic type 2. Here are some facts to help you better understand the power that insulin signaling has in your body:
insulin rises fast depending on signals from you gut post prandial
can be controlled amazingly through food selections
high refined carbohydrate intake PROVOKES production
non-sleep, stress, lack of sunlight exposure and gut issues can disrupt insulin levels
Insulin is the boss of glucose in our bodies and ushers glucose into cells to be used as energy. Insulin is also in charge of glucagon which has a huge impact on glucose production and distribution. And finally, insulin is directly in control of your bodies ability to burn fat. Fake food consumption, over consumption and excess calorie consumption (they are typically nutrient poor quality) drive insulin production which in turn stunts fat burning. Over time, chronically elevated insulin levels cause insulin resistance. And just so you know, diabetes type 2 is the byproduct of long term insulin resistance. High insulin levels and of course insulin resistance drive metabolic syndrome. Below are some criteria the WHO and other health organizations centralize on for criteria of metabolic syndrome:
large waist size
high blood pressure
high blood sugar
low HDL
high triglycerides (fats in your blood)
What's missing in this list is insulin values which is at the core of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance and diabetes 2 which is so crazy. It's a simple blood test which tells you so much! In the words of Ivor Cummins, measuring insulin "...would raise many awkward questions around the cholesterol dogma and our current approach to managing chronic disease. Also, there are no sale-able drugs that really tackle the problem of high insulin." In addition to these guidelines, I recommend checking your blood glucose value. My research shows that a good range to be in for fasting blood glucose (and there are exceptions to the rule, particularly athletes) would be 54-100 mg/dL. Additionally, calculating your HOMA (homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance) would be helpful in clueing you in on your level of insulin resistance if any. All you need for this value is your fasting blood glucose and fasting insulin values, these tests you can request from your doctor or order yourself. Click on this link to access HOMA calculator . But again, an obvious indcator of whether you are suffering from a little bit of insulin resistance or a lot would be your body fat percentage or quite simply taking a peek at your waistline.
I am a huge advocate of self ownership when it comes to our health. In other words, health ownership. Knowledge is power and I am on high alert and constant pursuit. Recognizing and understanding that eating and drinking poor quality calories directly impacts our health status in real time is essential for our health betterment and protection. Knowing who the bad guys are and who the good guys are and of course doing something about it will reverse insulin resistance and many of the harmful effects of poor food consumption and weight gain.
If you suffer from insulin resistance or are overweight or just want to improve your health then I STRONGLY RECOMMEND participating in my 6-week health centered program known as FITCAMP. I will teach you how to build a healthy plate and ease your body into fat burning mode! In this live community setting you will have tremendous accountability and support in removing foods that are addictive and changing behavior patterns that are stunting your fat burn. Please visit my website Bodyrite Training to learn more or to reserve your awesome opportunity to optimize your health!
Bodyrite Training is a tremendous community to become a part of as we are more than just a gym, we are a lifestyle brand advocating for our client's health betterment! Movement matters, but it's essential to pay attention to food quality as well as other lifestyle practices that impact our health!
-to your Health! xoxo Paige
