Insulin And Muscle Building
Whether your goal is muscle gain or fat loss, stimulating insulin after a workout is beneficial. The reason? Insulin is anti-catabolic which means it stops muscle breakdown. Not only does this present a better environment for muscle growth but also ensures you do not LOSE muscle mass while dieting.
Since we know from above that protein stimulate insulin, consuming a high protein meal after a workout and even a whey shake directly after a workout stimulates insulin which halts muscle breakdown. The insulin also helps shuttle the protein into muscles to help BUILD muscle tissue.
So even on a fat loss diet or low-carbohydrate diet stimulating insulin at key times can be quite beneficial. If your goal is performance or muscle gain you have more leeway to stimulate insulin with carbohydrates around a workout from an overall calorie perspective. But in a fat loss and/or low-carb phase a whey protein shake helps keep calories down while accomplishing the same insulin release.
Guyenet, Stephan. Glucagon, Dietary Protein, and Low-Carbohydrate Diets. Whole Health Source, 1 Jan. 1970, wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2013/04/glucagon-dietary-protein-and-low.html.
How Much Protein – Protein and Insulin – How Much Protein to Spike Insulin Levels. How Much Protein / Protein and Insulin – How Much Protein to Spike Insulin Levels., www.truthaboutprotein.com/protein-and-insulin.html.
Add A Pinch Of Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a tasty spice thats packed with plant compounds.
Its also known for its ability to reduce blood sugar and increase insulin sensitivity .
For example, one meta-analysis found consuming 1/23 teaspoons of cinnamon daily significantly reduced both short- and long-term blood sugar levels .
Studies suggest that cinnamon increases insulin sensitivity by helping receptors for glucose on muscle cells become more available and efficient at transporting sugar into the cells (
75 ).
It also appears to delay the stomach from releasing food into the intestines, giving the body more time to absorb sugar into the bloodstream .
One study found that consuming apple cider vinegar increased insulin sensitivity by 34% during a high carb meal in people who were insulin resistant and by 19% in people with type 2 diabetes .
Summary
Vinegar could help increase insulin sensitivity by improving insulins effectiveness and delaying food release from the stomach to give insulin more time to act.
How Is Insulin Resistance Treated
Since not all factors that contribute to insulin resistance can be treated, such as genetic factors and age, lifestyle modifications are the primary treatment for insulin resistance. Lifestyle modifications include:
- Eating a healthy diet: Your healthcare provider or nutritionist may recommend avoiding eating excessive amounts of carbohydrates and eating less unhealthy fat, sugar, red meats and processed starches. Instead, theyll likely recommend eating a diet of whole foods that includes more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish and lean poultry.
- Physical activity: Getting regular amounts of moderate-intensity physical activity helps increase glucose energy usage and improve muscle insulin sensitivity. A single session of moderate-intensity exercise can increase glucose uptake by at least 40%.
- Losing excess weight: Your healthcare provider may recommend trying to lose excess weight to try treating insulin resistance. One study revealed that losing 7% of your excess weight can reduce the onset of Type 2 diabetes by 58%.
Over time, these lifestyle modifications can:
- Increase insulin sensitivity .
- Lower your blood glucose levels.
- Raise HDL cholesterol levels.
You may work with other healthcare providers, such as a nutritionist and endocrinologist, in addition to your regular doctor to come up with an individualized treatment plan that works best for you.
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Understanding The Glycemic Index
The Glycemic Index is an index that ranks carbohydrate-containing foods by high, medium, and low glucose levels. Understanding where foods fall on the GI scale can help you make smart eating and food purchasing decisions to help support insulin resistance.
Youll want to eat foods that generally fall low on the GI scale. Low GI foods include whole grains, sweet potatoes, and non-starchy veggies. If youre looking for sweet stuff, youll want to try low-GI, non-nutritive sweeteners, such as monk fruit and Stevia. A wise move: Download a GI app, such as Glycemic Index Load, for your phone to help you make healthy grocery-shopping decisions.
What Is The Insulin Index
The insulin index is similar to the glycemic index but instead of measuring the blood sugar response to foods, it measures the insulin response. In most cases, the glycemic index and the insulin index response match up. Foods that spike blood sugar also spike insulin considerably. This makes sense since insulin is responsible for regulating blood sugar levels. So when blood sugar goes up, the insulin goes up too.
We need to remember that the insulin index tests foods in isolation which is rarely how we eat them. And combining or eating foods in a different order can drastically change the insulin response. E.g. when we eat carbohydrate and protein-rich foods together, the insulin response is much higher than eating one or the other on its own.
The other thing that we need to take into consideration is that the insulin index was formed on the basis of a high-carb diet. The insulin response to different foods can be vastly different for someone who eats a low-carb diet. Take beef for example. When consumed in the context of a high carb diet the insulin response is moderate, but in the context of a low carb diet, the response is very low.
There is also evidence to show that a plant-based meal is capable of improving pancreatic beta-cell function in type 2 diabetes.
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Who Gets Type 2 Diabetes
What makes people more likely to develop type 2 diabetes? No one knows for sure. But experts have a few ideas about what puts a person at greater risk:
- Most people who have type 2 diabetes are overweight.
- People with family members who have diabetes get diabetes more often.
- People who are older than 10 are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than younger kids.
How To Reverse Insulin Resistance And Prediabetes
by EHE Health | Dec-Tue-2020 | Prevent
You may think that receiving a diagnosis of insulin resistance or prediabetes is a guarantee you will develop Type 2 diabetes, but thats not the case. Insulin resistance and prediabetes are very responsive to lifestyle and dietary adjustments. Things like weight loss, improved nutrition, and regular exercise can help your blood glucose levels considerably.
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Meat Fish And Poultry
When it comes to meat bacon, pork in general, fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and anchovies, and duck score the lowest on the insulin index.
Turkey and chicken score higher and beef and lamb even higher. Now, this might not be applicable if youre eating a low-carb diet. Even though beef and lamb are higher on the insulin index compared to some of the foods weve talked about already, they are still lower than most carb-rich foods. E.g. beef scores 51 on the insulin index meanwhile bananas score 84 and white bread scores 100.
When Should I See My Healthcare Provider About Insulin Resistance
If youve been diagnosed with insulin resistance or conditions related to insulin resistance, its important to see your healthcare provider regularly to make sure your blood sugar levels are in a healthy range and that your treatment is working.
If youre experiencing symptoms of high blood sugar or prediabetes, contact your healthcare provider. They can run simple tests to check your blood sugar levels.
If you have a family history of diabetes or conditions that can cause insulin resistance, talk to your healthcare provider about your risk of developing insulin resistance.
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Insulinotropic Effect Of Dietary Proteins
It is well known that dietary proteins promote insulin secretion, which leads to enhanced glucose clearance from the blood by peripheral tissues. Many intervention studies have confirmed this effect and underscored that amino acids have an important role in mediating insulin and glucagon secretion., It has been shown that whey protein and its hydrolysates resulted in a direct postprandial increment of insulin levels, some to a larger extent than others., , In lean healthy subjects, a single high-protein test meal with either whey, casein or soy protein lowered peak glycaemia significantly, as compared with a carbohydrate test meal . Plasma insulin was significantly higher after a whey protein-rich meal compared with a high-glucose meal. Moreover, this higher insulin level was still present after 330 min when consuming whey, whereas this was not the case for glucose, casein and soy meals.
Tip For Reversal #: Choose Your Fats Wisely
All fats are not created equal, and certain fats can either improve or worsen insulin resistance. Choosing the right fats can make a difference. A review published in Clinical Nutrition found that a diet high in saturated fats increases insulin resistance, whereas monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats improve insulin resistance. Research also suggests that omega-3 fatty acids counteract insulin resistance due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and trout are particularly high in omega-3 fatty acids.
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Tip For Reversal #: Lower Your Stress Levels
Chronic stress may contribute to the development of insulin resistance. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Epidemiology examined the effects of chronic stress in over 700 workers and found that high levels of stress were associated with higher cortisol and insulin resistance. This makes sense since cortisol is our main stress hormone and activates the fight-or-flight response in times of stress. It also elevates blood sugars and insulin in the body.
Find ways to alleviate stress and help manage your stress levels, whether thats exercise, yoga, meditation, mindfulness exercises, or deep breathing.
The Search Strategy Used For This Review
The intent of this review was to summarize the information pertaining to soybeans and the four major pulses grown in North America with respect to their proposed insulin-sensitizing actions. However, based on the literature search, most of the studies were on soybeans and chickpeas, with limited information available for dried beans, dried peas, and lentils. The literature search was conducted using the PubMed database through the University of Manitoba library with combinations of the following key terms: soybeans, pulses, chickpeas, lentils, beans, peas, legumes, phaseolus vulgaris, insulin resistance, insulin sensitivity, and insulin sensitizing. There were 8 clinical studies examining the insulin-sensitizing effects of soybeans and certain pulses , but none for lentils.
It is important to note that there was limited information regarding the genus, species, and variety of the legume plants investigated in these studies, thus making it difficult in some cases to determine exactly which plant was being investigated. We believe this information is necessary to properly identify the plant being examined, and therefore we recommend that future publications include such information.
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Tip For Reversal #: Reap The Benefits Of Green Tea
Pouring yourself a cup of green tea may also help reverse insulin resistance naturally. A 2013 analysis of 17 studies found that green tea consumption was linked with reduced fasting blood sugar, A1C, and fasting insulin levels. Green tea contains antioxidants called catechins that can help reduce inflammation in the body and improve insulin sensitivity.
Drinking green tea can also help naturally reduce cortisol, which can help with insulin sensitivity by lowering your stress levels . While green tea alone isnt enough to reverse insulin resistance, it can certainly help along with other lifestyle interventions.
How Does Insulin Resistance Affect My Body
The development of insulin resistance typically increases insulin production so your body can maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Elevated levels of insulin can result in weight gain, which, in turn, makes insulin resistance worse.
Hyperinsulinemia is also associated with the following conditions:
You dont have to have all four of these features to have metabolic syndrome.
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How Is Type 2 Diabetes Treated
Sometimes people with type 2 diabetes take pills that help the insulin in their bodies work better. Some also need insulin shots or an insulin pump to control their diabetes.
People with type 2 diabetes have to pay a little more attention to what they’re eating and doing than people who don’t have diabetes. They may need to:
- Eat a healthy diet, as determined by the care team.
- Get regular physical activity to achieve a healthy weight and allow insulin to work more effectively.
- Check their blood sugar levels on a regular basis.
- Get treatment for other health problems that can happen more often in people with type 2 diabetes, like high blood pressure or problems with the levels of fats in their blood.
- Have regular checkups with doctors and other people on their diabetes health care team so they can stay healthy and get treatment for any diabetes problems.
People with type 2 diabetes might have to eat smaller food portions and less salt or fat, too. Those who eat healthy foods, stay active, and get to a healthy weight may bring their blood sugar levels into a healthier range. Their doctors may even say they don’t need to take any medicines at all.
Foods And Drinks High In Refined Carbs Can Throw Blood Sugar Levels Soaring
If you have type 2 diabetes, you know the importance of counting carbohydrates for blood-sugar control. But its not just the number of carbs in a given food that determines how that food will affect your blood sugar levels.
While all carb-rich foods convert to sugar in our body, a foods fiber, protein, and fat content all influence the impact of that food on blood-sugar levels, says Vandana Sheth, RDN, CDCES, whos based in Los Angeles. All these are factors play a role in setting a foods glycemic index, a ranking of how drastically it raises blood sugar levels compared to straight glucose, which has a GI of 100. Low GI-foods score 55 or lower while anything 70 and up is considered a high GI food, per the Mayo Clinic.
While GI offers an idea of how a food impacts the body, its not the whole story, which is where glycemic load comes in, says Sara Thomas, PhD, RDN, a research scientist and dietitian specializing in diabetes at the healthcare company Abbott. GL is an equation that considers the portion size of a food, as well as the GI. A foods GL equals its GI value divided by 100 and multiplied by the total grams of carbohydrate, a definition supported by researchers at the University of Sydney, who pioneered research on GL.
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Fortunately, if you have type 2 diabetes, you dont need to whip out a calculator or start searching the internet for the glycemic load of every food out there.
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Reduce Your Intake Of Added Sugars
Theres a big difference between added sugars and natural sugars.
Natural sugars are found in sources like plants and vegetables, both of which provide lots of other nutrients.
Conversely, added sugars are found in more highly processed foods. The two main types of sugar added during the production process are high-fructose corn syrup and table sugar, also known as sucrose.
Both contain approximately 50% fructose.
Many studies have found that higher intakes of fructose can increase insulin resistance among people with diabetes .
The effects of fructose on insulin resistance also appear to affect people who do not have diabetes, as reported in an analysis of 29 studies including a total of 1,005 people who were moderate weight and overweight or had obesity.
The findings showed that consuming a lot of fructose over less than 60 days increased liver insulin resistance, independent of total calorie intake .
Foods that contain lots of added sugar are also high in fructose. This includes candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, cakes, cookies, and pastries.
Summary
High intakes of fructose are linked to a higher risk of insulin resistance. Foods that contain high amounts of added sugar are also high in fructose.
Foods Herbs And Spices That Help Reverse Insulin Resistance
02/06/2018 / By Zoey Sky
According to an article on GreenMedInfo.com, patients with diabetes no longer need to rely on drugs to manage their blood sugar. Eating the right combination of food, herbs, and spices can help boost their insulin sensitivity.
The hormone insulin makes cells open up and take in glucose from the blood, but with insulin resistance, cells are desensitized to insulin. This forces the body to produce more glucose, which cells refuse to take in. The end result is your insulin levels rising above the normal levels.
Chronically high insulin levels may lead to rapid weight gain, premature aging, high blood pressure, heart disease, and higher cancer risks, and, eventually, type-2 diabetes.
These eight herbs, spices, and foods can help restore your cells sensitivity to insulin.
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Natural Ways To Improve Blood Sugar And Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin resistance is at the root of diabetes and prediabetes and affects more than 1 in 3 US adults. Even more shockingly, only 1 in 4 adults with diabetes knew they had the condition, and only 1 in 10 adults with prediabetes knew they were at risk for developing diabetes . While some people may experience no symptoms at all, the effects of insulin resistance can range from moderate to life-threatening. Read on to discover more about insulin, the symptoms of insulin resistance, and the best ways to naturally decrease insulin resistance and improve insulin sensitivity.