INSULIN RESISTANCE AND STARTING MY JOURNEY
I like to be transparent about my health journey in hopes that it can help others. I’ve recently become aware that I am insulin resistant, which was a surprise to me. As I’ve started doing research, I am finding that this is a huge problem in the world’s population, not just the USA. I am seeing links of insulin resistance to many chronic diseases, as well as finding out that many people, like myself, don’t even realize they have it. I am going to try to share my journey, thus far, as how I found out I am insulin resistant and what I am going to do about it.
As I was going through the Nutritional Therapy Association school, we had a module on Blood Sugar. One of the indicators of blood sugar dysregulation is if you are waking up at night needing to use the bathroom. I’ve been doing this for many, many years, thinking it was just because I try to stay hydrated. This is actually a sign that your blood sugar has dropped too low and your body, in an attempt to quickly raise blood sugar, has triggered your adrenals to dump glucose into your blood, which has now woken you up.
This was an eye opener for me. But, I don’t eat a lot of sugar, refined foods or carbs. So what has been driving the blood sugar dysregulation? In the early 90’s, I followed the fad of low-fat and eating a lot of carbs. This has probably affected my blood sugar/insulin resistance. I’ve gone through pregnancy, struggle with hypothyroidism, which I’ve come to find out, are all related to insulin resistance. Stress can also cause high levels of blood glucose, which then cause high levels of insulin as it’s trying to bring the glucose down.
This past year has been a HUGE stressor of a year. Both Chuck and I lost our fathers and we moved my mom here to be with us in Kentucky. So my stress levels have been through the roof.
And, just in March of 2022, the Lancet Journal released an article showing the rise of type 2 diabetes with people who have had Covid.
My blood sugar levels were pre-diabetic when I had lab work done during my bout with Covid last summer. Interesting connection here. After I recovered from Covid, I continued to put weight on, despite eating well and exercising. I had a huge burst of weight gain right around Christmas and the New Year. Just a lot of fat around my middle (another sign of insulin resistance).
So, as I have been trying to piece together my health and figure out what has been going on, I came across some videos on Insulin Resistance. I have been going down the rabbit hole of insulin resistance to learn as much about it as I can, so I can correct it within my body.
Insulin resistance is an interesting phenomenon. Dr. Bikman PhD. is a scientist and is considered the leading expert on insulin resistance. He has written a book and there are many videos on YouTube where he is discussing this topic. Please look him up. Here are some facts from his book Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease--and How to Fight It.
One in three Americans probably have Insulin Resistance and could be as high as 88%.
This isn’t just an American problem, this is a worldwide problem. “Eighty percent (80%) of all individuals with insulin resistance live in developing countries, and, as in America, half of all adults in China and India are insulin resistant.” Bikman, B. (2021). WHY WE GET SICK : the hidden epidemic at the root of most chronic disease and how to fight it. Benbella Books.
So, you may wonder, what is insulin? Insulin is a hormone that is released by the pancreas that keeps our blood sugar balanced. Insulin is what opens the doors to our cells to allow glucose to enter so that it can be used as energy. When our bodies release glucose for energy, insulin is what knocks on the cell door, opens it and ushers it in. Insulin affects every cell in our body. Insulin resistant is when our cells stop responding to insulin. The more we are stressed and are eating a diet high in sugar or carbohydrates (starches), the more insulin the body needs to release to bring down blood glucose levels. This leads to our bodies needing more and more insulin to be released in order to balance our blood glucose, until the cells no longer respond to it.
In a healthy body, usually normal blood glucose levels will reflect normal insulin levels. But with insulin resistance, blood glucose levels can reflect a normal level but insulin levels can be high. Type 2 diabetes is when the body has too much insulin. According to Dr. Ben Bikman “This is why we can have a scenario where a person is steadily becoming more and more insulin resistant, but the insulin is still working well enough to keep the blood glucose in a normal range. This can develop over years, even decades. But because we more typically look at glucose as the problem, we don’t recognize there’s an issue until the person is so insulin resistant that their insulin, no matter how much they produce, is no longer enough to keep their blood glucose in check. It’s at this point, possibly years after the problem started, that we finally notice the disease.” Bikman, B. (2021). WHY WE GET SICK : the hidden epidemic at the root of most chronic disease and how to fight it. Benbella Books. This is also the reason that people who have type 2 diabetes continually have to raise their insulin levels, if they are not changing their diets/lifestyles to help reduce their need for insulin.
What are some signs of insulin resistance?
First of all, it’s best to get your insulin levels tested by your doctor to see where you are. Here are some diseases to be aware of that have been linked to Insulin Resistance (this is not a comprehensive list) :
Type 2 Diabetes
High Blood Pressure and other heart diseases
Alzheimers (now considered to be type 3 diabetes) and other brain-related diseases
Hormone Imbalances
Reproductive Health Issues
Some Cancers
Skin issues like skin tags, psoriasis, and acne
Fibromyalgia
Osteoarthritis
Fatty Liver Disease
If you want more information regarding the links between insulin resistance and these diseases, I’d urge you to read Dr. Ben Bikman’s book that I have referenced above.
In the meantime I wanted to share the connections that I saw in my own health with insulin resistance that were quite revealing:
Skin Tags
Waking up in the middle of the night
Seeing “unexplained” high blood glucose levels (I don’t eat many refined carbs or sugar)
Unexplained weight gain around my middle
Higher triglycerides in blood panels
Covid link between type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance
Hangry if I go too long between meals
Please note that not everyone will have the same symptoms, nor is this an exhaustive list of typical insulin resistance symptoms. Some people will crave sugar and carbs or get shaky if they miss a meal.
Also, please note that insulin resistance doesn’t always show up in high blood glucose numbers. Dr. Bikman calls this a “clinically silent” disease (I hope I am quoting him correctly on this!) in one of his videos. Most people don’t even realize that they are insulin resistant.
Now that I knew that I have insulin resistance, I had to figure our how to fight this. The first thing I started doing was really getting my diet dialed in to lower my carb intake. Right now I am eating high fiber veggies with more protein and fat. It is critical that I lower my carbs to get my insulin under control.
Lowering daily carbs and eating them in non-starchy veggies.
Adding more protein and healthy fats.
Reducing my coffee intake so that I can go off of it completely. Caffeine spikes insulin. At this point, I think it’s critical for me to get off caffeine completely until I get my insulin under control. Later on, I can add in my usual 1/2 cup of coffee in the am with cream and collagen.
Exercising after meals - walking or just moving 10-20 minutes after each meal helps lower insulin.
Cutting out caffein completely.
As of writing this blog, I will be going in for more blood panels so that I can track my insulin levels. The beautiful thing about taking steps to control insulin levels, is that you can get it under control rather quickly, if you are taking the steps to do so!
Some people to follow on instagram so that you can get amazing tips and information on insulin resistance and monitoring your glucose levels are Dr. Ben Bikman https://www.instagram.com/benbikmanphd/ and The Glucose Goddess, Jessie Inchauspé, who has just written a new book, Glucose Revolution, of which I have ordered and can’t wait to read, and she is on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17953672090708575/ .
In the meantime, I will be posting tips on managing blood glucose levels and lowering insulin resistance!
Here’s to higher fiber carbs, more protein and healthy fats and more insulin sensitivity!