How to Lose Weight with Insulin Resistance

The human body requires optimal hormonal balance to function properly, and an imbalance may lead to health problems that affect quality of life. Many people forget that insulin is a hormone, and issues with its release and functioning can have a significant impact on the body. When the body stops responding to the hormone insulin, this is called insulin resistance.

One of the biggest concerns that many people with this issue have is how to get rid of excess weight with insulin resistance. In this article, we discuss insulin sensitivity and its impact on weight, the connection between the two, and provide valuable tips to help you reverse insulin resistance and slim down.

What is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance is a pathological condition characterized by the body’s failure to respond appropriately to insulin. Produced in the pancreas, the primary function of this hormone is to regulate the body’s energy supply. Insulin helps process the glucose you get from carbohydrates and distribute it to your cells so it can either be used as energy or stored for later use.

Without insulin, the cells can’t store glucose, so it builds up in your system and increases your blood sugar levels. Also known as impaired insulin sensitivity, the condition is a feature of type 2 diabetes and often occurs alongside prediabetes. Another condition that could result from insulin resistance is hypoglycemia, which is associated with low sugar levels.

According to a global cross-sectional study, the worldwide prevalence of insulin resistance in adults is between 15.5% and 46.5% ^[1]. Although many people suffer from this condition, it is possible to reverse insulin resistance with the right treatment.

What causes Insulin Resistance?

The specific cause of insulin resistance is still unclear, but certain genes and genetic conditions like myotonic dystrophy and Werner syndrome may increase your susceptibility. In addition, people with type 2 diabetes generally have impaired insulin sensitivity. Other risk factors include alcoholism, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol levels.

There are also different types of insulin resistance with different contributing factors. For example, the risk factors for acquired insulin resistance include a poor diet, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and medications like steroids or blood pressure pills. Excessive intake of high glycemic index foods could also contribute to the development of acquired insulin resistance.

While being overweight or obese increases your chances of having impaired insulin sensitivity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ^[2], you don’t have to have a high BMI to develop this condition.

There are also hormonal disorders that could lead to impaired insulin sensitivity, including Cushing’s syndrome, which is characterized by high cortisol levels in the body. Other options include acromegaly, high levels of growth hormone, and hypothyroidism, low levels of thyroid hormone. Hypothyroidism can also make it difficult to manage weight.

What are the Symptoms of Insulin Resistance?

The physical effects of impaired insulin sensitivity are often not noticeable until you develop diabetes and your blood sugar level spikes. The symptoms may include:

• Polydipsia (excessive thirst)
• Increased hunger, even immediately following a meal
• Frequent urination
• Headaches
• Blurred vision
• Fatigue
• Slower healing of cuts and sores
• Frequent infections
• Overweight or obesity

Some people may have resistance to insulin due to prediabetes. Indicators of prediabetes include skin tags, visual changes that put you at risk for diabetes-related retinopathy, and darkened skin at the sides of the neck, armpit, and back called acanthosis nigricans.

If you’re wondering how to achieve low sugar levels and slim down, you’ll find out later in this article.

The Link Between Insulin Resistance and Weight

While you’re more likely to gain weight with insulin resistance, the relationship between the two is bidirectional. Overweight and obesity are risk factors that can cause or worsen resistance to insulin and increase your chances of developing diabetes.

The biological mechanism that leads to an increase in weight with insulin resistance has to do with the elevated levels of blood glucose. With this condition, the pancreas continues producing insulin even as the cells and tissues fail to respond. As a result, the body breaks down fat more slowly, leading to an increase in fat storage.

High insulin levels can increase appetite ^[3], heighten your enjoyment of sweet foods, and lead to a higher calorie intake. These factors could cause weight gain and may particularly increase belly fat.

In a circular fashion, added weight gain can further contribute to impaired insulin sensitivity ^[4]. This is because of the limited capacity of the subcutaneous adipose tissue to continue to store fat during weight gain. The increase in fat mass could negatively impact your organs, and it also elevates levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which contribute to insulin resistance.

There is clearly a complicated relationship between insulin and weight. Some people may struggle to balance their blood sugar levels and manage their weight, but it’s important to understand that it is possible. Let’s look at some key tips for reversing your resistance to insulin.

Tips For Reversing Insulin Resistance

These are a few simple tips to help reverse impaired insulin sensitivity:

• Sleep Better: Sleep deprivation reduces insulin sensitivity, so getting 7 to 9 hours of quality rest every night is key in preventing diabetes. Sleeping too few hours affects the metabolism and strengthens inflammatory pathways ^[5], all of which can contribute to resistance to insulin.
• Try Dietary Supplements: There are some highly effective blood sugar supplements on the market that offer great benefits. Gluctose blood sugar support supplement is specifically formulated to maintain healthy insulin and blood glucose levels. It contains ingredients that promote weight loss, decrease cholesterol, and improve other measures of metabolic health.

• Manage Stress: Chronic, unmanaged stress can promote nutrient breakdown and increase blood sugar level measures. If you have a high-stress lifestyle, try to incorporate relaxing activities such as yoga, meditation, exercise, reading, writing, or anything else you find calming into your routine.

• Lose Weight: Excess belly fat, or fat anywhere on your body, can reduce insulin sensitivity and increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes ^[6]. For this reason, losing weight can help significantly in reversing your resistance to this hormone.
• Modify Your Diet: Managing impaired insulin sensitivity requires modifications to your diet to include nutrient-rich foods packed with vitamins and minerals. Some of these potent nutrients are included in Gluctose.

Tips For Losing Weight With Insulin Resistance

If you want to lose weight with insulin resistance, it’s important to exercise regularly, ideally a minimum of 30 minutes most days of the week. Engaging in regular physical activity may reverse resistance to insulin, and it can also help in preventing diabetes. Consistent exercise could also reduce belly fat, which is often difficult to lose.

Combine regular exercise with a nutritious diet rich in fruit and vegetables, as they are low in calories and contain vitamins and minerals that promote health and help with weight management. Vegetables are particularly abundant in fiber, which may suppress your appetite.

Adding a supplement to your daily routine can also offer significant benefits, but choose your insulin-balancing product carefully. Look for a supplement like Gluctose, which both balances insulin and blood glucose levels while also helping you slim down.

Diet Tips For Insulin Resistance

In order to lose weight with insulin resistance, it’s important to make modifications to your diet. These are some highly effective tips that should help you plan your new menu:

• Eat More Soluble Fiber: Soluble fiber feeds the good probiotic bacteria in your gut and increases insulin sensitivity ^[7]. Good sources of soluble fibers include legumes, vegetables, oats, broccoli, and whole grains. Increasing your intake of soluble fiber may help you achieve low sugar levels.
• Add More Color to Your Diet: There’s some evidence that a plant-based diet can increase insulin sensitivity. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, as they are rich in antioxidants that neutralize inflammation-causing free radicals. This can help balance your insulin and blood sugar levels, and it may also play a role in weight loss.
• Limit Carbohydrate Intake: High carbohydrate consumption can cause your blood sugar to spike, which negatively impacts insulin sensitivity. Try to limit your portion sizes, and pay attention to which are high glycemic index (GI) foods. On the index, the GI value indicates how quickly certain foods increase your blood sugar levels. We recommend that you opt for those with lower values.

• Limit or Avoid Added Sugar: Stay away from refined sugars in particular, as they can impair insulin sensitivity and contribute to putting on weight with insulin resistance.

• Add Herbs and Spices to Your Diet: Key herbs and spices can help increase insulin sensitivity, including fenugreek, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, basil, garlic, oregano, and rosemary. In addition, capsaicin from chili peppers can improve insulin sensitivity ^[8]. The Gluctose supplement contains herbs and spices that balance blood glucose and insulin levels while also promoting weight loss.
• Drink Green Tea: Green tea increases insulin sensitivity and contributes to low sugar levels.

• Eat Whole Grains: Whole grains are rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Choose unprocessed grains, which are healthier and more beneficial for blood sugar level balance.

What are the complications of Insulin Resistance?

If left untreated, impaired insulin sensitivity may lead to numerous complications ^[9] including hyperglycemia (high blood sugar level readings), hypertension, and dyslipidemia (an imbalance of lipids like cholesterol and triglycerides), and hyperuricemia (elevated uric acid levels in the blood).

In addition to the possibility of gaining weight with insulin resistance, some people with this condition may develop medical issues like elevated inflammatory markers and endothelial dysfunction.

Along with these potential issues and struggling to manage weight, individuals with impaired insulin sensitivity also have a higher risk of ^[10]:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Prediabetes
• Metabolic syndrome
• Coronary artery disease
• Fatty liver disease
• Polycystic ovary syndrome

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed how to manage excess weight with insulin resistance as well as how to overcome the condition. Issues with insulin sensitivity can lead to added weight that can be difficult to get rid of, even with the right lifestyle modifications.

Even if you pack your diet full of fruit and vegetables and exercise regularly, you may still feel like you could do better. This indicates that you’re on the right track but may need additional support on your journey.

Consider adding a supplement like Gluctose to your daily routine to help balance insulin and blood sugar levels and lose weight. This formula works particularly well when combined with a healthy lifestyle.