Insulin Resistance Symptoms (WHY YOU CAN’T LOSE WEIGHT!)
Today we are talking about insulin resistance and signs and symptoms to look out for. Insulin resistance is thought to affect over half of the U.S. population with a lot of these cases being undiagnosed. Being insulin resistant is a problem because it can make it very difficult to lose weight. It increases your disease risk and often leads to type 2 diabetes. This is not something to take lightly.
The good news is that insulin resistance is not a life sentence and it can be reversed. I’m going to give you ten signs of insulin resistance to watch out for and what you can do if you are insulin resistant. If you like this post please give it a thumbs up, feel free to share, make sure to subscribe, and make sure to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I share new posts every weekday!
Insulin resistance is not something to take lightly. Although it is entirely preventable, it is also extremely common. Before we get ahead of ourselves let’s quickly recap what insulin resistance is. Insulin is a hormone that is responsible for blood sugar management. When we eat a meal containing carbohydrates these carbohydrates are broken down into glucose and your blood sugar rises. As a result of this rise, the pancreas releases insulin into the blood stream to bring your blood sugar level back to baseline. Sometimes the cells stop responding to insulin and do not accept it. This leads to blood sugar levels remaining high and more insulin being secreted as a result. Now you’re in a situation where your blood sugar is high and your insulin is high. Insulin is also known as the fat-storage hormone. When insulin is high this means you have a surplus of glucose in your blood which is energy. And because you have this energy there is no need to use your stored body fat for energy. Because your insulin is always elevated when you have insulin resistance, this can make it very hard to lose weight.
Let’s get into the ten signs that you might be insulin resistant. Number one: abdominal fat. If you carry a lot of weight in your midsection this can be a sign of insulin resistance. When you’re insulin resistant fat gets stored in places that it typically wouldn’t such as around our organs in our abdomen. This is called visceral fat and it is directly related to insulin resistance.
Number two: swollen ankles. One of the other roles of insulin is telling our kidneys to retain water and sodium if insulin is not being responded to properly, as is the case with insulin resistance. Fluid can be retained unnecessarily causing ankles to become swollen.
Number three: hunger after eating. Are you one of those people who can eat a meal and still feel hungry afterward? Unfortunately, this is a pretty big indicator that you are insulin resistant. Insulin resistance means your body is not regulating blood sugar levels properly. The cells in your body are not able to absorb the glucose and use it for energy, so you are eating and the energy is there but your body can’t use it.
Number four: sugar cravings. This one ties in with the last point. If your body is not able to use your blood sugar efficiently this essentially leaves your cells starving and this can lead to cravings for carbohydrates and sugar even if you have just eaten.
Number five: dark skin patches. High levels of insulin in the blood can trigger the appearance of dark dry patches of skin. Usually, these will appear on skin folds so your armpits, neck, and groin.
Number six: frequent urination. If you always have to pee this can be another sign because insulin is not regulating blood sugar correctly the kidneys have to make more urine to pass the sugar from your blood. This also ties in with the next symptom.
Number seven: extreme thirst. If you are flushing all of the water out of your body you’re gonna be more thirsty.
Number eight: irregular menstrual cycle. This one only applies to women. High insulin can cause the ovaries to make more male hormones. This imbalance of hormones can cause your period to become irregular. If your period is inconsistent- if it’s very long or if you do not have a period at all-these can all be signs you are insulin resistant. Usually, this hormonal imbalance is characterized as polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS. PCOS and insulin resistance go hand in hand and many women find that when they address their insulin resistance issues their PCOS symptoms improve.
Number nine: skin tags. Tags of skin on your neck or armpit can also be an indicator of insulin resistance.
Number ten: elevated blood sugar. If you have a blood sugar meter, measuring your blood sugar around meals can be a good way to test your insulin sensitivity. You can use it to measure your fasting blood sugar in the morning, usually around an hour after you wake up, and see where you’re at. But you need to remember that this is just a snapshot in time and several factors outside of diet can impact your blood sugar. Exercise, for example, can cause a rise in your blood sugar. Taking a hot shower, that can do it as well. And diet of course. What you want to test is your blood sugar response when you eat. Measure your blood sugar before you eat and then 30 minutes after you eat and again two hours later. Two hours post-meal your blood sugar levels should have returned to baseline. If they haven’t this can be a sign of insulin resistance.
Those are nine signs you might be insulin resistant. Insulin resistance is not a life sentence and it can be reversed. We know that insulin resistance is characterized by our cells not responding to insulin correctly, but what causes this insulin resistance is a vicious cycle. We start by eating foods that have a high insulin response and then we eat more of these same foods before our insulin levels have a chance to come back down. It is this overproduction of insulin that originally causes our cells to become resistant. There’s just too much for our cells to accept and once this happens your blood sugar remains high. Even more, insulin gets pumped out and the problem worsens.
What’s the solution? There are two main things you can do to increase insulin sensitivity. Number one: eat fewer foods that have a high insulin response and number two: eat less frequently. Out of the three macronutrients fat, protein, and carbohydrates fat has the lowest insulin response barely triggering its release at all. Protein is slightly higher and carbs are the highest. Most foods have a combination of these macros but if you’re insulin resistant you want to be limiting carbohydrates. Several studies have shown a very low carb or keto diet to be effective in reversing insulin resistance. Generally, if you can stick to under 50 grams of total carbs per day, this will make a huge difference. The second part of this is to eat less frequently. Stick to your meals and don’t snack in between. Snacks are what cause our insulin to remain elevated throughout the day and we want to give our insulin a chance to come back down. Intermittent fasting is also something you can incorporate. This is extremely effective at improving insulin sensitivity as well. There are other factors besides diet that can contribute to insulin resistance. Just one night of poor sleep has been shown to make you temporarily insulin resistant the following day and this is one of the reasons why I prioritize my sleep so much. A poor night’s sleep here and there is not going to affect you too much in the long term but if you are chronically sleep-deprived that will have a greater effect.
Let me know in the comment section down below if you have been diagnosed with insulin resistance and the steps you are taking to reverse it.
