What does insulin resistant mean?

Rachel5

my doctor told me I am insulin resistant. However didn’t give me a whole lot of info except to lose weight. So any help would be great

N5S_Matter

Here's a good article on the subject.
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/insulin-resistance-syndrome#:~:text=Insulin resistance is when cells,blood sugar levels go up.

The descriptive part of the article is good. I do disagree with the dietary advice though, based on my personal choices and results.

Youtube has many, many videos on the subject also.

What to do about it is where a ketogenic lifestyle may come in for you. I was insulin resistant, elevated BP, obese, had NAFLD, was prediabetic (elevated glucose) and was on my way toward diabetes and heart disease (and perhaps dementia). BMI 32, 6' 236 lbs. Keto changed all that, and now I have stable glucose, BP, my BMI is 21.7, 6' 160 lbs, no fatty liver, not prediabetic, and I feel years younger.
It is totally sustainable, I no longer have food cravings or require feeding every 3 hours and actually practice intermittent fasting and eat 2 meals a day, inside a 4-8 hour window. Food has become a simple requirement, with simple preparation. I regained hours a day by not spending it eating, or obsessing about eating. I now use this quote regularly. "I eat to live, not live to eat".

Over the course of two years I have taken a deep dive into nutritional education to heal myself. We've been lied to by industry about what is "food" and I suggest you read a book by Gary Taubes called "Good Calories, Bad Calories". There are others, but that is a very comprehensive one with plenty of historical studies, and citations to back it up. Your eyes will be opened.

Susan_RD_101

@Rachel5

Insulin resistance means that your body is still making insulin, but it's not working as well as it should. The fallout of this is that your body tries to make MORE insulin, meanwhile, blood sugars start to rise.

Over time, this condition can lead to the development of diabetes.

The most important things you can do to improve insulin resistance are lose weight (if excess weight is an issue) and engage in activity. We know that excess body fat gets in the way of insulin working well and activity makes the body's cells more receptive to insulin.

I'd caution you away from any fad diets... Going on and off diets can actually increase abdominal obesity and worsen disease outcomes. Start with the basics and work on reducing processed foods/restaurant foods, increasing fruits and vegetables, and hitting fibre targets.

Happy to answer any other questions you may have on the topic.

Kind regards,