What is insulin resistance?
Exactly, what is insulin resistance AND how does it happen?
Before we do a deep dive into the details, there are two key features of insulin resistance:
1) blood levels of insulin are higher than they should be
2) insulin does not work as well as it should
Those two key features are the concept of insulin resistance, and the actual cellular mechanism of insulin’s action totally depend on where it is being used in the body.
What is insulin and what does it do?
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. The pancreas releases insulin to the blood. Insulin circulates all around the body. I want to stress that insulin does many different jobs in the body and the job that is does depends on the organ, tissue or cell that it is acting on. That is why there are so many conditions that are associated and likely associated with insulin resistance.
The actual cellular mechanism of insulin’s action totally depend on where it is being used in the body.
Here are some examples that are pertinent to weight loss & women:
In some cells, like muscle and fat, insulin stimulates glucose uptake—this is insulin’s most famous effect, but it’s far from its only job. The glucose is then converted into energy for the cells.
Another crucial role is insulin’s regulation of fat storage. When insulin levels are high, it stimulates fat cells to take up glucose and turn it into fat (lipogenesis). Then, when insulin is low, it enables the body to take the fat out of storage and use it for energy.
Other places, like in the liver, the liver cells don’t need insulin to pull in glucose, but they still need insulin to help them know what to do with nutrients like glucose and fat. . Falling levels of insulin let the liver know when to make more glucose (gluconeogenesis) and rising insulin levels let the liver know when to stop and store the glucose to make glycogen (which is a mechanism impaired in Type 2 diabetes.)
Another place insulin works is in the ovaries and insulin works differently there. It aids in the conversion of testosterone into estrogen. When the cells become insulin resistant, then that process is dysregulated and there is too much testosterone released and that causes Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
WHY DOES INSULIN RESISTANCE HAPPEN?
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION THAT YOU ARE WONDERING MAY BE... WHY DOES INSULIN RESISTANCE HAPPEN? THE ANSWER IS MULTIFACTORIAL. MOST PROFESSIONALS WILL SAY GENETICS AND LACK OF EXERCISE. BUT THERE IS ACTUALLY MORE TO IT THAN THAT. THERE ARE MANY HORMONES THAT CAN BE DYSREGULATED. GUT MICROBIOME THAT GETS DYSREGULATED. CERTAIN MEDICATIONS AND SUPPLEMENTS. STRESS. SLEEP. AS WE GO THROUGH YOUR PLAN OF CARE, WE WILL ADDRESS ALL THESE FACTORS AND GET YOUR CHEMISTRY ALIGNED WITH WEIGHT LOSS BY DECREASING YOUR INSULIN LEVELS..
