Understanding Insulin Resistance: Causes, Symptoms, and Solutions

What is insulin resistance?

Insulin is a crucial hormone that is responsible for managing the nutrients in your bloodstream. Because of its role, insulin is important in other processes that involve blood sugar and protein and fat metabolism. Basically, when your body senses high blood sugar levels, the powerful pancreas releases insulin which tells all of the cells in your blood to pick up the sugar. When this happens, the blood sugar levels slowly decrease (we want that!).

But what if these cells don’t listen…what if they don’t respond correctly to the insulin?

Then you have insulin resistance!

Insulin resistance occurs when the cells in multiple parts of your body (fat, liver, and muscles) don’t respond to insulin fast enough so they aren’t able to gather the glucose from your blood and use it for energy. 

When these cells aren’t responding fast enough or at all, the pancreas thinks it needs to keep sending out more and more insulin. This increase in insulin leads to high blood sugar levels, chronic inflammation, and other symptoms which you can see below. Common symptoms of insulin resistance:

• 40+ in waistline for men; 35+ in for women
• Acanthosis nigricans (dark patches of skin on armpits and groin)
• Poor sleep and fatigue
• Nausea 
• Skin tags
• Frequent urination
• Weakness
• Extreme thirst or hunger

These symptoms don’t guarantee that you have insulin resistance. If you suspect that you have it, talk to your doctor or me and get a blood test done. 

Who’s at a greater risk of insulin resistance?

The following factors can impact your likelihood of developing insulin resistance.

• Inactive or sedentary lifestyle
• High cholesterol
• Diet high in refined carbs and processed sugars
• Obesity
• High blood sugar
• Hormonal imbalances and PCOS

What causes insulin resistance? 

There are many factors, but a major one is a poor diet. If your diet is full of processed foods, sugar, and trans fats, then there are higher levels of fat in your blood. This can cause insulin resistance.With that said, excessive body weight can also lead to an increase in fat around your organs. This puts more fat in your blood which causes problems for the cells and insulin in your body. A couple other factors that can disrupt insulin is prior inflammation in your body, too much fructose, problems with gut bacteria, and a lack of exercise.

How can we handle insulin resistance?

The key to defending your body against insulin resistance is making sure that it is still sensitive to insulin. Once those cells don’t respond or slow down, then your body is in trouble.Believe it or not, leading a healthy and active lifestyle is a major part of maintaining healthy blood sugar levels and sensitivity to insulin.

How do you lead a healthy lifestyle? Make sure to:

• Stay active
• Manage stress effectively
• Get enough nutrients in your diet
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Prioritize quality sleep

Products to combat insulin resistance:

• Amlexanox
• TTA
• Tirzepatide
• Semaglutide ( Ozempic)
• Inositol 
• Gymnema

We have a comprehensive blood work that looks at the insulin resistance in a deeper level. We look at the fasting insulin, HA1c, Glycated serum protein, fasting glucose, and many other markers. Call/text Dr. Musset at (480)608-4808 to get started.