The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies - Meri Raffetto [37]
Many people with insulin resistance have high levels of both blood glucose and insulin circulating in their blood at the same time. Among other health complications, this excess blood glucose and insulin can cause your body to store more calories as fat and can increase food cravings and feelings of hunger. People who are overweight and inactive have a higher risk of developing some sort of insulin resistance. The thing is, you can have insulin resistance without even realizing it. The only way to know for sure is to undergo a blood test.
Perhaps you've been tested for and diagnosed with insulin resistance. If so, then good for you because you can take measures to deal with it. One such measure is to follow a low-glycemic lifestyle. A low-glycemic approach to eating is helpful in improving insulin function and preventing insulin resistance from turning into an even bigger health concern. When you consume enough low-glycemic foods on a regular basis, you cut down the amount of excess blood glucose floating around in your blood, allowing your pancreas to produce less insulin, so you wind up using blood glucose as energy instead of storing it as fat.
The following sections give you the scoop on health conditions and symptoms associated with insulin resistance, as well as advice on how to begin managing this condition by following a low-glycemic lifestyle.
Health conditions related to insulin resistance
In some cases, insulin resistance is a byproduct of obesity, but it can also be a byproduct of numerous health issues. Following are several known health issues associated with insulin resistance (you can find more information on most of these health conditions in Chapter 22):
Prediabetes
Type 2 diabetes
Gestational diabetes
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
Metabolic syndrome (otherwise known as insulin resistance syndrome or Syndrome X)
Many people feel all they can do is take their medication and live with these health problems, but the reality is that none of these diagnoses needs to be a death sentence. There's great potential to improve and/or reverse each of these conditions with diet and exercise. Following a low-glycemic diet can even help alleviate some of the symptoms of these conditions (such as moodiness, hunger, and fatigue) by giving you better control of your blood sugar.
If you have one of these conditions (or if you're currently overweight and have a family member with one of these conditions, putting you at greater risk for developing the same condition), then you can benefit greatly from eating a low-glycemic diet, which helps you manage your blood sugar while losing weight.
Simply losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight may be enough to reverse or prevent these health conditions from occurring. A low-glycemic diet can help you lose that weight by regulating your blood sugar and insulin levels.
Characteristics of insulin resistance
Wondering whether insulin resistance is behind your inability to lose weight? The only way to know for sure is to get tested. However, you can check your body and medical history for the common characteristics of insulin resistance, which include the following:
Dark patches of skin on the back of your neck, elbows, knees, knuckles, or armpits
Skin tags, small raised areas that appear on the skin that may be the color of your skin or darker, like a mole
Being overweight
A family history of diabetes, prediabetes, or metabolic syndrome
Difficulty losing weight on a low-calorie diet with regular exercise
High cholesterol or high triglycerides
Fertility problems
If you have any of these symptoms, your first plan of action is to go to a doctor to get tested. Adopting a low-glycemic