In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleWhat Is Insulin Resistance?What Happens to Your Body When You Have Insulin ResistanceRisk Factors and CausesHow to Diagnose Insulin ResistanceHow to Treat and Prevent Insulin ResistanceFAQs
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
What Is Insulin Resistance?
What Happens to Your Body When You Have Insulin Resistance
Risk Factors and Causes
How to Diagnose Insulin Resistance
How to Treat and Prevent Insulin Resistance
FAQs
There’s not a lot of good news when it comes to insulin resistance. After all, the condition can raise your risk for high blood pressure and cholesterol, increased inflammation, fatty liver disease and prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. And that’s why it’s important to prevent insulin resistance—or reverse it if you have it.
Understanding what happens to your body when you have insulin resistance can be helpful if you’re one of the estimated 8.5 million Americans with undiagnosed diabetes, 37.3 million with diabetes or 96 million with prediabetes, per theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention.
In this article, learn about what insulin resistance is, its role in the body, the connection to diabetes, how to recognize symptoms, when to get screened and more.
Related:7-Day Meal Plan for Insulin Resistance
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When you eat food that contains carbohydrates, your body metabolizes those carbs into glucose (sugar), its preferred source of energy. In response, your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin helps move glucose from your bloodstream into cells where it can be used for energy. The hormone will also package extra glucose to be stored in the liver when needed. If your cells don’t respond properly to insulin, however, you can develop insulin resistance, according to theNational Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
When glucose levels remain high despite a high production of insulin, you can develop prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, saysLauren Plunkett, RDN, a certified diabetes care and education specialist and person living with type 1 diabetes based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-area.“Insulin resistance may also be present in type 1 diabetes, a condition in which the pancreas is no longer producing insulin,”she says.
Most of the time, insulin resistance occurs without any symptoms, says theNIDDK, which is why regular checkups with your doctor are so important.
While you can have insulin resistance without having diabetes, having symptoms—like those below—can be a warning sign that you’re at risk of developing type 2 diabetes or already have it. Here’s what you need to know.
You May Have No Symptoms
Some people with insulin resistance don’t know they have it until they have bloodwork done, and blood sugar levels come back abnormally high. The good news is that detecting insulin resistance early can help you hop on a treatment plan. “It’s possible to reverse insulin resistance, and the best time to do it is as soon as possible,” Henderson says.
You May Feel Tired and Hungry
Glucose is needed for energy, but when cells are resistant to insulin, glucose remains in the bloodstream, and you can feel fatigued and hungrier than usual.
You May Notice Darkened Skin
Having dark, velvety areas on your skin are a key indicator of insulin resistance. This is called acanthosis nigricans. “These patches may also appear on skin folds and other areas such as the armpits, groin, elbows, face, knees, knuckles, soles of feet and underneath breasts,” saysMaria Elena Fraga, RD, CDCES, program director of the Diabetes Alliance Program at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.
You May Have More Skin Tags
Skin tags are harmless skin growths, but if you have a lot of them they could be a sign of too much insulin in your body or type 2 diabetes, according to theAmerican Academy of Dermatology Association.These may appear in the same places as acanthosis nigricans, notes theNIDDK.
You May Gain Weight
As insulin levels increase, sugar is packaged and stored in the liver and muscles. But there is only so much storage. “Extra insulin can make us gain weight,” says Henderson. When the liver and muscles fill up, the extra sugar is sent to fat cells to be stored as body fat. This weight gain can also make insulin resistance worse.
There are many risk factors that can make you more likely to develop insulin resistance, according to theAmerican Diabetes Association. Some include:
Your diet also matters when it comes to insulin resistance. “Eating more food than our body needs is the main cause of insulin resistance. Foods that can make insulin resistance worse are those high in animal fat and simple sugars (like soda, candy and pastries),” Henderson says.
Your doctor will assess if screening for prediabetes or diabetes is necessary depending on your health and risk factors. Several blood tests can be used to check your blood sugar levels, including fasting plasma glucose and A1C tests.
Some physician’s offices offer a point-of-care hemoglobin A1C test, which is a non-fasting finger prick blood test.“The results are provided within minutes and can allow for an initial conversation with your provider on how to modify your lifestyle,” says Fraga. However, not all offices have this test available, so if your physician does not have one, they can perform a standard blood draw instead.
The best treatment and prevention strategies for insulin resistance focus on lifestyle changes. Here are the top five things to do.
Eat More Plants
While there is no one-size-fits-all eating plan for insulin resistance, 2019 research inJAMA Internal Medicineshows that a plant-based diet—emphasizing whole grains, legumes, nuts, fruits and vegetables and minimal refined and processed foods—is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes. “Reducing the amount of refined simple sugars such as white-flour foods, sweets, cakes and cookies, juice and soda, can improve your body’s ability to regulate your blood sugar and require less insulin,” Fraga adds. Try thisQuinoa-Black Bean Salad. It’s one of our top picks for lunch for people who have insulin resistance.
Exercise
Aim for 150 minutes per week. When you’re active, muscles gobble up glucose in your blood, helping lower blood sugar, something that improves insulin sensitivity for 24 hours after activity, says theADA. Don’t know where to start? “Low-impact movement is one of the most powerful actions a person can take to improve their health,” says Plunkett. That can includewalking, swimming, biking or yoga. Focus on finding an activity you love, and aim to do it daily. Start with 10 minutes and build up from there.
Reach a Healthy Weight
Losing 5% to 7% of your body weight has been shown to treat insulin resistance and prevent diabetes, says theNIDDK. Not sure where to start? Connecting with a registered dietitian can help you develop an individualized meal plan that works for your lifestyle. Also check out theseDiabetes-Friendly Weight-Loss Recipes.
Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
Stress, sleep and smoking can worsen insulin resistance. “Take a wellness inventory of what you want to change for the better,” Plunkett recommends. For example, if you know you’re not getting the sleep you need (something that can lead to insulin resistance, says theCDC), work with your health care providers to develop a better sleep routine and implement sleep hygiene habits, such as maintaining a regular sleep schedule and limiting screen time before bed.
Related:The Best and Worst Foods for Better Sleep, According to a Doctor
The Bottom Line
Insulin resistance develops slowly over time and can increase the risk of prediabetes and diabetes. The earlier you address insulin resistance the better. Lifestyle modifications, such as eating more plants, exercising more, weight loss, managing stress and improving sleep can prevent, treat and reverse insulin resistance.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it’s not the same. Insulin resistance can lead to the development of diabetes. With lifestyle changes, such as improving your diet and increasing physical activity, you can reverse insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance usually does not have symptoms. However some possible symptoms include thick patches of dark skin in skin folds like the neck, skin tags, weight gain, fatigue and hunger.
Insulin resistance develops due to genetics, diet and lifestyle. One of the main causes of insulin resistance is excessive calorie intake. People with insulin resistance may also have high triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood), low “good” HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, excess abdominal fat and elevated blood sugar.
A specific food will not directly cause insulin resistance, but certain foods can make insulin resistance worse. And regularly eating more calories than your body needs can cause weight gain, a main contributor to insulin resistance. Reducing intake of sweets such as soda and candy, as well as processed meat, fried foods and high-fat meat, can reduce your overall calorie intake to help you maintain a healthy weight.
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