Weight Loss – Controlling Your Insulin!
Insulin & Weight Loss.
How many of you know anything about insulin, other than that it has something to do with diabetes?? Controlling insulin levels in your body is your sure fire way to both consistent weight loss and increasing muscle tone. It is time to put down all those sugary sweets and processed carbs you love so much. Here is why!!
So what is insulin? And why is it so important for weight loss and restricting weight gain?
– Insulin is a natural hormone in your body that is produced and secreted by the pancreas. When food is eaten and digested, it is broken down into glucose. Glucose is a simple sugar that is the body’s main source of energy, and is often referred to as “blood sugar”. Insulin’s role is to transport this energy into the various cells in your body that are responsible for growth, repair and many other functions. Without insulin our body could not utilize the energy from the food we eat.
– Eating refined sugars and carbohydrates causes large releases of insulin. These large amounts of insulin cause damage to the cells and they will become “insulin resistant”. When your cells become resistant to insulin, your body will react to this by releasing more insulin into the blood, which will then have a snowballing effect.
– When your body becomes insulin resistant and is unable to move the energy from your blood into your cells, it has no other option but to store that energy as fat. When foods are eaten that quickly raise your blood sugar, such as highly processed carbohydrates e.g. a glass of orange juice, the excess blood sugar is stored as fat.
– Insulin is also highly associated with abdominal fat storage. The cells that insulin resistance affects can be localized to certain body parts and certain types of cells. Your adipose cells in the abdomen are huge offenders when it comes to insulin resistance. When these cells are damaged they suffer from hypoxia (a lack of oxygen) which results in lack of blood flow and swelling. These insulin resistant fat cells then begin to store fat more easily.
– Adding to this, insulin resistance is associated with; fatigue, difficulty concentrating, intestinal bloating, sleepiness, increased triglycerides, increased blood pressure and depression.
If you can understand how insulin works to create fat, then you can minimize its involvement and be on the way to achieving your weight loss goals.
So how do I know which foods will cause this large release of insulin and derail my weight loss?
The glycemic index was created to determine the effect of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. The smaller the glycemic index (GI) of a food, the slower the increase in blood sugar levels and therefore the safer the insulin response is. Below is a link to a good site that will give you the GI levels of a lot of common foods. The best bet is to steer clear of anything that is white. White generally means that the food has been highly processed and therefore the GI will be much higher in the body. Grains, wholemeal varieties, brown rice and all of these types of products have a much better blood sugar response than their white counterparts.
Check out Low Glycemic Diet for some more great information.
So whenever your insulin levels are high, you are essentially putting yourself out of the desired “fat burning zones”. Your body will not utilize stored fat for energy and will in fact store more. So put down the cakes, chocolates, soft drinks, and even the white bread, pasta and rice and watch your body react by dropping the centimeters. Insulin is the master of your weight, so respect your master!
Eat well, train hard and sleep deeply,
Drew
