MS - Insulin Resistance

[RottenWillow]

BTW coffee on an empty stomach will not impact insulin sensitivity because insulin will not be raised without carbs going in at the same time.

Thanks MS. How long should I wait after a carb meal to drink the coffee in order to avoid any degree of sensitivity reduction?

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Can someone (MS, W6, Anya) "define" what insulin resistant means? How about insulin sensitivity? Define, explain, etc.

I have the general idea, just want clarification (plus as Anya said, this is a great reference thread)

 

[MS]

I wouldn't worry about the caffeine thing really. After all the people who drink the most coffee (6+ cups per day) have a greatly reduced risk of developing diabetes compared to non-coffee drinkers.

Insulin resistance and sensitivity in the context of this thread are relative concepts. Sure there are international standards for diagnosing pre diabetic insulin resistance and full blown type 2 insulin resistance, but for most of us I use the terms to mean an increase or decrease in insulin sensitivity compared to what you would normally have.

I think a better way to view relative insulin resistance is as your body's way of trying to REDUCE fat gain rather than increase it. An insulin resistant fat cell is less likely to store fat than a sensitive cell (in the short term). It's the chronic long term elevation of blood glucose and fats that seems to cause the most problems. If the fats can't get into your cells, they float around in the blood or get stored in the liver where they do more damage than getting stored in subcutaneous fat. If blood glucose remains high for prolonged periods it also does irreparable damage.

So all things in moderation, and don't overeat!!!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

So being insulin resistant means you are not likely to increase body fat easily? But this also means that not storing dietary fat in fat cells can cause health problems, since the fat is still in your body.... right? Which is why STILL eating in moderation and working out is important no matter what.

And an insulin sensitive person finds increasing their body fat quite easy?

What are steps one can take to decrease their insulin sensitivity?

 

[MS]

Slow down there Daisy. You need insulin sensitivity to get glucose into your muscle cells as well as into your brain for proper functioning. A bodybuilder does not want to be universally insulin resistant because a) they will have a host of problems with blood lipids, high blood glucose and fatty liver, and b) they won't have the glycogen to train intensely.

What you really want is to make the insulin work for you by preferentially shuttling glucose into your muscles. The best (cheapest and healthiest) way to do this is by exercising. Exercise sensitizes your muscles to insulin very nicely. Exercise also increases fat and calorie burning.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Slow down there Daisy. You need insulin sensitivity to get glucose into your muscle cells as well as into your brain for proper functioning. A bodybuilder does not want to be universally insulin resistant because a) they will have a host of problems with blood lipids, high blood glucose and fatty liver, and b) they won't have the glycogen to train intensely.

What you really want is to make the insulin work for you by preferentially shuttling glucose into your muscles. The best (cheapest and healthiest) way to do this is by exercising. Exercise sensitizes your muscles to insulin very nicely. Exercise also increases fat and calorie burning.

lol @ slow down. When things start clicking, I get 12 steps ahead without thinking.

This is why people take in tons of carbs post-workout - to shuttle them into the muscles for recovery without them being stored as fat (theoretically)?

A more insulin resistant person might have higher cholesterol levels due to the fact that the fexcess is circulating more (because it cannot be utilized) because the insulin cannot shuttle it into muscles/brain? Is this mostly a genetic thing? Are we genentically programmed to be more "insulin resistant" or "insulin sensitive"?

Let me see if I understand. In a non-diabetic person, when you eat, your body releases insulin. The amount of insulin released depends on the food eaten.....high GI carb will release more, low GI carb will release less. The insulin helps utilize the carbs in your muscles and brain. The excess (carbs? insulin?) will go towards fat-making.

Very complex.

 

[SparkyGirl]

awwww great information here!!!

 

[MS]

This is why people take in tons of carbs post-workout - to shuttle them into the muscles for recovery without them being stored as fat (theoretically)?

Yes, you can burn off a some carbs with weight training, and you can restore those same carbs with post workout carbs. However you can't store excess calories as fat if you aren't eating excess calories. I think this is where too many people get confused. It's really excess calories stored as (visceral) fat that cause insulin resistance and not the other way around. Instead of worrying so much about the number of carbs or GI of foods, people would be better off is they just ensured they don't eat like pigs all the time.

A more insulin resistant person might have higher cholesterol levels due to the fact that the fexcess is circulating more (because it cannot be utilized) because the insulin cannot shuttle it into muscles/brain? Is this mostly a genetic thing? Are we genentically programmed to be more "insulin resistant" or "insulin sensitive"?

Excess calories, whether from carbs or fat, have to go somewhere. If they can't get stored in muscles or subcutaneous adipose tissue (due to insulin resistance or because you haven't used your muscles) then they get stored in visceral fat. This visceral fat sets up a viscious cycle where it increases circulating fats, which increases insulin resistance, which causes more fat to be stored in visceral fat. Also, once insulin resistance becomes pathological, your brain senses a lack of glucose because the glucose can't get into the cells (even though there's lots of glucose in the blood). This signals the liver to produce more glucose, the pancreas to produce more insulin, so now you have high blood glucose, insulin and lots of fats floating around. Not good.

Some folks are more genetically prone to this than others, but I stress again that this is mainly when the environment (in other words excess calories) interacts with those genes. if you remove the excess calories then you remove the root cause of the problem.

Let me see if I understand. In a non-diabetic person, when you eat, your body releases insulin. The amount of insulin released depends on the food eaten.....high GI carb will release more, low GI carb will release less. The insulin helps utilize the carbs in your muscles and brain. The excess (carbs? insulin?) will go towards fat-making.

Insulin resistance is when insulin is not working efficiently. The insulin is present, but target tissues are less sensitive to insulin. From Harper's Biochemistry, "In conditions in which plasma insulin levels are high, e.g. obesity, the number of insulin receptors is decreased and target tissues become less sensitive to insulin. This down-regulation results from the loss of receptors by internalization, the process whereby insulin-receptor complexes enter the cell. Down-regulation explains part of the insulin resistance in obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus." So part of insulin resistance is the result of high insulin levels leading to reduced numbers of insulin receptors. It's not just the carbs that cause the problem. More like the other way around. High insulin due to high fat causes a lot of the problems.

The key point is higher levels of insulin create a vicious circle of less sensitive insulin due to down-regulation of insulin receptors, resulting in even higher insulin levels and increased insulin insensitivity. Diabetics mainly focus on blood sugar levels, but reducing insulin levels is vital. Losing weight, exercise, eating low glycemic foods, eating small meals, supplements, and other methods can reduce insulin levels .


Very complex.[/QUOTE]

 

[superqt4u2nv]

MS sort of on off topic I don't tend to hold the most fat in my abs it would be on my rear or thighs. Anywho I found that when I was on clen the first place that was very noticeable for fat lose was my abs. How does clen effect your insulin levels?

 

[velvett]

This so screams STICKY!