What is insulin resistance? (for dummies)

I am definitely no scientist so I have tried to summarise my findings in my own words hopefully making it easier to understand. I must say most articles I had to re-read about 5 times in order to understand what they were saying. There is SO much to learn and take in and I am so excited to learn more and document this in an easy-to-understand format (hopefully!)

Firstly its probably best to describe what insulin actually is and what its role is in the body;

Insulin is a hormone that enables cells to absorb glucose in the liver, muscles and fat tissue.  In the liver and muscles, glucose is stored as glycogen.  In fat cells, it is stored as Triglycerides.  Insulin is produced within the body in order to remove excess glucose in the blood and regulate fat and carbohydrate metabolism in the body.

**CHO=carbohydrate
source

Insulin resistance is when the cells in the body are non responsive to insulin, This means that when the body produces insulin, the cells in the liver, muscles or fat tissue do not allow the glucose to efficiently absorb and thus blood glucose rises outside the normal range and as a result causes adverse health effects such as elevated levels of Triglycerides.

Elevated levels of Triglycerides in the body further reduces insulin sensitivity. It almost sounds like a vicious cycle.. Insulin resistance causes increase in Triglycerides in the bloodstream which causes excess body fat which in turn further reduces insulin sensitivity.

So we know that elevated glucose in the body is the main cause for concern especially for people with insulin resistance as the body cannot transport this glucose into energy through the use of insulin.

I guess the next step is managing the amount of glucose present in the body, figuring out which foods elevate or reduce the amount of blood glucose and how to manage the body's response to it depending on the types of carbohydrates and fats consumed

I also want to find out more about the production of Glucagon in people with insulin resistance which is the opposite of insulin and is produced where there is a lack of glucose in the body

More to come soon!

Very excited

xx

P.S found an amazing article on Insulin Sensitivity that explains insulin resistance in both an entertaining and informative way.

Article on Insulin Sensitivity