Weight Loss & Wellness Blog

From the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC)

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/insulinresistance/

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body produces insulin but does not use it properly. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps the body use glucose for energy. Glucose is a form of sugar that is the body's main source of energy.

The body's digestive system breaks food down into glucose, which then travels in the bloodstream to cells throughout the body. Glucose in the blood is called blood glucose, also known as blood sugar. As the blood glucose level rises after a meal, the pancreas releases insulin to help cells take in and use the glucose.

When people are insulin resistant, their muscle, fat, and liver cells do not respond properly to insulin. As a result, their bodies need more insulin to help glucose enter cells. The pancreas tries to keep up with this increased demand for insulin by producing more. Eventually, the pancreas fails to keep up with the body's need for insulin. Excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream, setting the stage for diabetes. Many people with insulin resistance have high levels of both glucose and insulin circulating in their blood at the same time.

Insulin resistance increases the chance of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Learning about insulin resistance is the first step toward making lifestyle changes that can help prevent diabetes and other health problems.

Some people with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance have seen improvements after being on the Ideal Protein diet. 

Did you know that Metabolic Syndrome (also known as Syndrome X) has four hallmarks symptoms of obesity?  The four are central obesity (belly fat), high choleseterol, hypertension and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).  These four hallmark symptoms have something in common - hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood) along with insulin resistance.  

The late Gerald Reaven, MD, in 1987 came up with the term "Syndrome X" to show that the four legs of the "X" represent the symptoms of metabolic syndrome (belly fat, high blood pressure, hypertension and high cholesterol) and the midpoint of the X (where the 4 meet in the center) are the causal agents of too much insulin along with insulin resistance.  The body's cells are not responding to normal amounts of insulin.  That has become the standar, accepted medical model of this diseas called Metabolic Syndrom.