Insulin is vital in controlling your blood sugar level, storing energy and supporting your total metabolic well-being. As your body begins to resist the effects of insulin (a condition known as insulin resistance), it may start to affect your body’s energy levels, how you metabolize food and maintain a healthy weight. Identifying the early warning signs of insulin resistance will enable you to take action before it progresses to a more severe form.
This is a friendly resource to identify the signs of insulin resistance and provide some ways to help your body during this time.
1. Unexpected Weight Gain, Especially Around the Midsection
Weight gain in the midsection can be a sign that you are developing insulin resistance. The fat in your abdomen is highly sensitive to insulin, so when you start developing insulin resistance, fat will accumulate there as one of the first symptoms.
2. Increased Hunger or Cravings for Sugar
Your body may want the quick energy of sugar when your cells do not respond well to insulin. A constant desire for food, or strong cravings (even if you have eaten a healthy meal), could indicate the onset of insulin resistance.
3. Fatigue and Lack of Energy
Fatigue (feeling tired), or feeling like you don’t have enough energy after meals, could mean that your body isn’t using glucose as efficiently as it should be for energy. The “energy crash” you feel from this may initially be mild, but it can interfere with your ability to perform daily activities and also impact your overall health and wellness.
4. Difficulty Losing Weight
If you’ve followed a healthy diet and regularly exercised but still have difficulty losing weight, insulin resistance may be negatively affecting your metabolic rate. Insulin resistance makes losing weight slow and difficult, even if you’re consistently making an effort in terms of diet and exercise.
5. Brain Fog Or Difficulty Concentrating
While insulin resistance is primarily related to physical symptoms, some people experience difficulty concentrating, memory loss, or general mental fogginess; these often improve as their blood sugar levels are stabilized.
6. Skin Changes
Skin changes are one of the less well-known symptoms of insulin resistance. In many cases, people will develop dark patches on the skin, specifically around the neck, underarms, or groin area (acanthosis nigricans). Other skin issues, such as acne or skin texture problems, may occur as an earlier sign.
7. Blood Sugar Fluctuation
Blood sugar fluctuations can cause frequent spikes and drops in blood sugar leaving people feeling irritable, lightheaded, and/or shaky. While this might initially appear to be a minor issue, blood sugar fluctuation signals to you that your body needs help managing its insulin levels.
How Insulin Resistance Affects Metabolic Health
Insulin resistance does not simply affect your blood sugar. Over time, it can begin to negatively affect your overall metabolic function. If your body’s cells become less responsive to insulin, your body will compensate with additional insulin production. In the long run, this increased insulin production makes it easier to store fat and harder to utilize fat as an energy source.
This is one of the reasons why people experience frustration when they are attempting to lose weight while suffering from insulin resistance, even though they have made improvements to their diet and exercise routine. Their bodies may remain in “fat storage” mode and continue to store fat rather than utilizing stored fat for energy.
Beyond weight challenges, insulin resistance can also:
- Slow down your metabolism
- Increase inflammation in the body
- Disrupt cholesterol levels
- Contribute to hormonal imbalances
- Raise the risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes
Due to insulin’s critical role in the regulation of energy use within the body, a prolonged insulin balance can create an ongoing cascade of events (the ripple effect). Fortunately, through lifestyle modifications and appropriate insulin resistance treatments, there is great potential to restore your metabolism to optimal functioning.
Improving your body’s ability to support insulin sensitivity represents one of the greatest means of protecting your long-term metabolic health and increasing the likelihood of successful weight management.
Steps to Support Your Body
The body’s ability to fight against insulin resistance can be aided in many different ways. While it is best to follow the recommendations of your doctor for insulin resistance treatment, you may also want to consider some lifestyle and dietary changes that will help to aid in your ability to fight insulin resistance, as well as improve your overall metabolic health and increase your body’s sensitivity to insulin:
- Eat whole foods, plenty of high-fiber vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats.
- The more often you exercise, the better your muscle cells are able to utilize insulin.
- A healthy weight helps in maintaining normal levels of insulin and support your body’s metabolic functions.
- High stress levels can have a negative impact on your body’s ability to regulate insulin and glucose in the blood.
Consult with a qualified medical professional regarding the most effective and safe therapies for treating insulin resistance as well as the appropriateness of taking supplements if needed.
Spot The Signs of Insulin Resistance Early To Stay In Control
Identifying those first signs of insulin resistance will allow you to begin making healthier choices that support your overall health. Making some small changes to what you eat, increasing your physical activity and decreasing your stress levels are examples of simple ways to positively impact your body’s ability to metabolize efficiently.
Ideal Metabolic Health and Body in Fort Collins has been assisting clients who find it difficult to understand their own bodies’ response to insulin and weight loss. We are committed to working with you to develop healthy eating and exercise habits, as well as a personalized plan that will help your body have the most efficient metabolism possible, so you can be full of energy and confidence each day.