I am going to stick my neck out here and ask a possibly very stupid question:
Is insulin resistance the same as type 2 diabetes?
i just cant get my head round what insulin resistance is, and what to do about it. Its like my brain freezes up when I try to understand it : (
You know the first time you have alcohol? You get the effects really quickly?
But if you keep having a drink, every day, you soon build up a tolerance to it.
It is the same with insulin.
Normal people eat carbs, release insulin, the blood glucose is controlled, and insulin levels drop. Til the next time they need insulin. Basically carbs, blood glucose and insulin have a perfectly balanced dance inside a normal healthy body.
But if we have a predisposition to insulin resistance, then something different happens.
To start with, as our bodies are exposed to insulin, regularly, and in largeish amounts, we develop a resistance to it. Like with the alcohol. People who drink regularly dont get pished on a single glass, do they? Then, in order to control the blood glucose, we need to produce more insulin to do the same job. But the more insulin used, the quicker our resistance builds, in an escalating spiral. And the harder it is to get the insulin to work. And the more insulin needed to do the job.
This all happens before our blood glucose rises much - and before we become pre-diabetic.
Eventually, the resistance builds to the point where the body can no longer maintain 'normal' blood glucose.
This is pre-diabetes.
Then it rises higher and we move into T2 diabetes.
Insulin is the hormone that pushes blood glucose out of the blood and into the fat cells, storing it as fat.
So why does it happen? Because our bodies are flooded with insulin. And why does
that happen? Because we are eating enough of the kind of foods that require insulin (carbs), to have enough insulin floating around to build up a resistance to it.
So why do some people get insulin resistance when others don't? Even eating the same amount of carbs? Or eating
less carbs than those other people?
That would be because of genetics, environmental factors, various medical treatments, ageing organs, injury, medication like statins and so on... And exposure to carbs - because they trigger insulin release.
(Insulin resistance can be lowered, by exercise, low carb, fasting and some medications, and there is also another side to the story, because sometimes our capacity to produce insulin fails through over work, or a fatty liver, but we don't have to be obese with subcutaneous fat for that to happen)
If you want references for all of this info, then you can find it at Jason Fung's Intensive Dietary Management Blog. His discussions and in depth explanation of insulin resistance are excellent.