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Success stories about insulin resistance

I was full blown diabetic when diagnosed but did Atkins, no effort at all, and my numbers nosedived.
From what I could glean from the insulin resistance trial - they were like people pointing out that diesel fuel engines don't work well if you put petrol into them.
When I had been doing Atkins for about ten days I felt a bit woosey - but a few extra carbs, and I do mean a few sorted it out and after that I felt wonderful. A bit further on and my BG readings went from very consistent to erratic - but I think that was when the log jam of insulin resistance was breaking down, and after that BG went a lot lower and the highest values fell each week. That was all without any symptoms so purely academic really.
I am 65 years old now, and my numbers are prediabetic at the moment, so for me it was all down to controlling carbs. I have no idea if I'll continue to be labelled as diabetic for ever, but I feel great and my blood test number speak for themselves - see my signature.
 

In your personal experiment, were you also eating normal amounts of carbs?

Carbs + high fat may cause weight gain, visceral fat, insulin resistance and T2 diabetes

Cut the carbs right down as far as possible and there could be a very different result.
 
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My personal experiment is not so relevant, n=1.
Also, keep in mind that it was the answer for a 19y old, never dm person. He has insulin resistance. For liver insulin resistance, a VLCD is a nice approach. I am going to focus on muscle insulin resistance.

Having said this,
reducing the levels of free fatty acids in blood will reduce the levels in cell membranes, or at least it seems so. Insulin sensitivity in Cell membranes seem to work better thanks to this. Now, not all free fatty acids are created equal nor cooked equal...

Low carb diets have a causal mechanism to reduce hiperinsulinemia by reducing the amount of insulin needed due to food intake. This in and by itself is beneficial. Over time, tissues stop being accostumed to high levels of insulin. That is the only effect I am aware of a low carb diet on hiperinsulinemia, albeit a slow one.

But the oldest mechanism tested to increase insulin sensitivity is by doing exercise. Then you have acute effects -24h or less- and chronic effects, 3-6 months. the dose required to overcome insulin resistance seems to be a lot more than recommended. Those who did it, used a sort of structured training, like a HIIT OR weight lifting program, with progressive GOALS for months. It seems it is necessary.


Holding constant all variables,
Low calorie diet? it is likely that the best way to reduce insulin resistance is to have also a reduction on %ca from fat.
ISO caloric diet? , the best bet might be to increase the %ca from fat.
Hipercaloric diet? Maybe nothin would work
bottom line: exercise > diet for insulin sensitivity.
 
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FYI. Metformin is not associated with weight loss, but with insulin sensitivity. Check easd ada joint statement 2015.
 
We bandy around the term "insulin resistance" as if it's a single phenomenon. It isn't.

Insulin resistance in the liver is pathological. When insulin levels are high, the liver should dial back the amount of glucose it produces and/or releases into the blood. But when it's insulin resistant, it doesn't. This is the IR associated with metabolic syndrome and eventually T2D.

And then there are muscles. When there are plenty of FFA's in the blood, and not much glucose (e.g. Because you typically eat a high proportion of fat and little Carbohydrate), the muscles become insulin resistant. This makes perfect sense - not much glucose around, leave it for the tissues which can't directly metabolise fat. This is sometimes termed physiological insulin resistance or adaptive glucose-sparing.

Now, if this happens to someone who has been eating keto for a number of months.... it's got to start somewhere. Like with a single high fat meal, for example. Bet you any money that if the next meal was high carb and low fat, the "resistance" would promptly reverse.

But if you are habitually eating high fat and low carb, it's absolutely not a problem. It only becomes one when both carbs and fat are high, i.e. SAD.
 

Having an open mind is important, but it doesn't seem like you are following your own advice on that. Point I'm making is No matter what your point of view on something, you can find a study result to back it. Posting study results seems to be a way to try and validate a point of view, (Usually to try and win an argument online) as though there is no debate once one has been posted. Here's a study, oh, well, that's the end of that discussion because the study states so and it's now beyond a shadow of doubt. And we've all seen how health authorities change their stance on something a few years after they were shouting from the roof tops how good something was and how well researched it was.

The point is, you just can't rely on study results for all the health decisions we make. I think as a general guide they can contain info that is useful, but many people don't even read the study and just skip straight to the result/conclusion. And sometimes those interpretations are iffy and sometimes wrong. I'm not saying ignore studies either, but they aren't the be all end all people seem to think they are. Regardless of the result.

I think a lot of people were misled into believing a low fat diet is the way to go after fat was crucified by health authorities everywhere. And I'll state that too much of anything, isn't good. I think a diet that works for the individual will reflect on their blood results. I see LCHF as more of a label then anything, I don't eat a lot of fat, but try to keep it to a moderate amount myself. I think we should look at how 'we' the individual are going health wise. Take diet, activity level and results and make adjustments accordingly when needed. Not refuse to eat in a certain way because a study said so or follow a certain way because a study said so.

At the end of the day, take what info we have about ourselves and use it, consult with your gp if you are not sure about something. Get opinions. Educate ourselves, we won't ever stop learning. We are all students, no matter what level of experience we have. The day we decide our mind is made up on something, is the day ignorance is allowed to flourish.
 

Agreed.

I lift, mostly because I just enjoyed it. There have been periods when I didn't.... didn't have time, family life and all that jazz. These were the periods when my health wasn't as good. I have lifted for the last 5 years on a consistant basis, found the routine that worked best and stuck with it, made changes here and there, but have been strict in following it.

My health has been great. Have been at 5.9% for a1c for the last few years without really trying that hard. I could get it lower if I pushed it.

Exercise is a great way to improve all these points you mentioned. I also use an exercise bike, parked in the bedroom... 20 seconds on it, just casual peddling. Done here and there keeps bg levels stable, once you get started there is a progressive momentum that builds up as the day goes on. I walk my dog too at the end of the day, for almost an hr, has a few hills. I see the results in FBG numbers in the morning... if I slacken up on the exercise for a period of time I see a bit of a rise, but if I go back to normal I see a lowering.
 
Guys i didn't disagree with how low carb lowers insulin but inducing insulin resistance is a much different thing. Intra-molecular lipid which results from FFA(Free fatty acids) seems to cause end cells(muscles) to digest glucose less than before. And only healthy oils i could find was fish oil, olive oil and nuts. Other than that i think fat is worse. I lowered glucose and took fat but my readings became worse, that was the main reason i opened this topic.
Anyway i am eating high protein diet only now(low carbs and low fat) until i put off my excess weight and going to sports everyday. But i recommend others to read a bit more about this online. I will link sites when i find them again
 


You clearly are not understanding that insulin resistance increases in a low carb high fat diet are PHYSIOLOGICAL and BENIGN.

Over time, as you metabolism adapts that resistance will lessen and your BG numbers will gradually lower.

If you started eating high carb low fat again your body would very quickly adapt again.

All you are doing by eating a high protein diet is giving you liver something else to manufacture glucose from in the absnese of carbs.

This is why high fat is so successful in lowering glucose, it is the least likely to increase glucose considerably as it is the hardest food group for the liver to matabolise as glucose.

It is insulin that is the problem here, high glucose is just a symptom of that.

It is the insulin that needs lowering and eating high protein will not achieve that, low carb, moderate protein and high fat will.
 
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/8/1777.long
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.or...7acaff36c544cafc5dfdcb6e&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

Please your take time and read the important points. I believe its mainly genetic but HFD(High fat diet) actually makes you worse while low carb diet only masks the progression.

"Numerous studies have implicated reduced mitochondrial biogenesis and OXPHOS in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (31). Our studies suggest that dietary fat is an important factor in the observed reduction in OXPHOS genes in insulin-resistant states. Microarray analysis and real-time quantitative RT-PCR results revealed a downregulation of OXPHOS genes in young men consuming a HFD, as well as transcription factors and cofactors. "
 
We're all in the same queue heading for the same door. Until we reach the predetermined destination see what floats your boat and try and apply a bit of balance - all work and no fun ........
 
So i lost 13 more kgs and i am 25 bmi now. I take 2000 mg metformin daily and i do weight traning, increased my muscle mass a lot. Have like %21 body fat. But my main problem is i always have dry mouth and frequent urgency to urinate. These are symptoms i know that are in high blod sugar. How so? Even without medication and a lot more fat i used to have perfectly normal 84 fbg nd 5 a1c.
I am a bit hesitant to go test myself now because if the results come back bad i dont know what to do after this...
I am doing a LCHF diet right now to lose weight as well so i think its impossible that i have high fbg
 
My signature is now changed from the one I referred to earlier in the thread - and I have put on 2 lb recently, and seen some much lower BG levels - to me that indicates that I am now responding to the release of insulin by storing away glucose. I think that eating low carb is reversing some diabetic symptoms, which is good - but means that I need to adapt to it and reduce my carb intake for a while.
I am still only 5 months from diagnosis, and I did give myself a year to sort things out. My numbers from the blood tests at 80 days could not have been much better considering what they were at diagnosis.
I do not do intense exercise, as it raises my BG levels, gentle mid effort seems to be what is required, for half an hour twice a day, with several hours in between.
 

How so? You could be type 1. The LCHF diet would slow down the rise in BG, but would not stop it.

Go get tested. If your BG is normal, there is some other explanation for your dry mouth and frequent need to urinate. If it is high and climbing, I just saved your life.
 
Im not type 1, it is impossible because i never saw my FBG go higher than 90. Even when i was morbidly obese. Also it has been like this for 3-4 weeks(symptoms). But i don't have a loss for appetite when i am fasting. I am hungry even.
I might have an UTI maybe thats my only other reasoning
 
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But you won't know for sure unless you have some tests. Type 1 can develop very, very quickly - especially in a young person - so the fact that you never saw your fbg over 90 a couple of months ago doesn't mean you don't have type 1.

Constant hunger is a symptom of type 1, as is quick weight loss (even if the weight loss is welcome)

Yes, you could have a UTI - but I'd expect other symptoms, such as fever, general malaise or pain when passing urine. I'm not aware that UTI's cause dry mouth.

Or you could have diabetes insipidus.

Do you have other symptoms - aches and pains, tiredness.... anything?

You've mentioned depression/anxiety - are you on an anti-depressant, and if so could the dry mouth be a side effect of that?

Best thing really is to see a doctor, e.g. the one who diagnosed you with insulin resistance and prescribed the metformin.
 
Im not on a different medication other than Metformin. I don't have a history of type 1 in my family as well. Thanks for the insight tho i will ask my doctor about that. I have general tiredness but i go to sports once every two days. And i had quick weight loss before this as well, since a lot of years i can gain weight very easily and lose very easily. And i don't have a constant hunger, i can fast for a long time. I fasted for 24 involuntarily a day or two ago without feeling bad. I only feel hungry after sleeping for 10 12 hours which is from what i know quite normal
 
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Better safe than sorry, I reckon. Good luck!
 
BarbaraG said:
Better safe than sorry, I reckon. Good luck!
Click to expand...
As a biomedical engineer candidate, type 1 scares me a lot less than type 2 considering the mechanism. Whatever i hope nothing comes out of it but by the looks i feel like i am going to get diagnosed
 
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