I've seen a few discussions regarding Insulin Resistance, and some criticisms of approaches (whether at home, in the medical profession or in research studies) to diabetes management which focus too heavily on Blood Glucose.
If I understand things properly, the idea is that Insulin Resistance is thought to be a precursor to Glucose Intolerance. So somebody can have worsening Insulin Resistance for years, before it finally leads to a noticeable problem with Glocuse Intolerance (and probably therefore a diagnosis of Type 2).
Furthermore, the Insulin Resistance, even before it leads to a noticeable blood glucose problem, is considered dangerous in itself, as it leads to higher amounds of insulin in the body and this is thought to be as dangerous as high amounts of glucose.
So the criticisms of things like HbA1Cs, home testing and glucose tolerance tests, is that, while you may be able to detect improving glucose control, it doesn't say much about your insulin resistance.
For example, one should not presume that if someone with Type 2 manages to take radical action and do wonders for their glucose tolerance, and even get a great result in a glucose tolerance test, that the problem with IR is solved. It's possibly still there, knocking at the door and ready to tip you back into glucose intolerance at any moment, and even if it doesn't, it's harmful in and of itself.
The problem is made worse because we can't easily / affordably monitor our insulin levels the way we can with blood glucose. Even in a medical setting, getting any real insight into our insulin levels, especially in response to eating food, is rather rare (and again, expensive).
So I looked around for suggestions on improving IR, and pretty much all of them were exactly the same advice as we get for improving glucose tolerance.
This page gives a reasonable summary of many of the bits of advice I found:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/improve-insulin-sensitivity#modal-close
There's even perhaps a surprising one in there: restricting calories, regardless of carb levels, seems to have a very significant effect on IR. That's been very much my personal finding at the moment in terms of *glucose tolerance* - losing weight seems to be a more important factor than reducing carbs, though obviously I can't lose weight forever.
And it leads me to wonder, given we can't easily measure insulin levels, and the advice for improving IR is so hugely similar to that for improving something we *can* measure, is it worth, on a practical level, even making a distinction?
If so, what do people do to target IR specifically?
If I understand things properly, the idea is that Insulin Resistance is thought to be a precursor to Glucose Intolerance. So somebody can have worsening Insulin Resistance for years, before it finally leads to a noticeable problem with Glocuse Intolerance (and probably therefore a diagnosis of Type 2).
Furthermore, the Insulin Resistance, even before it leads to a noticeable blood glucose problem, is considered dangerous in itself, as it leads to higher amounds of insulin in the body and this is thought to be as dangerous as high amounts of glucose.
So the criticisms of things like HbA1Cs, home testing and glucose tolerance tests, is that, while you may be able to detect improving glucose control, it doesn't say much about your insulin resistance.
For example, one should not presume that if someone with Type 2 manages to take radical action and do wonders for their glucose tolerance, and even get a great result in a glucose tolerance test, that the problem with IR is solved. It's possibly still there, knocking at the door and ready to tip you back into glucose intolerance at any moment, and even if it doesn't, it's harmful in and of itself.
The problem is made worse because we can't easily / affordably monitor our insulin levels the way we can with blood glucose. Even in a medical setting, getting any real insight into our insulin levels, especially in response to eating food, is rather rare (and again, expensive).
So I looked around for suggestions on improving IR, and pretty much all of them were exactly the same advice as we get for improving glucose tolerance.
This page gives a reasonable summary of many of the bits of advice I found:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/improve-insulin-sensitivity#modal-close
There's even perhaps a surprising one in there: restricting calories, regardless of carb levels, seems to have a very significant effect on IR. That's been very much my personal finding at the moment in terms of *glucose tolerance* - losing weight seems to be a more important factor than reducing carbs, though obviously I can't lose weight forever.
And it leads me to wonder, given we can't easily measure insulin levels, and the advice for improving IR is so hugely similar to that for improving something we *can* measure, is it worth, on a practical level, even making a distinction?
If so, what do people do to target IR specifically?