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Insulin Resistance Question

erin3011
erin3011 Posts: 59 Member
edited November 16 in Social Groups
I've seen a few comments where insulin resistance was attributed to LCHF diets. I'm wondering how long you have to be on this WOE for this to happen, and is it a permanent thing? Like, once you go LC you can't ever go back? )without extreme and fast weight gain)

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  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
    edited February 2017
    Odds are, those comments were either misinformed or taken out of context.

    LCHF does not cause dysfunctional insulin resistance (aka metabolic syndrome). In fact, it generally cures it. This is in part because fat does not require insulin to be processed, only to keep ketone levels (which are demand driven) from going too high. Because of the way fat is processed, if you eat more than you need right now, it can just be stored pretty much directly.

    Carbohydrates, however, get converted to glucose and will dump into the bloodstream regardless of need when consumed, prompting the body to make insulin to deal with it. Over time, if carbohydrates are consumed in excess, the cells start ignoring insulin, basically, and you become insulin resistant in a dysfunctional way.

    Now, there is a state of functional insulin resistance that can happen on very low carb diets, but there is a specific purpose and it's not a disordered state. It happens generally to learn people, and the purpose is to reserve the glucose the body makes on its own for the brain and other key systems that need at least a little glucose to work properly. Since most of the body can run on ketones or fatty acids, directly, this setup is a good thing. This state is reversed simply by ramping your carb intake back up.

    And no, going back to high carb won't make you gain a whole bunch of weight for no reason. You will gain a couple of pounds due to glycogen stores enlarging, but that's it unless you're over eating, too.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
    edited February 2017
    First, this is not to be confused with insulin resistance which is caused by high insulin production.
    You're talking about physiological insulin resistance which isn't a disease or health condition of any kind. It's just the state of your body preferring fat for fuel, down regulating insulin and glucose uptake.

    But, I think it's just a matter of a transition back to carbs just like transitioning to higher fat.
    I wouldn't go back to sugar and grains, but increasing some starchy veggies and lower sugar fruits might be a better option for making the transition. At least at first. But if you go back to what created the weight gain in the first place, of course the weight comes back. That has nothing to with physiological insulin resistance.
    I seems like since the body begins to prefer fat for energy creating the resistance as was explained by Chris Kresser in that link on the other thread, that reintroducing carbs and lowering fat would teach it to go back to burning carbs and insulin production would begin to increase and you'd go back to burning sugar like before. But with that comes everything you don't immediately need being stored as fat. Your blood contains about 5g glucose in your whole body. That's what a blood sugar of 100 mmol/dl equals. Anytime you provide more than that, it gets stored.
  • erin3011
    erin3011 Posts: 59 Member
    Wow! Thx for the clarification!
    By the way, I'm not considering going back anytime soon or even ever. I was just curious about some things I was seeing.
  • lamiller82
    lamiller82 Posts: 31 Member
    IME, doc wanted me to try this WOE as a response/treatment of IR. I think your OP put the cart in front of the horse...
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,103 Member
    I have, however, heard, that for folks with already establish insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome, that you can become hyper-reactive to carbs when you drop off of a low carb diet. As in your body acts a fool with sugars, etc. I don't remember the source, specifically, but I remember the source being fairly reputable. Increased insulin sensitivity WHILE low carb, but reduced insulin sensitivity once off low carb...something like that.
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
    edited February 2017
    KnitOrMiss wrote: »
    I have, however, heard, that for folks with already establish insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome, that you can become hyper-reactive to carbs when you drop off of a low carb diet. As in your body acts a fool with sugars, etc. I don't remember the source, specifically, but I remember the source being fairly reputable. Increased insulin sensitivity WHILE low carb, but reduced insulin sensitivity once off low carb...something like that.

    I think your pancreas is lulled into expecting sane carb portions and isn't prepared to deliver an insulin jolt when you suddenly drop a carb bomb on it.

    FWIW, I had a hydrogen breath test for SIBO, which required fasting and then sucking down a putrescent devil's broth of 50g of glucose in a sick brown cola syrup. Bleh!!! :s I brought my BG meter along, and I practically rang the bell within the first hour - 85 to 300! :sweat:

    I asked my endocrinologist how to prepare for a standard OGTT. While discouraging me from doing this, she noted that if I were to take a standard OGTT, I'd need to first prime my otherwise quiet pancreas with similar doses (75g in the standard OGTT!) for about a week. I was happy to take her recommendation not to bother.

    Eric Westman in his Youtube vids has lamented that the OGTT - or some better measure - has not been standardized for people who eat keto or LC and naturally do not regularly consume carb loads resembling OGTT Test Goo.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,103 Member
    @RalfLott - I don't have issues with a sudden drop...my problems stemmed more from having them regularly again...
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