Best Macro ratios for weight loss when insulin resistant
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Since you have health issues, talk with your doctor.
OP this is important. The best post on the thread ^^^
Reading through this thread you see there is conflicting advice. Your doctor knows your condition.
I had prediabetes awhile before I was diagnosed with diabetes. My insurance wouldn't cover a dietician ( they will now). Looking back it would have been worth it to pay out of pocket.
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I think it can be said that the causes of insulin resistance are complex. My BMI has never been higher than 19.6 and if I lose more than 7 pounds from where I'm at now I'd probably look as though I've been in a starving camp. But yet, my long term blood sugar control as tested at my doctor's office would suggest that I certainly am insulin resistant. Clearly, having a lot of excess body fat is not what caused me to become insulin resistant.
This - of course - does not CAUSE insulin resistance from all evidence I've read on reputable sources. Being fat (not eating fat) by over-consumption of calories is what causes it. But reducing insulin resistance - according to the NIH - revolves around less calories, less fat and more exercise. They say it quite a few times.FunkyTobias wrote: »robs_ready wrote: »Jeffy80922 wrote: »I stopped doing Atkins when my weight loss staled at 200 lbs and started using the Harris Benedict Formula with a weight loss goal of 5 to 7lbs per month. Now I try to keep my net carbs around 2050 per day, but am wondering if (because on my insulin resistance), I can improve my weight loss by changing my current macros (C 45%, P 35% and F 20%)????
I would have thought lowering your carb intake and replacing it with good fats (nuts, eggs) may be a good solution Jeff. Obviously check with your doctor before changing anything.
Insulin resistance Is a difficult one, your body doesn't produce enough insulin and therefore Stores Carb intake as fat a alot easier than most people.
I would definitely check this video out. LCHF diets spike insulin levels. A HCLF diet decreases them.
“As the amount of fat in our diet gets lower and lower, insulin works better and better. This is a clear demonstration that the sugar tolerance of even healthy individuals can be impaired by administering a low-carb high-fat diet. But we can decrease insulin resistance by decreasing fat intake.”
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/what-causes-insulin-resistance/
Once again, you misinterpret the data.
Studies since then have been somewhat equivocal, with some showing higher insulin sensitivity on high-carbohydrate diets (1, 2), and others unable to replicate the finding (3). One potential explanation is that the difference in carbohydrate:fat ratios was not sufficient to see a difference in the studies that did not confirm the effect. As per Dr. Himsworth's finding, reduced insulin sensitivity seems to require a very low carbohydrate intake. Qualitative differences between the fat and carbohydrate sources may also have played a role-- unrefined carbohydrates improve insulin sensitivity more than refined carbohydrates.
Although very low-carbohydrate diets can reduce insulin sensitivity (and this squares with the poor glucose tolerance of many people who have followed very low-carbohydrate diets long-term), I think it is fair to ask whether this is harmful or simply adaptive (pathological vs. physiological). When glucose is scarce in the diet, the body initiates a metabolic program to spare glucose for the brain, which is more dependent on glucose than other organs. Since insulin signals tissues to increase glucose uptake, it is logical to think that insulin resistance might be a way of reducing glucose use by peripheral tissues so that the brain gets a larger share.
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-causes-insulin-resistance-part-v.html
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Jeffy80922 wrote: »I am 5' 8" and weigh 198 lbs. When I started losing weight, I weighed 225 lbs on Atkins but have since plateaued. I am insulin resistant and to lose weight I have restricted my daily calorie intake to 2050 calories with macros of Carbs 45%, Protein 35% and Fats 20%. I follow my calorie intake strictly, but am still finding it hard to lose weight (remain in 196 to 200 lbs range; even though I exercise regularly). Any suggestions on how I might change my macros to improve my weight loss?
@Jeffy80922 I'm not exactly sure which diet you're following, but if it's Atkins then you have your numbers backward.
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Everything @rabbitjb said is fantastic, including the video. You really could be taking in more calories than you think. If you are tracking as accurately as possible, are you eating back your exercise calories, netting 2050? Calculations like Harris-Bene is just a best guess to get you started. Your total daily calorie output including exercise may be closer to 2050 than you think and combined with MFP overestimating a lot of exercise calories, you could be eating at maintenance and not even know it. Along with inflated exercise burns many food entries on here, including the verified ones, can be way off. I've been on here almost four years and I still regularly check entries against sites like www.beefnutrition.org. Unfortunate, even with MFP being the best free site available, you still have to do your due diligence.
However, after all that, since you do have a medical condition that is heavily affected by diet, your best bet is to see your GP and get a referral to a registered dietician. They'll help you set safe and healthy macros for you.0 -
I'm even more hyperglycemic than pre-diabetes, and I was/am also at a great weight. But most folks who have it really are overfat and losing weight helps them.
That's why the NIH info makes sense. Cutting fat and calories will work on a population level, because they lose weight. Cutting fat as a macro to help glucose levels themselves seems like it's focusing on exactly the one macro that matters the least to glucose metabolism, however.
Use a meter for your own testing over at least a month. Perhaps you can borrow someone's or get one of the free meters that expect you'll buy their strips forever (that's where the $$ is).
If you can't, then yeah, you need to look at carbs and eat like a diabetic since you won't know your own levels. Generally folks eat a certain number of carbs per meal and for snacks and try to spread them out over the day. Then the total number can still matter for overnight levels, so watching that can be very important, too. Try to eat, say, 150 or below for a moderate amount of carbs and divide them into meals (and snacks).
Then you can also eat low glycemic carbs for even more beneficial effect on levels. They get released more evenly, so you don't get the spikes.
I eat moderate carb, mostly low-to-medium GI and eat to my meter. I also have to eat half a portion of some yummy things and not have the rest for two hours. That helps a whole lot in bringing down levels, as does exercise and medication (I do take metformin). I do have to watch the day's total as my waking BG is my biggest problem. The type of carbs seem to affect that a lot for me, too, so my moderate carbs sure all can't be cake or I'll see it the next morning
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Thank you so much for that feedback. This is one of the best and informative responses I've received. I do have a blood glucose meter and was prescribed to take Metformin also, but since losing 25lbs my blood glucose levels have remained in a healthy range and I have stopped taking Metformin to avoid having my blood sugar go too low. I guess the main part of my question was essentially, because I have been diagnosed as diabetic, should I reduce my carb macro percentage in order to lose weight on a consistent basis. In terms of exercise, I'm very active...burning up to as much as 2000 to 2400 calories per week. Based on the feedback that I have received, I've decided to change my weight loss calories and macros to: 2000 net carbs a day with macros of P/40, C/20, and F/40.0
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Sorry you're diabetic now? You said insulin resistance in first post
Isn't there a blood sugar reading at a specific point past eating you need to monitor to establish your carb limits per meal?
Speak to your diabetes education nurse or doctor not take advice from Internet posters without access to your med records0 -
Tried making it clear in my post that I AM NO LONGER FOLLOWING AN ATKINS DIET PLAN...but I guess some of the people who have responded to my initial post have not read that far. I really appreciate the responses though, but no longer doing Atkins. Using Harris Benedict equation to get my maintenance calories and using a per day 538 calorie deficit to lose a projected 5lbs in 30 days. My question, once again, is more centered around what my macros should be (particularly as it relates to carbs) on a weight loss diet for a person that is insulin resistant (diabetic or pre-diabetic)????0
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Jeffy80922 wrote: »Tried making it clear in my post that I AM NO LONGER FOLLOWING AN ATKINS DIET PLAN...but I guess some of the people who have responded to my initial post have not read that far. I really appreciate the responses though, but no longer doing Atkins. Using Harris Benedict equation to get my maintenance calories and using a per day 538 calorie deficit to lose a projected 5lbs in 30 days. My question, once again, is more centered around what my macros should be (particularly as it relates to carbs) on a weight loss diet for a person that is insulin resistant (diabetic or pre-diabetic)????
60% carbs, 20/20% protein and fats from a whole-food plant-based diet. If you really are not sure, ask your doctor.0 -
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Jeffy80922 wrote: »Tried making it clear in my post that I AM NO LONGER FOLLOWING AN ATKINS DIET PLAN...but I guess some of the people who have responded to my initial post have not read that far. I really appreciate the responses though, but no longer doing Atkins. Using Harris Benedict equation to get my maintenance calories and using a per day 538 calorie deficit to lose a projected 5lbs in 30 days. My question, once again, is more centered around what my macros should be (particularly as it relates to carbs) on a weight loss diet for a person that is insulin resistant (diabetic or pre-diabetic)????
The LCHF like Atkins will benefit almost all people who are insulin resistant. My advice is stick to what worked for you. If you go back to the same macros that led to your insulin resistance and weight gain, chances are you will get the same result. If you stick with the diet that improved your health, chances are it will lead to continued good health.Sorry you're diabetic now? You said insulin resistance in first post
Insulin resistance can manifest in a number of ways including T2D, prediabetes, NAFLD, PCOS, and some dementia.0 -
Jeffy80922 wrote: »Thank you so much for that feedback. This is one of the best and informative responses I've received. I do have a blood glucose meter and was prescribed to take Metformin also, but since losing 25lbs my blood glucose levels have remained in a healthy range and I have stopped taking Metformin to avoid having my blood sugar go too low. I guess the main part of my question was essentially, because I have been diagnosed as diabetic, should I reduce my carb macro percentage in order to lose weight on a consistent basis. In terms of exercise, I'm very active...burning up to as much as 2000 to 2400 calories per week. Based on the feedback that I have received, I've decided to change my weight loss calories and macros to: 2000 net carbs a day with macros of P/40, C/20, and F/40.
Metformin will not make your blood sugar go too low, absent an underlying health problem other than diabetes. The diabetic risk for hypoglycemia in Type 2 diabetes comes when you address insulin insufficiency either by adding insulin to the mix or by using a drug that forces your pancreas to produce insulin without regard to whether you have consumed carbs. Metformin solely addresses insulin resistance, and decreasing your insulin resistance will not cause a hypo.
Losing weight (until you are in the normal range for your height) is a good thing. It may, or may not, change your insulin resistance. For many, if not most, people with diabetes weight has less impact on control of blood glucose than avoiding eating foods that cause it to spike - typically carbs.
When you say your blood glucose is remaining in the healthy range, when are you measuring it (and are you comparing it to the range prescribed for diabetics (< 180 2 hours after eating), or normal for people without diabetes (it's more complex, but one measure is that it never over 140, even after eating). To find out if your blood glucose is truly normal, you would need to be testing over a period of time (at least a week or two), eating normally. Test before your first bite, at 1 hour, and at 2 hours and (if hour 2 is higher than hour 1) at 3 hours. Also test your waking blood glucose (that should be below 100).
As to your macros, 100 grams of carbs a day would be more than I could eat without elevating my blood glucose out of the normal range. But once you're eating that - test your blood glucose and see. That's the only way you'll know whether you've got the mix that works for your body.0 -
Wow neohdiver, that was some awesome advice and very helpful. I will follow what you said and see how things work. But it all made sense to me!0
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Jeffy80922 wrote: »Wow neohdiver, that was some awesome advice and very helpful. I will follow what you said and see how things work. But it all made sense to me!
If you are interested in trying low carb then join the Low Carber Daily. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group There are a number of us there controlling insulin resistance with diet.
Best wishes.0 -
Jeffy80922 wrote: »Wow neohdiver, that was some awesome advice and very helpful. I will follow what you said and see how things work. But it all made sense to me!
Great that you are listening to someone with sensible advice
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I am insulin resistant as well. I don't see contemporary doctors who use western medicine as my wife is a certified herbalist and clinician as well as a nutritionist. I have found much success in sticking to a diet that lingers between the paleo and the ketogenic diet and I do three days of HIIT per week, three days of weight lifting. I try not to count calories, carbs, protein, etc., but I find that this app helps...a lot. With this app, I don't have to pay TOO much attention. I keep a very regular diet and I sure as hell notice when I have eaten something I knew I shouldn't have. I can't eat any carbs before bed or my heart is pounding and I get a lot of anxiety and I can't sleep. Its not so bad during the day, but it still happens. I just, straight up, stay away from carbs and sugar. All of our bodies are different, and what works for me might not work for you. I would suggest taking a chromium supplement. Chromium has been shown, in specific studies, to assist in processing insulin and therefore, weight loss in individuals with insulin resistance. I take 600 mcg daily. 400 in the morning after breakfast and 200 in the afternoon after lunch. I am not a fan of pharmaceuticals and will suggest to all of you taking Metformin to see an herbalist or naturopath and replace it with chromium, diet and exercise. Thats all I've got, ladies. Good luck!!!0
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Sugar and simple carbs cause insulin resistance and diabetes, NOT FAT.
If you ate high fat, low carb and low protein, your insulin resistance would likely be cured. Just because insulin is a hormone for storing fat, doesn't mean fat caused it. Bombarding your system with too many sugars and simple carbs (which are quickly converted to sugars) put way too much GLUCOSE into your blood stream, which spikes the insulin, which tells the cells to store the GLUCOSE as fat. When you bombard your cells with that much insulin from eating way too many sugars and simple carbs over time, your cells become resistant to the insulin telling them to store the glucose as fat; thus, leaving the glucose in your blood and resulting in high blood sugar, a/k/a pre-diabetes. And if you have ANY AMOUNT of insulin in your blood stream, your body will not release fat because it's already freaking out about how much sugar is in your bloodstream and is still trying to get it stored into your cells as fat. If your body is dead set on putting fat into your cells (which is what all that insulin is doing) it's certainly not going to be releasing the fat. I mean, that would be like trying to swim upstream in white water rapids. You have too much sugar in your blood to burn fat. Thus, you MUST ELIMINATE ALL INSULIN by eliminating sugars and simple carbs and by not eating too many complex carbs either.
If you want to combat insulin resistance, stop eating any carbohydrates that are not plant based (and wheat is not considered plant-based). I'm talking no crackers, no breads, no cereals and absolutely no sugary candies. The moment one of these foods gets digested you've already lost the game. Your cells won't release the fat because they'll be ordered to store fat by the insulin those carbs just produced. So for one, if you're going to eat a carb, you should eat a vegetable (or a fruit, but I wouldn't recommend fruits until you're maintaining weight because why? Fruits are SUGAR!).
And to make sure your body doesn't produce the insulin that will inhibit it from burning your fat off, you need to eat more fats and proteins than you're eating carbs. And if you really want to break that plateau, eat 70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbs (vegetables) (I mean 50 g of carbs per day, or less) and you're body won't be able to produce the insulin. After a few days (or weeks if your super saturated in glycogen, etc.) your body will switch to fat burning and it will just melt away! (10% Protein because when trying to burn fat with insulin resistance, eating too much protein that isn't immediately metabolized can be reduced to a type of sugar, therein producing insulin, therein preventing fat loss.)
I have this condition and I'm following my own advice based on my doctor's advice and research. Good luck!0 -
skinnybean52 wrote: »Sugar and simple carbs cause insulin resistance and diabetes, NOT FAT.
If you ate high fat, low carb and low protein, your insulin resistance would likely be cured. Just because insulin is a hormone for storing fat, doesn't mean fat caused it. Bombarding your system with too many sugars and simple carbs (which are quickly converted to sugars) put way too much GLUCOSE into your blood stream, which spikes the insulin, which tells the cells to store the GLUCOSE as fat. When you bombard your cells with that much insulin from eating way too many sugars and simple carbs over time, your cells become resistant to the insulin telling them to store the glucose as fat; thus, leaving the glucose in your blood and resulting in high blood sugar, a/k/a pre-diabetes. And if you have ANY AMOUNT of insulin in your blood stream, your body will not release fat because it's already freaking out about how much sugar is in your bloodstream and is still trying to get it stored into your cells as fat. If your body is dead set on putting fat into your cells (which is what all that insulin is doing) it's certainly not going to be releasing the fat. I mean, that would be like trying to swim upstream in white water rapids. You have too much sugar in your blood to burn fat. Thus, you MUST ELIMINATE ALL INSULIN by eliminating sugars and simple carbs and by not eating too many complex carbs either.
If you want to combat insulin resistance, stop eating any carbohydrates that are not plant based (and wheat is not considered plant-based). I'm talking no crackers, no breads, no cereals and absolutely no sugary candies. The moment one of these foods gets digested you've already lost the game. Your cells won't release the fat because they'll be ordered to store fat by the insulin those carbs just produced. So for one, if you're going to eat a carb, you should eat a vegetable (or a fruit, but I wouldn't recommend fruits until you're maintaining weight because why? Fruits are SUGAR!).
And to make sure your body doesn't produce the insulin that will inhibit it from burning your fat off, you need to eat more fats and proteins than you're eating carbs. And if you really want to break that plateau, eat 70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbs (vegetables) (I mean 50 g of carbs per day, or less) and you're body won't be able to produce the insulin. After a few days (or weeks if your super saturated in glycogen, etc.) your body will switch to fat burning and it will just melt away! (10% Protein because when trying to burn fat with insulin resistance, eating too much protein that isn't immediately metabolized can be reduced to a type of sugar, therein producing insulin, therein preventing fat loss.)
I have this condition and I'm following my own advice based on my doctor's advice and research. Good luck!
Everything you said is wrong0 -
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