What’s best for insulin resistance

emunson0728
emunson0728 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve used this app before, but I was recently diagnosed with insulin resistance. Any help is appreciated.

Answers

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,216 Member
    What did your Dr. say? Is this your first ever blood test?
  • biggiemillie123
    biggiemillie123 Posts: 1 Member
    Low carb, intermittent fasting and eating high protein has helped for me
  • TeresaWJ
    TeresaWJ Posts: 15 Member
    I do 1400 calories, low carbs (70g/20%), high fat (78g/50%), moderate protein (105g/30%), along with high fiber intake (21g) as daily goals. Brought A1c from 7.9 to 5.6 in 6 months, along with 20 lbs weight loss. No longer on diabetic oral meds and other bloodwork is well balanced. Hubby's numbers even better!! We do NOT do true keto, but we do use some keto products to assist our lower carb lifestyle. It works for us, but even my husband and I have different insulin responses to the same foods. Each person is different, so select an eating plan that makes sense for you that can be maintained long-term. Any adjustment is better than doing nothing. Even drinking more water helps. But if your goal is to reduce insulin resistance, lowering carbs is essential -- no matter what else you do. Insulin resistance is something that will need to be maintained long-term, and can't really be "cured." If we get our insulin resistance under control but then go back to eating whatever got us there in the first place, insulin resistance will return, and will likely be worse.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    emunson0728 wrote: »
    I’ve used this app before, but I was recently diagnosed with insulin resistance. Any help is appreciated.

    It's not clear if your doctor provided zero guidance and you are looking for advice that your practitioner should have provided, or if you did receive advice and want to know how using MFP can help. In this case, we'd need to know what you were told.

    Given the lack of clarity, seems like your best bet is to ask whoever diagnosed you for a referral to a registered dietitian - assuming you are in the US, you want an RD, not a nutritionist.

    If you're advised to eat "low carb" - get clarity about what this means in either a percentage of your calories or grams per day/grams per meal. Technically, anything under 45% is low carb, but that may not be what your provider means, so have them be specific.

    http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-whats-the-best-carb-protein-and-fat-breakdown-for-weight-loss/

    The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends eating within the following ranges:

    Carbohydrates: 45–65% of calories
  • loulee997
    loulee997 Posts: 273 Member
    edited November 2023
    emunson0728 wrote: »
    I’ve used this app before, but I was recently diagnosed with insulin resistance. Any help is appreciated.
    Medical News Today--article on this--and best foods to eat and the ones to avoid for this condition.

    LINK

    Basically, a high -fiber, low sugar diet. Sugar is also in carbs and some other foods--so the link may help you find foods you like already.

    Also--here is an article from Jefferson Health about how some people have success with intermittent fasting. LINK


    Here is the thing--each person is different. Your doctor should have offered some guidance on the fiber and sugar ranges you stay with. The IF is a new thing but it is in several new med journals for this problem.

    Ask your doctor for a diet or menu suggestion as a starting point. Or the very least--make sure you have the range to stick within for fiber and sugar/carbs.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    I will not say what is best. What worked for me is a Keto diet, that is, a diet low enough in carbs to produce nutritional ketosis. For me that started around 20 grams total carbs now 7 months in my HbA1C is normal, my weight which was already down almost 30 pounds when I was diagnosed with a pre-diabetic HbA1C is no over 80 pounds down, and I feel better than I have in years. Oh, my triglycerides are down to .79 mmol/L from 2.55 mmol/L. Keto fits with what I like to eat, so I can't see stopping it. However, some may find it overly restrictive, so a higher level of carbs while still going low carb might be better for longterm adherence.
  • DFW_Tom
    DFW_Tom Posts: 220 Member
    emunson0728 wrote: »
    What’s best for insulin resistance?

    As noted by others, everyone is different. What symptoms are manifest in your IR? General dietary guidelines are for the public at large and do not work for individuals with specific conditions like IR. You'll need to do a little experimenting with how restricted your carb intake needs to be to keep your blood glucose down (and insulin levels down). In other words, what it takes to reduce your symptoms, give your liver and pancreas a break and allow the cells in your body to react to insulin like they are suppose to. To do this you need to know just what is in the food you are eating - what is the macro breakdown.

    In general, the #1 place to start is to increase your daily activity level. Doesn't need to be constant exercise, but just getting up off the couch and moving more often will create higher energy needs in your cells. Take a daily walk. Do some cardio. If you are losing fat, maintain lean muscle mass by lifting some weights. You aren't necessarily going to burn a lot of calories doing this, but it will help your cells be more receptive to being unlocked by insulin hormones, thereby using excess blood glucose and fat storage which will allow your insulin levels to stay at a more even range.

    Reducing carbohydrate intake is a very good way to control the insulin spikes and crashes associated with insulin resistance. Many people turn to a low carb/high fat, or even a Keto meal plan to fuel their energy needs. The metabolic pathway for fat digestion is different than the one for carbohydrate digestion and hardly raises insulin levels at all. The easiest way to restrict carbs is with the elimination of ultra-processed foods that contain sugar in all it's many forms: fructose, sucrose, and so on. This includes table sugar and things like fruit juices, soda pop, and (sadly) desserts/snacks with added sugar.

    High glycemic foods convert to blood sugar faster than foods with a lower glycemic index value. White bread, doughs and sugar laden condiments are particularly problematic and a big reason why eating at fast food places should be avoided. Eating whole foods you make yourself makes it much easier to control what macros you consume.

    Insulin resistance can be reversed, or at least reduced by making lifestyle and dietary changes. I have been working to reduce my own level of insulin resistance for almost 2 years and have seen remarkable progress in reducing the overwhelming carb cravings I'd get from eating the standard Western Diet. Starting out, the only carbs I could eat without setting off a spike in insulin were the carbs from low glycemic vegetables, which amounted to less than 20g per day. Slowly increasing the carbs in my meals, my personal average over the last 6 weeks is a shade over 150 net carbs a day. It is still a work in progress even though I've been in maintenance for a few months.

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