Which Foods Increase Insulin Levels?

Five Top Foods To Boost Insulin Sensitivity

Maintaining insulin sensitivity is key to promoting good health. In my last post, I pointed to elevated insulin levels being a major culprit in disease development. Lifestyle – both enlightened eating and active living – can play a major role in keeping insulin readings in check. In addition, accumulating research shows that low blood levels of vitamin D go hand in hand with insulin resistance so be sure to assess your vitamin D intake. Here are five foods to add to your menu that can help with your sensitivity training. Over time, this increased sensitivity can lead to significantly lower insulin readings and help to defend against disease. • Green tea If you’re not a fan of green tea, the latest news may send you in search of a favourite brew – as assorted varieties have different flavour profiles. A recent review of 17 scientific investigations which looked at green tea and its effect on blood sugar and insulin readings demonstrated that the beverage improved blood sugar levels and reduced fasting insulin levels. Both of these point to a positive impact on insulin sensitivity. • Blueberries As if you need another reason to enjoy these purple beauties, especially at this time of year: blueberries can now be added to the growing list of foods with insulin-sensitizing action. Louisiana State University research on young obese subjects with insulin resistance, but who did not have diabetes, were randomly assigned a blueberry-rich or blueberry-free beverage twice daily for six weeks. Those on the blueberry regime showed improved insulin sensitivity. The good news is that this occurred without any changes in their caloric intake or their weight. • Nuts Numerous studies have linked nut consumption to a reduced risk of developing diabetes. Back in 2002, in an o Continue reading >>

3 Tricks To Support Healthy Blood Sugar And Insulin Sensitivity

Diet trends seem to change every month or at least every year, and now that low-fat diets are “out” (for good reason!), you’ve probably heard over and over again that carbohydrates are perhaps the WORST thing you can eat when trying to lose fat or transform your body. I’ll save the fascinating facts on fats and why they’re important to consume for another article; for now, let’s focus in on carbs and their effects on your body and weight-loss efforts. It all starts with a hormone known as insulin. To keep it simple, when you eat carbohydrates, your body breaks them down into simple sugars, which are then released in your blood. In response, your pancreas releases insulin. Insulin has numerous functions in the body, especially for metabolism, but the most important for this article is to help your body process, utilize, and store blood sugar. Let’s say you eat a high-carbohydrate meal. Insulin is released to “partition” blood sugar to its final destination—either muscle tissue (to be stored as energy) or fat cells (as body fat). Unfortunately, due to years of consuming a diet full of processed, blood-sugar-spiking carbs and sugars (often a result of eating a low-fat diet), most people are not nearly as sensitive to insulin as they could be. So while insulin should be a huge asset to your body transformation goals, it often becomes a total fat-loss and health-derailing nightmare. The result? Dramatically reduced fat burning (insulin turns fat burning “off”), increased blood sugar levels, and increased fat storage (insulin turns fat storage “on”). But that’s not all; this can lead to poor performance, reduced sleep, slowed recovery, and muscle soreness. Not good. Editor’s Note: 6 Veggies That Cause Fat Gain Ideally, when you consume carbohyd Continue reading >>

Human Growth Hormone And Insulin Are Friends

Hormone balance, and the cycle by which our hormones are regulated, is very complicated. That’s why we have doctors who specialize in endocrinology. This article is intended as a basic explanation of the function of a few hormones and their interactions within the human body, as well as how nutrition/exercise affect their production and utilization. That said, hormone manipulation through diet and exercise does NOT account for a great deal of your results – you should focus on getting better at exercise, eating enough, and recovering properly before you lose sleep over whether or not you have optimal HGH or insulin levels. Insulin vs. HGH I’ll get down to brass tacks and make myself clear: insulin and growth hormone play antagonist roles against one another. When one is elevated, the other will be low. That does not, however, mean that their functions are all that dissimilar; they’re both responsible for growth in different ways and looking at them as synergists is much more productive. We want to find a way to make the best of insulin’s ability to pull nutrients into cells, but we also want to elicit the muscular, skeletal and neurological growth that (as the name implies) growth hormone is responsible for. Intraday nutrient cycling is the best way to do this. Understanding why is complicated as all heck, but we’ve tried to make it easy to digest (Get it? Digest? Haha?) Before we continue, I am going to ask that you take a look at our articles on insulin and leptin, as well as the sleep tutorial. They’ll help you understand some of the terms in this section and get a better idea of what’s really going on behind the scenes. Growth Hormone and IGF-1 Growth Hormone (GH) is a hormone responsible for cellular growth in the human body. Throughout the day, GH Continue reading >>

Insulin Levels, Hunger, And Food Intake: An Example Of Feedback Loops In Body Weight Regulation.

Abstract The paper reviews studies considering whether hyperinsulinemia, and its resultant effects on adipose tissue mass, can alter perceived hunger, taste, and food consumption. It also describes work addressing the reciprocal question of whether cues associated with food can affect insulin response. Specifically, four general categories of studies are presented. First, studies considering the causes and physiological consequences of chronic hyperinsulinemia are reviewed. Second, work investigating environmental and cognitive influences on insulin secretion are described. These show that high acute levels of insulin can be produced by simply seeing and thinking about food and that individuals showing this response show a greater tendency toward weight gain in a food-abundant environment. Third, studies are covered in which direct manipulations of insulin level, controlling for blood glucose, are performed. These experiments show that elevations in insulin produce increased hunger, heightened perceived pleasantness of sweet taste, and increased food intake. Finally, a study is described that considers how different insulin levels, produced by the type of food ingested, may affect subsequent food intake. Together, these studies show that "overeating" is caused by a complex feedback system of environmental, behavioral, and biological factors. Continue reading >>

10 Blood Sugar–lowering Foods

Adapted from The Carb Sensitivity Program It is no exaggeration—balancing your blood sugar could be a matter of life or death. Chronic high blood sugar levels are toxic to your body, destroying organs and blood vessels and paving the way to a heart attack, type 2 diabetes, stroke, dialysis, nerve damage, erectile dysfunction, or even blindness. The good news? Out-of-control sugar levels can be reigned in and regulated with the right foods. Here are most potent blood sugar-lowering foods so you know how to lower blood sugar levels naturally. Blood Sugar Benefit: A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2010 found a daily dose of the bioactive ingredients from blueberries increases sensitivity to insulin and may reduce the risk of developing diabetes in at-risk individuals. That's important because too many carbs produces too much insulin, which could lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Adding blueberries to daily smoothies for six weeks also improves insulin sensitivity, so feel free to eat healthy doses of the superfood fruit, too. Added Perk: Low in naturally occurring sugars, blueberries are also packed with antioxidants that fight damage from free radicals, accelerated aging, and diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's. Blood Sugar Benefit: Don't let the fat content of avocados fool you—they're still good for you! Avocados are full of monounsaturated fat, the kind that helps slow the release of sugars into the bloodstream, prompting less insulin release, and can even help to lower your cholesterol. Added Perk: Avocados contain beta-sitosterol, a compound that could help quell inflammation after an intense workout. Just limit yourself to one-quarter of an avocado at a time to avoid calorie overload. Or, try avocado oil drizzled on a Continue reading >>

The Muscle-building Messenger: Your Complete Guide To Insulin

Years ago, insulin was only discussed in reference to diabetes. Insulin is the hormone that drives glucose out of the bloodstream and into cells, and diabetes is the loss of the ability to control blood glucose levels. Yet insulin is so much more than a hormone that controls glucose. For one, it's highly anabolic, which means it's critical for building muscle. Insulin also has a dark side, because it can increase fat storage. The challenge is to learn how to spike insulin to optimally recover from workouts and grow, while also blunting it to stay lean. Do you know all the facts about insulin and how to use it to your advantage? Don't be so sure. If not, my insulin guide will teach you how. Insulin And Muscle Insulin is actually a protein, and it is produced and released by the pancreas whenever you eat carbs, protein, or both. (That is, if the pancreas is working properly). Yet unlike the proteins that are the physical building blocks of muscle, this is a functional protein, much like growth hormone. Like all other proteins, insulin is a chain of amino acids strung together. But the way this protein chain is folded makes it act more like a signaling mechanism than a building block. From the pancreas, insulin enters the blood stream and travels to various tissues, including muscle tissue. The muscle fibers (or cells) are lined with insulin receptors, similar to a docking station. Once the insulin molecule docks onto the receptor, it signals the muscle cell to open up gates. This allows allow glucose, amino acids, and creatine to enter the muscles. This process is a major reason why insulin is so important for building muscle. Another reason is that when insulin docks onto the muscle cells, it instigates biochemical reactions in the muscle that increase protein synthesis, Continue reading >>

Diet Tips To Improve Insulin Resistance

Insulin is a hormone that helps the body absorb glucose, keeping blood sugar levels in balance. Insulin resistance makes it harder for glucose to be absorbed. This causes problems for muscles, fat, and the liver, as they need glucose (sugar). Over time, insulin resistance can cause high blood sugar levels and damage cells. Insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes. People with insulin resistance are often diagnosed with prediabetes. They may need extra checks to make sure they don't develop diabetes. Diet and other lifestyle choices can increase the risks related to insulin resistance. Making diet changes can reduce insulin insensitivity. This reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and the health problems that go with it. Contents of this article: Understanding insulin resistance Glucose is a vital source of energy for the body. However, many of the body's cells can't absorb glucose on their own. The pancreas secretes insulin into the bloodstream. It joins up with glucose, and travels to the body's cells, where it attaches to insulin receptors. Insulin allows the cells to absorb glucose, making sure that: blood sugar levels remain at a safe level muscle, fat, liver, and other cells are able to get energy Insulin resistance makes cells less sensitive to insulin. This means the body has to produce more insulin to keep blood sugar levels healthy. If the pancreas is unable to keep up with the increased demand for insulin, blood sugar levels go up. When this happens, cells can't use all of the excess glucose in the blood. This leads to type 2 diabetes. Diet tips Following a healthful diet plan, such as the Mediterranean Diet, can improve insulin sensitivity. This diet recommends eating lots of seasonal plant-based foods, having fruit as a dessert, and olive oil as the main Continue reading >>

The Relationship Between Blood Sugar Level And Gi

The blood sugar level regulation mechanism When you eat rice, bread, or any other typical food high in carbohydrates, it is digested by the stomach and small intestine, where it is absorbed into the blood as glucose. Figure 1 shows how it is absorbed into the body. The pancreas secretes insulin in reaction to the increase in glucose. Because the glucose is absorbed into the liver, muscle, adipose (fat) tissue and other cells, the blood sugar level drops to the level it was before anything was eaten. This is the mechanism found in healthy people. When glucose enters the bloodstream, insulin facilitates its uptake into the body's cells. When an excess of glucose is ingested, insulin over secretion occurs. Insulin increases the biosynthesis of fat and suppresses its breakdown. Thus, it becomes easier for fat to accumulate in body tissues. Blood sugar level will not drop if the sugar in the blood is not properly processed due to, for example, too little insulin being secreted, or resistance to the action of insulin. If blood sugar levels have not decreased several hours after eating on a regular basis, this indicates a susceptibility to diabetes. To avoid this and stay healthy, we should eat types of foods that will not cause a sudden, extreme rise in blood sugar levels. Fasting blood sugar level 99mg/dL (Japan Society of Ningen Dock) Postprandial blood sugar level (2 hours after eating) 7.8mmol/L (140mg/dL) (International Diabetes Federation) Blood sugar level rises every time you eat Your blood sugar level rises immediately after eating a meal or snack (Figure 2). In a healthy person, insulin then starts working, and the blood sugar level returns to the pre-meal level 2 hours after eating. In untreated diabetes patients, the blood sugar level does not return to the pre-me Continue reading >>

Blood Sugar Basics And Glucose Balance

You’ve heard the terms “blood sugar” and “blood glucose” but if you’re confused about why they matter, this guide can help. What is blood glucose? Blood glucose, also known as blood sugar, is one of the most important sources of energy for your body. When you eat, food is broken down into basic nutrients: fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates — fiber, starch, and sugar — are broken down into glucose or “blood sugar.” Glucose is the only fuel used by brain cells except under extreme conditions like starvation. Muscle cells use glucose during short bursts of activity like running to your car in a rainstorm. Having good blood sugar balance is an important benchmark of overall wellness because it prevents certain endocrine imbalances that can threaten your health. Glucose needs insulin to fuel your cells Glucose circulating in your blood needs help to get into the cells. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, is the “key” that turns the “lock” (a cell’s insulin receptor) to let glucose enter. When a cell is working hard — like a muscle cell rapidly expanding and contracting during exercise — it needs more glucose for fuel. So the cell “summons” insulin to bring in more glucose by increasing the number of insulin receptors on its surface. Then insulin can increase the amount of glucose it has to offer the cell as necessary. Healthy glucose levels are a balancing act Blood glucose rises and falls in a process called glucose homeostasis. Blood glucose goes up after you eat carbohydrates but it can also increase in response to stress, illness, or even excitement. Rising blood glucose signals the pancreas to release more insulin so blood glucose levels stay in the healthy range. For people without diabetes, that’s around 70 ng Continue reading >>

High-protein Diets Promote Weight Loss But Impair Insulin Sensitivity

When it comes to reversing insulin resistance and simplifying your life with diabetes, one of the most effective ways to gain insulin sensitivity is to lose weight. The reason for this is simple: in overweight individuals, weight gain is associated with a reduction in insulin action. Conversely, weight loss in overweight individuals is associated with a significant increase in insulin action, which results in a reduction in the amount of insulin secreted by your pancreas (in non-insulin dependent individuals), or a reduction in the amount of injected insulin (in insulin-dependent individuals). Think of an increase in insulin sensitivity as a convenient "side effect" of weight loss that happens as a result of burning fat in adipose tissue, liver, and muscle. To learn more about how intracellular fat significantly reduces insulin sensitivity, read the following articles: Weight Loss Results in Muscle Loss When losing weight, you lose both adipose tissue mass as well as lean muscle mass. In an ideal world, you would be able to lose only fat mass while preserving lean muscle mass – however, from a biological perspective this is impossible. Because of this, weight loss diets are often designed to accomplish two tasks simultaneously: Reduce your overall calorie intake, to promote weight loss Increase your protein content, to prevent against the loss of lean muscle mass High-protein diets are extremely common in the weight-loss world, and are very effective at helping you lose weight while preventing against the loss of large amounts of lean muscle. Dietary Protein Content Affects Health Outcomes In a carefully designed study recently published by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, scientists compared the effects of weight loss from a normal-protein Continue reading >>

14 Ways To Lower Your Insulin Levels

Tips and tricks for keeping your insulin level down. By Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE Insulin is an extremely important hormone that’s produced by your pancreas. It has many functions, such as allowing your cells to take in sugar from your blood for energy. However, too much insulin can lead to serious health problems. Having high levels, also known as hyperinsulinemia, has been linked to obesity, heart disease and cancer. High blood insulin levels also cause your cells to become resistant to the hormone’s effects. When you become insulin resistant, your pancreas produces even more insulin, creating a vicious cycle. Here are 14 things you can do to lower your insulin levels. 1. Follow a Low-Carb Diet Of the three macronutrients — carbs, protein and fat — carbs raise blood sugar and insulin levels the most.For this and other reasons, low-carb diets can be very effective for losing weight and controlling diabetes. Many studies have confirmed their ability to lower insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity, compared to other diets. People with health conditions characterized by insulin resistance, such as metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), may experience a dramatic lowering of insulin with carb restriction. In one study, individuals with metabolic syndrome were randomized to receive either a low-fat or low-carb diet containing 1,500 calories.Insulin levels dropped by an average of 50% in the low-carb group, compared to 19% in the low-fat group.In another study, when women with PCOS ate a lower-carb diet containing enough calories to maintain their weight, they experienced greater reductions in insulin levels than when they ate a higher-carb diet. Bottom Line: Low-carb diets have been shown to increase insulin sensitivity and reduce insuli Continue reading >>

Insulin-resistance Diet For Diabetes

When it comes to preventing diabetes, your diet can make a big difference. And if you already have it, a diet change may help you manage it better. The right mix of foods keeps your insulin and blood sugar in check. When you have insulin resistance, that balance gets out of whack. It’s harder for your body to burn foods for energy. And when too much sugar builds up in your bloodstream, you may be on the path to type 2 prediabetes or diabetes. And that might lead you to an insulin-resistance diet. You don’t need special foods for the insulin-resistance diet. In a nutshell, you’ll eat less unhealthy fat, sugar, meats, and processed starches, and more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, and lean poultry. But it can be hard to change habits. So keep some simple tips in mind before you start. Adopt healthy habits. A crash diet won’t help you. This is about changing your approach to food. Go slowly and build new habits that can become permanent. Maybe you can drink less sugary sodas. Or quit altogether. Make it work for you. You may enjoy different foods than what others like to eat. A diet needs to fit your taste buds and your lifestyle for you to stick with it. Most people need support along the way, so a good dietitian can be a big ally. Don’t skip meals. You might think missing a meal means fewer calories and more weight loss. That just makes your insulin and blood sugar levels swing up and down. And that can lead to more belly fat, which makes your body more likely to resist insulin. Focus on calories and quality. The debate over the best mix of carbs, proteins, and fats has no clear answers. Your best bet is to watch your total calories and to really make them count. So skip the white rice and go whole grain instead. Mix it up. There’s no magic food that Continue reading >>

Low-carb Theory Regarding Meat/insulin Is Flawed

Due to rising obesity and insulin resistance rates, low-carb and Paleo diets have become a popular approach to the growing population of overweight Americans. As stated by Dr. John McDougall, "Advocates of high-protein diets explain the reason people are fat is not because of the fat they eat, but because of hyperinsulinism and insulin resistance. Insulin encourages fat cells to store fat and prevents the release of fat from these cells. Therefore, high levels of insulin, known as hyperinsulinism, would be expected to promote obesity." One high-protein, low-carb website, emphasizes that carbohydrates are the "root of all evil" when it comes to weight loss and health. Consequently, the majority of calories from a low-carb diet come from meat, which contains protein and fat, but no carbs. Although carbs do make our insulin levels go up, Dr. Micheal Greger points out in the video above that scientists have known for over a half century that protein makes it go up as well. An "Insulin Index of Foods" was published in 1997 which listed 38 foods that produced higher insulin levels. This study and subsequent studies showed that any type of meat (beef, chicken, and pork) produced substantial insulin secretion. "In fact meat protein causes as much insulin release as pure sugar." Meat raised insulin levels higher than a large apple, a cup of oatmeal, a cup and a half of white flour pasta. Below we've highlighted a few points from the Insulin Index: "Some of the protein-rich foods (beef, cheese, eggs) had larger insulin responses per gram than did many of the foods consisting predominately of carbohydrate." "Carbohydrate is not the only stimulus for insulin secretion." Protein-rich foods can also stimulate insulin secretion without increasing blood glucose concentrations. "A low-f Continue reading >>

New Theory About the Cause of Type 1 Diabetes

Fasting Physiology – Part Ii

There are many misconceptions about fasting. It is useful to review the physiology of what happens to our body when we eat nothing. Physiology Glucose and fat are the body’s main sources of energy. If glucose is not available, then the body will adjust by using fat, without any detrimental health effects. This is simply a natural part of life. Periods of low food availability have always been a part of human history. Mechanisms have evolved to adapt to this fact of Paleolithic life. The transition from the fed state to the fasted state occurs in several stages. Feeding – During meals, insulin levels are raised. This allows uptake of glucose into tissues such as the muscle or brain to be used directly for energy. Excess glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver. The post-absorptive phase – 6-24 hours after beginning fasting. Insulin levels start to fall. Breakdown of glycogen releases glucose for energy. Glycogen stores last for roughly 24 hours. Gluconeogenesis – 24 hours to 2 days – The liver manufactures new glucose from amino acids in a process called “gluconeogenesis”. Literally, this is translated as “making new glucose”. In non-diabetic persons, glucose levels fall but stay within the normal range. Ketosis – 2-3 days after beginning fasting – The low levels of insulin reached during fasting stimulate lipolysis, the breakdown of fat for energy. The storage form of fat, known as triglycerides, is broken into the glycerol backbone and three fatty acid chains. Glycerol is used for gluconeogenesis. Fatty acids may be used for directly for energy by many tissues in the body, but not the brain. Ketone bodies, capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, are produced from fatty acids for use by the brain. After four days of fasting, approximately 75 Continue reading >>

12 Proven Foods Essential For Every Type 2 Diabetes Diet

Cut out bread. No sugar in your coffee. Only one potato at dinner. If you’ve got blood sugar problems then you’ve heard those instructions over and over. The focus is always on what you should remove from your diet, and it’s incredibly frustrating. What about what you can eat? What about the foods you should be adding to a diet for type 2 diabetes… the foods that can actually improve blood sugar control? Research shows there are many natural foods that can help. Either by reducing sugar absorption into the bloodstream, or by improving insulin resistance. It’s certainly worth your while to learn what those foods are, rather than just what to avoid. I’ve done some of the research here and strongly recommend you start with the following. 1. Almonds improve glucose metabolism Tree nuts – not peanuts, which grow in the ground – are linked with many metabolic health benefits. But almonds really standout when it comes to managing blood sugar. They are very low in carbohydrates, but that’s not why. The reason is Magnesium. Magnesium is an essential mineral involved in over 300 bodily processes, including blood pressure regulation and blood sugar control (1, 2). Alongside spinach, almonds and cashews are among the best sources of magnesium in the human diet. Several handfuls provides over 20% of the daily recommended intake (2). While the mechanism is unclear, having low magnesium levels is strongly associated with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It appears to impact on insulin secretion, which may be the reason that 25-38% of type 2 diabetics have low magnesium (4). Clinical trials have shown that restoring low magnesium significantly improves insulin response and reduces blood sugar levels (4, 5). Especially if you’re magnesium deficient and insulin resist Continue reading >>