The One Test Your Doctor Isn’t Doing That Could Save Your Life
Insulin resistance doesn’t happen overnight. When most of your diet includes empty calories and an abundance of quickly absorbed sugars, liquid calories, and carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes, your cells slowly become resistant to the effects of insulin. Your body increasingly demands more insulin to do the same job of keeping your blood sugar even. Eventually your cells become resistant to insulin’s call, resulting in insulin resistance. The higher your insulin levels are, the worse your insulin resistance. Your body starts to age and deteriorate. In fact, insulin resistance is the single most important phenomenon that leads to rapid, premature aging and all its resultant diseases, including heart disease, stroke, dementia, and cancer. Insulin resistance and the resulting metabolic syndrome often comes accompanied by increasing central obesity, fatigue after meals, sugar cravings, high triglycerides, low HDL, high blood pressure, problems with blood clotting, as well as increased inflammation. Even without these warning signs, one test can determine high insulin levels years or even decades before diabetes develops. Early detection can help you reverse these symptoms, yet doctors rarely use this crucial test that can detect high insulin levels. Why Doctors Miss the Initial Warning Sign of Insulin Resistance Doctors have been trained to measure a person’s fasting blood sugar, or the glucose levels present in your blood, at least eight hours after your last meal. Most don’t express concern until results show blood sugar levels reaching 110 mg/dl. That’s when they start “watching it.” Then, once your blood sugar reaches 126 mg/dl, your doctor will diagnose you with diabetes and put you on medication. The important thing to note is that bloo Continue reading >>
Insulin. What Does It Do?
Glucose comes from the digestion of almost all foods, especially starchy ones. We need insulin to make energy from the glucose in these foods. Insulin is a special chemical (hormone) made by the pancreas gland, and allows the glucose from the blood stream to get in to our body’s cells to give us energy. Without insulin the glucose remains in the bloodstream and cannot give us the energy we need. In someone who does not have diabetes the amount of insulin produced depends on the amount of glucose/starchy foods eaten and the energy used and needed. Blood glucose level stays between 3.5 mmol/L and 7 mmol/L What happens when there is not enough insulin? When the pancreas fails to make enough insulin the glucose remains in the blood stream and the blood glucose level rises. This may come on gradually but eventually the glucose levels in the blood rise so high that they spill out of the blood stream through the kidneys and into the urine. The high blood sugar also pulls water out of the bloodstream, causing you to pass additional urine. This in turn makes you very thirsty. If the glucose in the blood cannot be used for energy the body has to find other alternative fuels. The body begins to use up fat stored around the body, and when fat is used to give the body energy ketones form. High blood glucose levels and ketones can make you feel very unwell. Continue reading >>
- How Does Fat Affect Insulin Resistance and Diabetes?
- Does Bovine Insulin in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?
- Relative effectiveness of insulin pump treatment over multiple daily injections and structured education during flexible intensive insulin treatment for type 1 diabetes: cluster randomised trial (REPOSE)
Insulin Action
Insulin is a medicine that lowers blood glucose (sugar). There are several types of insulin. Each type of insulin has a certain time period in which it works. In order to understand insulin action, it is helpful to know the onset, peak and duration of the insulin you take. Onset refers to when the insulin starts to work. Peak refers to when the insulin works hardest. Duration refers to how long the insulin works. You are more likely to have a low blood glucose when your insulin is peaking, during periods of increased physical activity or if you are eating less food. If you are having problems with low blood glucose, talk to your healthcare provider about adjusting your insulin. Usual Action Times of Insulin PRODUCT WHEN TO TAKE ONSET PEAK DURATION Rapid-Acting Lispro (Humalog) Aspart (Novolog) Glulisine (Apidra) 0-15 min before meal 10-30 min 30 min - 3 hours 3-5 hours Short-Acting Regular (R) Human 30 min before meal 30-60 min 2-5 hours Up to 12 hours Intermediate-Acting NPH (N) Human Does not need to be given with meal 90 min - 4 hours 4-12 hours Up to 24 hours Long Acting Glargine (Lantus) Detemir (Levemir) Does not need to be given with meal 45 min - 4 hours Minimal Up to 24 hours Continue reading >>
22 Causes Of Low Insulin In People Who Eat Normal Levels Of Carbs
Do you have problems gaining weight? Have higher blood sugar than you are supposed to give your diet? At risk for type 2 diabetes? If yes, then this post applies to you. There’s a very strong correlation between being overweight and insulin levels because insulin creates fat cells. But some people in the modern environment naturally have lower insulin levels, even if they don’t take care to reduce carbohydrate consumption. These people with low insulin complain to me that they can’t gain weight. Having inadequate insulin secretion is also a cause of type 2 diabetes (together with insulin resistance). So while you might weigh less, you’ll have higher blood sugar levels and be at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes. Insulin forces artery wall muscles to relax, thereby increasing blood flow, especially in micro-arteries. A lack of insulin reduces flow. In the thin people I deal with, they often feel cold. One of the many reasons is because of low insulin, which reduces blood flow. This post is to give you biological reasons that may contribute to lower insulin secretion. I’ve checked my insulin levels twice and both times they were lower than 2, which is extremely low. The thin clients that checked also had low insulin. The most obvious cause of low or high insulin is your carbohydrate consumption and secondarily your protein consumption. Both stimulate insulin release. But this post focuses on people with lower insulin if they’re not on a very low carb or ketogenic diet. This post is mainly concerned about two people with the same levels of carb and protein consumption: why do their insulin levels differ? But if your mitochondria aren’t producing enough ATP, insulin doesn’t get secreted as well. cAMP is a molecule that is an important second messenger for ce Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes
Overview Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar (glucose) level to become too high. The hormone insulin, produced by the pancreas, is responsible for controlling the amount of glucose in the blood. There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 – where the pancreas doesn't produce any insulin type 2 – where the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin or the body's cells don't react to insulin These pages are about type 1 diabetes. Other types of diabetes are covered separately (read about type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes, which affects some women during pregnancy). Symptoms of diabetes Typical symptoms of type 1 diabetes are: feeling very thirsty passing urine more often than usual, particularly at night feeling very tired weight loss and loss of muscle bulk The symptoms of type 1 diabetes usually develop very quickly in young people (over a few days or weeks). In adults, the symptoms often take longer to develop (a few months). Read more about the symptoms of type 1 diabetes. These symptoms occur because the lack of insulin means that glucose stays in the blood and isn’t used as fuel for energy. Your body tries to reduce blood glucose levels by getting rid of the excess glucose in your urine. It's very important for diabetes to be diagnosed as soon as possible, because it will get progressively worse if left untreated. Find your local GP service Read about how type 1 diabetes is diagnosed. Causes of type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition, which means your immune system attacks healthy body tissue by mistake. In this case, it attacks the cells in your pancreas. Your damaged pancreas is then unable to produce insulin. So, glucose cannot be moved out of your bloodstream and into your cells. Type 1 diabetes is o Continue reading >>
Regulating & Monitoring A Diabetic Cat Using Insulin
Not all cats with diabetes will need to be treated with insulin (some cats with mild diabetes may respond to and dietary change), but a majority of them will. The goal of treatment is to resolve the signs of the disease, maintain proper body weight, eliminate or reduce the likelihood of any complications, and provide the cat with a good quality of life. This can be accomplished by maintaining the blood glucose at an acceptable level (100-290 mg/dL; normal is 55-160 mg/dL). In addition to treating the diabetes, any other concurrent diseases such as pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, hyperthyroidism, Cushing's disease, and infections need to be treated as well. What should an owner know before trying to 'regulate' a cat with diabetes? Before treatment is started, it is important that the owner be well-informed and have the time necessary to make the correct decision since regulating a diabetic cat requires commitment. Owners should know: The cat will need to be hospitalized for a number of days and one or more blood glucose profiles (described below) will need to be performed. The initial regulation of a cat on insulin generally takes 2-8 weeks. The process of getting a cat regulated can be costly. Insulin must usually be given twice a day, every day at specific times, probably for the life of the cat. Insulin must be handled properly (refrigerated, not shaken, etc). There is a proper technique for administering insulin to a cat that must be followed. The type of insulin and insulin syringe that are used should not be changed unless under guidance by the veterinarian. The type and amount of food and when it is fed must be consistent. In most cases, foods high in protein and low in carbohydrates are recommended. These are usually canned foods. The cat will need to be caref Continue reading >>
Definition Of 'insulin'
noun The Sun (2017) Leslie, Dr R D G Diabetes (1989) Colette Harris, With Theresa Cheung PCOS DIET BOOK: How you can use the nutritional approach to deal with polycystic ovary syndrome (2002) Colette Harris, With Theresa Cheung PCOS DIET BOOK: How you can use the nutritional approach to deal with polycystic ovary syndrome (2002) The Sun (2016) Times, Sunday Times (2011) Times, Sunday Times (2008) The Sun (2016) The Sun (2010) Times, Sunday Times (2013) Budd, Martin Diets to Help Diabetes (1983) Times, Sunday Times (2006) Colette Harris, With Theresa Cheung PCOS DIET BOOK: How you can use the nutritional approach to deal with polycystic ovary syndrome (2002)This careful balance of insulin and blood sugar helps to tell our body when we are full and when we are hungry. The Sun (2009) The Sun (2014) The Sun (2009) Colette Harris, With Theresa Cheung PCOS DIET BOOK: How you can use the nutritional approach to deal with polycystic ovary syndrome (2002)You can eat in a way that helps to reduce insulin resistance and make your body's cells more responsive again. Colette Harris, With Theresa Cheung PCOS DIET BOOK: How you can use the nutritional approach to deal with polycystic ovary syndrome (2002)In theory this would lead to a rush of insulin that brings blood sugar back to normal and encourages the storage of any excess sugar as fat. Times, Sunday Times (2009) The Sun (2010) Christianity Today (2000)But they also release sugar rapidly into the blood, which can encourage a surge in the hormone insulin, which encourages the body to store fat. Times, Sunday Times (2012)There is a strong link between magnesium deficiency and insulin resistance, so it is important to include it if you have PCOS. Colette Harris, With Theresa Cheung PCOS DIET BOOK: How you can use the nutritional ap Continue reading >>
What Does Insulin Do?
The word “insulin” can instill fear in many people who have or who are at risk for diabetes. Some of the beliefs around insulin are that if you have to take it, you’ll go blind or lose a limb. Or that insulin causes you to gain weight. Or that it means your diabetes is worsening. While these beliefs are understandable, the reality is that they’re not true. In fact, insulin is a life-saving medication: without it, people with Type 1 diabetes wouldn’t be alive, and many people with Type 2 diabetes would be struggling. The discovery of insulin is so important that it’s often called one of the greatest medical developments of the 20th century. This week, let’s delve into insulin and learn more about how truly amazing it is! What exactly is insulin? Insulin is a hormone. It’s made in the beta cells of the pancreas, and one of its main roles is to help regulate, or control, your blood sugar. When there’s enough insulin in the body, it helps to keep your blood sugar from going too high. In people who don’t have diabetes, blood sugars are very carefully and tightly controlled, staying within a safe and healthy range. After a person without diabetes eats a meal or a snack, the pancreas releases insulin. The insulin then signals muscle, fat, and liver cells in the body to absorb glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream to be used for energy. In this sense, insulin is like a key that unlocks the doors of the cells to allow glucose to enter. You can also think of insulin as a “storage” hormone, since when there’s more glucose than the body needs, insulin helps the body store that excess glucose in the liver to be used at a later time. Insulin also signals the liver to stop releasing glucose into the bloodstream. Insulin also helps shuttle amino acids (from pro Continue reading >>
- How Does Fat Affect Insulin Resistance and Diabetes?
- Does Bovine Insulin in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?
- Relative effectiveness of insulin pump treatment over multiple daily injections and structured education during flexible intensive insulin treatment for type 1 diabetes: cluster randomised trial (REPOSE)
Essential Notes On Blood Sugar And Insulin
You have approximately 5 liters (about 21 cups) of blood traveling around in your blood vessels and heart at any given moment. In these 5 liters of blood, you need only about one teaspoon of sugar for all of your regular activities. If you regularly have more than a teaspoon of sugar floating through your blood vessels, the excess sugar can slow down your circulation, which, over time, can cause all of the problems you would expect to have if you had thick maple syrup clogging up your blood vessels. This is essentially what happens when a person becomes diabetic. In order to keep the amount of sugar floating through your blood vessels at around a teaspoon, your body releases insulin whenever you eat foods that release sugar into your bloodstream. Eating sugary foods, most sweeteners, grains, cookies, pastries, cakes, pasta, and starchy vegetables like potatoes all lead to a release of sugar into your bloodstream. Insulin works by stimulating your cells to sponge up this excess sugar out of your bloodstream. Once inside your cells, sugar is used for energy, with any excess amount being converted to fat tissue. If you regularly eat sugary foods and highly processed carbohydrates, your body will have released so much insulin that it will begin to lose its sensitivity to insulin, which means that your cells won’t receive as strong a signal to sponge up excess sugar out of your blood. This will lead to excess sugar floating around your blood vessels and all the health problems that come with this scenario. Just a few years ago, 110 - 120 mg/dL (6.1 - 6.7 mmol/L) was widely considered the upper range for a normal fasting blood sugar level. Today, a fasting blood sugar level less than 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) is considered normal, while anything within 100 to 125 mg/dL (5.6 to Continue reading >>
Facts About Diabetes And Insulin
Diabetes is a very common disease, which, if not treated, can be very dangerous. There are two types of diabetes. They were once called juvenile-onset diabetes and adult diabetes. However, today we know that all ages can get both types so they are simply called type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1, which occurs in approximately 10 percent of all cases, is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system, by mistake, attacks its own insulin-producing cells so that insufficient amounts of insulin are produced - or no insulin at all. Type 1 affects predominantly young people and usually makes its debut before the age of 30, and most frequently between the ages of 10 and 14. Type 2, which makes up the remaining 90 percent of diabetes cases, commonly affects patients during the second half of their lives. The cells of the body no longer react to insulin as they should. This is called insulin resistance. In the early 1920s, Frederick Banting, John Macleod, George Best and Bertram Collip isolated the hormone insulin and purified it so that it could be administered to humans. This was a major breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes type 1. Insulin Insulin is a hormone. Hormones are chemical substances that regulate the cells of the body and are produced by special glands. The hormone insulin is a main regulator of the glucose (sugar) levels in the blood. Insulin is produced in the pancreas. To be more specific, it's produced by the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. When we eat, glucose levels rise, and insulin is released into the bloodstream. The insulin acts like a key, opening up cells so they can take in the sugar and use it as an energy source. Sugar is one of the top energy sources for the body. The body gets it in many forms, but mainly as carbohydr Continue reading >>
Diabetes And You: When Your Body Decides To Stop Producing Insulin
Today, we’re going to learn a little more about diabetes. Did you know … according to the American Diabetes Association, 8.3% of the population—25.8 million children and adults in the United States—have diabetes?* Did you know … there are an additional 7 million people in the United States currently undiagnosed with diabetes? Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, causing high blood sugar levels. Insulin is a hormone your body uses to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although genetics and environmental factors, such as obesity and lack of exercise, appear to play roles. There are two different types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes since it is usually diagnosed in children or young adults, and type 2 diabetes, typically diagnosed in adults. Type 1: This type happens when your pancreas stops making insulin. Without insulin, sugar can’t get into your cells and stays in the blood stream, elevating blood sugar levels. People often seek medical help because they are seriously ill from sudden symptoms of high blood sugar. This type of diabetes can’t be prevented. Some of the symptoms include: frequent urination, unusual thirst, extreme hunger, unusual weight loss, and extreme fatigue and irritability. Type 2: Millions of Americans have been diagnosed with this disease and many more are unaware they are at a high risk. In this type, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. This type of diabetes can be prevented or delayed with a healthy lifestyle, including maintaining a healthy weight, ea Continue reading >>
Insulin
This article is about the insulin protein. For uses of insulin in treating diabetes, see insulin (medication). Not to be confused with Inulin. Insulin (from Latin insula, island) is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets, and it is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body.[5] It regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and protein by promoting the absorption of, especially, glucose from the blood into fat, liver and skeletal muscle cells.[6] In these tissues the absorbed glucose is converted into either glycogen via glycogenesis or fats (triglycerides) via lipogenesis, or, in the case of the liver, into both.[6] Glucose production and secretion by the liver is strongly inhibited by high concentrations of insulin in the blood.[7] Circulating insulin also affects the synthesis of proteins in a wide variety of tissues. It is therefore an anabolic hormone, promoting the conversion of small molecules in the blood into large molecules inside the cells. Low insulin levels in the blood have the opposite effect by promoting widespread catabolism, especially of reserve body fat. Beta cells are sensitive to glucose concentrations, also known as blood sugar levels. When the glucose level is high, the beta cells secrete insulin into the blood; when glucose levels are low, secretion of insulin is inhibited.[8] Their neighboring alpha cells, by taking their cues from the beta cells,[8] secrete glucagon into the blood in the opposite manner: increased secretion when blood glucose is low, and decreased secretion when glucose concentrations are high.[6][8] Glucagon, through stimulating the liver to release glucose by glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, has the opposite effect of insulin.[6][8] The secretion of insulin and glucagon into the Continue reading >>
What Is Insulin?
Insulin is a hormone that is important for metabolism and utilization of energy from the ingested nutrients - especially glucose. Insulin chemistry and etymology Insulin is a protein chain or peptide hormone. There are 51 amino acids in an insulin molecule. It has a molecular weight of 5808 Da. Insulin is produced in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The name insulin comes from the Latin ''insula'' for "island" from the cells that produce the hormone in the pancreas. Insulin's structure varies slightly between species of animal. Both porcine (from pigs) and bovine (from cows) insulin are similar to human insulin but porcine insulin resembles human insulin more closely. What does insulin do? Insulin has several broad actions including: It causes the cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from blood and convert it to glycogen that can be stored in the liver and muscles Insulin also prevents the utilization of fat as an energy source. In absence of insulin or in conditions where insulin is low glucose is not taken up by body cells, and the body begins to use fat as an energy source Insulin also controls other body systems and regulates the amino acid uptake by body cells It has several other anabolic effects throughout the body as well Secretion of insulin Insulin is synthesized in significant quantities only in beta cells in the pancreas. It is secreted primarily in response to elevated blood concentrations of glucose. Insulin thus can regulate blood glucose and the body senses and responds to rise in blood glucose by secreting insulin. Other stimuli like sight and taste of food, nerve stimulation and increased blood concentrations of other fuel molecules, including amino acids and fatty acids, also promote insulin secretion. What happens wh Continue reading >>
What Causes Insulin Resistance? Lipid Overload
Over the past year I have interacted with hundreds of people with diabetes, and have come to learn one very important lesson that has changed my view of diabetes altogether. This realization came to me early on in my career as a nutrition and fitness coach for people with diabetes, and continues to hold true. While insulin resistance is a condition that is most commonly associated with type 2 diabetes, an increasing body of evidence is now shedding light on the fact that insulin resistance is a common thread that underlies many health conditions previously unassociated with blood sugar, including (but not limited to) heart disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis, the metabolic syndrome, obesity and cancer. What that means is simple: insulin resistance significantly increases your risk for the development of a collection of health conditions that can significantly reduce your quality of life and decrease your life expectancy. Watch this video for a synopsis of the causes of insulin resistance: What is insulin and why should you care? Insulin is a hormone which is released by the pancreas in response to rising blood glucose. When you consume carbohydrates, the glucose that enters the bloodstream knocks on the door of the beta cells in the pancreas as a signal to make insulin. Insulin serves as the key that unlocks the door to allow glucose to enter body tissues. Insulin tells your cells “Yoo hoo! Pick up this glucose. It’s all over the place.” Without insulin, cells in the liver, muscle, and fat have a difficult time vacuuming up glucose from the blood. These tissues are capable to vacuuming up only a small percentage (5-10%) of the glucose in circulation without the help of insulin. When insulin is present, the amount of glucose that can be transported into tissues sign Continue reading >>
Too Much Insulin? How To Reset Your Metabolism
By: Mark Hyman, M.D. Are your hormones out of balance? Does your life feel like a song played badly out of tune? If so, the problem may have to do with imbalances in your hormones, which are wreaking havoc on your body and mind. Today I want to focus on the most common — and therefore the most problematic — of hormonal problems in Americans today: too much insulin. When you eat too much sugar, flour and white rice, your insulin levels spike. When this happens, your cells become resistant to its effects. So you pump out more and more insulin, become even more resistant to its effects, and end up in the vicious cycle of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can cause energy and mood swings — and it can take you down the slippery road toward high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, cancer, brain aging, dementia, and more. Between 80 and 100 million Americans suffer from insulin resistance. It is not exactly the same in everyone, but the ultimate consequences can be similar. How do you know if you suffer from insulin resistance? Most people with insulin resistance have extra fat around the middle. (Quick Tip: Check your waist-to-hip ratio — the measurement around your belly button divided by the measurement around your hips. If it is greater than 0.8, you likely have insulin resistance.) You may be tall, thin, short, fat, or any combination of these and still have insulin resistance. The only way to know for sure is to take an insulin response test, which measures blood sugar and insulin while you are fasting and one and two hours after you consume a 75-gram sugar drink. Just measuring blood sugar alone isn’t enough. You have to measure insulin — this is something that many doctors miss. Fortunately, balancing blood sugar and correcting insulin resistance a Continue reading >>
