
Weight loss with insulin resistance: Diet tips and strategies
According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of diabetes has risen significantly over the last 30-plus years.
In 1980, just 4.7 percent of the world's population had diabetes, but by 2014 this figure had soared to 8.5 percent.
This means approximately 422 million people were living with diabetes in 2014. These astounding statistics do not take into account the additional number of people with prediabetes or insulin resistance.
In this article, we take a look at what insulin resistance is and what its relationship with body weight is. How might being overweight lead to insulin resistance and what can be done to lose weight?
What is insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance leads to a condition known as prediabetes, which means that a person's blood sugar level is high, but not high enough to qualify as diabetes.
Having insulin resistance is a warning that, without intervention and effective lifestyle changes, someone with prediabetes may go on to develop type 2 diabetes.
Sugar (glucose) is the body's main source of food energy. People obtain it from the food they eat. After food is broken down in the body, the sugar enters the bloodstream.
In order to use it as energy, the body's cells need to "pick up" the sugar. Insulin, which is a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps this happen by moving the sugar out of the blood and enables it to enter the body's cells.
Insulin maintains blood sugar levels, ensuring they are not too high or too low. However, when blood sugar levels are persistently high, the body's cells stop responding to insulin as effectively. This is
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