How to overcome insulin resistance with
diet and lifestyle changes
What you need to know about managing and reversing insulin resistance.
Are you worried about becoming insulin-resistant? Do you know the signs and symptoms to look out for? Or what contributes to it?
Diet and lifestyle can play a major role in the development of insulin resistance and unmanaged insulin resistance can develop into type 2 diabetes.
Here, we explain how insulin resistance develops and what you can do to manage and reverse it.
What is insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance is when your body doesn’t respond properly to the insulin your body makes or that you inject — meaning that blood sugar levels increase.
It’s also known as impaired insulin sensitivity.
Insulin is made in the pancreas. It’s a hormone that helps to regulate your blood sugar levels. Under normal circumstances, insulin helps glucose enter the cells and be used for energy.
But for people with insulin resistance, the cells become less responsive to insulin, which leads to elevated blood sugar levels.
Insulin resistance can be either temporary or chronic. When it’s left unmanaged, it can develop into prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. It can also be a driving force of hypertension and weight gain.
The role of insulin in the body
Insulin is best known for its role in regulating blood sugar.
When you eat, your food is broken down into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream.
Insulin is then released from your pancreas into your bloodstream to help your body absorb glucose.
It does this by binding to insulin receptors on the surfaces of cells in fat, muscle, and liver tissues.
Insulin also prevents the liver from producing more glucose. Essentially? This ensures your blood sugar levels remain balanced.
How does insulin resistance develop?
Insulin resistance occurs when your body’s cells become less responsive to the effects of insulin.
Basically? This means your cells no longer absorb glucose from the bloodstream as efficiently.
When your cells resist insulin, the pancreas over-compensates by producing more insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels.
Over time, the pancreas can struggle to keep up with the increased demand, leading to elevated blood sugar levels.
Insulin resistance can develop due to a combination of factors, including genetics, a sedentary lifestyle, and excess body fat, particularly around the abdomen.
Many risk factors for insulin resistance are preventable. Want to take control of your health now?
What is insulin sensitivity?
Insulin sensitivity describes how sensitive the body is to the effects of insulin.
It varies from person to person. Someone said to be insulin sensitive will need smaller amounts of insulin to lower their blood glucose levels than someone who has low sensitivity, also known as insulin resistance.
The Insulin Sensitivity Factor (ISF) measures how much one unit of insulin lowers blood sugar levels.
High ISF values suggest better insulin sensitivity. This means less insulin is needed to lower your blood sugar levels.
A lower ISF indicates insulin resistance.
One method of insulin sensitivity testing commonly used by healthcare providers is the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).
Signs and symptoms of insulin resistance
You’ll need a health professional to officially diagnose insulin resistance. Unfortunately, an official diagnosis isn’t very common here in the UK.
Add to that, insulin resistance can be asymptomatic in its early stages making it difficult to spot.
But there are several symptoms to look out for:
- Unexplained fatigue
- Dark patches on the skin (known as acanthosis nigricans) found in the groin, neck, and armpits
- Brain fog/difficulty concentrating
- Increased hunger
- Frequent urination
- Obesity (particularly on the abdomen)
- High blood triglycerides
- Skin tags
It’s important to note that many of these symptoms are common with other health conditions and some of them overlap with symptoms of type 2 diabetes too.
Our client Emma had been doing what she could to look after her health, counting calories and walking her son to school, but she still wasn’t feeling her best.
Despite her efforts, Emma’s weight loss stalled, and fatigue plagued her daily routine. After an unexpected diagnosis of pre-diabetes, Emma was determined to turn things around.
Emma discovered That Blood Sugar Fix, our 10-week online programme, and within just eight weeks, she completely transformed her health.
She lost 13 pounds, regained her energy, and banished cravings. With our guidance, Emma learned how to nourish her body, control her blood sugars, and reclaim her vitality.
Want to rediscover good health and vitality like Emma?
Causes and risk factors
Causes of insulin resistance include:
Genetic factors
Studies suggest that certain gene variants can impair insulin signalling pathways, leading to reduced glucose uptake by cells.
One such example is mutations in the IRS1 gene, which is involved in insulin signalling.
People with a family history of type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of insulin resistance too.
Hormonal disorders
Issues with certain hormones can affect how well your body uses insulin. Hormonal disorders that can cause insulin resistance include: Hypothyroidism, Cushing’s syndrome, Acromegaly.
Insulin resistance is also a common symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Between 50% and 90% of women with PCOS are said to be insulin resistant.
Wondering why this is? Women with PCOS have higher than normal levels of androgens, or male hormones, which can contribute to insulin resistance.
Genetic disruption of insulin signalling in the brain may also contribute to insulin resistance in women with PCOS.
Excess body fat
Obesity, especially excess fat around the abdomen and around your organs (known as visceral fat), is a primary cause of insulin resistance.
Adipose tissue produces inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha and IL-6, which interfere with insulin signalling, leading to reduced sensitivity to the hormone.
Excess fat around the abdomen also contributes to long-term inflammation in your body, which may play a role in insulin resistance.
Physical inactivity
Not getting enough exercise is also associated with a greater risk of developing insulin resistance.
A lack of physical activity reduces the body’s ability to regulate glucose. In particular, muscle cells become less efficient at using glucose when you aren’t taking regular exercise.
In contrast, exercise enhances glucose uptake by increasing the activity of GLUT4 transporters in muscle cells, which supports insulin sensitivity.
Diet
What you eat plays a major role in insulin resistance risk. In particular, a diet of highly processed, high-carbohydrate foods and saturated fats has been linked to insulin resistance.
Diets low in fibre and rich in processed carbohydrates cause rapid spikes in blood sugar.
This puts extra stress on your pancreas to produce a lot of insulin, and, in the long term, can desensitise the cells to insulin’s effects.
Processed foods negatively impact the diversity of the gut microbiome and the bacteria that are thriving there. A recent study demonstrated that the way certain bacteria metabolise carbohydrates can increase the prevalence of insulin resistance!
Poor quality sleep
Poor sleep patterns are thought to disrupt normal glucose metabolism and increase insulin resistance.
Research suggests there is a significant association between short sleep duration and insulin resistance.
In fact, one study found that one night of partial sleep deprivation compared to an entire night’s sleep resulted in increased peripheral insulin resistance.
Another study found glucose tolerance improved by extending sleep duration in regularly sleep-deprived individuals.
How does insulin resistance develop into type 2 diabetes?
According to research, around 76.4% of people with insulin resistance will develop type 2 diabetes.
Insulin resistance develops when your body’s cells become resistant to insulin. When this happens, the pancreas has to produce more insulin to compensate.
Eventually, the pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels, which signals the progression of insulin resistance into type 2 diabetes.
Managing and reversing insulin resistance
Insulin resistance can often be reversed with lifestyle changes. Eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and losing excess weight can all increase insulin sensitivity.
Steps you can take to improve insulin sensitivity include:
- Eating a balanced diet. Including low Glycemic Index (GI) foods, fibre-rich foods, protein, and healthy fats can help you maintain steady blood sugar levels.
- Taking regular physical exercise. The NHS recommends completing 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Walking is incredibly effective for better blood sugar control.
- Losing weight. Research suggests weight loss of at least 10% of total body weight can positively impact markers of insulin resistance.
- Improving sleep quality: One study found that participants who extended their sleep by 36 minutes improved their Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance.
Our client Sarah is proof that you can turn your health around.
As Sarah approached her 40th birthday, her life became increasingly challenging. As a busy mum juggling a career and business, she felt drained, irritable, and restless at night.
With her energy waning and weight creeping up, she suspected her struggles were tied to blood sugar rather than just perimenopause.
An unexpected diagnosis of type 2 diabetes confirmed it. Sarah was determined to feel her best again so she enrolled in That Blood Sugar Fix.
In just 10 weeks, Sarah’s blood sugars dropped to the pre-diabetic zone. She also lost 10 pounds, regained her zest for life, and learned to nourish her body.
If you want to reclaim your health like Sarah then it starts with blood sugars.
Taking control of your health
Insulin resistance is a serious health concern that, if not managed, can lead to type 2 diabetes.
The good news is that by taking steps to improve your lifestyle you can manage and even reverse insulin resistance.
With the right guidance and support, you can improve your insulin sensitivity and stabilise your blood sugar levels – and that’s pretty empowering!
Don’t wait for symptoms to escalate. Take charge of your health today.
Book a complimentary call with a nutritional therapist and you can begin your journey toward better health.