Jul 14 2008
What is Insulin Resistance
Insulin is the hormone that is produced by your pancreas. It helps the body to utilize blood sugar. Insulin acts like a key that opens the cells for the glucose to move inside. Glucose is the fuel for the cells. It is either used immediately or stored in the form on glycogen in the liver or muscle cells.
Insulin resistance is an imbalance whereby the insulin secreted by the pancreas is not able to unlock the cells. It vastly reduces the number of insulin receptor sites or doorways on the walls of your cells. The average healthy person has some 20,000 receptor sites per cell, while insulin resistant people can have as few as 5,000.
What causes it?
Insulin Resistance happens from long term hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia occurs when a person’s blood glucose levels spike they become dangerously high. The pancreas then over secretes insulin in response to this and the blood glucose level drops too low.
The Cause of Insulin Resistance
- A diet high in refined carbohydrates, sugar, trans-fats and low in fresh salads and vegetables.
- High intake of stimulants
- Gaps of more than 5 hours between eating nutrient rich food.
- Partaking in no exercise.
- Having a nutrient deficiency.
Since all the cells of the body, especially the brain cells, use glucose for fuel, a blood glucose level that is too low starves the cells of needed fuel, causing both physical and emotional symptoms.
Some of the symptoms of hypoglycemia are:
- fatigue
- insomnia
- mental confusion
- nervousness
- mood swings
- faintness
- headaches
- depression
- phobias
- hear palpitations
- a craving for sweets
- cold hands and feet
- forgetfulness
- dizziness
- blurred vision
- inner trembling
- outbursts of temper
- sudden hunger
- allergies
Hypoglycemia triggers the pancreas to overproduce insulin. The cells are overwhelmed by the excess of insulin and consequently reduce the number of active insulin receptors. This leaves too few sites for insulin to carry out its normal function of unlocking the cell for the glucose to pass inside and be converted into energy. The excess insulin is rejected and is left to float freely in the bloodstream.
If you have too few receptor sites, glucose bounces off the cell wall, instead of passing through the insulin door to be burned as energy. With the cell door almost closed to it, glucose remains in the blood stream, causing elevated levels of blood sugar, which are sent to the liver. Once there, the sugar is converted into fat and stored via the blood stream throughout the body. This process can lead to weight gain and obesity, adrenal stress, key factors in creating PCOS.
