Saturday, October 18, 2014

Options On How To Reverse Insulin Resistance

By Patty Goff


The hormone insulin plays a central role in the metabolism of carbohydrates. Disorders associated with the hormone are associated with serious complications. Insulin resistance means that the hormone can no longer facilitate the entry of glucose into cells. Consequently, glucose accumulates in the blood stream and often leads to diabetes. There are a number of ways on how to reverse insulin resistance that can be considered.

The condition can be tackled by a multi-pronged approach. Various strategies that may be adopted include physical exercise, dietary modification, use of supplements and stress of reduction. Although the approaches may be used singly with success, it has been shown that using two or more of them tends to be more effective. All these strategies work to help in the reduction in oxidative stress, reduction in inflammatory changes in the body and increased liver detoxification.

The first thing that you need to do is to identify the foods that need to be reduced in the diet and those that should be increased. This may mean that you work very closely with your nutritionist. In general, the intake of carbohydrates should be reduced significantly. Carbohydrates are broken down to glucose which usually accumulates in the body in the absence of insulin hormone.

Carbohydrates are generally regarded as being highly glycaemic. What this means is that they produce much more glucose that other groups of food. If you are struggling with hormonal resistance, it is a high time that you reduced the number of servings of carbohydrate that you serve yourself. Instead, eat more of proteins, vegetables and fruits all of which are classified as low glycaemic foods.

The importance of physical exercise cannot be overemphasized. During exercise, the metabolic requirements of the body increase and this helps to burn down excess glucose that is contributing to hormonal resistance. At the same time, exercise helps in redistribution of fat tissue effectively curbing excess weight which is another of the biggest risk factors. It is recommended that one takes part in small amounts of high intensity exercise rather than the low intensity cardio.

Psychological stress is another important cause of hormonal resistance and diabetes. The hormone cortisol is usually produced in stressful situations. Cortisol is a pro-metabolic hormone that causes an increase in the amount of circulating glucose among other things. If the levels of cortisol are elevated for long periods of time, the risk for hormonal resistance increases significantly. Engaging in relaxation exercises helps reduce this risk.

Supplements are said to help in some situations. Magnesium is said to increase insulin sensitivity and to facilitate the digestion of fats. All these help in reducing the amount of glucose in circulation. Other supplements that have also been in use include calcium, vitamin B complex and chromium. Many of their mechanisms of actions are not yet clear.

If the natural options fail then you may need to turn to pharmacotherapy. A lot of research has gone into diabetes and its treatments and the results have been very encouraging. Today, there are numerous types of drugs that can be used in the management of the condition. Although the mechanisms of action are different, the common effect for all of them is a reduction in blood sugar levels or increased hormone sensitivity.




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