Insulin is a hormone the pancreas produces to regulate sugar levels in the body. High insulin levels can override insulin resistance and cause high blood sugar when the body fails to make enough insulin. This can lead to prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, as well as metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions featuring increased waist size and high blood pressure. Additionally, there may be a link between excess fat and insulin resistance which increases the risk of developing stroke, cardiovascular disease, and other diseases. To override insulin resistance, it is vital to maintain healthy sugar levels by eating right and exercising regularly. This will help ensure that cells fail to respond appropriately to the hormone’s signals and help prevent metabolism from developing or worsening.
Insulin regulates blood sugar levels by telling cells to take glucose from the bloodstream. Elevated blood glucose levels can become your cells’ energy source when insulin fails to do its job. When insulin resistance occurs, the body has difficulty responding to the hormone’s signals, which means that glucose levels may rise over time, harming the metabolism. This is known as hyperglycemia and can lead to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes over time.
This affects insulin’s ability to increase muscle glucose uptake, which can lead to impaired muscle uptake of glucose. This has implications for both lipid and protein metabolism, as well as ectopic fat deposition. As a result, excess glucose returns to the liver and fat cells, stored as glycogen or triglycerides. This has a significant effect on blood sugar management because it limits nutrient-induced increases in insulin secretion and its ability to increase glucose uptake in muscles and other tissues. Additionally, increasing lipid synthesis will stimulate lipolysis that releases circulating free fatty acids into the bloodstream from adipose tissue, further increasing the body’s resistance to insulin’s effects on glucose uptake. Ultimately, this can lead to more fat storage in the body and impaired blood sugar management when left unchecked.
Various factors, including genetics, lifestyle, and other medical conditions, can cause insulin resistance. Tissue insulin resistance is the reduced ability of tissue, such as muscle and fat, to respond to the presence of insulin. When tissues are less sensitive to insulin, more insulin is required for cells to take glucose from the bloodstream. This leads to higher circulating levels of insulin in the body. Exercise helps increase muscle insulin sensitivity by stimulating an anti-inflammatory adipokine response, increasing glucose uptake into muscles, and decreasing hepatic gluconeogenesis (producing new glucose molecules).
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, such as eating the right foods and exercising regularly, can help combat insulin resistance. It is also advisable to seek professional help and research this and other metabolism-related topics.
Excellent metabolism book for learning
Following these guidelines and consulting with a professional when needed will give readers all the information they need to get their metabolisms back up and running optimally! Learn more about metabolism by getting a copy of Metabolism & Medicine by Dr. Brian Fertig.
Dr. Brian Fertig is one of the nation’s leading endocrinologists with 35 years of practice in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism. As the founder and president of Diabetes and Osteoporosis Center in Piscataway, New Jersey, Dr. Fertig’s passion for patient care and research led him to write a two-volume comprehensive book on metabolism and the human body, “Metabolism and Medicine.” Dr. Fertig’s poignant, informative monograph on metabolism is the definitive resource on metabolism and biophysical processes at all scales of the physiological journey.