Heather Bedard, C.H.E.
Over the past few weeks we have looked at the causes of insulin resistance and found some pretty surprising results. This month, we are going to look at the symptoms of insulin resistance and glucose monitoring. For access to the previous articles, the basic membership is a simple and inexpensive way to have that.
There are a few symptoms you may face when your body is dealing with insulin resistance. One of them is fatigue, because glucose, your body’s energy source, is not able to get into the cells. According to the research we looked at last month, the best way to prevent this is to eat a diet low in fat and protein. Not to mention, keeping your processed carbs where they belong in your diet…at the very top of your food pyramid (small amounts). In general, a healthy person’s blood sugar should not spike and fall quickly after eating a natural whole food-based carbohydrate (let’s think fruits and veggies). This is because, as I mentioned last month, it is accompanied by fiber and other nutrients that slow the release of the sugar. Blood sugar may rise and then stay level for a while as the body slowly releases and accepts the glucose.
Another symptom of insulin resistance is increased thirst, because as your body is transporting the excess glucose to the kidneys, it carries water with it causing increased urination as well.
Being overweight is also a common precursor to insulin resistance. The reasons for this are along the lines of what we have already discussed. Simple exercise is a great start to addressing this. A study on 17 type 2 diabetics found that 6 weeks of whole-body resistance training increased insulin sensitivity, reduced fasting triglycerides and lowered cholesterol.[1] All good things! Additionally, exercise causes muscle contraction which increases glucose uptake in the cells. Just one week of anaerobic training can improve insulin sensitivity.[2] If left untreated, insulin resistance can cause damage to your organs such as kidneys, eyes, and heart so this is an important issue that needs to be addressed!
One of the first things people do when presented with information on insulin resistance and how their diet plays a part in it, is to purchase a glucose monitor. Glucose monitors are typically used by diabetics to check their blood sugar and there are several different types. Many people think it’s fun to test themselves throughout the day to see what their blood sugar is doing…and it is! However, there are a few things that you should keep in mind before making changes to your diet based on what you see through monitoring. (This article is focused on non-diabetics.)
There are no studies proving that having an intimate knowledge of your blood sugar levels translates into better health. On top of that, the ideal blood sugar range for people who are not diabetic is also uncertain. There are times that the devices malfunction, potentially causing you to make health changes that are not optimal. The National Institute of Health cautions “…you can’t yet rely on the CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) alone to make treatment decisions”.[3]
One of the most common concerns of people who are not trained in using glucose monitors is that they see their blood sugar spike and it’s still high in an hour later and they think they need to eat differently. This is totally normal and is a result of fiber and way the body processes these carbs.
The condition of your gut microbiome and current health status will play a big part on your blood sugar levels as well. A good example of this is a study on artificial sweeteners and glucose control, which showed that the glucose intolerance of mice given artificial sweeteners was caused by changes in gut bacteria.[4] Just because a food doesn’t cause a high blood sugar spike doesn’t mean it’s good for you. We should remember that we must look at what we know about diet as a whole and not get caught up in reductionism (the act of making one part of the whole as important as the whole).
You will also want to keep in mind that blood glucose measurements diagnose a moment in time. Blood sugar changes throughout the day and is not always a measure of overall health. If you are truly concerned, then having an A1C blood test is a much better measurement for evaluating long-term health status. The lower your A1C, the better. This test measures how much glucose is bound to hemoglobin. If your glucose levels are high, the more glucose will be bound. Because your red blood cells have about a 4-month life span, and hemoglobin proteins are in your blood, you get a much more accurate glimpse of what your glucose levels have been over the past few months with this type of test.
An additional concern about glucose monitoring is that many people do not have a good understanding of how blood sugar levels work and monitoring continuously can cause unfounded fear and anxiety. A good portion of what you will hear from the companies promoting this is good marketing and not founded in proven studies. As I mentioned above, blood sugar levels vary throughout the day based on what you eat, your level of exercise, and if you are on any medications. Many times, healthy people fall outside normal ranges, and unhealthy people are within normal ranges. More testing is not always better!
This all goes to one of the main themes that I see in healthcare today – a generalized obsession with things that don’t matter. It distracts from the overall goal of helping people to eat an optimal diet. While interesting, an obsession with glucose monitoring doesn’t lead to long-term health, can cause fear and anxiety, and requires that you be knowledgeable about why your body is doing what it is doing. Studies continually show that the best way, as a non-diabetic person, to decrease your risk of insulin resistance, is to eat a low fat, low protein, high carbohydrate (whole plant food) diet, which is inherently fiber rich. Resist insulin resistance by focusing on what matters!
---------------
[1] Russell R, Donghua H, Greenaway T et al. “Skeletal Muscle Microvascular-Linked Improvements in Glycemic Control From Resistance Training in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes.” Diabetes Care July 2017, dc162750; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2337/dc16-2750
[2] Winnick JJ, Sherman WM, Habash DL, et al. “Short-term aerobic exercise training in obese humans with type 2 diabetes mellitus improves whole-body insulin sensitivity through gains in peripheral, not hepatic insulin sensitivity.” J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2008 Mar;93(3):771–8
[3] https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/managing-diabetes/continuous-glucose-monitoring
[4] Suez J, Korem T, Zeevi D et al. “Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota.” Nature. 2014 doi:10.1038/nature13793.