If you have insulin resistance, it's going to cost you much more effort than a person without this problem to lose weight. That's why in this video, let's see what insulin resistance is, how it impacts your body, metabolism, weight, and overall health. Of course, let's also see how to solve it, as it's the starting point for many diseases.

Our body needs balance - balance in the hormones we have in our blood, balance in the amount of energy, and of course, balance in the amount of sugar we have in our blood. Under normal conditions, when we consume carbohydrates, our body releases sugar into the bloodstream as we digest them. If we release more sugar than necessary, a hormone called insulin, which regulates blood sugar, takes the excess glucose and stores it as energy, usually in the form of fat. Insulin is the hormone that protects us from excessive sugars, acting as our defense mechanism, and it prevents our blood sugar from rising above normal levels, maintaining it at around less than 100 milligrams per deciliter.

You've probably heard advice about reducing carbohydrate consumption everywhere, from people following ketogenic diets, paleo diets, Mediterranean diets, veganism, etc. This advice matters even if you have a normal weight. A person of normal weight, approximately 70-75 kilograms, usually has about 4 grams of sugar or glucose circulating in their blood. However, in the US, the average person consumes 31 times that amount of sugar, equivalent to 124 grams of sugar every day. So, even if you consider that you eat much better than the average person, you're probably still consuming excess sugar.

When we exceed the amount of sugar our body really needs, it deals with the excess in various ways. It may accumulate the excess energy as fat, primarily due to insulin, which, as I mentioned earlier, is a defense mechanism against excess sugars. Alternatively, it may bind the sugars to proteins, forming advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which are harmful substances for our cells, accelerating aging, and are entirely unnecessary.

Excess sugar in the blood also leads to an increase in insulin to compensate for the elevated levels. This rapid energy circuit and excess carbohydrate intake can quickly lead to energy crashes, sudden cravings for refined carbohydrates, fatigue, increased cholesterol levels, oxidative stress, hormonal imbalances such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or reduced testosterone transforming into harmful estrogens, and even elevated stress levels and sympathetic activity.

Chronic elevation of insulin leads to our body responding by decreasing insulin's effectiveness to protect us, and paradoxically, the pancreas responds by producing even more insulin. Thus, every time we raise our blood sugar above normal levels, the produced insulin stores that energy as fat, both in our bodies and within organs like the liver, where it is particularly dangerous.

Insulin resistance not only causes weight gain but also hinders the use of fat as energy, making it difficult to lose weight, and it becomes a vicious cycle. The more insulin resistance, the less weight we can lose.

Insulin resistance is not simply about eating too many carbohydrates; our bodies have excellent mechanisms to eliminate excess sugar because it's harmful. However, if we disrupt these mechanisms, it can lead to insulin resistance. One of the main causes is elevated levels of fats in the blood, particularly triglycerides, which impede our body's response to insulin, making it less sensitive.

Your body stores energy as fat when cells are nourished. If your fat reserves are already saturated, you wouldn't want to promote this mechanism; you'd want to prevent it. One significant cause of elevated triglyceride levels in the blood is overweight and obesity. Inflammation is another cause; when we generate cellular damage through advanced glycation end products, it hinders normal insulin function, requiring more insulin and perpetuating the vicious cycle. Additionally, imbalances in gut bacteria can lead to various symptoms. For example, an excess of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria and a deficiency in Bacteroidetes can increase the risk of overweight and insulin resistance.

The most critical cause of insulin resistance is excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates, particularly sugars such as fructose, found in industrialized products like high fructose corn syrup. To determine if you have insulin resistance, you can measure the OMA index, which evaluates your blood glucose and insulin levels to assess your resistance risk. However, it's estimated that more than half of adults have insulin resistance due to high carbohydrate consumption.

To reduce insulin levels, intermittent fasting is effective; a pattern of 16 hours fasting and 8 hours eating with three daily meals can markedly reduce insulin. Consuming foods rich in prebiotics and probiotics can improve gut bacteria balance, reducing insulin resistance. Additionally, opting for a diet low in or at least moderate on the glycemic index can help stabilize blood glucose.

Supplementation with prebiotics, chromium picolinate, alpha-lipoic acid, magnesium, vitamin D, berberine, aloe vera, and cinnamon can also reduce elevated insulin levels. Regular exercise, particularly interval training during fasting, can help lower insulin levels. Reducing stress and cortisol levels can also aid in regulating insulin.

Insulin resistance is widespread and can lead to health issues. Making these changes can improve your overall quality of life and well-being.