Strategies for Insulin Resistance

Strategies for Insulin Resistance and Diabetes

Insulin ferries sugar and other nutrients into the cells through gates in the cell walls which are made up of fats . When your blood sugar is too high, your cells say “enough” and close or eliminate some of the gates, becoming  insulin-resistant. Your body sees the high sugar in your blood and triggers the release of more insulin from your pancreas.  However the insulin stays in your blood much longer because it can’t get into the cells, and causes inflammation which can lead to cardiovascular disease and peripheral neuropathy.  Cells that don’t get insulin resistant, can replicate vigorously, which is why you may have skin tags or growing cancers. To lower your blood sugar and your blood insulin you need to deal with a number of strategies.

1. You need a low carbohydrate, low glycemic index diet that will not trigger high insulin release.  Atkins, South Beach and similar diets give you green leafy vegetables and meat, poultry, eggs or fish as protein and are good at not triggering insulin spikes.  In later stages they add non-starchy vegetables and low sugar fruits.  Grains were not an appreciable part of a Paleolithic diet, which served humans for most of evolution.
2. If you suddenly change from a high carbohydrate diet to a low carbohydrate diet, you body may have an adjustment period where you feel lousy for 12-16 days.  Drink water, take supplements discussed below, and have faith that it will pass.  Your body is not used to using fats for fuel instead of sugar, and needs to adjust.
3. Don’t eat after 8:00 and have a low carbohydrate breakfast.  In one study where teenage boys were given either protein or starchy breakfasts of equal caloric content and allowed to eat what they wanted for lunch, the boys with starchy breakfasts (oatmeal, cereal, pancakes, etc.) ate twice as many calories for lunch.
4. You need periods with no food.  Every time you eat your insulin spikes and stays elevated for 3 hours or more.  During that time you cannot burn fat or build muscle.  If you eat frequently you may never reach the fat burning stage. So you are better off not snacking between meals, and if you do consider salmon jerky or unsalted nuts which have low glycemic loads.
5. Exercise is essential.  Three times a day; upon rising, after lunch and after dinner do two minutes of peak exercise.  Climb stairs, run in place, jump, use weights, but get to a point where you are panting.  You get no additional insulin benefit from doing this longer.  And walk 30 minutes a day which can be all at once or in three 10 minute intervals, but which you need to do at a brisk pace.  Swimming or biking can be substituted for walking.
6. You also need supplements because the nutrients that used to be in food no longer are due to modern industrial farming methods.  Our soils are depleted in chromium, magnesium and zinc, all of which are used in sugar metabolism.  Our livestock no longer eat greens in a pasture, out in the sun so their fat is deficient in Omega 3 fats (which should make up cell walls or they get “stiff”).  We live sedentary indoor lives so rarely make enough vitamin D, a necessary hormone.  You need 5 g of fish oil, 400-800 mg chromium, 15 mg zinc, 800 mg magnesium citrate, and 4,000-10,000 iu of Vitamin D3.  These nutrients will lower your sugar cravings and will get nutrients into your cells despite the resistant cells.
7. There are a number of herbs that may supplement any medication you may have.  Cinnamon is the best herb for lowering blood sugar, working similarly to Metformin but working synergistically if you are on it.  Take a teaspoon a day of strong smelling cinnamon, stirred in coffee, yogurt, sprinkled heavily on food (even meat.)  Fenugreek seed, preferably powdered, is also useful.  Use small amounts of pungent and aromatic spices like pepper, cayenne, cilantro and cardamom to increase circulation and antioxidants.  Seaweed salads help add minerals in a form you can use, as do nettles simmered for a half hour (1 oz/liter).
8. Bitters before meals triggers your gastric juices and lets your body know that food is coming.  Start your meal with unsweetened coffee in the morning, dandelion or radicchio greens, or bitter melon for lunch or dinner.  Or take a squirt of bitters tincture, Pancreaid by Herbalist and Alchemist or Angostura bitters.  Swedish bitters or Fernet Branca are a bit cold and should be supplemented with ginger (you can chop some up and put it in the bottle.)  This is one of the most useful steps you can take.
9. If you can’t find bitters, try a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in water before you eat.

10.  Sleep lowers cortisol and thus prevents your making additional body fat when other things are in balance.  In 1926 the average American slept 9 hours a day: today we are sleep deprived at 6 ½ hours average, and in the midst of an obesity epidemic.  In one study healthy Japanese men who were allowed to sleep only 4½ hours a night for three weeks acquired diabetic levels of blood sugar.  Get 8-9 hours, and turn off electronics and bright lights an hour before bed.  A blindfold or dark curtains help prevent light from interfering with sleep.

11.  Monitor your blood sugar, not only upon rising, but one and two hours after eating.  You do not want your blood sugar to fall below baseline immediately after eating, even if it normalizes later- this is a sign of impaired insulin resistance.  You also do not want too long an interval after eating for your blood sugar to normalize- in two hours it should come down.  If not, cut your carbohydrates, avoid eating between meals and increase exercise after eating.

12.  Maintain your medical surveillance.  See your family doctor or endocrinologist regularly.  Get your eyes checked for retinopathy.  Have your feet checked by a podiatrist if your circulation is impaired.  Watch your body for growths, tingling, numbness, non-healing sores or other signs that you need medical attention.

13.  Acupuncture can bring down blood sugar during the session, can reduce stress which causes cortisol to rise (giving abdominal obesity) and can increase circulation to limbs or non-healing sores.  There are techniques useful for people with peripheral or retinopathy.  But nothing will be more than a bandaid unless you restrict your blood sugar by eating correctly, exercising and taking supplements or medications.