Insulin Hormone Imbalance & Stubborn Weight Loss

At Healthy Nest we practice natural weight loss where we work to find “your best diet.” The goal is to lose one to two pounds per week. That’s our weight loss goal. It’s a gift-really, giving you a new food life that you can sustain. It’s not fast, easy or sexy, but it gets the job done—forever! It’s forever because as we take away foods, we put LOTS of delicious whole, satisfying foods on your plate. But, sometimes it doesn’t go according to plan, and weight stubbornly stays in place. Then what do we do?

Stubborn Weight Loss Because of Hormone Imbalance

One of the first places we look for stubborn weight loss is hormone balance. There are a couple of hormones that are “fat promoters.” One biggie is insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by your pancreas and is secreted through the day and especially when you eat. Insulin helps your cells to use blood sugar (glucose) to make energy. It also happens to be the main fat storage hormone in the body. It tells fat cells to store sugar/glucose as fat, and prevents stored fat from being broken down. When insulin isn’t balanced, you may become insulin resistant, where the system just isn’t working well—your blood sugar and insulin levels tend to go up, and insulin’s effectiveness with energy goes down, but sadly, the fat storage goes UP!

If insulin is out of whack, you won’t lose weight. How do we put it back into balance so weight loss can happen, you might ask? You focus on reducing carbohydrates, increase protein & healthy fats and you move. By doing these three things, you are actually sensitizing your insulin, or making it perform its function better in the body.

Sugars

Sugars come in all different forms. Most WHITE foods break down to sugar. Eliminating the “worthless whites” in favor of brown foods (think brown rice, wild rice, 100% whole wheat bread, etc.) goes a long way toward dropping sugars, which positively impacts insulin. Also, eating lots of veggies also helps insulin balance, especially if they are non-starchy veggies. Eating a salad everyday with 3-4 colors is a good way to fill up & keep your insulin in check.

Proteins & Fats

Eating good quality proteins and fats help keep you full for a long period as well as nice and balanced in energy. We get in trouble with craving carbs (worthless whites) when we get hungry. Proteins help keep us full. Fats help keep us satisfied. So, eating a big salad with chicken/steak/fish on top that has been tossed in a vinaigrette is the perfect way to help balance your insulin hormone.

Movement

Movement helps sensitize your insulin. Research shows that walking briskly or jogging improves insulin sensitivity. So, make it part of your day. 20 minutes a day is all you need, consistently.

Are you having trouble losing weight? Could be your insulin hormone is out of whack. Please visit here  to see if nutrition therapy is might help you. Our holistic nutritionists will be happy to talk with you during a complimentary 20-minute phone consultation.

Sources:

Mayo Clin Proc. 2015 Mar;90(3):372-81. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2014.12.019. Epub 2015 Jan 29. Added fructose: a principal driver of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its consequences. DiNicolantonio JJ1, O’Keefe JH2, Lucan SC3.

J Nutr. 2015 Jan;145(1):177S-83S. doi: 10.3945/jn.114.195065. Epub 2014 Dec 3.

A lower-carbohydrate, higher-fat diet reduces abdominal and intermuscular fat and increases insulin sensitivity in adults at risk of type 2 diabetes. Gower BA1, Goss AM2.

Nutr Metab (Lond). 2004; 1: 13. Published online 2004 Nov 8. doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-1-13. PMCID: PMC538279. Comparison of energy-restricted very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets on weight loss and body composition in overweight men and women. JS Volek,1 MJ Sharman,1 AL Gómez,1 DA Judelson,1 MR Rubin,1 G Watson,1 B Sokmen,1 R Silvestre,1 DN French,1and WJ Kraemer1

Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Oct;84(4):789-97. Intake of macronutrients as predictors of 5-y changes in waist circumference. Halkjaer J1, Tjønneland AThomsen BLOvervad KSørensen TI.

Diabetologia. 2008 Jul;51(7):1261-8. doi: 10.1007/s00125-008-1035-7. Epub 2008 May 20. Beneficial effects of long-chain n-3 fatty acids included in an energy-restricted diet on insulin resistance in overweight and obese European young adults. Ramel A1, Martinéz AKiely MMorais GBandarra NMThorsdottir I.

Int J Sports Med. 2000 Jan;21(1):1-12. Exercise and insulin sensitivity: a review.

Borghouts LB1, Keizer HA.

 

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