Insulin Hormone Imbalance and Weight Loss
How forever weight loss works when it comes to insulin 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!
Insulin
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. Reach out to chat with a holistic nutritionist today.