HIGH INSULIN, High Sugar and Weight

These can lead to diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia.

High insulin symptoms include weight gain, especially in the abdomen, sugar cravings,  fatigue, high blood pressure, joint pain, other pain syndromes, high triglycerides, and gout. However it is very possible to have high insulin and have none of the above symptoms.

High Insulin, the most profound and pervasive health issue is rarely discussed by doctors or the media. We hear a great deal about the obesity epidemic but it’s insulin dysregulation, also known as metabolic syndrome, that’s behind it. Long before you develop high blood sugar (pre-diabetes or diabetes) your insulin goes up to try to keep the sugar in the normal range. The problem is that the high blood insulin level is inflammatory. The high insulin stimulates the chemistry in our body that makes pro inflammatory chemicals called cytokines. Not only does it cause our bodies to hurt and to hold on to weight, but more importantly, this inflammation at a cellular level is a major factor in the development of all the major diseases of the modern world: heart disease, cancer, and dementia. This inflammation contributes to the onset of these diseases and inflammation speeds their progression.

Eventually, in some people, the increasing insulin level can no longer control the blood sugar and the individual develops diabetes. Long before you have full-on diabetes, the increased sugar levels and the high insulin can lead to hypertension, higher lipid levels, tendency toward joint pain, and weight gain, especially abdominal weight gain.

High abdominal fat is associated with an increase risk to cancer and heart disease. After the blood sugar reaches the very high levels found in diabetes it can do further damage to the arteries and organs of our bodies.

To avoid or reverse this cut out sugar, white flour and refined carbohydrates except in very small quantities. Eat plenty or protein, healthy fats and lots of vegetables and exercise.

Exercise is of major importance in lowering insulin. Find something you like and do it daily for at least 30 minutes or every other day for 60minutes. Some of us will need to exercise for an hour a day, possibly longer if the exercise you do is not vigorous. Take up dancing, roller skating, biking, hiking or the trampoline. If you have not exercised in a while start slowly with 10 or 15 minutes per day and work up gradually to 30 to 60 minutes per day. Please realize you will be unlikely to lose weight when you begin. It may take up to a year to start losing weight. But within weeks you will be increasing your muscle mass, decreasing your body fat, changing your shape and most importantly lowering your insulin levels, your average blood sugar levels, your inflammatory levels and lowering your risk of all the  diseases of the modern world!

Supplements that help control blood sugar:
Chromium, vanadium, Gymnema sylvestre, cinnamon, fenugreek