Overcoming Insulin Resistance

    Two and half years ago, my internist diagnosed as having insulin resistance. What is insulin resistance? “Insulin resistance (IR) is a condition in which the body's cells become resistant to the effects of insulin. That is, the normal response to a given amount of insulin is reduced. As a result, higher levels of insulin are needed in order for insulin to have its proper effects. So, the pancreas compensates by trying to produce more insulin. This resistance occurs in response to the body's own insulin (endogenous) or when insulin is administered by injection (exogenous).”(From medicinenet.com). Essentially, I was slowly but surely on the road to becoming diabetic. Having both a brother and sister with diabetes dramatically increased the percentage that if I did not make radical changes in my lifestyle, I too, would end up like them.

     So I got busy. Since blood sugars were right on the border for diabetes, I could be managed without pharmaceutical intervention. My doctor did three important things for me: 1) He ordered a glucometer for me to check my blood sugars daily, 2) He sent me to a dietitian, and 3) He told me to start losing weight and exercising. All I knew when I began this journey was I was not willing to become another type 2 diabetic patient.

    After two and a half years I have had an amazing turn around in management of my insulin resistance. First, I stopped eating almost everything with sugar in it and 90% of processed carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice, etc.). I am now a fanatic about reading food labels to ensure I am not unwittingly eating or drinking anything high in sugar. Changing my diet was not that difficult since I have never been dialed into sweets. However, giving up bread was another story. I was raised in the grain belt where bread was served in copious quantities with every meal. That has been hard. Every so often I will eat bread but only a small piece. Secondly, I became compulsive about doing daily blood sugars. It is hard to lie to yourself about your relationship with food when your glucometer is an effective lie detector. I cannot understand the denial which drives people who are insulin resistant and diabetic, to stubbornly refuse to do glucometer testing. Thirdly, I began walking on a regular basis. One cannot simply hope one’s blood sugar will decrease with diet alone. Exercise will make a major difference in effectively controlling excess blood sugar. The final step was losing weight. Since my journey with insulin resistance began, I have lost over 55lbs. I have 30lbs more to go. After two and a half years, my blood sugars have gone from 125 dcl and above to consistently being in the 70s. It is about progress not perfection: there are days I have given in to yummy French fries only to have it bite me back in my morning glucose readings. One cannot afford complacency when dealing with a chronic condition.

    Another major contributor to my success, not necessarily advocated by my internist, was taken certain supplements. The National Institute of Health has a great website on glucose lowering supplements that have been shown promise in reducing blood sugar. I started regularly taking a number of these substances which had proven to be very effective at lowering my post prandial and morning blood sugars. However, my doctor has a list of everything I take which is especially critical if you are on pharmaceutical glucose lowering meds.

    Probably the biggest enemies of controlling blood sugar are your loved ones, friends, coworkers, grocery stores, and food industry. For as much as loved ones and friends say they want to support your management of blood sugar, they are quick to offer that piece of birthday cake and tell you a little piece of this or that won’t hurt you. I work in Public Health where, if anyone should be proactive in prevention of the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, they should. Still, every week my coworkers are bringing in donuts, pastries, and cakes insisting one bite will do me no wrong. I am amazed how many of my diagnosed diabetic colleagues cave in to this enticement. Even worse are the iniquitous purveyors of sugar: grocery stores and the food industry. Just walking into a grocery store one gets hit by a wall of carbohydrates-chips, bread, sodas, desserts, etc. They design grocery stores to cater to the hypnotic allure of sugar by ensuring immediate access to your cravings front and center. My final comment is for the pernicious food industry who is ground zero for hyperglycemia. One only has to read a label to see how much sugar is added to almost everything. FYI: 4 grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon of sugar. Do the math the next time you read a label detailing how much sugar is in something you buy. We all should be horrified by this.