Are High Insulin Levels Making You Fat?

High insulin levels prevent weight loss and may very well be making you unhealthy as well.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to reduce elevated insulin levels.

Effects of Insulin on Glucose

Insulin is a hormone that is produced by specialized cells within the pancreas. Insulin is released into the bloodstream by these cells whenever blood levels of glucose or “blood sugar” become elevated.

Glucose is the fuel used by the body's cells to produce energy, and insulin is the hormone that allows glucose to enter the cells where it can be utilized. Without insulin, cells will literally starve to death.

However, while it is essential to have enough insulin, too much insulin is not a good thing.

That’s because, in addition to allowing glucose to enter cells, insulin also stimulates the synthesis of fat and prevents fat from breaking down.



Effects of insulin on Fat

The effects of insulin on body fat are perhaps best exemplified by two diseases: Type I diabetes and insulinoma.

Type I diabetes, sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes, is a disease in which the pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Unless they receive insulin injections, people with type I diabetes become extremely thin and are unable to gain weight – regardless of how many calories they eat.

At the other extreme, people who develop an insulin secreting tumor of the pancreas or “insulinoma”. These people have very high insulin levels. As a result, experience weight gain without increasing the number of calories they consume and are typically unable to lose weight until the tumor is surgically removed.



Too Much Insulin: Insulin and Diet

High insulin levels result from eating too much of the wrong type of foods, particularly from eating foods that are high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are sugars. When you digest carbohydrates some of these sugars enter the blood stream where they raise blood sugar levels and stimulate the release of insulin. This is normal.

However, if you eat a meal that is very high in carbohydrates and especially one that is high in refined carbohydrates or simple sugars like sweets, a large amount of sugar can enter the bloodstream very quickly. This causes a large and rapid elevation of blood sugar which stimulates the release of a correspondingly large amount of insulin.

The purpose of this insulin is to get the sugar out of your blood stream and into your cells where it can be used for energy.

However, because insulin also stimulates fat synthesis and fat storage the high insulin levels that occurs following a high-carbohydrate meal virtually ensure that all the sugar you just ate gets converted into fat.

These high insulin levels can also cause too much glucose to enter your cells. When this happens, your blood sugar level not only drops, it drops below normal levels.

This condition, which is known as reactive or “rebound” hypoglycemia, creates symptoms of weakness, fatigue, light-headedness and hunger that typically occur within an hour or two of eating a high-carbohydrate meal.

In this way eating too much carbohydrate can lead to a vicious cycle of eating, fat synthesis, hunger and eating again.



More Effects Of Insulin

Too much insulin not only causes fat synthesis it also causes much of that fat to be deposited in the abdominal area. Abdominal or visceral fat is particularly injurious because it acts as a secretory gland, releasing substances that cause tissues to become resistance to the effects of insulin.

When tissues become resistant to insulin, glucose does not enter cells in response to normal levels of the hormone. As a result, blood sugar levels remain high and continue to stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin, which in turn stimulates the synthesis of even more fat.

In other words, once you acquire an excess amount of abdominal fat, that fat starts making substances that will not only prevent you from losing the weight you’ve gained but will also make it easier for you to gain even more weight.

And the bad news doesn’t end there.

In addition to creating obesity and impeding weight loss, elevated insulin levels also cause generalized inflammation, a condition which has been linked to the development numerous diseases including coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

This is why people who carry excess body fat around their middle (apple body-types) are at high risk for developing these conditions.



The Solution Is On Your Plate

Clearly, if you want to lose excess body fat, it is necessary to control your insulin levels. You do this by eating the right amount of the right foods and by exercising. To learn how click here.


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