Insulin resistance is a term we are starting to hear more and more of and is often at the core of why weight may be easier to gain and harder to lose for some people and also it is an underlying factor in many conditions such as PCOS and diabetes and infertility. Insulin resistance means that your body does not use the hormone insulin as effectively as it should, especially in the muscles and liver.
Being insulin resistant means the pancreas needs to release more insulin than usual to maintain normal blood glucose levels. It is being said that more than a quarter of the population might have some degree of resistance to insulin.
If the pancreas can’t produce extra insulin to overcome your body’s resistance, your blood glucose levels will rise and you will develop impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes frequently also have other features of metabolic syndrome and a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease.
The greater your waist circumference is the higher your risk of having insulin resistance becomes. Central obesity is when the main deposits of body fat are around the abdomen and the upper body.
In order to manage your insulin resistance it is vital to make significant lifestyle changes. This involves learning about a certain way of eating and incorporating regular exercise into your daily life.
All available lifestyle literature and references are available for you to help you best understand what this means for you and how to best manage it. We will provide you with a comprehensive lifestyle guide in collaboration with your medical practitioner so that you can do all you can to prevent developing type 2 diabetes. People often report how much better they start to feel once their blood glucose levels go down and their insulin resistance starts to improve.
