Natural Ways to Improve Your Insulin Sensitivity
Nowadays, more and more people are getting curious about insulin sensitivity, insulin resistance, and healthy blood sugar management with diabetes mellitus rapidly becoming one of the most widespread diseases on the planet. Fortunately, just about 1% of all patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus obtained this disease as heredity. The rest, diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2 have acquired the condition due to some external factors.
Why are we so excited about the news? Because it means we can prevent and adjust our lifestyles to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. How? We will dwell on this point later on in the article!
What is Insulin & Insulin Sensitivity?
Insulin is nothing but a hormone that is released by the pancreas to regulate blood glucose levels. The blood sugar or glucose rises every time we consume foods when the carbohydrates are split into glucose. Different food products possess various numbers of glucose, where sugar, sweets, junk food, carbonated drinks, etc. are rich in this element the most.
Insulin is released to decrease high blood sugar levels after each meal as it is dangerous for many organs and systems like the heart, kidney, vision, and so on.
The way body cells react to insulin is called insulin sensitivity as insulin helps the cells absorb glucose and turn it into vital energy. The higher the insulin sensitivity, the better and stronger the health.
The condition when the cells are not sensitive to insulin and do not absorb the glucose sufficiently is called insulin resistance. It is dangerous as with time the person may gain excess weight, get troubles with heart, nervous system, and finally, be diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2.
Fortunately, if you take care of your health, reconsider your routine, diet, and lifestyle, you have got great chances to reduce insulin resistance and decrease the risk factor of developing diabetes even if the processes have been already launched.
What Are the Effective Ways to Improve Insulin Sensitivity?
Regular Excercise
Activity is life. And not just in terms of losing weight, keeping fit, and bodybuilding. These are just external effect regular sports has on our bodies. Staying active during the day is crucial for the proper work of all internal body systems, including the digestive.
Thus, according to scientific studies 2013, some physical activities are more efficient to treat insulin resistance than others. The most effective is the combination of cardio and strength exercises.
Exercise is beneficial for transporting sugar to reserve in the muscles, thereby improving insulin sensitivity.
What is especially great about sports for fighting low insulin resistance is that it is effective in any age with no restrictions or limits. You can choose gym, fitness, jogging, swimming, dancing, yoga, enjoy, strengthen your body, lose weight, improve body shape, and improve your health with fun and pleasure!
Sufficient Sleep Time
Sleep the same as an activity is vital for keeping us healthy and strong. While we are taking rest, our internal organs are working actively to produce all the essential elements and hormones that can be produced just during the specific hours of the nighttime.
At the same time, if the organism does not get enough rest, it releases the stress hormone – cortisol, which has a drastically destructive impact on body systems if active for a longer time. Of course, it leads to increased insulin resistance as well.
Fortunately, if you take the situation over your control and make sure you sleep not less than 6 hours a day (8 would be just perfect), go to sleep no later than at 11 pm, you can restore the balance of hormones and improve low insulin sensitivity within quite a short time.
Diet Change
The interrelation between insulin sensitivity and diet is more than obvious. Thus, many food products like sweets, junk food, and other processed foods are richer in carbohydrates and artificial trans fats than, for instance, fresh fruits and vegetables that contributes to lower insulin sensitivity, weight gain, and other unpleasant consequences.
It does not mean you should fully change your diet. Have a closer look at your meals, their number, and what exactly you eat, and what can you do about it. If you are in love with sweets, pizza, or Coke, it does not mean you should fully exclude them from your diet. It may cause stress, and stress hormones, as we already know, are bad for insulin resistance, but you should control the amounts you consume them.
Make your meals regular, approximately at the same time of the day, do not abuse snacks. Your stomach and insulin-producing cells will be more than happy. Include more cellulose, eggs, fish, nuts into your diet. It will benefit not just managing insulin levels, but your heart, blood pressure, and of course, body weight.
Nutritional Supplements to Regulate Blood Sugar
Diet changes and regular exercise will certainly improve insulin sensitivity, and supplementation can also support results. Dietary supplements that can have a positive effect on improving sensitivity include magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, chromium, resveratrol, probiotics, and berberine.
Probiotics and omega-3s are beneficial for healthy, overweight people, according to a 2014 study. Magnesium can help reduce insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can be associated with low magnesium levels, so taking it can have a positive effect on insulin sensitivity. Resveratrol is a component of red grape skin that has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity in people with diabetes in a 2014 meta-analysis. Chromium is a mineral that promotes the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats, and supplementation with chromium (in the form of chromium picolinate) has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels.
The Bottom Line
As you see there is nothing extraordinary you should do to support good insulin sensitivity, lowering cholesterol, and maintain normal blood glucose levels: stay active, get enough sleep, eat healthily, and add necessary nutrients and supplements your body may lack from the food.
These are basic recommendations for all people who want to stay healthy active and have no problems.
We wish you strong health and a wonderful day!!!