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With a diabetes epidemic on the rise, most folks are more concerned about having too little insulin rather than too much – as diabetes is marked by a lack of insulin production.
For most Americans, it is the chronic over-production of insulin that, over time, burns out the pancreas’ ability to adequately produce insulin. The over-production of insulin is the underlying epidemic of our time, and most doctors rarely test for it. Insulin levels will begin to rise way before blood sugars begin to creep out of the normal range. High insulin levels have been recognized as contributing factors to a variety of cancers, weight gain and obesity. (1,2,3)
Our Feeding Frenzy
High-glycemic index foods, simple sugars and refined carbohydrates only deliver short bursts of energy, leaving you craving more in just a few quick hours. These nutrient-sparse foods encourage us to overeat the amount of calories we actually can utilize. The result is scary – we have 50 percent of the American population overweight, one-third obese, another third with pre-diabetes, and 10 percent with type II diabetes. (3,4)
The Silent Killer
While we continue to overshoot the calorie runway, watching cancers, blood sugars and obesity levels rise, insulin quietly creeps up into dangerous levels. While insulin is a hormone most popular for delivering sugar from the blood into the cells, it is also a growth hormone. This means that it increases cellular division rates (often without normal DNA gene regulation) and the growth of fat cells – most notably belly and hip fat. (4)
As we all know, if you eat too much, the excess will be converted into fat as a storage supply of energy for later. As the fat cells swell, they begin to produce aggravating agents, called cytokines, which block the ability for insulin to effectively deliver sugar into the cells from the bloodstream. The pancreas’ response to that is to secrete more insulin in an attempt to get the sugar out of the blood, but excess sugar deposited anywhere in the body causes problems. (4)
Not only is excess insulin in the blood linked to weight gain and blood sugar issues, the new research is linking it to a variety of cancers. For example, in one study, a high-sugar, insulin-provoking diet increased the risk of breast cancer by 36-41 percent. (1)
Another study showed that obese women with the higher percentage of belly and hip fat had a 70 percent increased risk of pancreatic cancer. (4) In another study involving the evaluations of routine colonoscopies, the patients with the highest insulin levels had a 17-42 percent increased risk of a cancerous growth in the colon. (5)
Healthy Insulin Levels
According to some of the leading blood sugar experts, fasting insulin levels should be part of your regular blood sugar screening. This should be done with a fasting glucose test (healthiest range 70-85mg/dL) and a Hemoglobin A1c, which is a 3-month average blood sugar test (healthiest range is below 5%). The healthiest insulin fasting level should be below 7 mcIU/ml. (6)
Manage Insulin Naturally
Of course, the most effective way to lower insulin levels is to cut sugar, processed foods and high-glycemic foods out of the diet. To accomplish this, I highly suggest reading my FREE eBook, Blood Sugar Secrets to Health and Longevity.
In addition, certain nutrients and foods have been found to be effective in combination with holistic regimens designed to support the body’s natural ability to regulate insulin levels.
- In preliminary studies, supplementation with Resveratrol, a phenol naturally occurring in grapes and red wine, has been linked to short-term positive effects on overall insulin health in patients with blood sugar concerns. (7)
- In combination with caloric restrictions, supplementation with EPA and DHA Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish oils, were found to support the homeostasis of insulin levels in individuals with weight-related issues compared with caloric restrictions alone. (8)
- Supplementation with green tea and vitamin E has been shown to compliment the benefits of regular moderate exercise on the metabolic health of elderly individuals with no other health concerns. (9)
An Important Note: Chronically elevated fasting insulin levels, defined as >25 mcIU/mL, are a marker of Insulin Resistance Syndrome, a condition that can predispose you to develop diabetes, heart disease, and other serious health conditions. If you are concerned that you insulin levels may be chronically elevated, please speak with your primary care physician before embarking on any self-care regimen.
But the solution’s pretty simple, isn’t it? For most people, reduction of hormone-altering fat cells, increase of circulation (healthy angiogenesis), increase of muscle mass and tone (through exercise and nutrition), cutting out synthetic foods, home-cooking meals with fresh, living foods, reduction of caffeine and hormone-altering substances (soy, plastics, dairy temporarily, certain seeds and grains like flaxseed and wheat, white sugar and corn ‘products,’ etc), introduction of bitter and astringent taste (ex.: lemons/limes, persimmons, medicinal herbs, cooking herbs), leaning heavier on the pungent taste for some people (clove, turmeric, cinnamon, black/long pepper, nutmeg, vegetables like radish and beets, ginger, – fresh as opposed to canned/frozen vegetables also contain more pungent quality), incorporation of mediation and movement, whether or not it’s exercise-related … also re-establishment of nature routines in sleep and eating, cutting out a meal and eating twice (or even once) per day with few snacks, use of neti and other mild cleansing techniques, –
Really just doing healthy things in general for a long time! Okay, the IDEA is simple. The results are up to how much effort people put in to change their stuck lifestyle!
Amen!!
Yes, it is all very simple BUT I eat all Fresh organic food, cook every single day, ( no processed if occasionally) I watch my carbs and eat sprouted or whole wheat and I am not overweight,(5’7″ ,132 lbs) excersize regularly, and I have an ACI of 6.2 and glucose of 99. Explain this to me! What am I doing wrong?
I tried eliminating carbs for 3 months and lost 7 lbs but it made no difference with my blood results.
The best advice I have for you is that everyone has a different situation with different needs! One method very rarely works for everyone. “The IDEA is simple;” that’s certainly true. No one can claim to know your situation and body better than you. I’ve had mysterious health problems before, so I can understand the frustration that comes with it. For example, for years I had problems with my skin, though I ate the best diet for the skin and made sure to do cleanses and apply high-dollar medicinal clay topically, all that. One day I just let the obsession go and now I don’t have skin problems. When did that fix occur? I can’t say! Similarly, I’ve had tendonitis problems before that wouldn’t go away. No recommendation would work. The missing fact was that I had subtle nutrient imbalances due to the things I was trying to use as a fix for tendonitis. Something obvious I hadn’t considered was that I was exercising the parts of my body related to the tendons almost every day. One day it disappeared, after a long time of effort, and I never really figured out what (if at all) was the root cause. I’ve had “mystery” health problems like the above with non-diabetic glucose regulation as well, and I can’t give exact steps on how to fix that one…
Keep trying things! Above all, cultivate health in the mind, and build a routine that your body can get used to. Stay away from anything unnatural – whether that’s restaurant food or shaving cream or whatever – because those types of things can have effects that you wouldn’t expect, especially when they pile up. Maybe try getting more sulfur in your diet – dark leafy greens like collards and kale, maybe try very low doses of an MSM supplement. Be sure you’re getting all of your minerals, too. Being low on a seemingly unrelated nutrient can cause a cascade of bad effects that aren’t easily traced back to a health problem.
Wishing you success with your health! Everyone’s different. But when you find you’re stuck with a problem no matter what, change everything completely and see what happens. You don’t have much to lose!
Oh, and I’m not affiliated with JD or his website, but maybe consider some of his digestive reset advice. When you’ve got stubborn health problems that don’t seem to be reacting well (or at all) to all the healthy stuff in the world, there’s a possibility that the body will just naturally require a lot of time to fix it, on the side of regular duties. A digestive reset and gentle cleansing can correct a ton of problems that seem “stuck.” In the natural world, you might have to just go with the flow and let the problems work their way out over time. Sometimes health is about that one missing key that changes everything, but more often than not it’s a slow process that requires understanding and patience. You never know!
Thank you for your input.
Rene, I have had the same problem for the last couple of years and it seemed that no matter what I did with my diet it never made an impact. I finally am seeing results after doing a gut healing protocol and an adrenal reset protocol. My numbers are finally starting to come back in line. Look into any gut issues you may have and then look into adrenal and thyroid. Malfunction in the endocrine system that is impacting the gut and/or the adrenals and thyroid can have an impact on your blood sugar. So, with all that being said, I would look at gut first and then look into adrenals. Hope this helps.
Thanks Patty, I don’t have any digestion problems that I am aware of . But I will consider look into my endocrine system.