I am insulin resistance - a side effect of PCOS - anyone have any good recomendations for suitible diet?!
Question: I am insulin resistance - a side effect of PCOS - anyone have any good recomendations for suitible diet.?
Definition
Insulin resistance is not a disease as such but rather a state or condition in which a person's body tissues have a lowered level of response to insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas that helps to regulate the level of glucose (sugar) in the body. As a result, the person's body produces larger quantities of insulin to maintain normal levels of glucose in the blood. There is considerable individual variation in sensitivity to insulin within the general population, with the most insulin-sensitive persons being as much as six times as sensitive to the hormone as those identified as most resistant. Some doctors use an arbitrary number, defining insulin resistance as a need for 200 or more units of insulin per day to control blood sugar levels. Various researchers have estimated that 3-16 percent of the general population in the United States and Canada is insulin-resistant; another figure that is sometimes given is 70-80 million Americans.
Insulin resistance can be thought of as a set of metabolic dysfunctions associated with or contributing to a range of serious health problems. These disorders include type 2 diabetes (formerly called adult-onset or non-insulin-dependent diabetes), the metabolic syndrome (formerly known as syndrome X), obesity, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Some doctors prefer the term "insulin resistance syndrome" to "metabolic syndrome."
Description
To understand insulin resistance, it may be helpful for the reader to have a brief account of the way insulin works in the body. After a person eats a meal, digestive juices in the small intestine break down starch or complex sugars in the food into glucose, a simple sugar. The glucose then passes into the bloodstream. When the concentration of glucose in the blood reaches a certain point, the pancreas is stimulated to release insulin into the blood. As the insulin reaches cells in muscle and fatty (adipose) tissues, it attaches itself to molecules called insulin receptors on the surface of the cells. The activation of the insulin receptors sets in motion a series of complex biochemical signals within the cells that allow the cells to take in the glucose and convert it to energy. If the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin or the insulin receptors do not function properly, the cells cannot take in the glucose and the level of glucose in the blood remains high.
The insulin may fail to bind to the insulin receptors for any of several reasons. Some persons inherit a gene mutation that leads to the production of a defective form of insulin that cannot bind normally to the insulin receptor. Others may have one of two types of abnormalities in the insulin receptors themselves. In type A, the insulin receptor is missing from the cell surface or does not function properly. In type B, the person's immune system produces autoantibodies to the insulin receptor.
In the early stages of insulin resistance, the pancreas steps up its production of insulin in order to control the increased levels of glucose in the blood. As a result, it is not unusual for patients to have high blood sugar levels and high blood insulin levels (a condition known as hyperinsulinemia) at the same time. If insulin resistance is not detected and treated, however, the islets of Langerhans (the insulin-secreting groups of cells) in the pancreas may eventually shut down and decrease in number.Health Question & Answer
Insulin resistance is not a disease as such but rather a state or condition in which a person's body tissues have a lowered level of response to insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas that helps to regulate the level of glucose (sugar) in the body. As a result, the person's body produces larger quantities of insulin to maintain normal levels of glucose in the blood. There is considerable individual variation in sensitivity to insulin within the general population, with the most insulin-sensitive persons being as much as six times as sensitive to the hormone as those identified as most resistant. Some doctors use an arbitrary number, defining insulin resistance as a need for 200 or more units of insulin per day to control blood sugar levels. Various researchers have estimated that 3-16 percent of the general population in the United States and Canada is insulin-resistant; another figure that is sometimes given is 70-80 million Americans.
Insulin resistance can be thought of as a set of metabolic dysfunctions associated with or contributing to a range of serious health problems. These disorders include type 2 diabetes (formerly called adult-onset or non-insulin-dependent diabetes), the metabolic syndrome (formerly known as syndrome X), obesity, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Some doctors prefer the term "insulin resistance syndrome" to "metabolic syndrome."
Description
To understand insulin resistance, it may be helpful for the reader to have a brief account of the way insulin works in the body. After a person eats a meal, digestive juices in the small intestine break down starch or complex sugars in the food into glucose, a simple sugar. The glucose then passes into the bloodstream. When the concentration of glucose in the blood reaches a certain point, the pancreas is stimulated to release insulin into the blood. As the insulin reaches cells in muscle and fatty (adipose) tissues, it attaches itself to molecules called insulin receptors on the surface of the cells. The activation of the insulin receptors sets in motion a series of complex biochemical signals within the cells that allow the cells to take in the glucose and convert it to energy. If the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin or the insulin receptors do not function properly, the cells cannot take in the glucose and the level of glucose in the blood remains high.
The insulin may fail to bind to the insulin receptors for any of several reasons. Some persons inherit a gene mutation that leads to the production of a defective form of insulin that cannot bind normally to the insulin receptor. Others may have one of two types of abnormalities in the insulin receptors themselves. In type A, the insulin receptor is missing from the cell surface or does not function properly. In type B, the person's immune system produces autoantibodies to the insulin receptor.
In the early stages of insulin resistance, the pancreas steps up its production of insulin in order to control the increased levels of glucose in the blood. As a result, it is not unusual for patients to have high blood sugar levels and high blood insulin levels (a condition known as hyperinsulinemia) at the same time. If insulin resistance is not detected and treated, however, the islets of Langerhans (the insulin-secreting groups of cells) in the pancreas may eventually shut down and decrease in number.Health Question & Answer
Answers:
The information offered by Crayon Girl is good. The foods that she's telling you to avoid are high glycaemic index (GI) foods.
Ideally you should be aiming to eat smaller meals, of low glycaemic index foods, but more frequently. So, instead of having 3 main meals in a day, you could try breaking this down to 6 smaller meals a day, with a few hours between them. This lessons the chances of you having a 'sugar spike' where your blood sugar level rises rapidly, causing your pancreas to release more insulin in an attempt to deal with it.
Take a look at the following sites for more information on the Glycaemic Index [Glycemic Index, if you're American].
The first site gives a list of the top 50 foods (though I don't know who chose that 50) with their respective glycaemic index values.
Edit:
The lower the glycaemic index value, the less likely you are to produce more insulin in dealing with it.Health Question & Answer
Ideally you should be aiming to eat smaller meals, of low glycaemic index foods, but more frequently. So, instead of having 3 main meals in a day, you could try breaking this down to 6 smaller meals a day, with a few hours between them. This lessons the chances of you having a 'sugar spike' where your blood sugar level rises rapidly, causing your pancreas to release more insulin in an attempt to deal with it.
Take a look at the following sites for more information on the Glycaemic Index [Glycemic Index, if you're American].
The first site gives a list of the top 50 foods (though I don't know who chose that 50) with their respective glycaemic index values.
Edit:
The lower the glycaemic index value, the less likely you are to produce more insulin in dealing with it.Health Question & Answer
I have the same condition and this is what my doctors (at home and in England) told me:
avoid white bread and all wheat flour products
cut down on sugar as much as possible
avoid drinking fruit juice
exercise
eat 3 meals a day, especially breakfast to keep sugar levels down
Good luck!Health Question & Answer
avoid white bread and all wheat flour products
cut down on sugar as much as possible
avoid drinking fruit juice
exercise
eat 3 meals a day, especially breakfast to keep sugar levels down
Good luck!Health Question & Answer