Diet and Weight Loss Tips

Insulin resistance can be a precursor to diabetes or it can be a metabolic disorder by itself. Having Insulin Resistance doesn’t mean that you will automatically develop diabetes, but most experts say that if you have Insulin Resistance you will have an increased risk of developing diabetes.

Most experts estimate that between 65 and 70 million Americans suffer from some degree of Insulin Resistance.

This is largely due to the American diet, which mostly consists of fast food, fried, high fat foods, sugary sodas and sports drinks, and other unhealthy foods.

If your body is insulin resistant, it means that your body is producing insulin but your cells are not recognizing the insulin. If you are insulin resistant that could be part of the reason that you have a hard time losing weight.

Insulin resistance is a relatively new disorder, but diabetes experts have said that identifying insulin resistance is an important step forward in identifying and treating early diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Symptoms of Insulin Resistance

If you have three or more of the symptoms that are commonly associated with Insulin Resistance, it would be a good idea to see your doctor. If you are really insulin resistant you can protect your health by making lifestyle changes now so that you don’t end up with more serious health problems later on.

The symptoms of Insulin Resistance include:

• Fatigue
• Brain fogginess and inability to focus
• Low blood sugar. Intestinal bloating
• Sleepiness
• Weight gain, fat storage, difficulty losing weight
• Increased triglycerides
• Increased blood pressure
• Depression

Waist To Hip Ratio

Another good way to tell if you could be insulin resistant is to check your waist to hip ratio. Doctors that specialize in diagnosing insulin resistance say that if you have more fat around your waist than around your hips there is a strong chance that you might be insulin resistant.

Using the waist to hip ratio in conjunction with the other symptoms of Insulin Resistance is usually a more reliable way to tell if you might be insulin resistant since the other symptoms of insulin resistance could also be indicating another problem.

So how do you check your waist to hip ratio? You can do it right now. Just get a tape measure. Hold the tape measure taut across the thickest part of your waist. No cheating! Make the tape measure taut but not tight; about the same as a belt. Write that number down.

Then take the tape measure and hold it across the fullest part of your hips, usually about four to six inches below your bellybutton. Pull it taut but not tight, just like you did when you were measuring your waist. Write that number down.

Then divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement and that number is your waist to hip ratio. A waist to hip ratio of more than .8 for men and 1.0 for women is considered obese.

If you have a waist to hip ratio higher than that you could be insulin resistant.

So if your waist measures 30 inches and your hips measure 40 inches, your waist to hip ratio would be 0.75, which is within the acceptable range. But if your waist measurement is 40 and your hip measurement is 36, your waist to hip ratio would be 1.1, meaning that your abdomen is obese.

The waist to hip ratio is not a good indication of overall obesity. Experts use the Body Mass Index to determine general obesity. But if your abdomen has more fat than other parts of your body, which is measured by the waist to hip ratio, then you might be insulin resistant.

If you take your waist to hip ratio and you are concerned with the results, make an appointment to see your doctor. Your doctor can tell you if you should be concerned about insulin resistance or if you need to make some lifestyle changes to get healthier.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 17th, 2008 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Weight Loss Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.