is insulin stalling your weight loss?
From Atkins to keto to low carb & carnivore, targeting insulin has long been the focal point for weight management strategies. For some, the results last, for the rest of us (myself included), they are once again, short lived.
What’s the deal with insulin & how can it affect weight loss?
The carbohydrate-insulin model of obesity (CIM) is based on the theory that, in healthy weight individuals, high intake of refined carbohydrates causes a spike in insulin & promotes storage of glucose into fat cells whilst inhibiting the use of stored fat for energy, leading to weight gain & obesity. Indeed, insulin does reduce beta-oxidation of stored fats for energy, but as expected, metabolism is more complex than this one simple concept, and a slew of well-designed research provides great evidence that focusing on carbohydrates & insulin alone will be unlikely to yield significant & or lasting fat loss results.
Let’s take a deeper look at insulin & carbohydrates in weight loss & where you may be getting stuck:
When The ‘The Hangries’ Strike: Blood sugar dips can easily lead to increased hunger & overall calorie intake and can be a preluding factor to weight gain. Termed post-prandial hypoglycaemia, this phenomenon is the result of a hormonal cascade that causes an excessive release of insulin in response to a meal, resulting in a drop in glucose below baseline, resulting in a shaky, weak, dizzy, emotional & somewhat unreasonable individual…until they have some quick carbs to return to their regular lovely selves.
But I Lost Weight So Quickly & Felt Overall Smaller When I Dropped The Carbs: When carbohydrates are ingested, some of the glucose is used for immediate energy production, a portion is stored in the liver & muscles as glycogen (as 1 glucose molecule + 3-4 water molecules) & any overall excess will be stored for later as adipose tissue. When embarking on a keto-type regime, carbohydrate intake is restricted with the aim of limiting incoming glucose from food resulting in the body turning to glycolysis to break down stored glycogen & use that for glucose energy; when this is depleted, fats can then be used to produce ketones for the dominant source of energy. The reason you feel less bloated & enjoy rapid weight loss results is due to the fast depletion of glycogen, AKA water weight, which can total up to 1-2 kg.
She Can Eat Carbs For Days & Never Puts On Weight, I Just Look At a Croissant & My Pants Get Tighter: Yes, life indeed can seem downright unfair, however, there may be more to ‘others‘ than meets the eye. From years in clinical practice & seeing a vast range of women looking for health solutions, I was able to see that not all is what it can appear to be. From digestive issues (hello diarrhoea) to extreme nervousness (fidgets away excess of 500 calories a day) to hidden food restriction (unfortunately more common than you may think), there is always an explanation why someone may appear to ‘eat everything‘ & never gain weight. A few things to keep in mind:
If you are in & out of keto / low carb, any ingested carbs will rapidly return your lost 1-2 kg water weight, this is not a bad thing, your muscles will thank you
It is impossible to gain considerable weight ‘over night‘; glycogen stores average around 400-600g (100g in liver + 300-500 in skeletal muscle), this is before it even gets a chance to be converted to fat tissue, which holds 7700 calories per kg. This means that weight gain can be relatively easy over time, but i’d bet my right kidney you would find it extremely difficult to reach that target (in addition to daily maintenance energy requirements) in order to gain 1 kg ‘overnight‘
Fibre is your bestie ! Fibre keeps you full, slows glucose digestion (essential for quietening the ‘hangries‘) & promotes healthy gut microbes which can additionally influence your blood glucose & how much energy you derive from ingested food.
Let’s get to the point, can carbs be part of a weight loss plan that not only produces results, but also lasts long term?
In short…Yes!
Multiple studies have shown that, when calories & protein are equated, high fat / low carb & high carb / low fat produce the same weight loss outcomes. However, as is the case with a lot of study results, there are always outliers, those that respond better to one approach than the other, they simply represented a smaller % of participants, hence the majority are the reported results.
What about blood tests?
The main marker tested by your GP is likely to be fasting glucose, whilst being handy, it can be a poor reflection of how you are really travelling as it only gives a recent snapshot. Adding HbA1c will reveal how you have managed glucose over a 3 month period (ideal range is under 5%), while fasting insulin is excellent for picking up very early changes as fasting insulin can elevate long before fasting glucose begins to rise.
From here, your approach will be specific to you. Do you have signs of blood glucose dysregulation (the ‘hangries‘)? if so, a lower carb approach may be particularly helpful to begin with. However, for the vast majority, some glucose-stabilising tips are all that is needed:
Make sure every meal has a good serve of protein: eg. palm sized piece of fish / chicken / beef or 2-3 eggs or 1/2 - 2/3 cup greek yoghurt / cottage cheese
Make sure every meal has some fibre: eg. vegetables / salad, legumes, wholegrain
Enjoy some pickles or a tablespoon of vinegar in your salad or in some water: acetic acid in vinegar inhibits salivary amylase which slows overall carbohydrate digestion = slower glucose absorption & increases muscle uptake of glucose from the bloodstream, bonus !
All BIOFIT recipes are created to maximise protein & fibre to keep perimenopausal changes to insulin sensitivity & the microbiome at bay.