What causes Insulin Resistance?
While your genes (see chapter 11) can be a contributory cause of Insulin Resistance – there is a higher risk of Insulin Resistance amongst people of South Asian origin – generally speaking there are numerous controllable factors that cause or exacerbate Insulin Resistance. The most significant one is related to body weight, or more specifically body over-fatness, especially around the middle. This is compounded by a sedentary lifestyle and the resulting lack of muscle tissue, by ageing, stress, high blood pressure and by excess consumption of refined carbohydrates, over-processed food, saturated fat and processed vegetable fat. Interestingly, digestive health also plays an important role. Obviously, with the exception of genetic factors and ageing, many of these factors are under our control and we can take positive action. You can look at how these factors are playing a part in your health in chapter 3, with the Insulin Resistance questionnaire.
Contributory factors in Insulin Resistance
Insulin Resistance results from the body’s protective mechanism to prevent high blood glucose. Insulin Resistance is an extremely common problem that can cause disease and limit life span. There are many things that raise blood glucose (e.g. refined carbohydrates, sugar stress) but just one that lowers it: insulin. Insulin Resistance is reversible if you make changes to your diet and lifestyle.
Summary of key points
They’re sweet, they’re comforting, they give you an instant feelgood high – small wonder that so many of us keep on turning to refined carbohydrates and sugar. We’re also surrounded by food products containing these instantly gratifying substances – fizzy drinks, chocolate bars, bagels, pasta, ice cream, sweets to suck, chew or swallow – and because the ‘fix’ we get from them is sweet and addictive, we are tempted time and time again.
We have been refining foods for centuries, as far back as the ancient Pharaohs who also observed the dangers of excess carbohydrates, but never as intensively since the middle of the 20th century. Too busy, too tired, too dissatisfied or too depressed, we are easily seduced by the promise of a quick sugar or carb high. So, you may not want to hear it but carbohydrates and sugars really are the bad guys, especially when it comes to Insulin Resistance and all of its knock-on effects. Understandably, it is a message that most people don’t want to hear. We are consuming more sugar in our diets today than ever before: in the UK the average person consumes 1201b of sugar a year, while in the USA the average person eats a staggering 1951b. This equates to people in the UK eating nothing except sugar every fifth day and in the US every fourth!
Captain Cleave on sugar
As early as the 1930s a Royal Naval doctor, Captain Thomas Latimer Cleave, identified the dangers of refined carbohydrates and sugar. He observed the correlation between rising incidences of heart and bowel disorders, obesity, diabetes, varicose veins, dental decay, haemorrhoids and related diseases with the under-consumption of dietary fibre and over-consumption of refined carbohydrates. Sailing around the world between different countries and communities,
