Insulin Resistance and Prediabetes – Part 1
- Maria Monem
- Oct 25, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 27, 2021
What it is, what can cause it, symptoms to look out for, and how to diagnose it.
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose or blood sugar. Overtime if left untreated, it can lead to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.
Type 1 diabetes, or insulin dependent diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin by itself. In Type 2 diabetes, also the most common type of diabetes, the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't make enough insulin.
This post is about insulin resistance and prediabetes which usually happens before type 2 diabetes develops.
Insulin resistance and prediabetes are both preventable as well as reversable.
Insulin resistance and prediabetes occur when cells in your muscles, fat, and liver don't respond well to insulin.
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that helps glucose in your blood enter cells in your muscle, fat, and liver, where it’s used for energy. Glucose comes from the food you consume.
When you eat, blood glucose levels rise and your pancreas releases insulin into the blood. Insulin then lowers blood glucose to keep it in the normal range.
Some people with insulin resistance or whose beta cells in the pancreas aren’t making enough insulin to keep blood glucose in the normal range, can’t make the glucose reach the cells properly so the extra glucose stays in the bloodstream.
Prediabetes usually occurs in people who already have some insulin resistance. Prediabetes means your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
If the blood glucose levels stays higher than normal over a long period of time, you could develop type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Symptoms of Insulin Resistance:
Fatigue
Brain fog
Belly fat
Sleepiness after meals
Sugar cravings, especially after a meal
Type 2 Diabetes:
Fasting blood sugar over 120. Hemoglobin A1C test over 6.5%
Symptoms include:
Increased thirst
Frequent urination
Poor healing of wounds
Increased hunger
Unexplained weight loss
Metabolic Syndrome - A cluster of conditions, including 3 or more of the following:
High triglyceride levels
Abdominal obesity
High blood pressure
High fasting blood sugar/ glucose
Low HDL cholesterol levels
What can cause blood sugar imbalance:
Obesity and excess weight, especially belly fat.
Diet, what and how we eat. Too much food of the wrong kinds of food.
Inflammation; chronic inflammation in the fatty tissue as well as chronic inflammation related to disordered gut bacteria.
Stress; Increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol
Lack of sleep; Disrupted sleep or not enough hours.
Toxins; Plastic derivatives (BPA, pesticides, nitrates, mercury, cadmium, flame retardants, polychlorinated biphenyls.
Too little exercise or too extreme exercise. (Marathon training or bodybuilding can increase cortisol levels.)
Certain medicines, such as glucocorticoids, some antipsychotics and some medicines for HIV
Certain hormonal disorders, such as Cushing’s syndrome and acromegaly.
Blood sugar plays a big role in a lot of conditions apart from insulin resistance and diabetes. Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), Thyroid disease, Alzheimer’s, and Cortisol dysregulation are some of them.
Insulin resistance and Prediabetes is extremely common and most people don’t even realize that they have it. If you suspect that you do, you can buy a glucometer and test your glucose levels at home, but I would also recommend to make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible.
How to use a glucometer:
In order to test your blood sugar levels, you will need a glucose meter, test strips a lancet device and the lancets. The Lancet is the device used to prick the skin to release a drop of blood. Test strips are small disposable strips containing chemicals that react to glucose.
The blood droplet is placed onto the test strip. The glucose meter is the device used with the test strip to determine how much glucose is in the blood. These items can be purchased separately or all together in a test kit for about 100AED
If you want to purchase a glucometer test kit, I have attached a link to the Diapoint shop at the bottom of the page.
Directions:
Test your fasting glucose first thing in the morning after 8 hours of fasting. (Make sure you wash your hands every time before testing.
Test your glucose right before eating a meal.
Test again immediately after eating to determine how the meal affected your blood sugar.
Continue to test every 15 minutes until one hour has passed. You will test a total of four times in the hour. After you eat at 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 60 minutes.
Alternate testing some days after lunch and other days after dinner to get a good idea about what's happening at different times in the day.
Mark down the numbers on a spreadsheet every time you test so you have a record of the results and can track progress.
Sharing your results with your doctor is a very good idea.
What to look for:
Healthy fasting blood glucose levels are typically around 70 to 100 mg/dl
For most people the post meal spike in blood sugar occurs between 30 to 45 minutes after eating. Ideally you do not want your blood sugar to spike above 110.
You can test yourself after eating certain foods, especially those that are sugary, to see the effect on your blood sugar. If any food raises your levels over 20 to 25 points, it's not a good food for you and you should reduce it or avoid it.
Ideally you want your post meal blood sugar levels to drop back down to the previous fasting number or close to it around one hour after eating.
Research suggests that blood sugar levels consistently over 120 mg/dL may cause retinal damage an levels over 140 mg/dL may cause peripheral nerve damage, so it is very important to seek medical attention if you find your blood sugar levels to be consistently high.
If your fasting glucose is consistently between 100-125 mg/dL consult your doctor as this may indicate a prediabetic state. If you notice low blood sugar below 50 mg/dL, this is also not good and requires evaluation from your doctor.
It is important to stay within the healthy range when balancing blood sugars and not to go as low as possible, as this can be very dangerous.
How to diagnose insulin resistance and prediabetes?
Doctors use blood tests to find out if someone has prediabetes or insulin resistance. It is more common to test for prediabetes than insulin resistance.
Doctors most often use the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test or the A1C test to diagnose prediabetes. Sometimes doctors use the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)
Often doctors use the OGTT to check for gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. (Gestational diabetes usually goes away after the delivery.)
The A1C test reflects your average blood glucose over the past 3 months. The FPG and OGTT show your blood glucose level at the time of the test. The A1C test is not as sensitive as the other tests. In some people, it may miss prediabetes that the OGTT could catch.
The OGTT can identify how your body handles glucose after a meal—often before your fasting blood glucose level becomes abnormal.
Test Results explained for Hemoglobin A1c Test
Normal range (Non-diabetics) 72 – 100 (4 - 5.6%)
Prediabetes: 100 – 115 (5.7% and 6.4%)
Diabetes: Above 115 (6.5%)
Test Results explained for OGTT Test
Normal: Under 140 mg/dL (7.8)
Prediabetes: 140 to 199 mg/dL (7.8 – 11)
Diabetes: At or over 200 mg/dL (more than 11.1)
Test Results Explained - Fasting plasma glucose (FPG)
Normal FPG results: Below 100 (5.5)
Prediabetes FPG results: 100 to 125 (5.5 – 6.9)
Diabetes FPG results: Above 125 (6.9)
You should be tested for prediabetes if you are overweight or have obesity together with one or more other risk factors for diabetes, or if your parents, siblings, or children have type 2 diabetes.
Even if you don’t have risk factors, you should start getting tested once you reach age 45.
If the results are normal but you have other risk factors for diabetes, you should be retested at least every 3 years.
People with prediabetes have up to a 50 percent chance of developing diabetes over the next 5 to 10 years. You can take steps to manage your prediabetes and prevent type 2 diabetes.
In my next post - Insulin Resistance and Prediabetes – Part 2, you can read about what you can do to prevent or reverse insulin resistance and prediabetes.
Link to the next post below ↓
Link to the Diapoint (Diabetes supplies) Shop:
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