Low Carb Meals Improve Insulin Resistance
Insulin—that finicky hormone that is super important when it comes to your metabolism. Its job is to regulate the glucose present in the blood so that our body can utilize it for energy as well as other bodily functions. We start running into issues when we become insulin resistant which is where the hormone isn’t effectively removing the glucose from the blood and forces the pancreas into overdrive to try and produce more insulin in an effort to help. When this happens, many tend to go the route of low carb meals
If the body continues to require more insulin regularly to manage glucose in the blood, the likelihood of prediabetes or full-blown diabetes is evident. Insulin resistance can also lead to high blood pressure (the silent killer). Therefore, the food we eat becomes extremely important in maintaining our health.
Research is now showing some promising outlooks when the combination of multiple low carb meals are added to a daily meal plan.
What’s research showing on low carb meals?
Researchers took a group of participants and had them eat three low carb meals during the day and found that in doing so, they had lower post-meal insulin resistance. The study also found that after two hours of exercise prior to meals, it had no bearing on insulin resistance which is surprising as exercise is supposed to lower blood sugar levels as well as lower insulin resistance.
A small sample was used for the study with low carb meals
While there were only 32 participants in the study, the findings were very significant. The group was made up of post-menopausal metabolically healthy women and split into four different groups. The groups were either given meals consisting of 30% or 60% carbohydrates. Along with the meal, they were also either not engaged in any physical activity prior to their meals or they were to complete a moderate-intensity exercise.
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The study showed that after the third meal of the day (generally in the evening), the low-carbohydrate group showed a definite reduction in insulin resistance. The high-carbohydrate group after their third meal still showed high post-meal insulin levels.
What are the researchers saying?
One researcher said, “We showed an acute, one-day reduction in insulin resistance after the third low-carbohydrate meal eaten in the evening, so one could argue that this is transient and insignificant. But at least two other studies where high-carbohydrate meals were fed to volunteers for 5 and for 14 days show that the outcome was worrisome. These subjects developed increased fasting insulin secretion and insulin resistance, increased glucose release by the liver which produced high blood sugar, and dramatically lowered fat oxidation that contributes to obesity. These then were more persistent effects that could be a path to prediabetes and diabetes.
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