Insulin, Cortisol, and Resistance...Oh My!
We’ve all probably heard the term “Insulin resistance” a time or two. We know it’s something that we don’t want to become, but do we have a good grasp on what it actually is and how it develops? In order to prevent chronic disease and keep our bodies healthy as we age, we must understand certain mechanisms and why what we put into our bodies matters more than anything!
When we eat a meal high in carbohydrates (specifically simple sugars), insulin is released from the pancreas and moves the available sugar (glucose) into your cells where it can then be used to produce energy. Large, repeated insulin spikes in response to frequent carbohydrate-heavy meals create a cascade of pro-inflammatory cellular responses. All other hormones are affected by these insulin spikes and surges. Over time, most cells begin to ignore these insulin surges and insulin resistance occurs. The only cells that will always respond to insulin and take in glucose? Fat cells. Insulin and extra glucose will always have a home in fat cells, causing the pro-inflammatory environment to flourish with the addition of many more larger, more robust fat cells. Healthy blood sugar metabolism and utilization is absolutely paramount to all other processes in the body. If someone is insulin resistant or on the path towards it, this is the first and most important thing we work on to improve overall health.
The second hormone in order of importance is cortisol. Most of us have heard that cortisol is the stress hormone, and that most of us are stressed out. Cortisol is actually an extremely important hormone involved in our sleep-wake patterns. You know those days where you wake up feeling energized and ready to take on the day? That feeling is thanks to cortisol, which should be highest upon waking and taper off as the day goes on. If you have no idea what it’s like to feel energized in the morning, you likely have an alteration in your cortisol pattern. Cortisol is made by the adrenal glands, which are tiny glands situated above your kidneys. Cortisol is released when glucose is needed for energy (for example, in the morning upon waking). It is named the stress hormone because it is released during stressful situations (like being chased by a bear) to make a lot of glucose available at one time. Thankfully, not many of us are put into situations where we are frequently chased by bears. The problem is, our proverbial bears are deadlines at work, bills, family issues, and many other stressful situations that cause an increase in cortisol long-term. We are not designed to handle elevations in cortisol long-term! Sustained elevations in cortisol cause disruptions in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which is the communication pathway between the brain and adrenal glands. Unregulated and elevated cortisol will increase glucose in the blood stream by breaking down skeletal muscle, leading to production of more fat cells, more insulin surges, greater insulin resistance, and inflammation.
We can improve these damaging health consequences by doing two things:
Eating the right foods at the right times to reduce insulin surges, promote healthy blood sugar utilization and help cells become sensitive to insulin again.
Stress management techniques to restore normal cortisol patterns.
The leading cause of death in the US is heart disease. In the majority of cases, heart disease started with insulin resistance, chronic stress, and/or inflammation. Preventing and these things with diet and lifestyle changes, improving our loving relationships and connections with others, increasing the opportunities to move our bodies during the day, are absolutely imperative for our future health!