Obesity has become a visible problem, which in the current times constitutes a real challenge for medicine. As a result of pathological energy storage, the norms of adapting abilities of the organism are considerably exceeded, which consequently causes many civilization diseases.
What is the cause of problems with insulin sensitivity?
The excess of fatty tissue significantly burdens heart and leads to degeneration of blood vessels, diabetes, liver or kidney disorders. Despite the fact that obesity is not a fatal disease, as a consequence it may cause such an effect related to the failure of many organs.
The main hormone, that has a lot in common with this state is insulin. However, we need to remember that insulin itself doesn’t lead to obesity, which is caused as a consequence of improper diet or bad eating habit as well as genetic burden. It should be highlighted that insulin has twofold effect. As the most anabolic hormone, it effectively supports building muscle mass and simultaneously it may lead to considerable deterioration of the silhouette or health due to the excess of fatty tissue that will cause insulin-resistance.
How to improve insulin sensitivity?
Before we start taking supplements, the effect of which is directed at the support of insulin sensitivity, we should get interested in the nutrition strategy that would aim at restoring homeostasis of sugar metabolism. We should bear in mind that the organism should have a certain limit of calories that we should stick to, avoiding the effect of overeating. This strategy will allow us to control body mass, preventing the storage of fatty tissue. When we want to build muscle mass, we should focus on slow increase of kilograms, up to 1 kg per month, which will effectively limit fat storage. A good solution that allows to maintain the level of tissue sensitivity to the effect of insulin during building muscle mass is applying a diet of carb cycling kind.
During fat loss, when fat level of a given person is high, it is recommended to use diets based on low supply of carbohydrates, which aims at restoring insulin sensitivity. One may apply a low-carb diet, Kwasniewski’s diet and in extreme cases, the attack phase of Dukan’s diet may be also helpful.
Apart from dietary effects, an important aspect is to maintain low level of fatty tissue in the organism. Usually, the boundary value that makes it impossible to build good-quality mass is ca. 15% of body fat in case of men. Certainly, this is a conventionally accepted level of fatty tissue and individual predisposition will condition the abilities of a given person. The less fatty tissue we have, the better utilization of carbohydrates by the organism, but the more fat, the less efficient this effect and consequently we store even more energy.
What about supplementation?
The market of products that are addressed not only to sportsmen, but also to diabetics who deal with sugar fluctuations during the day offers a wide array of various active substances, the effect of which is comparable to the effect of metformin. The choice is the following:
- gymnema sylvestre – plant extract that effectively decreases the level of sugar in blood, stabilizing the fluctuations of its level. It is ideal during the first stages of weight loss, as support in restoring metabolic functions;
- berberine – a substance from, i.a. goldenseal, works well in the fight with fluctuations in blood sugar level; in the studies the amount of 1500 mg was compared to the effect of metformin;
- white mulberry – regulates the pace of carbohydrate absorption, thanks to which the concentration of glucose in blood is lower;
- ALA – regulates the level of glucose, supports its effective utilization by facilitating transport processes. Its effect supports glycogen storage, thanks to which, e.g. loading during reducing is effectively utilized;
- cinnamon – the main effect of cinnamon consists in delaying the absorption of carbohydrates from the digestive system, thanks to which the amount of glucose in the bloodstream is slightly lower;
- apple cider vinegar – apart from the effect supporting the decrease of sugar level in blood and sensitizing tissues to the effect of insulin, it additionally supports the functions of the stomach, acidifying its environment;
- piperine – the effect of piperine has a wide influence on the human organism. It exhibits the effect supporting the functions of the digestive system, regulates the pace of metabolic changes, lowers the level of sugar in blood;
- chromium – its lack in the organism is mainly related to excessive appetite and appetite for sweets. Its supplementation regulates the fluctuation of sugar level in blood, which results in limiting the desire to snack;
- omega-3 – appropriate proportions of omega fatty acids in a diet of a person who tries to reduce a considerable part of body mass is a fundament to maintain metabolic health. Moreover, fatty acids, such as EPA and DHA affect considerable increase of tissue sensitivity to the effect of insulin;
- bitter melon – supplementation with this product is mainly based on the utilization of juice of the plant that is characterized by the support in the fight with insulin-resistance.
Insulin sensitivity - summarization
Supplementation supporting glucose metabolism in the organism seems to be a good solution, which supports good health condition. The effect of such products contributes to increasing sensitivity of tissues to insulin, which causes that energy is used more effectively.
