What Is Insulin Resistance?
This lecture is about insulin resistance. You'll learn the questions to the following answers: What exactly is insulin resistance? What causes it? How does it affect our body? And more importantly, how do we get rid of it? This lecture may be more science-heavy but please don’t get overwhelmed, we will explain the concept for you. We will post additional resources and videos at the bottom of this lecture.
What is insulin resistance?
The underlying cause of pre- and type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance. In a diabetes context, insulin resistance is the inability of your cells to take up glucose due to impaired insulin signaling. All cells have an insulin receptor on their surface that recognizes insulin as a “key” that opens the cell “door”. When insulin resistance develops, the receptor stops doing its job and becomes “blind” to insulin, and as a result, glucose cannot be imported into the cell. This results in elevated blood glucose levels. When the pancreas senses that blood glucose is still high, it secretes more and more insulin (more keys) in hopes to open more doors that will bring glucose down to normal levels. This creates a state of hyperinsulinemia, which means elevated insulin levels in the blood.
It is important to mention that insulin is not your enemy, insulin is absolutely necessary for life. Without insulin, glucose would not be able to get into the cells and we would eventually die. The problem is excess insulin secretion beyond normal levels, which happens as a result of living with insulin resistance. This is what also causes many metabolic problems and increases your risk for numerous chronic diseases over the course of time. Insulin resistance is not only linked to type 2 diabetes, it is actually a risk factor for many other conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, certain cancers, Alzheimer's, kidney disease, and fatty liver. It’s known as the driving force for the development of most metabolic conditions.
Remember, insulin resistance develops first, which leads to the development of type 2 diabetes. This is why our approach aims to reverse insulin resistance, and not only control high blood glucose. High blood glucose is just one of the many symptoms of living with insulin resistance. We’ll later explain in the lecture "Diet Wars" how some diets only aim to lower blood glucose but fail to reverse the underlying cause.
Insulin resistance is multifactorial, which means that many factors influence it—specifically the amount of food you eat, the type of food you eat, the nutrient density of your diet, your movement patterns, and your stress levels. In summary, think about these 3 things: your diet, your exercise routine (or movement patterns), and your levels of emotional stress. Some of these factors have a bigger impact on the development of insulin resistance than others. And without question, the type of foods you eat has the biggest impact. We will go into more detail about macronutrients in Week 3 & 4, where you’ll learn about how many carbohydrates, protein, and fats to eat. For now, you only need to understand that your daily diet has the biggest impact on insulin resistance.
What causes insulin resistance?
The primary cause of insulin resistance is the accumulation of saturated fat in tissues that are not meant to store large quantities of fat, such as your muscle and liver. These tissues are designed to remain lean in order to perform their metabolic functions without interruption. When fat (also referred to as fat droplets) start accumulating inside muscle cells, the fats are referred to as intramyocellular lipids (intra = inside, myo = muscle, cellular = cells, lipids = fats). These lipids disrupt insulin signaling and decrease the ability of your muscle cells to uptake glucose from the blood, leading to high blood glucose levels.
In the case of the liver, these fat droplets are called intrahepatocellular lipids (hepato = liver) and they also disrupt insulin signaling. These fat droplets also disrupt insulin signaling in your liver. Your liver is in charge of storing glucose (as glycogen) and exporting it into the blood whenever it’s needed by your brain and muscles. Insulin is the signal that tells your liver when to increase or decrease the amount of glucose it exports into the bloodstream. Accumulation of fats within the liver prevents the liver from accurately controlling how much glucose it needs to release into your blood. A confused liver leads to chronically high rates of glucose being exported out, which leads to high fasting blood glucose and high post-meal blood glucose levels.
Next Lesson
Previous Lesson
+ PART 3: Type 2 Diabetes Crash Course (Part 2)
What Is Insulin Resistance?
How To Save Time With Food Prep and Batch Cooking
The Main Causes Of Insulin Resistance
The Main Causes of Insulin Resistance
Now we will discuss the three main causes for this accumulation of fat droplets inside the muscle and liver:
1. Excess consumption of saturated fats
Research has shown that fatty acids, a fancy name for fat, directly hinder insulin action, and the amount and type of fat you eat are the primary determinants of how insulin resistant you become over time. Eating a diet high in saturated fats which primarily come from animal products will have the biggest negative impact on insulin resistance. Not all fats are created equal. Some are more harmful than others and some are actually beneficial to your health. We are not against fat at all. This is a low saturated fat program, not a no-fat program. You will learn more about soon.
Fat is essential to your health but you have to keep an eye out for the quality and quantity of fat that you are eating. Remember, animal products will be high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and will trigger inflammation. On the other hand, plant-based fasts are low in saturated fat, have zero cholesterol, are high in unsaturated fat (good fat), and have anti-inflammatory properties. The quantity of fat is also very important. We recommend 15-20% of your caloric intake to come from fat -- more on this in the upcoming lectures. The meal plans are constructed with this macronutrient ratio in mind.
2. Excess consumption of refined carbohydrates and added sugars
Complex carbohydrates are not to blame when talking about type 2 diabetes. Complex carbohydrates—that is carbohydrates that have not been processed and are still in their whole forms such as grains, legumes, and vegetables, do not contribute to insulin resistance. Carbohydrate-rich foods will spike your blood glucose if and only if your baseline level of insulin resistance is high, to begin with. So, if you are living with insulin resistance, your ability to metabolize carbohydrates will be impaired. This is why increasing your level of insulin sensitivity is the most effective way to metabolize carbohydrate-rich foods and avoid high blood glucose and excess insulin secretion. You will learn about the different types of carbohydrates next week.
Eating a whole-food, plant-based diet will lead you to become more insulin sensitive and it will restore your ability to eat and metabolize carbohydrates properly. However, the type, amount, and quality will have a big effect on insulin resistance. SOME carbohydrates are to blame for blood glucose spikes. These are called refined carbohydrates and they negatively impact your blood glucose control. Refined carbohydrates come from grains that have been processed or ultra-processed. The reason why they impact blood glucose in a negative way is two-fold:
On top of that, refined carbohydrates are well known for their use in processed foods such as doughnuts, bread, pizza dough, pasta, pastries, sweet desserts—all of which also contain added oils, fats, and added sugars. This is why it’s imperative to distinguish between the TYPES of carbohydrates that are allowed in this approach.
3. Lack of exercise or a sedentary lifestyle
When it comes to exercise, everything boils down to your mitochondria. The mitochondrion is an organelle inside of cells that transform glucose into energy for our cells to use. There are three main big reasons as to why performing daily exercise will reverse insulin resistance and improve your cells response to insulin -
This approach might contradict everything you have been previously taught about diabetes. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about type 2 diabetes nutrition mostly due to bad science, incorrect interpretation of studies, and oversimplification of type 2 diabetes pathophysiology. Even though this might have been a science-heavy lecture, you can always go back and revisit the concepts explained here. Below are additional resources to help you further understand the concept. As your knowledge increases, you might have more questions than answers and we are here to help you with those. Use the community forum to post questions, comments, or concerns and we’ll be happy to help you.
- Excess consumption of saturated fats
- Excess consumption of refined carbohydrates and added sugars
- Lack of exercise or a sedentary lifestyle
1. Excess consumption of saturated fats
Research has shown that fatty acids, a fancy name for fat, directly hinder insulin action, and the amount and type of fat you eat are the primary determinants of how insulin resistant you become over time. Eating a diet high in saturated fats which primarily come from animal products will have the biggest negative impact on insulin resistance. Not all fats are created equal. Some are more harmful than others and some are actually beneficial to your health. We are not against fat at all. This is a low saturated fat program, not a no-fat program. You will learn more about soon.
Fat is essential to your health but you have to keep an eye out for the quality and quantity of fat that you are eating. Remember, animal products will be high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and will trigger inflammation. On the other hand, plant-based fasts are low in saturated fat, have zero cholesterol, are high in unsaturated fat (good fat), and have anti-inflammatory properties. The quantity of fat is also very important. We recommend 15-20% of your caloric intake to come from fat -- more on this in the upcoming lectures. The meal plans are constructed with this macronutrient ratio in mind.
2. Excess consumption of refined carbohydrates and added sugars
Complex carbohydrates are not to blame when talking about type 2 diabetes. Complex carbohydrates—that is carbohydrates that have not been processed and are still in their whole forms such as grains, legumes, and vegetables, do not contribute to insulin resistance. Carbohydrate-rich foods will spike your blood glucose if and only if your baseline level of insulin resistance is high, to begin with. So, if you are living with insulin resistance, your ability to metabolize carbohydrates will be impaired. This is why increasing your level of insulin sensitivity is the most effective way to metabolize carbohydrate-rich foods and avoid high blood glucose and excess insulin secretion. You will learn about the different types of carbohydrates next week.
Eating a whole-food, plant-based diet will lead you to become more insulin sensitive and it will restore your ability to eat and metabolize carbohydrates properly. However, the type, amount, and quality will have a big effect on insulin resistance. SOME carbohydrates are to blame for blood glucose spikes. These are called refined carbohydrates and they negatively impact your blood glucose control. Refined carbohydrates come from grains that have been processed or ultra-processed. The reason why they impact blood glucose in a negative way is two-fold:
- They have been stripped of their fiber, which leads to faster absorption of glucose into the bloodstream causing spikes.
- They have also been stripped of their vitamins and minerals, which are essential micronutrients for proper cell function and repair.
On top of that, refined carbohydrates are well known for their use in processed foods such as doughnuts, bread, pizza dough, pasta, pastries, sweet desserts—all of which also contain added oils, fats, and added sugars. This is why it’s imperative to distinguish between the TYPES of carbohydrates that are allowed in this approach.
3. Lack of exercise or a sedentary lifestyle
When it comes to exercise, everything boils down to your mitochondria. The mitochondrion is an organelle inside of cells that transform glucose into energy for our cells to use. There are three main big reasons as to why performing daily exercise will reverse insulin resistance and improve your cells response to insulin -
- Improved mitochondrial function: the more exercise you perform, the more mitochondria you will have in your cells, which means more mitochondrial activity and the more glucose you can burn off.
- Skeletal muscle glucose uptake: the more exercise you perform, the more glucose your muscles will need to feed themselves. When you perform a lot of exercises, your muscles become like a vacuum for glucose.
- Energy balance: helps to maintain a favorable balance between the calories coming in (eating) vs. the calories going out (burning off). This results in less visceral fat storage and reduces inflammation
This approach might contradict everything you have been previously taught about diabetes. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about type 2 diabetes nutrition mostly due to bad science, incorrect interpretation of studies, and oversimplification of type 2 diabetes pathophysiology. Even though this might have been a science-heavy lecture, you can always go back and revisit the concepts explained here. Below are additional resources to help you further understand the concept. As your knowledge increases, you might have more questions than answers and we are here to help you with those. Use the community forum to post questions, comments, or concerns and we’ll be happy to help you.
Next Lesson
Previous Lesson
+ PART 3: Type 2 Diabetes Crash Course (Part 2)
What Is Insulin Resistance?
How To Save Time With Food Prep and Batch Cooking
The Main Causes Of Insulin Resistance
How To Save Time With Food Prep and Batch Cooking
What is Meal Prepping?
Meal prepping is essentially just cooking all your meals for the week ahead of time, portioning them out, and storing them in order to save yourself time and money later in the week. Meal prepping can take a lot of planning and does require a bit of time in the beginning, but once you get it down and integrate it into your weekly routine, it becomes way less overwhelming and very helpful.
There are so many benefits to cooking at home and preparing all of your meals for the week at once. First off, buying and cooking all of your meals at once at the beginning of the week saves you so much time and money throughout the week. You save time by not having to cook for yourself each night and by not having to spend time ordering and picking up food. And you save money by buying in bulk instead of purchasing enough for an individual meal either at the grocery store or at restaurants.
In addition to just the time and money saved, buying and cooking your own food can be a useful tool for managing diabetes. It allows you to avoid going out to eat or ordering takeout from restaurants and provides you with more control over what you are consuming. People that meal prep are able to avoid all of the oversized portions, excess fat, and highly processed and refined carbohydrates that come with standard restaurant food. In addition, you only crave what your body eats. By continually preparing and consuming foods that fuel your body appropriately, breaking bad habits associated with unhealthy food choices becomes easier and the cravings for these unhealthy foods eventually diminish. A study was done that looked at how meal preparation affects body weight, glycemia, and blood pressure in participants with Type 2 Diabetes. It found that after completing a 24-week meal prep program participants showed improvements in eating control, body weight, HbA1c levels, and blood pressure. Meal prepping works!
How to Meal Prep
Meal prepping isn’t necessarily easy - especially at the beginning. With planning, motivation, and discipline though, it can be easily integrated into your lifestyle through the following steps: make time, collect supplies, buy food, cook meals, and portion meals.
Make Time
The first thing you must do before anything else is to schedule the time to get it done. Set aside a specific block of time that will be solely dedicated to buying, cooking, and assembling your meals. Sunday typically seems to work the best for many people. It’s the weekend so you might have a bit more time and you can game plan adequately for the 5 day work week ahead. Working this time into your schedule is the biggest make or break step in the meal prep process. Buying all of the food is pointless if you run out of time to cook and portion it out. Setting aside time ensures that your vision gets executed. Having all of these great ideas and aspirations for lifestyle change is great, but if you don’t schedule the time they just won’t get done.
Collect Supplies
Once you have scheduled the time, the next step is to collect everything you might need to prepare all of your meals. You need to make sure you have everything you’ll need to actually cook all of the food you have, this ranges all the way from pots and pans to crockpots and pressure cookers. Whatever your preferred cooking method might be, just make sure that you have the materials to do it, and to do it for an entire week’s worth of meals. After cooking materials, you’ll want to make sure that you have the appropriate supplies for storing and assembling the meals you make. We recommend choosing glass containers over plastic. A recent study showed that the BPA in plastic containers might be contributing to an increase in insulin resistance. You will want to make sure you have enough not only for each meal but also for storing food that you might want to mix in right away, such as curries or stews for example. In addition to tupperware you might also consider getting a lunch box and ice packs if you are bringing your lunch around all day and do not have a refrigerator to store it in. You can find a list of our favorite kitchen tools and appliances by clicking here.
Go Grocery Shopping
Once you have everything you need, the next step is to buy the food. Before going to the grocery store though you’ll want to plan out exactly what you will need to buy. Look to see what you already have in your pantry or fridge that can be used and then come up with a few meals that you’ll want to have and the portions for each. Stick to a simple formula for these meals and create a checklist for yourself to ensure that each meal includes a whole grain, a source of protein, and vegetables. You can always refer to our meal plans for great meal ideas. When creating your list of foods to buy, don’t forget to include foods that you’ll want to eat for snacks so that you can avoid buying the overly processed, but convenient foods later in the week.
Cook the Meals
After grocery shopping, you’ll be set to start cooking. Use cooking methods that you are comfortable with and that are suitable for batch cooking. A simple one includes creating foil packs where you wrap all your veggies and protein into tin foil together and bake it in the oven. This is an easy way to separate and pre-portion your meals and makes them easy to pack and store later. Crock Pots or slow cookers are another great way to cook a large amount of food at once and sets you up nicely for easy cleanup. Don't forget you can always freeze leftovers for later on in the week or month.
Portion Meals
The last step in your meal prep success story is to portion your food into the tupperware you bought. Make sure you are being smart with portions, having this control is what gives meal prep the advantage over takeout. This step includes your snacks as well. Use plastic baggies or smaller containers to pre-portion all the snacks you anticipate eating during the week to limit overconsumption and set yourself up for success.
Tips and Tricks
Now that you know all the steps, some things to keep in mind while meal prepping and little tricks that help make it successful are:
Because meal prepping does take a lot of planning, here are some ideas to get you started. For breakfast, overnight oats with fruit and chia seeds are a great and simple way to ensure that you are getting a whole grain, some protein, and that nutrient-dense fruit in there. You can easily prep five overnight oat containers for the week ahead. Tofu scramble is also a great plant-based alternative to scrambled eggs and what is especially great about it is that it is easy to store, reheat, and you can even turn it into a breakfast burrito by putting it into a corn tortilla with some veggies.
The easiest thing to do with lunches is to mix and match grains, veggies, and protein as the week goes on. During your prep, make a variety of veggies, legumes, grains and alternate them to add some variety as the week goes on. Some examples could be roasted broccoli and chickpeas over quinoa and greens, and then roasted carrots and sweet potato with tofu over raw kale and spinach, or any combination of those. Stick to the checklist and make it as interesting or as simple as you’d like. Dinners can be similar to lunches and you can use the same strategy. Eating Crock Pot meals are also a great dinner idea because they are easy to reheat and simple to prepare. One example is a vegetable curry with chickpeas. All you do for this is throw your vegetables of choice, chickpeas, tomato sauce, coconut milk, broth, and your preferred spices into the slow cooker, heat it on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, and then serve it over brown rice or greens.
In conclusion, meal prepping and batch cooking really does save time, money, and if done smartly can be extremely helpful when trying to integrate healthier food choices into your lifestyle.
Meal prepping is essentially just cooking all your meals for the week ahead of time, portioning them out, and storing them in order to save yourself time and money later in the week. Meal prepping can take a lot of planning and does require a bit of time in the beginning, but once you get it down and integrate it into your weekly routine, it becomes way less overwhelming and very helpful.
There are so many benefits to cooking at home and preparing all of your meals for the week at once. First off, buying and cooking all of your meals at once at the beginning of the week saves you so much time and money throughout the week. You save time by not having to cook for yourself each night and by not having to spend time ordering and picking up food. And you save money by buying in bulk instead of purchasing enough for an individual meal either at the grocery store or at restaurants.
In addition to just the time and money saved, buying and cooking your own food can be a useful tool for managing diabetes. It allows you to avoid going out to eat or ordering takeout from restaurants and provides you with more control over what you are consuming. People that meal prep are able to avoid all of the oversized portions, excess fat, and highly processed and refined carbohydrates that come with standard restaurant food. In addition, you only crave what your body eats. By continually preparing and consuming foods that fuel your body appropriately, breaking bad habits associated with unhealthy food choices becomes easier and the cravings for these unhealthy foods eventually diminish. A study was done that looked at how meal preparation affects body weight, glycemia, and blood pressure in participants with Type 2 Diabetes. It found that after completing a 24-week meal prep program participants showed improvements in eating control, body weight, HbA1c levels, and blood pressure. Meal prepping works!
How to Meal Prep
Meal prepping isn’t necessarily easy - especially at the beginning. With planning, motivation, and discipline though, it can be easily integrated into your lifestyle through the following steps: make time, collect supplies, buy food, cook meals, and portion meals.
Make Time
The first thing you must do before anything else is to schedule the time to get it done. Set aside a specific block of time that will be solely dedicated to buying, cooking, and assembling your meals. Sunday typically seems to work the best for many people. It’s the weekend so you might have a bit more time and you can game plan adequately for the 5 day work week ahead. Working this time into your schedule is the biggest make or break step in the meal prep process. Buying all of the food is pointless if you run out of time to cook and portion it out. Setting aside time ensures that your vision gets executed. Having all of these great ideas and aspirations for lifestyle change is great, but if you don’t schedule the time they just won’t get done.
Collect Supplies
Once you have scheduled the time, the next step is to collect everything you might need to prepare all of your meals. You need to make sure you have everything you’ll need to actually cook all of the food you have, this ranges all the way from pots and pans to crockpots and pressure cookers. Whatever your preferred cooking method might be, just make sure that you have the materials to do it, and to do it for an entire week’s worth of meals. After cooking materials, you’ll want to make sure that you have the appropriate supplies for storing and assembling the meals you make. We recommend choosing glass containers over plastic. A recent study showed that the BPA in plastic containers might be contributing to an increase in insulin resistance. You will want to make sure you have enough not only for each meal but also for storing food that you might want to mix in right away, such as curries or stews for example. In addition to tupperware you might also consider getting a lunch box and ice packs if you are bringing your lunch around all day and do not have a refrigerator to store it in. You can find a list of our favorite kitchen tools and appliances by clicking here.
Go Grocery Shopping
Once you have everything you need, the next step is to buy the food. Before going to the grocery store though you’ll want to plan out exactly what you will need to buy. Look to see what you already have in your pantry or fridge that can be used and then come up with a few meals that you’ll want to have and the portions for each. Stick to a simple formula for these meals and create a checklist for yourself to ensure that each meal includes a whole grain, a source of protein, and vegetables. You can always refer to our meal plans for great meal ideas. When creating your list of foods to buy, don’t forget to include foods that you’ll want to eat for snacks so that you can avoid buying the overly processed, but convenient foods later in the week.
Cook the Meals
After grocery shopping, you’ll be set to start cooking. Use cooking methods that you are comfortable with and that are suitable for batch cooking. A simple one includes creating foil packs where you wrap all your veggies and protein into tin foil together and bake it in the oven. This is an easy way to separate and pre-portion your meals and makes them easy to pack and store later. Crock Pots or slow cookers are another great way to cook a large amount of food at once and sets you up nicely for easy cleanup. Don't forget you can always freeze leftovers for later on in the week or month.
Portion Meals
The last step in your meal prep success story is to portion your food into the tupperware you bought. Make sure you are being smart with portions, having this control is what gives meal prep the advantage over takeout. This step includes your snacks as well. Use plastic baggies or smaller containers to pre-portion all the snacks you anticipate eating during the week to limit overconsumption and set yourself up for success.
Tips and Tricks
Now that you know all the steps, some things to keep in mind while meal prepping and little tricks that help make it successful are:
- Pick foods that you won’t get sick of and that you won’t mind eating for a lot of the week.
- Switch up the flavor of the foods by using different herbs and spices. Adding spices such as cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, and ginger to parts of the meal will not only add some flavor variety but also have been shown to be helpful in diabetes management.
- Use similar cooking methods for each part of the meal. This will save you a lot of time and will eliminate extensive cleanup
- And lastly, force yourself to stick to the meal prepping for a few weeks even if it feels like a waste of time. The longer you do it, the better you’ll get, the more natural the process will feel, and the more beneficial it will become.
Because meal prepping does take a lot of planning, here are some ideas to get you started. For breakfast, overnight oats with fruit and chia seeds are a great and simple way to ensure that you are getting a whole grain, some protein, and that nutrient-dense fruit in there. You can easily prep five overnight oat containers for the week ahead. Tofu scramble is also a great plant-based alternative to scrambled eggs and what is especially great about it is that it is easy to store, reheat, and you can even turn it into a breakfast burrito by putting it into a corn tortilla with some veggies.
The easiest thing to do with lunches is to mix and match grains, veggies, and protein as the week goes on. During your prep, make a variety of veggies, legumes, grains and alternate them to add some variety as the week goes on. Some examples could be roasted broccoli and chickpeas over quinoa and greens, and then roasted carrots and sweet potato with tofu over raw kale and spinach, or any combination of those. Stick to the checklist and make it as interesting or as simple as you’d like. Dinners can be similar to lunches and you can use the same strategy. Eating Crock Pot meals are also a great dinner idea because they are easy to reheat and simple to prepare. One example is a vegetable curry with chickpeas. All you do for this is throw your vegetables of choice, chickpeas, tomato sauce, coconut milk, broth, and your preferred spices into the slow cooker, heat it on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, and then serve it over brown rice or greens.
In conclusion, meal prepping and batch cooking really does save time, money, and if done smartly can be extremely helpful when trying to integrate healthier food choices into your lifestyle.
Next Lesson
Previous Lesson