Insulin response

 A short but sweet (lol!) post today...more to follow tomorrow..

Insulin is a hormone which has an effect on our body’s metabolic system.  It helps to regulate how the body stores and uses fat and glucose. The amount of insulin released is dependant on the level of glucose within food – see the article on GI (Glyceamic Index).

Insulin helps the muscle and fat tissue to take on board glucose so that we can use it for energy when we exercise. There is a spike in insulin just after we have eaten, but there is also a steady flow in the blood stream to control glucose levels.  

The spikes stimulate the cells and liver to take up the glucose when it is plentiful.  If you have high levels of glucose anyway, then the body will convert this into fatty acids and store as fat.  The other thing that happens is that when insulin spikes, it stops the metabolism of fat (i.e. stops you fat burning) and encourages fat to be stored in fat cells. 

Now don’t freak – this is important if you are doing lots of exercise, but can be a real pain if you are trying to lose body fat. So, we want to limit the “spike” by choosing low GI food, and reducing the number of spikes that we have in a day. Hence the move towards less carbs etc... But if you are exercising and training hard, then you will need to have the carbs in your diet. Plus, eating wholegrain will help lower cholesterol and keep the gut healthy.

Ideally, eat low GI foods, take regular exercise, increase your daily activity and enjoy your life. There is nothing evil in carbs -  much of it is to do with our lifestyle and portion size...