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Do Weight Loss & Exercise Improve Insulin Sensitivity?

Understanding the link between exercise, weight loss and insulin sensitivity is key to effectively managing your weight. As the primary transport hormone in your body, insulin is one of the main factors determining whether all of your meals are stored as fat or not. Fortunately, insulin is a hormone upon which you can exercise fairly rigid control. If you were wondering about the best ways to maximize the effects of insulin on your body, thus leading to improved physical condition, you came to the right place.

  1. About Insulin

    • Insulin is the primary storage hormone in your body. Insulin is normally produced in response to elevated blood sugar levels, which occurs after consumption of carbohydrates. The amount of insulin released is proportionate to the excess amounts of sugar in the blood. Insulin then enters the bloodstream, "collecting" the floating glucose and shuttling it into either muscle or fat cells. Where the energy is shuttled into muscle cells, it is used for tissue repair purposes and is effectively "used up." Where it is shuttled into fat cells, it is stored for later use, resulting in adipose (fat) tissue accumulation.

    Insulin Sensitivity and You

    • Where insulin release occurs in large quantities too often, your body's cells will eventually downregulate their sensitivity to insulin. This means that the body will have to produce more insulin to produce the same effect. If left unchecked, this back-and-forth process will eventually escalate into diabetes. As a practical example, if you have ever known someone who could eat starchy carbs all day long and never gain weight, that person was likely very insulin sensitive---his body was very efficient at using insulin.

    Insulin Sensitivity and Weight

    • Repeated and prolonged insulin spikes are not the only way that your body can become less sensitive to the effects of insulin. Weight gain (specifically fat gain) is another culprit that can force your body to call a disproportionate amounts of insulin to regulate blood sugar. As your body accumulates more and more excess adipose tissue, it becomes more and more difficult for insulin to penetrate those cells to deliver or store glucose. Conversely, the leaner you are, the more insulin sensitive you will become.

    Insulin Sensitivity and Exercise

    • Relative leanness is not the only determining factor. Bouts of exercise also play a role in determining transient insulin sensitivity. In the period following prolonged exercise (whether cardio or resistance training), the body primes itself for repair, becoming temporarily more insulin sensitivity and shuttling the vast majority of the nutrients in the bloodstream to the muscles, instead of storing it as fat. Thus, post-exercise is one of the few times you want to increase insulin levels, as it will help your body recover.

    Considerations

    • Taking an active approach to favorably manipulate insulin sensitivity levels is one major step towards achieving sustainable weight control. The easiest way to accomplish this goal is to stick to a lower-carb diet for every meal except the one immediately following your workouts. During the day, only eat carbs that come from fruit and veggies. After your workout, when your body is primed to use insulin for positive purposes, consume a higher-carb meal along with some protein to maximize the benefits. Following this approach will help you lose weight, further increasing your insulin sensitivity and escalating the benefits.

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