Insulin Resistance and PCOS

So today I am going to delve deep into what Insulin Resistance is and why it is important for us to understand how it contributes to PCOS.

The reason I am focussing on Insulin Resistant PCOS is because this is what affects me and as I mentioned in an earlier post, Insulin Resistant accounts for 70% of diagnoses made according to this reference,

So, What happens in the body after you eat?

We all know that whenever we eat a meal, it causes our blood glucose to rise right? So, it makes sense then that if you eat more carbohydrate, sugar and processed foods, that the amount of glucose in the bloodstream will get higher.

However, I need to make this very clear from the beginning, and throughout my blog I will keep repeating this:

• Fat DOES NOT cause blood sugar to rise.
• Protein causes VERY LITTLE effect on the blood glucose response.
• High Carbohydrate, Processed foods, and SUGAR causes blood sugar to rise.

So if you have high amounts of glucose in the bloodstream, the Pancreas gets a signal that the hormone Insulin needs to be released. Why is this important exactly? You see, Insulin’s main job is to move glucose into the cells. Let us look at it this way, Insulin acts as a “key” to unlock doors in the cells so that glucose can get in, as shown below.

So when a meal high in Carbohydrates is eaten, the blood glucose goes up. Insulin is released to unlock these doors so that glucose can enter the cells. This causes a drop of the glucose levels in the blood to normal levels and the cells get the energy needed to function. This is the normal process and what SHOULD happen. However, in cells that are Insulin Resistant, this is a very different case!!

What is Insulin Resistance??

Insulin Resistance basically means that the cells are no longer responding to Insulin. Visualise a key getting stuck in a door/lock so that it can not be opened. Insulin moves to the doors in the cells but can not unlock them! What does the pancreas do? It secretes more Insulin until the cells are FORCED to open up and let the glucose in. By this time, the blood glucose levels normalise, but the Insulin levels are HIGH! Unfortunately, this makes the cells even more resistant to Insulin, which then creates a vicious cycle as shown below.

As someone with Insulin resistance I need to put a personal perspective on this. I am always hungry as I have mentioned before because of it. So sometimes I will pop into a coffee shop or into the supermarket and I will make the decision to buy a Croissant or crisps or a soft drink. Women with Insulin Resistance have all been there. We have a craving to eat carbs and we need to eat them NOW!!! Why is this exactly? It is simple, the cells in our bodies are not getting glucose the way they should. They are rejecting Insulin, so the cells can not get the energy they need to function.

So if the cells do not have energy to function then it’s no wonder I have brain fog, fatigue and hunger. The brain then thinks that I need to get some sugar into my bloodstream FAST.

So what do I do? I eat Sugary, high processed, high carb foods, because this is the fastest way to get me to feel alive again right? Wrong. All this does is raise the blood glucose levels even more, which in turn raises Insulin even more but MOST of the glucose can not get into the cells anyway, so the only thing that the body can do is STORE it as FAT. So yeah, that is why I am fat and overweight. The cravings become harder and harder to control unless I follow a diet that is low carb as assigned by the doctors. Believe me, I have tried so many diets out there: HCG diet, Low Carb, Gluten free, Carb free, Sugar Free, low GI, Vegetarian/Vegan (that didn’t last very long), red meat free, various quick fix fad diets, the list is a long one. The only one that works is a Low carb, High fat, High protein diet and I will share why and what worked and did not work for me.

Another question I get asked a lot when I talk about this is:

Do you have Diabetes then? No. I don’t. I mean it is easy to see the confusion because what I have outlined is similar to Type 2 Diabetes: the Insulin can not unlock the doors for glucose to get into the cells.

The only way I can explain this simply is this:

• If I had Type 2 Diabetes, when I check my blood glucose levels with a Glucometer, it will show me that I have high blood sugar.
• With Insulin Resistance, If I run a test for blood glucose, I fall within the normal range.

Remember: Normal blood sugar does not mean that you don’t have high levels of insulin in your blood.

You still have high levels of insulin floating around in the blood, because the body works so hard to keep the blood sugar levels normal that it will do ANYTHING to do so, which means pumping high amounts of Insulin into the bloodstream.

Why Is Insulin Resistance Dangerous?

Having insulin resistance or high levels of insulin in your blood can have many harmful consequences on your health, such as:

• Energy drops
• Mood disorders and increased rates of depression/anxiety
• Cravings of Carbohydrates
• Weight gain and difficulty losing weight
• High triglycerides, high cholesterol
• Inflammation
• Increased risk of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
• High blood pressure
• Symptoms of PCOS get worse e.g. Acne, Facial Hair, lethargy, brain fog.
• Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (reference)

So, it is very simple according to your doctor, all you need to do is go on a low carb diet right? I have spoken to so many nutritionists who make this seem so simple. You get a meal plan, they say follow it for best results, berate you any time you fall off the wagon and proceed to charge you something like KShs 50000 for the whole course. To add to that, the diets are not sustainable and you end up right back where your started. Yeah…….. NO Thanks. I made a decision to research and take control of my body myself because I am the only one who will know what works and what intolerances I will have.

I know most of this post is a lot of biology but I hope it has shed some light on why you feel the way you do when you have Insulin Resistant PCOS and why it is important to be on a low carb diet. Actually scratch that, I hate the term “diet”. It has such negative connotations. It is important to adopt a low carb LIFESTYLE. So make more positive lifestyle changes, be mindful of what you eat and what you’re putting into your body. Small steps will change into good habits eventually and you will start to feel a change with time.

So until next time, keep on fighting my PCOS Warriors!

By: Ruveen Bharij

FertilityPCOS