Welcome back guys!
So far in this mini series on insulin resistance, we’ve talked about what it is, how to properly diagnose it, and how exercise helps to prevent or reverse its effects. The last email was all about how higher level exercise like resistance training resulted in immediate and long term improvements to insulin sensitivity. But there are many other things you can do to improve your insulin sensitivity. So today we’ll cover the ones that aren’t related to lifting weights or nutrition.
1) Walking more
Low level activity promotes blood flow to the muscles. And since glucose diffuses out of the blood stream and into muscle cells to be used as energy, the more blood flow we can get to those cells, the better. This is why, along with the additional calorie burn, a simple 10 minute walk around meal time is highly effective at stabilizing the typical rise in blood sugar following a meal.
Getting your steps in throughout the day isn’t just generic advice.Our ancestors used to walk 16,000+ steps per day. We average less than 4,000. Simply boosting your daily step count consistently has serious impacts on your overall metabolic health. Start with an additional 10 minute walk and build the habit.
2) Lose belly fat
Visceral fat around your organs is highly correlated with insulin resistance. We think of body fat as being something that is just sitting there. But the reality is that it is living tissue. It actually releases hormones and other signals that affect how our body functions. And unfortunately almost all of them are for the worse. Increased belly fat sends various inflammatory signals that interfere with the lock and key system of glucose and insulin. The more belly fat you lose, the less of these negative signals, the more sensitive you are to insulin again.
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