Health Tips To Get Your Pancreas Working Well and Stop Taking Insulin If You Are Diabetic

Insulin is a hormone that assists the body to process glucose and maintain blood sugar levels at healthy levels. Insulin resistance makes it more difficult for the body to absorb glucose. Luckily, there are specific steps you can take to boost insulin resistance so that you don’t have to take insulin shots anymore.

Insulin resistance occurs when the body cannot take in glucose sufficiently. In the long run, insulin resistance can lead to health issues like poor eyesight, weak limbs and muscles, organ damage, and persistent high blood pressure.

Individuals with insulin resistance are often diagnosed as prediabetic, which often transforms into type-2 diabetes. Doctors advise individuals who are insulin resistant to take additional measures to prevent them from developing type-2 diabetes.

Specific lifestyle and diet choices can raise your risk of becoming insulin resistant. Making lifestyle and dietary changes can lower insulin resistance and boost insulin sensitivity, reducing your risk of type-2 diabetes.

This post will look at some lifestyle and dietary changes you can make to improve your insulin sensitivity. Improving your insulin sensitivity will help you get your pancreas to work well again to reduce your reliance on medically prescribed insulin shots.

 

Foods to Eat

Modern diets often lack essential nutrients like potassium, fiber, calcium, and magnesium, which are crucial for controlling your blood sugar levels. Individuals with insulin resistance should look for foods that include the most nutrients.

The American Diabetes Association recommends that individuals with insulin resistance eat healthy and organic foods to boost their immune systems. Understanding which foods will help you improve your insulin sensitivity and which will raise your blood sugar levels is vital.

The following foods help to lower the risk of developing diabetes as well as improve insulin sensitivity in general:

• Unsweetened yogurt
• Unsweetened teas
• Water, instead of taking sweetened drinks
• Sweet potatoes, which have less sugar than ordinary potatoes
• Foods that are rich in antioxidants, like berries
• Fish with a high omega-3 fatty acid content, like herring, sardines, and salmon
• Protein-rich foods such as nuts, legumes, soy, fish, and lean meats
• Some whole grains like barley, quinoa, and oats
• High-fiber foods such as lentils and beans
• Citrus fruits like limes, oranges, and lemons
• Tomatoes because they are a fantastic source of vitamins E and C
• Non-starchy veggies like peppers, dark leafy greens, and broccoli

 

Foods to Avoid

Specific foods are more likely to increase your blood sugar levels and risk of developing diabetes. Having a habit of eating sugary and fatty foods can make it difficult for the pancreas to produce adequate quantities of insulin to process glucose. It can also cause and reduce the ability of various cells in the body to process sugar. If the cells become too saturated with glucose or sugar, they will begin to have a negative response to insulin.

When this happens, the sugar remains in the blood, which causes you to develop a wide range of health problems associated with high blood sugar levels, like neuropathy, high blood pressure, and kidney failure.

It’s important to significantly reduce or completely avoid the following foods to lower your blood sugar levels:

• Foods high in saturated fats, like pork, butter, and chocolate
• Fried foods, especially if it is a kind of cookable food in a less harmful way, like veggies
• Dairy from cows, like cheese and ghee
• Refined grains like flour-based foods, pasta, rice, and white bread, which have a lower fiber content than whole grain variations
• Sugary sweets like chocolate bars, ice cream, and cupcakes
• Boxed foods and processed snacks
• Starchy veggies like corn, pumpkin, yams (especially without skin, and potatoes
• Alcohol, especially grain alcohol, and beer, particularly in large amounts
• Sweetened drinks like fountain drinks, soda, and fruit juices

 

Finding a Healthful Balance

You can still eat foods on the above list in limited quantities without suffering any long-term effects regarding insulin sensitivity. The secret is to eat these foods on rare occasions and replace them in your daily diet with healthier alternatives as often as possible.

Sometimes, eating a small snack can help you satisfy your sweet tooth. It does not mean that you should do this daily; you should focus on a plant-based and fiber-rich diet low in processed sugars. This diet will help you to increase your insulin sensitivity gradually.

Routine exercise also dramatically improves your overall health and reduces your dependency on medically prescribed insulin. During workouts, your muscles absorb all the extra glucose in your system and don’t use any insulin in this process. Staying active throughout the day and going on a short walk after eating can help control your blood sugar levels.

By losing at least 5% of your body weight, you can boost your insulin sensitivity and become fitter. These health tips can reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and type-2 diabetes.

 

Diet Tips

Sticking to a strict diet, like the Mediterranean Diet, can help you get your pancreas working well again. This diet involves using olive oil as your primary source of fat, eating fruits for dessert, and eating plant-based and seasonal foods. People who follow the Mediterranean diet eat nuts, legumes, poultry, fish, and dairy as their primary protein sources.

Followers of this diet are required to restrict their consumption of red meat, and they are allowed to drink a small glass of wine during meals. In a recent study, patients who followed this diet lowered their risk of further health complications, including symptoms like insulin resistance, by over 25%.

People should calculate their daily calorie intake depending on their body size and weight loss goals. The Mediterranean diet is one of the many diets that can help you eat healthily. Other diets, like ketogenic diets and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), can also help you boost your overall health and reduce your dependency on medical-grade insulin.

These diets work well when you complement healthy lifestyle habits like regular physical activity, sleeping at least 8 hours daily, and managing stress and other mental health conditions.

 

Glycemic Index (GI)

One of the best ways to improve the health of your pancreas is to eat foods with a low glycemic index or GI.

The GI categorizes carbohydrate-rich foods based on how fast they raise your blood sugar levels. Glycemic load or GL considers the GI of food plus the serving size.

Foods with a high GI and GL can increase the glucose levels in your blood and exert more pressure on the pancreas to produce more insulin. However, your gut processes low GI and GL carbohydrates slowly, and this does not cause your blood sugar levels to spike.

Eating low GI and GL foods is a great way to control your blood glucose levels and boost your body’s insulin sensitivity. It’s important to consider including both GI and GL foods in your diet to boost your overall health and keep diabetes symptoms at bay.

 

Understanding Insulin Resistance

The body requires glucose for energy, but most cells cannot process glucose without some help. The pancreas produces insulin released into the bloodstream to help body cells convert glucose into energy. Insulin allows cells to process glucose and help to make sure that:

• The liver, fat, muscle, and other cells get the energy they need
• Blood sugar levels remain at a safe level

When a person’s body resists insulin, their cells are less sensitive to insulin. It means that the pancreas has to secrete more insulin to keep blood sugar levels under control. If the pancreas becomes overwhelmed and cannot sufficiently keep up with the body’s demand for insulin, blood sugar levels spike.

Cells cannot use up all the excess glucose in the blood, leading to high blood sugar levels. Over time, high blood sugar levels can lead to type-2 diabetes and other health conditions.

 

Causes

Research shows that genetic and ethnic factors may raise your risk of being insulin resistant. However, lifestyle choices also play a huge role. Making healthy lifestyle and dietary choices can significantly lower insulin resistance and, in turn, reduce your risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

 

Diet

Diet has an impact on insulin resistance in 2 main ways. First, eating too many calories, whether from excess alcohol, sugar, or fat, can lead to excessive weight gain, raising the risk of insulin resistance. Regular exercise helps shed off most of these extra calories.

Second, different foods can affect insulin resistance; some foods reduce the risk while others increase it. It would be best to stick to healthy diets, like the Mediterranean, ketogenic, or DASH diets mentioned above, or ask a professional nutritionist or doctor for advice on which foods to eat.

 

Body Weight

Obesity raises the risk of developing insulin resistance. People with a lot of fat around their abdomen and waist are more prone to becoming insulin resistant. It is because fat cells produce hormones that may interfere with the work of insulin in the body.

Excess fat around the waist may also be associated with chronic inflammation, which can cause various health complications, including insulin resistance. Fat accumulation around the stomach and pancreas area can also affect insulin production.

 

Sedentary Lifestyle

Inadequate physical activity can impact insulin production in the body. According to the American Diabetes Association, regular exercise is critical to controlling your blood sugar levels. Doctors recommend engaging in some form of physical activity after meals, and physical activity causes the muscles to use up the excess glucose in the bloodstream without using any insulin. Regular exercise is, therefore, vital to diabetes patients who want to stop taking insulin shots.

 

Other Risk Factors

Some other risk factors that affect insulin resistance include:

• Race: People of Pacific Islander, American, Hawaiian, Indian, Native Alaskan, Hispanic, and African-American descent may be at a higher risk of developing insulin resistance.
• Hormonal disorders: Conditions that impact hormone production, like acromegaly and Cushing’s syndrome, may affect insulin sensitivity.
• Underlying Health Conditions: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), previous episodes of heart disease or stroke, and high blood pressure can all increase your risk of insulin resistance.
• Steroids: Using steroids can increase insulin resistance by up to 80%.
• Age: Being over 45 can increase the risk of insulin resistance.
• Sleep patterns: Sleep issues like poor sleep and lack of sleep (insomnia) can increase insulin resistance.
• Smoking: Smoking can also affect insulin resistance.

 

Does Prediabetes Always Turn Into Diabetes?

Being diagnosed with prediabetes does not mean that you will develop type-2 diabetes. Prediabetes is reversible if a person makes the proper diet and lifestyle choices. Sustaining healthy habits throughout your life is one way to ensure your prediabetes diagnosis does not advance to diabetes.

 

Conclusion

Insulin resistance means that the cells in your body are having difficulties absorbing glucose from the blood. Insulin resistance is a common symptom of prediabetes, the precursor of type-2 diabetes.

Diet has a significant impact on how your body produces insulin. Eating the right foods and managing your weight can help reduce your risk of developing insulin resistance. Eating a plant-based/organic diet low in carbohydrates and fiber can help reduce this risk.

Eating non-starchy veggies, tomatoes, and citrus fruits can go a long way in boosting the health of your pancreas, which is responsible for producing insulin in the body. You should avoid starchy foods like rice and corn and processed and sugary foods that may cause your blood sugar levels to spike.