Guidelines for guarding against insulin resistance

Insulin resistance starts slowly, furtively, silently. It has no symptoms but once you develop it, it's easier to become even more insulin resistant unless you do something to reverse the trend. Here's how to get going.

Once insulin resistance starts it becomes a vicious cycle. Fortunately, changing your eating style to include more slow-acting foods is one of the biggest keys to preventing or reversing the condition.

If it's been confirmed that you have insulin resistance, book an appointment with a dietician, doctor or nutritionist to create a plan that will work for you.

• Eating well and following a schedule is key to fighting insulin resistance and improving the condition.

Although eating foods that keep blood sugar levels stable is key to preventing or reversing insulin resistance, there's still more you can do:

Exercise

• Even if you don't lose weight, exercising reduces insulin resistance.
• In one study, spending 30 minutes on a stationary bike three or four times a week cut insulin levels by 20% while lowering blood sugar levels by 13% — enough to take someone from pre-diabetes to normal.

Cut calories

• Eating less, even before you lose weight, can improve insulin sensitivity and reduce levels of circulating insulin.
• Your body needs less insulin if it's more sensitive to it.
• In one study of sedentary men and women, eating 25% fewer calories than they were used to over six months resulted in significantly lower fasting insulin levels.
• Other studies have found that cutting calories improves insulin sensitivity.

Get enough sleep

• Missing out on a full night's sleep increases insulin resistance, possibly by disturbing hormone balance.
• Doing so for years may increase the risk of developing diabetes.
• In a recent study of men, those who slept less than six hours a night were twice as likely to develop diabetes over the following 15 years compared to men who got about seven hours sleep a night.
• Those who got more than eight hours a night were also at higher risk.