Restricting your intake of easily digestible carbohydrates could help control insulin resistance. However, the best way to control insulin resistance is to reduce your intake of both calories and easily digestible carbohydrates. Restricting carbohydrates without keeping an eye on the intake of other nutrients could promote a more severe case of insulin resistance.
Insulin
Insulin is a messenger molecule telling cells that fuel is available in the bloodstream. To deliver its message, insulin binds to insulin receptors embedded in cell membranes. The insulin signal causes a glucose transporter, GLUT-4, to move from the cell's interior to the cell membrane. Once glucose has entered the cell through the transporter, the cell can use the fuel for energy or store it as glycogen or fat.
Insulin Resistance
Overeating or eating too many simple carbohydrates, including white bread and sugar, puts pressure on the metabolic system. Flooding cells with glucose makes the cells shut down their insulin receptor mechanisms. This makes it difficult for insulin to transmit its signal across cell membranes. As a result, the blood sugar remains elevated, which makes the pancreas secrete more insulin. Eventually the insulin resistance may be so bad that no amount of insulin the pancreas is capable of producing will suffice to remove sugar from the blood. This is the condition called type 2 diabetes.
Low-Carb Diets
According to Robert Atkins, M.D., lowering your daily intake of carbohydrates to between 20 g and 100 g a day can help control insulin resistance. Restricting carbohydrates may help control insulin resistance because fat and protein have a smaller effect on insulin production than carbohydrates do. Carbohydrates convert into glucose in the digestive system. Protein and a small component of dietary fat can convert into glucose once inside the cells, but they do not enter the bloodstream as glucose. So, by restricting carbohydrates, you can prevent extreme peaks in insulin, which in turn may prevent resistance to insulin.
Good Carbohydrates
The Institute of Medicine recommends consuming 225 to 325 g of carbohydrates a day. This is far more than the Atkins diet calls for. Restricting all carbohydrates, including fruits and vegetables, could deprive the body of important nutrients. A healthier way to control insulin resistance may be to limit the consumption of simple carbohydrates. Because foods containing complex carbohydrates, such as vegetables, brown rice, whole grain pasta and whole grain bread, turn into glucose at a slower pace, replacing simple carbohydrates with complex carbohydrates may help avoid steep peaks in your blood sugar and thereby help you control your insulin resistance.
Restricting Carbohydrates and Calories
Low-carb diets usually do not require restricting portion sizes or counting calories. However, if you are in the habit of consuming huge amounts of protein and fat, you may still negatively affect your response to insulin. When excess protein converts glucose, this can promote insulin production. Fat also has some effect on insulin. Though insulin secretion occurs more rapidly with glucose, some insulin is secreted in response to fat intake to ensure the fat is used as energy by muscle cells or is stored by fat cells. Restricting your calories in addition to limiting your intake of "bad carbs" can help avoid fluctuations in insulin in response to fat and protein.
References
- "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, second edition"; Robert Atkins; 1992
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Insulin Resistance and Pre-Diabetes
- American Diabetes Association: Diabetes Basics
- "Principles of Biochemistry, Volume 1"; Albert L. Lehninger, David Lee Nelson, Michael M. Cox; 2005
- Harvard School of Public Health: Carbohydrates: Good Carbs Guide the Way
- Mayo Clinic: Weight Loss: Atkins diet
